Because many of Bennett's other allegations in the Sangamo Journal (and his later book-length treatment of Mormonism, History of the Saints, or, An Expose of Joe Smith and Mormonism) were dramatic and overblown, those pertaining to Freemasonry have tended to be dismissed as well. But there is some evidence to show that they may indeed be accurate. Bennett's letter suggests that three copies of the minutes had been made in the original book, each containing his handwriting. A "new" book was procured in which William Clayton and others wrote the official, altered version. Bennett boldly insisted that "the original book be produced" to support his claims. The new book, he explained, had only his signature in it, but if a record could be produced that "has any of my handwriting in it," he could "show all the facts, unless the leaves have been torn out." The leaves were in fact torn or cut out of the book.

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97. What is known today as "Minute Book 1" could possibly be a second draft of the minutes. One reason for believing they were copied is that under the entry for Wednesday, March 16, 1842, at 9 a.m., the word "meeting" is found once at the end of a line and again at the beginning of the next line. This dittography is described in textual criticism as a copyist's accidental mistake of repeating a letter, word, or phrase in a document they are duplicating. It does not tend to happen when a scribe is making an original record. Another anomaly found in this record was that the bylaws end with an "orphan" line carried over onto the next page which reads "by giving one month's previous notice, at a stated meeting." Normally, space would be left here after the bylaws for the members to sign. But in this version, the record continues with a list of people who petitioned the lodge for membership that day. The list of members signing the bylaws that is included later contains the same orphan line at the top, only using a different ink. This indicates that the signature page may have been torn from another copy of the minutes.