Jerald Tanner writing in "Tracking the White Salamander" tells about BY and other early church leaders being arrested for producing "Bogus". They produced both coin and paper money. This is the first I have ever heard of that.

I just googled for the origin of the term 'bogus' and found it only came into use in the 1830s-1840s. Hmmmmm . . . .

Was there anything BY wouldn't do for a buck?

bogus:

"counterfeit money," 1839, Amer.Eng., apparently from a slang word applied in Ohio in 1827 to a counterfeiter's apparatus.

Can you give us a link to the original source material. I would love to bring this up next time I run into old TBM friends.

http://www.utlm.org/onlinebooks/trackingch7.htm

It's in the section called: Insight on Hofmann.

Here is an excerpt:
"There is a species of counterfeit, extensively circulated in this community, called Nauvoo Bogus....They are a pretty good imitation of the genuine coin...some of our business men have been imposed upon by them. It is said they are manufactured in the City of the Saints." (Warsaw Signal, April 24, 1844)

"COUNTERFEITING, &c.—On a former occasion, we stated that a species of counterfeit money—called Nauvoo Bogus, was extensively circulated in this vicinity. We have since heard the charge distinctly made by one who has had an opportunity of knowing the facts, that Joe Smith,...is engaged in this nefarious business....the fact is notorious that bogus is made in Nauvoo. Here then, we have a band of counterfeiters in our midst, who can defy the laws under the protection of a pretended prophet." (Ibid., June 5, 1844)"

Another quote from Tanner's book:

"The United States Government has preserved some important records concerning the indictment of the Mormon leaders for counterfeiting. In Mormonism—Shadow or Reality? page 539, we have a photograph of a U.S. Government record which shows that Brigham Young and four of the other Mormon Apostles (Willard Richards, John Taylor, Parley P. Pratt and Orson Hyde) were indicted for counterfeiting."

The word bogus came up as a descriptor for the counterfeiting activities that several of the Mormon leaders were doing. The Feds called BY "Bogus Brigham", which pertained to his counterfeiting activities. In fact, one of the biggest motivating factors for BY to take the faithful to Utah was the fact that the Feds were after him for his counterfeiting. Also, the phrase "phony as a three dollar bill" comes from the phony paper money that was being issued at the Kirtland Bank in exchange for the real money that the many unsuspecting people were investing into that bank. The paper money was issued in three dollar bills, hence the expression. I found out also that four dollar bills, just as phony, were issued by a Mormon owned bank in Monroe, Ohio, I think, and I believe that Hyrum Smith's signature appears on those. Other early leaders who at least worked with metal and were also possible counterfeiters include Oliver Cowdery, who was known to be a tinsmith and there are some vague references to "someone" possibly coming to Oliver to fabricate some plates... Sound fishy to you? I think that Smith's father also may have dabbled in some counterfeiting while he was involved with a group of unsavory types who would escape over the border into Canada from New York.

didn't BY do this in Utah, also? I think I heard that they made coins that weren't legit - lacking in gold or silver, or a bit smaller than they were supposed to be...Anyone have any information on this?

Mormons: ALWAYS a Law Unto Themselves.

the Mentality behind this is Firmly Entrenched in LDS Culture:
everyone else MUST Conform to the LDS; anyone who doesn't is a gentile, and most likely a traitor.

also, the Mentality that they wanted to be isolated 'in the world, but not of the world'. again, North Korea comes to mind...

Hofmann: his Bombs KILLED PEOPLE; if that had been investigated & prosecuted at the Federal Level, he might have been executed instead of rotting in prison.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/04/2012 04:03PM by guynoirprivateeye.