The Voree plates, also called The Record of Rajah Manchou of Vorito, or the Voree Record, were a set of three tiny metal plates allegedly discovered by Latter Day Saint leader James J. Strang in 1845 in Voree, near Burlington, Wisconsin. Purportedly the final testament of an ancient American ruler named "Rajah Manchou of Vorito", Strang asserted that this discovery vindicated his claims to be the true successor of Joseph Smith, founder of the Latter Day Saint movement—as opposed to Brigham Young, whom most Latter Day Saints accepted as Smith's successor in 1844. The plates also lent credence to his claim that Voree, not the Salt Lake Valley, was to be the new "gathering place" of the Latter Day Saints. Strang's purported translation of this text is accepted as scripture by his church and some other bodies descending from it, but not by any other Latter Day Saint organization. Unlike the golden plates used by Smith to produce the Book of Mormon, the existence of Strang's plates was verified by independent, non-Mormon witnesses, including Christopher Latham Sholes, inventor of the first practical typewriter. Strang was accused of having fabricated the plates from a brass tea kettle, a claim which he and his partisans vigorously denied. The plates disappeared around 1900, and their current whereabouts are unknown. Discovery According to Latter Day Saint beliefs, many ancient inhabitants of the Americas engraved records on metal plates. Joseph Smith, the movement's founding prophet, claimed that he translated the Book of Mormon from a set of golden plates which he was shown the location of by the then resurrected ancient keeper of the plates, Moroni. Upon Smith's murder in 1844, a number of claimants came forward to lead his church, including Strang. As a recent convert to Mormonism, Strang did not possess the name recognition among rank-and-file Mormons enjoyed by Brigham Young and Sidney Rigdon, the two principal contenders for church leadership. Hence, Strang faced an uphill battle in his quest to be recognized as the heir to Smith's prophetic mantle. To advance his cause, Strang asserted that unlike Rigdon and Young, he had hard evidence of his prophetic calling. One of Smith's titles had been "Prophet, Seer, Revelator, and Translator," and Strang wished to substantiate his claim to succession by following in Smith's footsteps. So, while Young and Rigdon never offered their followers any newly revealed ancient records, Strang announced on January 17,