The Kinderhook Plates Incident in Mormon History

LDS Perspective

The Kinderhook Plates incident refers to the discovery of six brass plates in 1843 near Kinderhook, Illinois, which were brought to the Prophet Joseph Smith for examination. The plates were unearthed by a group of men, including Robert Wiley and Wilbur Fugate, who later admitted to forging the plates as a prank. The plates were covered with symbols resembling an ancient script, and while some initially speculated that Joseph Smith might translate them, he did not produce a revelatory translation. Contemporaneous sources indicate that Joseph examined the plates but quickly lost interest in them, and no translated text resulted from the episode. Chemical and metallurgical analysis later confirmed that the surviving plate was not ancient, and the characters on it do not match any known langua

Historical Perspective

# The Kinderhook Plates Incident: Significance in Mormon History The Kinderhook Plates incident involved six brass plates allegedly discovered by nine men excavating a Native American burial mound near Kinderhook, Pike County, Illinois, in April 1843. According to Wilbur Fugate, one of the discoverers, the plates were deliberately manufactured as a hoax intended to test Joseph Smith's claimed prophetic abilities. The plates were described as being covered with ancient characters, and Joseph Smith's secretary, William Clayton, recorded in his journal on May 1, 1843: "I have seen 6 brass plates…covered with ancient characters of language containing from 30 to 40 on each side of the plates. Prest. J. [Joseph Smith, Jr.] has translated a portion and says they contain the history of the person