Mary Musselman Whitmer’s Angelic Visitation and View of the Gold Plates

While at her home in Fayette, New York, during the translation of the Book of Mormon, Mary Musselman Whitmer went to the barn to milk cows. There, she was met by a heavenly messenger (the angel Moroni) who showed her the gold plates, turning them leaf by leaf to provide her comfort and strength for her labors.

According to the account preserved by her granddaughter Elvira P. Mills, Mary’s irritation was compounded by the fact that Joseph and Oliver spent time skipping stones on a pond while she struggled with the heavy household chores; she was reportedly on the verge of ordering them out of her home when the visitation occurred. Elvira’s account also specifies that the meeting took place at daybreak and that Mary was carrying two full buckets of milk at the time. John C. Whitmer additionally noted that his grandmother frequently referred to the heavenly messenger as 'Brother Nephi,' though he and other researchers clarify this was almost certainly a reference to the angel Moroni.

Fuller account of this event (as retold in Royal Skousen, 'Another Account of Mary Whitmer’s Viewing of the Golden Plates', Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture 10 (2014): 39.):

Grandma stopped telling a story of Mother Whitmer till 1900 when B. H. Roberts printed it in his 'New Witness for God.' Then she said, 'I'm so glad I can tell it again.' David Whitmer had invited Joseph and Oliver to live in his father's home while translating the Book of Mormon. When Oliver's hand and Joseph's eyes grew tired they went to the woods for a rest. Mary Whitmer, with five grown sons and a husband to care for, besides visitors, often grew tired. She thought they might just as well carry her a bucket of water or chop a bit of wood as to skate rocks on a pond. She was about to order them out of her home. One morning, just at daybreak, she came out of her cow stable with two full buckets of milk in her hands, when a short, heavy-set, gray-haired man carrying a package met her and said, 'My name is Moroni. You have become pretty tired with all the extra work you have to do. The Lord has given me permission to show you this record:' turning the golden leaves one by one!