Ep312: Follow the Money: Who Financed the Book of Mormon and Why episode artwork

EPISODE · Apr 8, 2026 · 2H 3M

Ep312: Follow the Money: Who Financed the Book of Mormon and Why

from Mormon.ish

The financing of the first edition of the Book of Mormon was a pivotal moment in early Latter-day Saint history, achieved primarily through the significant personal sacrifice of Martin Harris, a wealthy farmer who was one of the Three Witnesses. In 1829, after local printers in Palmyra, New York, initially refused the project, Harris agreed to secure the $3,000 cost—roughly equivalent to over $100,000 today—for the printing of 5,000 copies by Egbert B. Grandin. To guarantee this payment, Harris mortgaged his farm, a decision that followed a revelation given to Joseph Smith (now Doctrine and Covenants Section 19) advising Harris not to covet his property but to "impart it freely" to the printing. We are all familiar with this story but Martin Harris wasn't the only one of Joseph's followers who donated time, resources and money to the Book of Mormon project. Following the money that was used to finance the Book of Mormon can reveal a lot about the motivations of Joseph Smith's most loyal supporters. Mormonish is joined by Ganesh Cherian to follow the money trail wherever it leads! Thank you so much for watching Mormonish Podcast! ***How to DONATE to Mormonish Podcast: If you would like to help financially support our podcast, you can DONATE to support Mormonish Podcast here: Mormonish Podcast is a 501(c) (3) https://donorbox.org/mormonish-podcast The Good Book Club If you would like more info on The Good Book Club you can email us at [email protected] or find us on facebook here https://www.facebook.com/share/g/PK74... ****WE HAVE MERCH! **** If you’d like to purchase Mormonish Merch, you can visit our Merch store here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/mormonishmerch You can get your own quote to attend our Post-Mormon Celebration Cruise by visiting - https://kheskethtravel.com/post-mormon-celebration-cruise And you can get more info on the cruise by visiting - https://mormondiscussionpodcast.org/post-mormon-celebration-cruise/ We appreciate our Mormonish viewers and listeners so much! Don't forget to LIKE and SUBSCRIBE to Mormonish Podcast! Contact Mormonish Podcast: [email protected] #mormonish #lds #mormon #exmormon #postmormon #religion #news, #ldschurch #comeuntochrist #churchofjesuschrist #churchofjesuschristoflatterdaysaints #byu #byui #josephsmith #comefollowme #polygamy #bookofmormon #becauseofhim #hearhim #ldstemple FAIR USE DISCLAIMER All Media in this video (including the thumbnail) is used for the purpose of review and critique. The images in the thumbnail are used as the primary means of visually identifying the subject matter of the video.This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacy

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Ep312: Follow the Money: Who Financed the Book of Mormon and Why

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