Click Links above to See my Extensive Research!
1840s Illinois Man,
Printed mere miles from JOseph Smith's sons, from a "smith family album"
Help support a research study by buying a copy: https://etsy.me/3hYYGv6
Joseph Smith has a very unique, bushy right eyebrow, so does what I have dubbed "1840s Illinois Man", and since I own it now, and know it is a CDV- I will call it, "My CDV" for short, through the rest of this website. You can see the angle the eyebrow hairs grow- match, and their thinner- super straight left eyebrow- matches as well.
See my Analysis of the eyelids/eye-shape, below:
See my Analysis of the eyelids/eye-shape, below:
Joseph Smith appears to have a very heavy left eyelid and a sunken in right eyelid, that is seen on "1840s Illinois Man", even the shape is near exact, expression lines match up as well.
The nose of both men show a nasal bone angling to his right, then comes down a sharp line curving down his noes, when outlined and superimposed, from my CDV Man, matches exactly.
The nose of both men show a nasal bone angling to his right, then comes down a sharp line curving down his noes, when outlined and superimposed, from my CDV Man, matches exactly.
Joseph Smith's mouth also has asymmetry, including a distinct scar on the farther right side of Joseph's top lip. See my supposing analysis of just the mouth, seen on both the death mask and on 1840s Illinois Man, video of the shape of the mouth compared below:
The chins of both men appear to curve outward, very distinctly, Analysis of the Chin- below.
The outline of 1840's Illinois Man's hairline- I outline the death mask, to the hairline (that is receded...) onto 1840s Illinois Man and simply adjust it slightly, it matches, from the base of the chin to to where I can see BOTH men have hair that is receded and cut- super bluntly, to their hairline, both show rather thick hair- up till where it the hair recedes. See the analysis of the hairline- outline- face shape- below!
I am selling Copies of my CDV, to fund research:
debs-fine-art.myshopify.com/products/8x10-photo-print-plausible-photograph-of-joseph-smith-jr
debs-fine-art.myshopify.com/products/8x10-photo-print-plausible-photograph-of-joseph-smith-jr
I own an 1860s CDV that matches the Death Mask of Joseph Smith. I have been analyzing the History/Provenance side of things, spoken with Forensic analysts and hope to publish my findings someday soon.
When did this all start? Why am I doing all of this? Am I just trying to make money? Well, no I've lost a ton of money- first a few hundred in buying, hundreds in this website, and over 300 in getting it authenticated, but the why is a lot more complicated than that. I really wanted to find a photograph of Joseph Smith in 2016, and think that I had. I thought I found two, one appeared to be in the hands of people in the field of identifying people in images, the other- looked older- it's the older one that I now own and became truly convinced of- when I spent many days analyzing it, anyway that I could. Seen above, even the very unique shape and size of this man's eyebrows- match the very a-symmetrical and unique eyebrow shape seen on the Death Mask of Joseph Smith. However, not being the owner, in Summer 2017, I became VERY concerned about the whereabouts of this image, after reading a website post- many years prior, making fun of the idea of it being of Joseph:
juvenileinstructor.org/daguerreotype-of-joseph-smith-wearing-the-urim-and-thummim-caution-this-will-disturb-you/
The blog linked above, linked above, quotes the ebay seller’s claims, that it was from a 19th century family Album with "Smith IDed" photos in it. They were quoting "G"- just to make fun, even dubbing it, “Fake Joseph”; but I didn't find it funny, I was intrigued and soon I would be anxiously worried that they convinced the seller it was "trash". Mere months later, I found the owner and the image, he immediately offered to sell it to me for 100 dollars, suddenly tripled it, but feeling as passionate about the image, having already spent HOURS studying, weeks contacting the hidden trail left behind, by the blogger- 8 years prior, I wasn't going to let it end up in someone's bookshelf- tucked away to just get more damaged.
2020, my image was authenticated, see the bottom of the page and here is what I know: it was copied/rephotographed from an older daguerreotype, around the 1860s by J.S. Bibbins, in Kendall County (where the RLDS Church's headquarters were during the mid 1860s-80s), mere miles from Joseph Smith and Emma's adults sons (all born in the 1830s-40s), who lived mere miles from “J.S. Bibbins”, in the mid 1860s- WHEN he copied this older daguerrotype onto a paper CDV. J.S. III moved to Plano, neighboring city of Newark, in 1866, per his Memoirs, however the Church he was leading- since 1860- had a large congregation- he was leading, since... about 1860, and he stayed for decades.
Joseph Slocum Bibbins was born in 1821, in Pennsylvania; his father, a methodist circuit rider in Susquehanna, Penn. Elisha Bibbins, who ministered directly to Emma Smith, as a young girl, played a HUGE part in converting her entire family to religion, as she was taught by him to pray sincerely for answers to her prayers, wwhereas it was forbidden in her home before. I don't think Emma would have forgotten him. I theorize the possibility of Emma visiting her sons in Kendall County, a boat ride away; running into the sons of her previous mentor, who also lived in Kendall County; and possibly trusting him enough to reprint her daguerreotype of her husband, Joseph Smith. See page 67 of the Article below, to read how the Father of J.S. Bibbins knew Emma Smith’s family:
Thank you Mark Staker, for all your research on Elisha Bibbins:
mormonhistoricsites.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Isaac-andElizabeth-Hale.pdf
To properly authenticate my newly owned 1860s CDV, I had to research the clothing styles of the decades Joseph Smith lived, (first step in authentication), I found it to clearly 1840s styles, click link at the top of the page to see a thorough analysis of my research on clothing Joseph Smith wore. Artwork of Joseph shows the same large bowtie, same lapel, same vest is owned by the Pioneer Memorial Museum, in SLC.
www.google.com/search?q=joseph+smith+vest&rlz=1C9BKJA_enUS904US905&hl=en-US&prmd=sinv&sxsrf=ALeKk02kFgO9b8k4QQqdbV4yB4vicf_Emg:1606847285431&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiN0Z_NtK3tAhUdGDQIHe-IB_AQ_AUoAnoECBAQAg&biw=1366&bih=905#imgrc=DHKm-mWNAAzOCM
Some LDS scholars believe there is a photograph of Joseph Smith, and some don't, I have found statements by Joseph Smith III, and Alexander Smith (quoting Brigham Young) all referencing "pictures", "daguerreotype"s of their dad. I believe them and believe that I own an authentic Carte de Visite of Joseph Smith, which I had authenticated this year, 2020 (scroll to the bottom of the page for the official report).
See page 29:
scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=5922&context=etd
Julia Murdock Smith did the same copying of a daguerreotype of Emma, circa 1845, in the 1860s as well, clearly the son knew copying daguerreotypes was a thing (but the original 1845 daguerreotype of Emma is crap, nearly all oxidized, black and owned by the Community of Christ). This CDV, done in the 1860s, probably wasn't in the hands of Joseph Smith III, ever, he did claim to have an original Daguerreotype- very possibly the original of my image, and possibly THAT being as oxidized as Emma's 1845 daguerreotype by Foster, maybe... Joseph's 1844 daguerreotype had the same fate- from being copied, and by 1879- when little Joseph inherited it- it was unable to be copied well, and he took photos of a fairly good painting of his Father, allegedly done in 1842 by David Rogers. Photographs of the painting circulated, as did claims of JS III having a real daguerreotype of his father, but see my video below to see why I think the confusing of the Carter and Library of Congress images- perfectly matching the 1842 painting- cannot be FROM a photograph:
youtu.be/4lHYo3WZ8QU
Research has started with some incredible people that so far has sounded positive. A thorough analysis is in the works.
When did this all start? Why am I doing all of this? Am I just trying to make money? Well, no I've lost a ton of money- first a few hundred in buying, hundreds in this website, and over 300 in getting it authenticated, but the why is a lot more complicated than that. I really wanted to find a photograph of Joseph Smith in 2016, and think that I had. I thought I found two, one appeared to be in the hands of people in the field of identifying people in images, the other- looked older- it's the older one that I now own and became truly convinced of- when I spent many days analyzing it, anyway that I could. Seen above, even the very unique shape and size of this man's eyebrows- match the very a-symmetrical and unique eyebrow shape seen on the Death Mask of Joseph Smith. However, not being the owner, in Summer 2017, I became VERY concerned about the whereabouts of this image, after reading a website post- many years prior, making fun of the idea of it being of Joseph:
juvenileinstructor.org/daguerreotype-of-joseph-smith-wearing-the-urim-and-thummim-caution-this-will-disturb-you/
The blog linked above, linked above, quotes the ebay seller’s claims, that it was from a 19th century family Album with "Smith IDed" photos in it. They were quoting "G"- just to make fun, even dubbing it, “Fake Joseph”; but I didn't find it funny, I was intrigued and soon I would be anxiously worried that they convinced the seller it was "trash". Mere months later, I found the owner and the image, he immediately offered to sell it to me for 100 dollars, suddenly tripled it, but feeling as passionate about the image, having already spent HOURS studying, weeks contacting the hidden trail left behind, by the blogger- 8 years prior, I wasn't going to let it end up in someone's bookshelf- tucked away to just get more damaged.
2020, my image was authenticated, see the bottom of the page and here is what I know: it was copied/rephotographed from an older daguerreotype, around the 1860s by J.S. Bibbins, in Kendall County (where the RLDS Church's headquarters were during the mid 1860s-80s), mere miles from Joseph Smith and Emma's adults sons (all born in the 1830s-40s), who lived mere miles from “J.S. Bibbins”, in the mid 1860s- WHEN he copied this older daguerrotype onto a paper CDV. J.S. III moved to Plano, neighboring city of Newark, in 1866, per his Memoirs, however the Church he was leading- since 1860- had a large congregation- he was leading, since... about 1860, and he stayed for decades.
Joseph Slocum Bibbins was born in 1821, in Pennsylvania; his father, a methodist circuit rider in Susquehanna, Penn. Elisha Bibbins, who ministered directly to Emma Smith, as a young girl, played a HUGE part in converting her entire family to religion, as she was taught by him to pray sincerely for answers to her prayers, wwhereas it was forbidden in her home before. I don't think Emma would have forgotten him. I theorize the possibility of Emma visiting her sons in Kendall County, a boat ride away; running into the sons of her previous mentor, who also lived in Kendall County; and possibly trusting him enough to reprint her daguerreotype of her husband, Joseph Smith. See page 67 of the Article below, to read how the Father of J.S. Bibbins knew Emma Smith’s family:
Thank you Mark Staker, for all your research on Elisha Bibbins:
mormonhistoricsites.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Isaac-andElizabeth-Hale.pdf
To properly authenticate my newly owned 1860s CDV, I had to research the clothing styles of the decades Joseph Smith lived, (first step in authentication), I found it to clearly 1840s styles, click link at the top of the page to see a thorough analysis of my research on clothing Joseph Smith wore. Artwork of Joseph shows the same large bowtie, same lapel, same vest is owned by the Pioneer Memorial Museum, in SLC.
www.google.com/search?q=joseph+smith+vest&rlz=1C9BKJA_enUS904US905&hl=en-US&prmd=sinv&sxsrf=ALeKk02kFgO9b8k4QQqdbV4yB4vicf_Emg:1606847285431&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiN0Z_NtK3tAhUdGDQIHe-IB_AQ_AUoAnoECBAQAg&biw=1366&bih=905#imgrc=DHKm-mWNAAzOCM
Some LDS scholars believe there is a photograph of Joseph Smith, and some don't, I have found statements by Joseph Smith III, and Alexander Smith (quoting Brigham Young) all referencing "pictures", "daguerreotype"s of their dad. I believe them and believe that I own an authentic Carte de Visite of Joseph Smith, which I had authenticated this year, 2020 (scroll to the bottom of the page for the official report).
See page 29:
scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=5922&context=etd
Julia Murdock Smith did the same copying of a daguerreotype of Emma, circa 1845, in the 1860s as well, clearly the son knew copying daguerreotypes was a thing (but the original 1845 daguerreotype of Emma is crap, nearly all oxidized, black and owned by the Community of Christ). This CDV, done in the 1860s, probably wasn't in the hands of Joseph Smith III, ever, he did claim to have an original Daguerreotype- very possibly the original of my image, and possibly THAT being as oxidized as Emma's 1845 daguerreotype by Foster, maybe... Joseph's 1844 daguerreotype had the same fate- from being copied, and by 1879- when little Joseph inherited it- it was unable to be copied well, and he took photos of a fairly good painting of his Father, allegedly done in 1842 by David Rogers. Photographs of the painting circulated, as did claims of JS III having a real daguerreotype of his father, but see my video below to see why I think the confusing of the Carter and Library of Congress images- perfectly matching the 1842 painting- cannot be FROM a photograph:
youtu.be/4lHYo3WZ8QU
Research has started with some incredible people that so far has sounded positive. A thorough analysis is in the works.