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CUL:Testimonals to Joseph Smith's heresies by Walter Martin Excerpted from "Kindom of the Cults" by Dr. Walter Martin, pg. 175. One of the most interesting statements concerning the early life of the Smith family and of Joseph, Jr., Was obtained by E.D. Howe, a contemporary of Smith's, who did tremendous research during the lifetime of Joseph which has never been successfully impugned by any Mormon historians. Smith himself never dared to answer Howe's charges, though they were well known to him, so great was the weight of contemporary evidence. Mr. Howe obtained a statement signed by sixty-two residents of Palmyra, New York, one that cannot be ignored by any serious student of Mormonism: "We, the undersigned, have been acquainted with the Smith family, for a number of years, while they resided near this place, and we have no hesitation in saying, that we consider them destitute of that moral character, particularly famous for visionary projects, spent much of their time in diggings for money which they pretended was hid in the earth: and to this day, large excavations may be seen in the earth, not far from their residence, where they used to spend their time digging for hidden treasures. Joseph Smith, senior, and his son Joseph, were in particular, considered entirely destitute of moral character, and addicted to vicious habits" - (Mormonism Unveiled, Zanesville, Ohio, 1834, p. 260). Some persons reading this may feel that it is unfair to quote only one side of the story: what about those who are favorable to the Mormons, they will ask. In answer to this, the amazing fact is that there exists no contemporary pro-Mormon statements from reliable and informed sources who knew the Smith family and Joseph intimately. It has only been the over-wise Mormon historians, utilizing hindsight over a hundred-year period, who have been able to even seriously challenge the evidence of the neighbors, Joseph's father-in-law, and many ex-Mormons who knew that was going on and went on record with the evidence not even Mormon historians have bothered seriously to dispute.