The Three Witnesses’ Vision of the Plates and Records

In late June 1829, near the Whitmer home in New York, Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer, and Martin Harris sought and received a vision of the Book of Mormon plates. Accounts place the manifestation in a grove or woods near the Whitmer home; David Whitmer later recalled that he, Joseph Smith, and Oliver Cowdery sat on a log, prayed, and were overshadowed by a glorious light. In another recollection, Whitmer said he had been plowing when Joseph Smith and Cowdery arrived and told him the Lord had revealed that he should be a witness. The witnesses saw an angel or personage in white and a table bearing the gold plates and other sacred objects, including the brass plates, the interpreters or Urim and Thummim, the sword of Laban, and the Liahona (directors); Whitmer also described additional plates containing a record of the wickedness of the people of the world. They heard divine testimony that the translation had been accomplished by the gift and power of God. Accounts identify the witnesses as Cowdery, Whitmer, and Harris; Whitmer’s later account also describes Joseph Smith as present at the manifestation.

In his own accounts, David Whitmer clarified several specific details regarding the vision. He recounted that he was plowing in a field when Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery arrived and instructed him to accompany them to a clearing across the road. They walked through the clearing and sat on a log, where at approximately 11:00 a.m., a light appeared that grew brighter until an angel stood before them. Whitmer specified that he saw the angel turn the leaves of the plates one by one to show the engravings. He also noted that while the vision was experienced in the spirit, they were also in the body, and the manifestation felt as natural to them as any other time. Furthermore, Whitmer explicitly stated that Martin Harris was not present at this specific manifestation, though he affirmed the validity of their combined testimony as recorded in the Book of Mormon.