
The statement was obtained “from two highly respectable clergymen, the Rev. Mr. Austin and the Rev. A. Ely, D.D., residing in Monson, Mass”.
In the Boston Recorder (April 8, 1839), John Storrs reported:
“Having heard incidentally that there was a lady in Monson, Ma., whose husband now dead was the author of the book, I requested in a note, Rev. D. R. Austin, Principal of Monson Academy, to obtain of her, for my benefit, and to be used as I should think proper, a certified account of its origin with her husband; for the character of which lady I wished the venerable Dr. Ely and himself to avouch. The following highly satisfactory document came in reply.”
In Gleanings by the Way, Storrs explained to John Clark that Matilda did not write the statement:
“I requested in a note, Rev. D. R. Austin, Principal of Monson Academy, to obtain of her, for my benefit, and to be used as I should think proper, a certified account of its origin with her husband.”
