Historical Context | ๐๐ฎ๐ ๐ป๐ฑ๐๐จ๐ฟ๐ ๐๐ฑ๐๐ป๐ฏ๐ฟ๐ ๐ป
The Deseret Alphabet New Testament manuscript is very likely the work of Annie Smith (later Alston). Born in Cuttack (เฌเฌเฌ), eastern India, the daughter of a British Army officer, she learned the Deseret Alphabet in less than a week and reported that she could transcribe 10โ15 pages per day, typically producing a page in 20โ25 minutes.
While living in New York, Annie encountered apostle Orson Pratt, living in New York that summer to complete the Deseret Alphabet Book of Mormon. He enlisted the fourteen-year-old orphan to transliterate scriptural materials into the Deseret. After she moved to Utah, Pratt seems to have secured her a position in the Church Historianโs Office, where she probably finished the Deseret New Testament and may also have worked on Deseret versions of the Old Testament and Doctrine and Covenants. Though speculation has focused on Prattโs personal interest in her (Salt Lake Tribune, 12 November 1876, p. 4), Annieโs substantial role in creating the Deseret New Testament manuscript has until recently gone largely unrecognized.
