McLellin Papers

[græy]

Hey Everyone,

I was listening to a very old Naked Mormonism podcast on Mark Hoffman. Part of what proved to be Hoffman's downfall was his claim that he had and was ready to sell the William E. McLellin collection. At the time, the collection had been presumed to have been lost to time. As it turns out, a family in Houston had the collection all along, and most of the papers/journals have since been opened to historians. However, it seems that back in 1908, the church purchased a couple of specific letters from the Houston family (I don't remember their names).

My question is this, has the church ever released or published those letters? Or any parts of the McLellin collection that it owns?

I've tried searching for some time, but haven't been able to identify any specific publications or articles that clearly define any material as coming from the church own sources.

Just curious.

Thanks!

[Red Ryder]

I don’t believe they have.

If I recall, even at the time of Hoffman the church was still unaware they had the papers in the vault. It wasn’t until after the bombings??

Jaime; google that and see if that’s correct!

I found this review interesting:

https://m.cityweekly.net/utah/books-apo ... id=2134942

While this collection doesn’t offer any major bombshells on the surface, its juicy details will keep historians busy for years to come. Primarily, though, it offers a portrait of a man struggling with his belief, disillusionment and incessant wandering throughout the rest of his life, searching for his spiritual home. It will find resonance with those who have treaded similar paths.

Incessant wandering throughout the rest of his life.... that’s what this feels like for me too!

[Hagoth]

Kinda like Bigfoot hunters. A life spent searching for something that continually evades evidence and reason.

[Not Buying It]

Hoffman was pretty clever - he knew the reason the Brethren were buying his forgeries was so they could hide unflattering things from the members. What better thing to sell them than a bogus expose from an early apostle? If he'd kept getting away with it instead of resorting to murder to avoid being caught, who knows what else he might have come up with.

[Hagoth]

Hoffman was pretty clever - he knew the reason the Brethren were buying his forgeries was so they could hide unflattering things from the members. What better thing to sell them than a bogus expose from an early apostle?

The really telling thing is that they were not surprised. They bought Hoffman's forgeries both factually and financially. They even defended them when "anti-Mormons" scoffed.

[Not Buying It]

Hoffman was pretty clever - he knew the reason the Brethren were buying his forgeries was so they could hide unflattering things from the members. What better thing to sell them than a bogus expose from an early apostle?

The really telling thing is that they were not surprised. They bought Hoffman's forgeries both factually and financially. They even defended them when "anti-Mormons" scoffed.

Good point. The Brethren knew there was stuff they didn't want the members to find out about. And the Tanners knew the Brethren were getting scammed long before the Brethren found out.

[Hagoth]

Good point. The Brethren knew there was stuff they didn't want the members to find out about. And the Tanners knew the Brethren were getting scammed long before the Brethren found out.

And that tells you they probably already have some pretty unsettling things in the vault.