Martin Harris's Deathbed Testimony — 'I Saw the Plates; I Saw the Angel; I Heard the Voice of God'

Martin Harris (1783–1875) was one of the Three Witnesses of the Book of Mormon. In 1828, at great personal financial sacrifice, he mortgaged his farm to fund the printing of the first 5,000 copies of the Book of Mormon. In 1829, he was one of three men who beheld an angel, saw the golden plates, and heard the voice of God declare the translation true.

Over the following four decades, Harris faced his share of difficulties. He separated from his wife, was at times estranged from Church leadership, and lived for many years outside the main body of the Saints. Yet through all of it, he never denied his testimony of the Book of Mormon — not once.

In October 1870, at a general conference in Utah, elderly Martin Harris rose to bear his testimony: 'I bear witness that an angel of the Lord laid the plates before the witnesses.' Those present recorded his words.

By the summer of 1875, Harris was 92 years old and near death in Clarkston, Utah. William Harrison Homer recorded the final moments:

'Martin Harris had been unconscious for a number of days. When we first entered the room the old gentleman appeared to be sleeping. He soon woke up and asked for a drink of water. I put my arm under the old gentleman, raised him, and my mother held the glass to his lips. He drank freely, then he looked up at me and recognized me. He said, "I know you. You are my friend." He said, "I did see the plates on which the Book of Mormon was written; I did see the Angel; I did hear the voice of God; and I do know that Joseph Smith is a Prophet of God, holding the keys to the Holy Priesthood."

'This was the end. Martin Harris, divinely-chosen witness of the work of God, relaxed, gave up my hand, lay back on his pillow, and just as the sun went down behind the Clarkston mountains, the soul of Martin Harris passed on.'

He was buried in Clarkston, Utah, with a copy of the Book of Mormon placed in his hands. He had maintained his witness for 46 years, through every trial, every separation, and every difficulty — until the moment his soul departed.