Some of the paper the papyri were mounted on are important and interesting in their own right , containing plans for the Kirtland House of the Lord and maps of northern Ohio . Even though the Papyri would be preserved better if the paper backing were removed , doing so would destroy important historical documents . Church Historian Robin Jensen commented on the dilemma , " These are very important documents for the LDS Church . Here we have the papyri themselves , both ancient documents , also nineteenth century documents in the sense that they really made a mark , they were part of LDS history , and to divide the ancient context with the nineteenth century context proves difficult . " After Joseph Smith 's death , the mummies and papyri were in the possession of Smith 's mother , Lucy Mack Smith and after her death on May 14 , 1856 , Smith 's widow , Emma Hale Smith . On May 25 , 1856 , Emma sold " four Egyptian mummies with the records with them " to Abel Combs . Combs then divided the collection and sold a portion of the papyri and at least two mummies to the Chicago Museum ( renamed Wood 's Museum in 1864 ) . This portion was destroyed in the Great Chicago Fire in 1871 . In 1918 , Alice C. Heusser , the daughter of Abel Combs ' housekeeper took the remaining papyri to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City for evaluation . In 1947 the Metropolitan Museum acquired them from Alice 's widower , Edward Heusser
Great Chicago Fire
Great Chicago Fire
Joseph Smith Papyri