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The Mormon Mummies and Papyri in Ohio

H. Donl Peterson

The Egyptian papyri that came into the hands of the Prophet Joseph Smith in Kirtland, Ohio, in 1835, contained holy writ. Some of the writings of Abraham, the venerated "father of the faithful," and Joseph, his equally illustrious great-grandson, were preserved on these ancient scrolls.

The story began in ancient Egypt nearly four millennia ago, and the ongoing saga of the preservation of their writings is very complex. This paper will primarily center around the story of the Egyptian antiquities relative to the Ohio period. Three residents of Ohio are central characters in the story: Michael H. Chandler, who sold the papyrus to the latter-day prophet; Joseph Smith, who purchased, translated and published part of the message from the papyri; and Abel Combs, who purchased the four mummies "with the records of them" from Emma Smith Bidamon and relegated most of them once again into the shadows of the historical twilight zone.

Michael H. Chandler

Michael H. Chandler was born in Ireland about 1797. He married Frances F. Ludlow about 1819, also a native of Ireland. Their four oldest children were born to them in Ireland before their emigration to the United States: Thomas in 1820, Ann in 1822, William H. in 1824 or 1825, and George W. in 1827. The family of six moved to Ohio between 1827 and 1829. A fifth child, a daughter Catherine, was born in either Canada or Ohio in 1829 or 1830. The family then moved to Pennsylvania about 1831, where Frances F. (6) was born in 1831; John A. (7) was born in 1833 or 1834; and Eliza Jane (8) was born in 1834.

Chandler's lifestyle was forever changed by a shipment of cargo sent from the port of Trieste to the port of New York City. The date of arrival is unknown, but it was sent by a shipping company owned by Albano Oblasser of Trieste to the firms of "McLeod and Gillespie of Maitland and Kennedy," which was involved with maritime commerce in New York. The cargo consisted of eleven Egyptian mummies and other boxes of related materials. According to a legal document located in the state archives in Torino, these New York merchants were commissioned to sell the cache of mummies and artifacts for the highest price and then send quittance to the Lebolo family in Castellamonte in the Piedmonte. On October 5, 1833, a friend of the Lebolo's, Francesco Bertola, who had moved to Philadelphia from Castellamonte, was authorized by mail to check on the New York shipping companies to find out why recompense had not been sent to the Lebolos for the sale of the Egyptian collection. Since there were no follow-up letters, it is assumed that the transaction was completed soon after that.