Elizabeth Ann Whitmer Witnesses the Miraculous World of Early Mormonism as a Teenage Girl

Elizabeth Ann Whitmer was born on January 22, 1815, the youngest child of Peter and Mary Whitmer on their farm in Fayette Township, Seneca County, New York. She was approximately fourteen years old when Joseph and Emma Smith moved to the Whitmer farm to complete the translation of the Book of Mormon.

For a young girl growing up in a devout family, those months were a constant wonder. She later recalled creeping up the steps to peek into the chamber where Joseph Smith, Oliver Cowdery, and her brothers Christian and John worked, writing out revelations and translating scripture. The house was alive with angelic appearances, spiritual gifts, and visitors who had come seeking the truth.

To the Whitmers, early Mormonism was, in the words of the historical record, 'a world full of angelic appearances and miracles.' Elizabeth was present during the completion of the Book of Mormon translation, the visits of John the Baptist and the Apostles Peter, James, and John to restore the priesthood, and the organization of the Church on April 6, 1830.

After a Church meeting in Fayette on April 18, 1830, just twelve days after the Church was formally organized, Oliver Cowdery baptized Elizabeth — making her one of the very earliest members of the restored Church of Jesus Christ. She was fifteen years old.

She later married Oliver Cowdery on December 18, 1832, in Kaw Township, Jackson County, Missouri, with Parley P. Pratt officiating. She stood faithfully by Oliver through his years of service, through the publication of the Doctrine and Covenants, and through the sacred events of the Kirtland Temple dedication. Oliver had a copy of the Book of Mormon specially bound in red Moroccan leather with Elizabeth's name embossed in gold on the front — a tender symbol of their shared devotion to the Restoration.

Elizabeth's life was a quiet but profound witness to the divine origin of the Restoration. Born into the very household where the Book of Mormon was completed and where the Church was organized, her testimony was forged in the fires of firsthand experience.

Fuller account of this event (in the witness’s own words):

I cheerfully certify that I was familiar with the manner of Joseph Smith's translating the book of Mormon. He translated the most of it at my Father's house. And I often sat by and saw and heard them translate and write for hours together. Joseph never had a curtain drawn between him and his scribe. And often I have sat by and heard him translate for hours when it was not his privilege to see the plates at all.