“Six plates having the appearance of Brass have lately been dug out of the mound by a gentleman in Pike C[ounty]. Illinois. They are small and filled with engravings in Egyptian language and contain the genealogy of one of the ancient Jaredites back to Ham the son of Noah.”

Parley P. Pratt – 7 May 1843, as quoted in Ensign Magazine – The original of this letter is in the John Van Cott correspondence/Church Archives (Salt Lake City, UT: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, August 1981), 73.