Sham Marriages in Joseph Smith’s Nauvoo - John Turner Pt. 35 | Ep. 2129

The Kinderhook Plates and Joseph Smith's Pattern of Unfounded Claims in Nauvoo

A Case Study in Credibility and Deception

In May 1843, a group of men from Kinderhook, Illinois presented Joseph Smith with six small brass plates inscribed with unknown characters. Within hours of examining them, Smith announced with certainty that he could identify the ancient language and determine the identity of the person buried with the artifacts. The episode lasted only weeks before fading into obscurity, yet historians consider it one of the clearest windows into how Joseph Smith operated when confronted with mysterious objects he claimed to authenticate through divine gift. This incident illuminates a broader pattern that defined Smith's Nauvoo years: the construction of elaborate theological justifications for practices conducted in secrecy, often involving vulnerable individuals unable to verify the foundational claims upon which they rested.

The Setup: A Perfect Test

The Kinderhook plates appeared at an ideal moment to test Smith's actual abilities as a translator. Unlike the Book of Mormon (which Smith had dictated decades earlier and no longer had ready access to) or the Egyptian papyri (which Smith still possessed but had largely abandoned), these plates were fresh, indisputable, and subject to immediate scrutiny.

According to historian John Turner's account on the Mormon Stories Podcast, the plates were crafted by men with some exposure to Mormon missionary work. The men had encountered LDS missionaries and possessed basic knowledge of Mormon theology, enough to create plausible forgeries. Each plate was roughly three inches long, bell-shaped with a hole punched at the top for stringing. They bore columns of characters, at least one of which resembled glyphs from Smith's own Egyptian materials, a detail that would have naturally drawn his attention.