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Heavenly Manifestations

Lucy Mack Smith Views the Breastplate

Published October 27, 2026 at 6:22 PM

1820s · 1827
Manchester, New York
Joseph Smith·Lucy Mack Smith

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Lucy Mack Smith History Research

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Joseph Smith requested his mother, Lucy, to come downstairs, where he handed her the breastplate he had recently brought home, wrapped in a thin muslin handkerchief. She was able to see and examine its concave and convex shape, its size, and the straps used for fastening.

In Their Own Words

“When he returned, he requested me to come down-stairs. I told him that I could not leave my work just then, yet upon his urgent request, I finally concluded to go down and see what he wanted, upon which he handed me the breastplate spoken of in his history. It was wrapped in a thin muslin handkerchief, so thin that I could see the glistening metal, and ascertain its proportions without any difficulty. — Lucy Mack Smith, History of Joseph Smith by His Mother, Chapter XXIV”

Sources & References

Lucy Mack Smith, History of Joseph Smith by His Mother (Biographical Sketches of Joseph Smith), first published 1853, Chapter XXIV. https://archive.org/details/biographicalsket0000lucy (account extracted verbatim from the book's Internet Archive OCR text; research confidence: high)

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Filed under

Heavenly Manifestations1820sUnited States

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Questions about this account

Who was involved in this account?
The account involves Joseph Smith, Lucy Mack Smith. Each person named here also has a witness page collecting the other accounts involving them.
When did this account take place?
The account is set in 1827, in the 1820s.
Where did this account take place?
It took place in Manchester, New York.
What kind of miracle is this?
It is filed as a Heavenly Manifestations account reported in United States.
Where does this account come from?
Lucy Mack Smith, History of Joseph Smith by His Mother (Biographical Sketches of Joseph Smith), first published 1853, Chapter XXIV. The full source citation appears in the Sources section below, with links to the original where available.

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