"Mr Harris having returned from this tour he left me and went home to Palmyra, arranged his affairs, and returned again to my house about the twelfth of April, Eighteen hundred and twentyeight, and commenced writing for me while I translated from the plates, which we continued untill the fourteenth of June following, by which time he had written one hundred and sixteen <​pages​> of manuscript on foolscap paper." — Joseph Smith Jr.¹

Joseph Smith learned through the Urim and Thummim that Martin Harris was the man to assist him in the work of translation.² When Martin returned from New York City, he took over as the scribe for the translation at the Hale Farm in Harmony, Pennsylvania. By the following June, Joseph and Martin had produced the first 116 pages of the translation.¹ Joseph used both the Urim and Thummim and the seer stone during this process.³

During this time, Martin's wife Lucy became skeptical of Joseph and the work, and Martin thought that if he showed her the translation, she would be convinced. He asked Joseph to allow him to take the 116 pages home to show a few family members. Unfortunately, Martin then lost the manuscript.⁴

1. History, 1838–1856, volume A-1 [23 December 1805–30 August 1834], 9, josephsmithpapers.org

2. William Moulder, Among the Mormons; Historic Accounts by Contemporary Observers, 31, archive.org

3. Lucy Mack Smith, History, 1844-1845, Book 6, 10-11, josephsmithpapers.org; Andrew Jenson, ed., “The Three Witnesses,” bhroberts.org

4. Saints, Volume 1, Chapter 5, 51-53