View source for Question: Was a "vagabond fortune-teller" named Walters Joseph Smith's "mentor"?

{{FairMormon}}
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==Question: Was a "vagabond fortune-teller" named Walters Joseph Smith's "mentor"?==
===The idea that Walter's "mantle" fell upon Joseph is the creation of an enemy of Joseph Smith, Abner Cole===

It is claimed by some that a "vagabond fortune-teller" named Walters became popular in the Palmyra area, and that when Walters left the area, "his mantle fell upon" Joseph Smith. However, the idea that "Walters the Magician" was a mentor to Joseph Smith and that his "mantle" fell upon Joseph once Walters left the area originated with Abner Cole. Cole published a mockery of the Book of Mormon called the "Book of Pukei." 

Matthew Brown discusses the "Book of Pukei":,
<blockquote>
Cole claims in the "Book of Pukei" that the Book of Mormon really came into existence in the following manner:

*Walters the Magician was involved in witchcraft and money-digging. 
*Walters was summoned to Manchester, New York by a group of wicked, idle, and slothful individuals—one of which was Joseph Smith. 
*Walters took the slothful individuals of Manchester out into the woods on numerous nighttime money-digging excursions. They drew a magic circle, sacrificed a rooster, and dug into the ground but never actually found anything. 
*The slothful group of Manchesterites then decided that Walters was a fraud. Walters himself admitted that he was an imposter and decided to skip town before the strong arm of the law caught up with him. 
*At this point, the mantle of Walters the Magician fell upon Joseph Smith and the rest of the Manchester rabble rallied around him. 
*The "spirit of the money-diggers" (who is identified implicitly with Satan in the text) appeared to Joseph Smith and revealed the Golden Bible to him.<ref>Matthew Brown, [http://www.fairlds.org/FAIR_Conferences/2006_Joseph_Smiths_Foundational_Stories.html "Revised or Unaltered? Joseph Smith's Foundational Stories."], 2006 FAIR Conference.</ref>
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{{endnotes sources}}
[[Category:American Massacre]]
[[Category:Early Mormonism and the Magic World View]]
[[Category:No Man Knows My History]]

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[[de:Frage: War ein „vagabundierender Wahrsager” namens Walters nicht der Mentor von Joseph Smith?]]
[[pt:Pergunta: Foi um "vagabundo cartomante" chamado "mentora" do Walters Joseph Smith?]]
[[es:Pregunta: ¿Fue un "vagabundo adivino" llamado Walters el "mentor" de José Smith?]]