“If the reader does not know just what to make of Joseph Smith, I cannot help him out of the difficulty. I myself stand helpless before the puzzle.” - Josiah Quincy

Josiah Quincy IV, mayor of Boston from 1845 to 1849, visited Nauvoo, Illinois, in 1844 with Charles Francis Adams. During the visit, they met Joseph Smith, founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, who showed them Egyptian mummies and ancient papyri.² The two left with a Book of Mormon from the Prophet.³ Quincy was fascinated by Smith, later describing Smith as a “mountebank apostle.” Quincy, a Harvard graduate and accomplished politician, is remembered for his roles in Massachusetts’ public education reforms and for writing Figures of the Past in 1883.¹

1. Figures of the past from the leaves of old journals by Josiah Quincy, 1883, Page 409

2. Josiah Quincy, Joseph Smith Papers, Josiah Quincy Jr., Wikipedia

4. National Historical Park Massachusetts, Adams.