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PrevPrevious EpisodeBonus: Ask Me Anything March 26
Next ExpisodeWhy 3rd Bomb Wasn’t Suicide Attempt (Part 6 of 13)Next

McLellin Collection Offers (Part 5 of 13)

Table of Contents: McLellin Collection Offers (Part 5 of 13)

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Mark Hofmann was trying to sell the McLellin collection to the LDS Church and Al Rust at the time the bombs exploded in 1985.  It turns out they weren’t the only offers.  Brent Ashworth tells us that the collection was offered to him as well!

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GT:  Steve [Christensen] was trying to get the McLellin Collection for the Church. Right?

Brent:  Right.

GT:  And so he was saying, “Look. Hugh Pinnock has already giving you $185,000. We need the McLellin Collection. We need it now.”

Brent:  Mark was also offering the collection to me, and that part’s never really been discussed. But he was offering the collection to me. I know he offered at least parts of it to Curt [Bench] too, like Facsimile One, Facsimile Two. I think we got up to Facsimile Three at one point, that he was willing to [sell.] These were all in the McLellin Collection. See, McLellin, when he left the church, Joseph Smith wrote a couple of things in his history: one of them that is important, I think. One of them is “That old apostate,” I’m paraphrasing Joseph’s history. “That old apostate McLellin, I heard ransacked my office and stole some my papers.” So there you’ve got the McLellin Collection right in the prophet’s own words, basically.

GT:  Yeah, we don’t know what’s in it, but McLellin….

Brent:  We don’t know what’s in it, but Hofmann will supply that, right? I asked Mark. I said, “What’s in the McLellin Collection?” when he offered it to me. And he says, “Oh, there’s six little journals/diaries that go from this year to this year. There’s a lot of really damaging stuff about the Prophet Joseph Smith, and there were other things.” Obviously, the McLellin Collection started out as the Texas Collection when I first met him. He had already kind of devised this idea that there’s got to be a wastebasket collection where everything comes from I think, before he even met me. Do you know what I mean? And that was 1981 and the Texas Collection, it was talked about by Mark several times with me and I’m sure others. It became the McLellin Collection.

Check out our conversation….

McLellin Collection - McLellin Collection Offers (Part 5 of 13) - Mormon History Podcast
The McLellin Collection was supposed to contain Egyptian papyri stolen from Joseph Smith by early apostle William McLellin.

Don’t miss our previous conversations with Brent!

504: Lucy Mack Smith Forgery

503: Mark’s Unknown Half Million$ Deal

502: Hiding from Hofmann

501: Meeting Serial Killers

 

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More Podcasts with these Guests:

  • *Apology to Dorie (Part 13 of 13)
  • Emily Dickinson Forgery (Part 12 of 13)
  • Hofmann’s Court Mistake (Part 11 of 13)
  • Tragedy Before Hofmann Trial (Part 10 of 13)
  • Catching More Hofmann Fakes (Part 9 of 13)

Get more information on the people and things discussed in this episode:

  • Guest: Brent Ashworth
  • Mormon violence, Mormons & Crime
  • Historical Mentions Mark Hoffman, Mark Hofmann, Mormon History
  • Tags: Church History, GT Podcast, iTunes, Mark Hoffman, Mark Hofmann, McLellin Collection, murder

Tell me when the next episode drops!

PrevPrevious EpisodeBonus: Ask Me Anything March 26
Next ExpisodeWhy 3rd Bomb Wasn’t Suicide Attempt (Part 6 of 13)Next
  • Date: March 27, 2021
  • Guest: Brent Ashworth
  • Mormon violence, Mormons & Crime
  • Historical Mentions Mark Hoffman, Mark Hofmann, Mormon History
  • Tags: Church History, GT Podcast, iTunes, Mark Hoffman, Mark Hofmann, McLellin Collection, murder
  • Posted By: RickB

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Rick Bennett is the friendly, independent historian at the heart of Gospel Tangents LDS Podcast: The Best Source for Mormon History, Science, and Theology. When he isn't interviewing Mormon scholars, prophets, and others, he is teaching math and statistics at Utah Valley University. He also freelances as a research biostatistician in the fields of Dermatology and Traumatic Brian Injuries, as well as in the network television/cable T.V. industries as a sports statistician. Rick holds a Master of Statistics Degree from the University of Utah.

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