Their names were Martin Harris, Oliver Cowdery, and David Whitmer.
All three men are witnesses to the divine authenticity of the Book of Mormon. Even though they left the church (Cowdery and Harris both came back, I don't think Whitmer did) they never stopped testifying to seeing actual plates in physical reality-not just a subjective vision.
Martin Harris was a farmer and a rather prosperous land owner in New York. Joseph eventually gave Martin Harris 116 pages of already translated Book of Mormon and Harris (or more expectedly, his skeptical, staunchly non believing wife) destroyed whatever it was.
Harris eventually sold part of his land to finance copies of the Book of Mormon. He followed Smith Jr as a strong, believing member until splitting with him during the Kirtland Safety Society.
There is some history out there that in this time period, Harris apparently admitted his vision of the book of Mormon was only a "spiritual vision".
However Harris was re-baptzied into the church before he died. He also witnessed to Joseph Smith Jr being a true prophet.
I don't believe Harris would have been re-baptized into a church that he knew was wrong. Being LDS also cost him a great deal.
Obviously for a believing LDS, I accept that he saw, in physical reality-gold plates. It's an uphill battle for believing LDS because it seems so unlikely. It is, in fairness. We need to show that there is some evidence in history that backs our side up.
Sorry for the historic bent of this. Been looking up a lot of church history lately.We'll talk about the others later. Some said that "the more you learned about the origins of the church the more you lose your faith." While that might be true for some, for me it's been the exact opposite.
Have a great week! Happy Columbus Day!
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