John Whitmer
1802 ― 1878

“Therefore I desire to testify to all that will come to the knowledge of this address; that I have most assuredly seen the plates from whence the book of Mormon is translated, and that I have handled these plates, and know of a surety that Joseph Smith, jr. has translated the book of Mormon by the gift and power of God, and in this thing the wisdom of the wise most assuredly has perished: therefore, know ye, O ye inhabitants of the earth, wherever this address may come, that I have in this thing freed my garments of your blood, whether you believe or disbelieve the statements of your unworthy friend and well-wisher.”

Timeline

August 27, 1802: John Whitmer was born in York, Pennsylvania to Peter Whitmer, Sr. and Mary Musselman. By the 1820s, the Whitmer family had moved to Fayette, New York.

Biography

John Whitmer was born on August 27, 1802, in York, Pennsylvania, the third son of Peter Whitmer, Sr. and Mary Musselman.
 

Life Stories
by Susan Easton Black

John Whitmer was the son of Peter Whitmer Sr. The foundational meeting of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was held in his home in Fayette, New York. …

Why Did John Whitmer Continue to Testify of the Book of Mormon?

A KnoWhy from Book of Mormon Central
 

Statements

“I now say I handled those plates. there was fine engravings on both sides. I handled them…and they were shown to me by a supernatural power.”