Benjamin Benson had a dream in 1795 about the Book of Mormon. In the dream, the angel told him it would come forth later. Benson related his experience to Joseph Smith. Joseph asked him to put it in writing and send it to him, which he did.
The letter was copied into Letterbook 2, where it can be read in the Joseph Smith Papers here:
https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/letter-from-benjamin-benson-12-november-1837/1
Dear Brother in the Lord, Having reflected on the short interview we had last evening respecting the dream (or vision as you may think proper to term it) and as you stated several times that you should like to have it wrote so that you could take it home with you to , I therefore consent to give a statement in as short <a> manner as I can, without going into every minute circumstance. To wit.—
In the year 1795, I then being in the Town of Pompey, County of Onondagua and State of New York; I then being 22 years old; seeing and viewing the ancient Indian Forts and trates thereof through that part of the Country; my mind was anxiously led to contemplate and reflect on where these those Indians came from, or from what race of People they sprang from, and oftentimes heard it stated that these Indians were natives of this Continent, and that they were created and placed here at the creation of the world.
Then said
I the Bible cannot be true,
part of for it (The Bible) says that all the human
family sprang from Adam &c, and that
all at the time of the flood, the whole
earth was covered with water, and that all flesh died, except what were in
the ark with Noah, then with things taking place, and I firmly believing
that the Bible was true, my heart’s desire was to God in solemn prayer to
know where and what race of people these Indians sprang from, It was
made known (whether by dream or vision I will leave that for you, to
judge) An as I thought came to me and said, Come along with me
and I was immediately on a beast like a horse, and the angel at my left hand
with his feet about the same height that my feet were as I sat on the horse, and
in this position was conveyed to near the place where the record was deposited
and he said stop here, and the angel went about 4 or 5 Rods and took in his
hand a book, and on his return to where I stood, as I thought there were many
stood with me; One said, what book is that? and the answer was, it is a bible
a bible, the word of God,
a record of a people that came from Jerusalem, the fore fathers of these Indians, And it also contains a record of a people that came from
the Tower of Babel at the time the Lord confounded the language and scattered
the people into all the world, and it the
Book Ether; and then with great anx
iety of heart I asked if I might have the book, and answer was that it was
not the Lords time then, but it should come, “and you shall see it,” and then
said look, and as I looked, I beheld a man standing as I thought at a distance
of two hundred yards, and the angel said “there is the Man that the Lord hath ap
pointed &c, and he is not yet born.[”]
I have related it in short, as I have not time now to give a full detail of all that I had a view of. Yours with respect.
Benjamin Benson
November 12th 1837
Joseph Smith Jr. .
N. B At some further time if the Lord will I will be more full if you should wish it. I shall direct this to you as a letter and you cannot act your Judgement in either keeping it to yourself or publishing it by making use of my name.
Note 1:
Benson may have been referring to the fortified villages or traditional longhouses built by the Oneida and Onondaga tribes of the Iroquois Six Nations in central New York. He also may have seen forts built during the French and Indian War, some of which were constructed on the ruins of American Indian villages. The forts described by Benson also may have had connections to other indigenous people. Contemporary accounts identified several mounds in western New York and associated these mounds and their fortifications with an ancient moundbuilding people. (Hauptman, Conspiracy of Interests, 27–33, 78, 107; Hamilton, French and Indian Wars, 161–184, 239–249; Vogel, Indian Origins and the Book of Mormon, 24–30.)
Comprehensive Works Cited:
Hauptman, Laurence M. Conspiracy of Interests: Iroquois Dispossession and the Rise of New York State. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 1999.Hamilton, Edward Pierce. The French and Indian Wars: The Story of Battles and Forts in the Wilderness. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1962.Vogel, Dan. Indian Origins and the Book of Mormon: Religious Solutions from Columbus to Joseph Smith. Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1986.
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