The gullible Martin Harris and his wife, Lucy

Martin Harris, one of the Three Witnesses to the Book of Mormon, is often mocked and derided as gullible.  But there are clear indications in his biography that he could be rather skeptical, just as we would expect from the respected, successful frontier farmer and businessman that he was.

A few more notes from Susan Easton Black and Larry C. Porter, Martin Harris: Uncompromising Witness of the Book of Mormon (Provo: BYU Studies, 2018).  Professors Black and Porter are occasionally citing passages from Lucy Mack Smith’s Biographical Sketch of Joseph Smith:

Shortly after Joseph obtained the gold plates in the fall of 1827, Martin had gone to the Smith home at the invitation of Joseph to investigate the matter.  When he finally arrived, Joseph was away, but Martin took opportunity to question members of the family separately “to see if their stories agreed,” which they did.  He next spoke at length with Joseph on his return.  (152)

That’s just one instance.  And his wife could be downright suspicious:

Lucy Mack Smith, on Lucy Harris:

Mr. Harris’s wife was a very peculiar woman, one that was natuarlly [sic] of a very jealous disposition; besides this, she was rather dull of hearing, and when anything was said that she did not hear distinctly, she suspected that it was some secret, which was designedly kept from her.  (80-81)

In March 1828, Martin and Lucy traveled to visit Joseph and Emma Smith in Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania:

Upon entering the house, Lucy informed Joseph that her sole “object in coming, was to see the plates, and that she would never leave until she had accomplished it.”  Joseph refused to acquiesce to her demand.  “Without delay, [Lucy] commenced ransacking every nook and corner about the house — chests, trunks, cupboards, &c.”  Unable to find the plates inside the home, “she concluded that Joseph had buried them” out-of-doors.  It is interesting that Lucy believed there were actual plates to be seen and was in serious pursuit.  (105)

In fact, Lucy Harris was the very first donor toward the translation of the plates, even before her husband.  (83)  See “The early testimony of Martin Harris’s wife, Lucy, to the Book of Mormon.”