| 591 so far as he may be known. What I have stated I am prepared to prove, having all the documents concerning the matter in my possession, but I think that to say further is unnecessary, as the subject is so plain that no one can mistake the true nature of the case.
"I remain yours, respectfully,
"JOSEPH SMITH.
"NAUVOO, June 23, 1842."
-Times and Seasons, vol. 3, pp. 839-842.
Mr. George Miller, who was at that time Bishop of the church, made some investigations into Mr. Bennett's early history, and published the following:-
"McCONNELSVILLE, Morgan Co. Ohio, March 2, 1841
"Dear Sir:-By your request I have made inquiries into the history of John Cook Bennett, and am enabled to give you the following facts which may be relied on as correct:-
"When a young man his character stood fair, he studied medicine with his uncle, Dr. Samuel P. Hildreth, of Marietta, Washington County, Ohio. It is believed he has a diploma, and also recommendations from some of the principal physicians of that place. He started out with fair prospects, and married a daughter of Colonel Joseph Barker, near Marietta. Bennett and his wife united with the Methodist Church, and he became a local preacher. It was soon manifest that he was a superficial character, always uneasy, and moved from place to place; at different times lived in Barnesville, McConnelsville, Malta, Wheeling, Virginia, Colesville, Pennsylvania, and Indiana; it is presumed that not less than twenty towns have been his place of residence at different times. He has the vanity to believe he is the smartest man in the nation; and if he cannot at once be placed at the head of the heap, he soon seeks a situation; he is always ready to fall in with whatever is popular. By the use of his recommendations he has been able to push himself into places and situations entirely beyond his abilities; he has been a prominent personage in and about colleges and universities, but had soon vanished; and the next thing his friends hear of him he is
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