in Conneaut, and telling the family of the occurrence, they considered it very unusual-in fact, had never heard of anything like it before. Both Mr. and Mrs. Lake went to the station with me at ten o'clock, and the trunk was taken from the train on its arrival at that hour. My friends insisted that both the station-master and baggage-master of the train should be with me when opening the trunk, to see if its contents had been disturbed. The lock, a good sound one, I found had been forced open, the heavy straps alone holding it together. At a glance, on lifting the cover, it was evident that everything in the trunk had been turned over, just as though its contents had been pulled out and thrown in again by hasty and inexperienced hands. A later investigation the same night proved that not one single item had been stolen, although there were valuable articles of various descriptions in the trunk. My papers connected with the interview with Hurlburt, Howe, and General Garfield-in fact, all the notes taken in this trip on the subject of Mormonism, were in my hand-satchel, and had been carefully guarded. On writing to an official connected with the Lake Shore Railroad, relating all the facts of the case, his reply was to the effect that so long as nothing had been stolen from the trunk, it was proof conclusive that the breakage of the lock and its detention at the way station were merely accidental. He regretted the circumstance, but was of the opinion that there was no legal redress for it.

CHAPTER VI.

Visit to Conneaut, Ohio, in 1880-Reminiscences of Rev. Spaulding and the First Mormon Conference, in 1834.

IN connection with the visit at Mentor and Painesville, after the interview with Hurlburt at Gibsonburg, the author stopped at Conneaut, Ashtabula Co., Ohio, where the Rev. S. Spaulding resided, in 1812, and wrote the story which was made the foundation of the Mormon. fraud. Some description of the town as it looks today may be interesting to the reader.

Conneaut is also interesting in its connection with the first great conference of Mormons, in the year 1834, when Hurlburt was sent to procure "The Manuscript Found" from Mrs. Davison, at Munson, Mass., "to compare it with the Book of Mormon.""

The village of Conneaut is a mile from Conneaut Station, on the Lake Shore Railroad. It is the county-seat, and in its thrift and general appearance greatly resembles a New England town of the best type. At the eastern side of the village is the broad ravine through which the Conneaut River, or Creek, flows down to Lake Erie, which is picturesque and beautiful.

One of the most attractive dwellings in the place is that of Mr. Hiram Lake, son of Henry Lake, a partner of Solomon and John Spaulding in 1812.

An evening at Mr. Lake's residence was spent in hearing his reminiscences of certain circumstances in connection with the Spauldings-many facts which his father had related to him of the writings of Mr. Spaulding-and

particularly how the neighbors gathered to hear him read the novel called "The Manuscript Found," and how the talk of the hour dwelt on the discoveries made by the workmen employed to open the earth-mounds close to Mr. Spaulding's house. The very spot where this house once stood is pointed out-a log cabin, containing some relics of New England comforts, and the best dwelling in the vicinity at the time.

Its owner, it is said, was the most noted and probably the best educated man in that part of the State. There is no trace of this primitive homestead now, or of the earth-mound close to it; but there are many people living in Conneaut who remember both.

Just below this locality, and close to the creek, was the foundry of the Spaulding brothers and Mr. Henry Lake, which was so prosperous until the war of 1812 made its proprietors bankrupt.

There were formerly a number of earth-mounds in the vicinity of Conneaut, all of which have been levelled with the surrounding fields; but numerous evidences of their existence and locality are pointed out at the present time. A few months since some prehistoric relics were unearthed by a ploughman in a corn-field where it is known that an earth-mound had existed, and many persons in and near the village possess pottery, implements of iron, carved beads, or ornaments of personal adornment, that have been exhumed in turning up the soil for agricultural purposes.

Traditions and personal remembrances are numerous among the elder residents of Conneaut of the great Mormon Conference held in that place in 1834. Some traveller, it is said, in that year brought a copy of the "Book of Mormon" to Conneaut soon after it was published, but it does not seem to have created much gossip

among the townspeople, until a woman preacher, who had been recently converted to Mormonism, appointed a public meeting, and in her talk made copious extracts from it, which were immediately recognized by many persons present, particularly by John Spaulding (see Appendix, No. 13), who was "amazed and afflicted that his brother's writings should have been perverted for such a wicked purpose.

His grief found vent in a flood of tears, and he arose on the spot and expressed his regretful sentiments. Both Mr. Hiram Lake and Mr. Lorin Gould, whose statements (see Appendix, No. 14) will be found elsewhere, told the author they remembered this occasion, and some incidents in connection with it.

They also said that at the time of this Mormon meeting there was the wildest possible excitement all through that part of the State in regard to the "new faith," as it was called.

It was as a result of these meetings that D. P. Hurlburt, who had resided in or near Conneaut, and whose reputation was not the best for veracity or honesty, and who at the time had joined the Mormons with his wife (the sweet-faced woman the writer saw at Gibsonburg), offered or was selected to visit Mrs. Davison at Munson, Mass., and to request a loan of the Spaulding " Manuscript Found," as it was reported, to compare it with the "Book of Mormon."

It is remembered at Conneaut that he returned with a manuscript, or that was so reported. This is presumably the manuscript which E. D. Howe says was lying in his office at Painesville for years, and which the Mormons pretend was compared with "the Golden Bible of Joseph," at a public meeting the Mormons called for the

purpose, and found to be entirely wanting in the essentials claimed for it.

It was beyond question, from very strong circumstantial evidence, the manufactured manuscript prepared by Hurlburt or his confederates for the occasion. A daughter of Mr. John Spaulding, still living near Conneaut, in a letter to the writer (see Appendix, No. 15) of a recent date, substantiates all that Mr. Lake and Mr. Gould stated at the former gentleman's house.

Of the odd stories told at Conneaut, in 1834, in connection with Solomon Spaulding, was one to the effect that he told his neighbors at the time he entertained them with his romance, that his "Manuscript Found" was a translation of the "Book of Mormon," and he intended to publish a fictitious account of its having been discovered in a "cave in Ohio" as an advertisement, to advance its sale, when his book was printed.

The remarkable features of the Mormon meeting at Conneaut, in 1834, and the conflicts of opinion between the converts to the new doctrines there promulgated, and the affirmations of the old neighbors and relatives of Solomon Spaulding, led to the venture of E. D. Howe in writing the book called "Mormonism Unveiled."

There is a tradition that Mr. Howe was himself half a Mormon when he wrote this volume, and it is believed that his motive in writing it was not a desire to expose an imposture, but to make money.

Another outcome of this meeting at Conneaut, in 1834, was the wild enthusiasm of the people, who travelled from great distances to see the "new prophet," and from it "elders," or preachers, were sent out to those who could not attend.

Stories were circulated at the time that even in the then remote New England States and in the British