John Whitmer, History 1831-circa 1847, p. 94, reads as follows (strikethrough has been removed):
James Js Strang a Prophet Seer <&> Revelator
unto my church for thou shalt shurly die a martor, thy Cup is bitter &c
Shortly after this appointment of Strangs the mob gathered and took by
Strategem Joseph & Hyrum Smith conveyed them to Carthage the Seat of
Justice in & for the Co. of Caldwell. <Hancock> as if to try them by
the law of the land, but insted of trying them by the law of the land for their
crimes they murdered them & thus the Lords annointed fell by the brutal
hand of men. & they are gone the way of all the earth. & Strangs Reigns
in the place of Smith the author and proprietor of the Book of Mormon
Such shows
that John Whitmer and early LDS did not believe that Joseph Smith being called
the “author and proprietor” of the 1830 Book of Mormon did not mean it was
anything but a translation of an ancient document.
Further Reading:
The 1830 Book of Mormon listing Joseph Smith as “Author and Proprietor”