Thomas Stuart Ferguson voices his belief that JS had access to and used VOTH.
Thomas Stuart Ferguson, Letter to James Still, December 3, 1973, Thomas Stuart Ferguson papers, 1875-1983, ACNN 1350, BX 1, FD 6, Special Collections, J. Willard Marriott Library, The University of Utah
I think that Joseph Smith may have had Ixtlilxochitl and View of the Hebrews from which to work. . . . Oliver Cowdery was in Ethan Smith's congregation before he went from Vermont to New York to join Joseph Smith.