Since Philastus Hurlbut's excommunication from the Church and his conviction at the trial at Chardon had discredited him, the information he gathered was not published under his name. Instead, it was published in 1834 under the authorship of Eber D. Howe. The book, titled Mormonism Unvailed [sic], was the first book of significance printed with the design of destroying the Church. (Backman 1983, 207)
Richard L. Anderson outlines the events behind the initial collection of statements against Joseph Smith. "D. P. Hurlbut, excommunicated twice by LDS tribunals for immorality, became so personally vindictive that he was put under a court order restraining him from doing harm to the person or property of Joseph Smith. He was next `employed' by an anti-Mormon public committee to gather evidence to `completely divest Joseph Smith of all claims to the character of an honest man. . .' To achieve this goal he travelled to New York and procured statements at Palmyra Village, the largest business center adjacent to the Smith farm and also at Manchester, the rural district that included `Stafford Street.' Cornelius Stafford, then twenty, later remembered that Hurlbut arrived at `our school house and took statements about the bad character of the Mormon Smith family, and saw them swear to them.'" (Anderson 1970, 284-85)