I have discovered another piece of damning evidence against the Smith family and the counterfeiters that came before them and how they put their scheme into the Book of Mormon.

Counterfeiters and the leaders who eventually founded the Mormon church appear to of utilized a key strategy of outlaws in early America, namely, locating on the borders between townships, counties, states, and territories, so that the perpetrators could quickly escape across the border when law enforcers attempt to apprehend them.

There are 10 specific instances ( published on pages 182 182 in the book secret combinations evidence of early Mormon counterfeiting 1800 to 1847) where Joseph Smith Junior and Senior set up not only the early church but where they lived so that they could easily escape. Independence and Jackson County Missouri were at the very far borders of the US territories in the 1830s when the Mormons located there. That was intentional. It was also intentional that Nauvoo Illinois was chosen because it was near the borders of two states and one territory. The Salt Lake Valley was chosen because it was not even part of United States and was beyond governmental control.

Joseph Smith Senior's log cabin in Palmyra sat on the line dividing Palmyra from Farmington. They also lived on the border between Farmington and Manchester.

How does all this tie into the Book of Mormon?

"and these things were done in the borders of the land that they might not come to the knowledge of the king"

The book of Mormon frequently mentions "border lands"-many passages describe scrimmages, disputes, guardians and robbers and other outlaws hiding in the "secret places."

So much of the book of Mormon is really written about the Smith family and the criminal enterprise they established off of the work of many criminals that came before them.

it makes sense that the Smith family would do their glass looking business on the borders so they could run from justice. And later on down the track and I was stealing and murdering and lying they can always cross the State line to escape justice.

I never thought about "and these things were done in the borders of the land that they might not come to the knowledge of the king" like this. Thank you Lori C.

You are very welcome! Great book!

This is very interesting information Lori C! IMO, some of the characters are the Smith's: Nephi = JS, Samuel = Samuel Smith, and Laman or Lemuel could be William Smith because he later turned against JS. Thank you for the new insights!

Definitely makes sense to live close to a border to make escaping easier and faster.

I recently read on YouTube D. Pawl Trbas's presentation at ExMo Conference 2017 called The Lucy Code: Stolen Treasures. I found it fascinating, insightful and full of possibilities by way of the Mormon Story. One idea that grabbed by attention and fits in with "border locating" is the possibility of the Smith's being involved in a glandestine grave digging operation to make money in the cadaver and medical field. I hope to do some research into this area.....it makes sense to me as doctors needed and wanted to study human bodies in order to further their study of anatomy.

The Smith group and their like-minded friends would have had a built-in-cover in their treasure and well digging.