No Man Knows My History (Arkosh History)

by Fawn M. Brodie

Unlike the golden plates, which had been whisked back into heaven, the mummies and papyri were kept on exhibit in both Kirtland and Nauvoo. The actual papyri escaped scholarly examination for many years. After Joseph’s death they were sold by a friend of William Smith to the Wood museum and were thought to have burned in the great Chicago fire.J Such a disaster might have ended all chance of exposing Joseph’s mistake had he not • “Speech before the High Priests,” Nauvoo, April 27, 1845; printed in pamphlet form by theMillennial Star office, July 1845. See p. 27. fHistory of the Church, Vol, III, p. 380. t This was their fate according to official Mormon histories. However, theSan Francisco Daily Evening Bulletin, September 25, 1857, stated that two of the four mummies were sold to a Mr. Wyman of the Philadelphia Museum. Unfortunately this museum was closed shortly after and its exhibits scattered. preserved three facsimiles of the papyri, which he published in 1842 with elaborate interpretations.