I will post more info as I have time. It is a fascinating subject. Here is some info from a previous post on the coming CWII and the economic collapse:
It seems A Milton Musser was appointed Assistant Church Historian in 1902. This letter was written in 1896. Noah Packard (and "another brother") apparently heard the Prophet talk about this 2nd civil war, its city of origin, and its fundamental cause. Noah told his brother Nephi. Their father was also named Noah Packard (whose father was also named Noah Packard). I found a journal entry written by Noah Packard (Nephi and Noah's father). It seems he was a good and faithful servant. Baptized by Parley in 1832, stayed faithful through the Kirtland years, preparatory anointing in Kirtland, 1st anointing, endowment, and sealing in 1845 in Nauvoo, then also received his 2nd anointing in 1845.
His son, Noah [the 3rd] Packard, was born in 1821. Noah the 3rd is the primary source of this prophecy. That means he was ~11 years old when his father was baptized, and ~23 years old when the Prophet was martyred. At least we don't discover he was like 5 years old when the prophet died - it helps to make his hearing of the prophecy more plausible - as we can sometimes find with these "I heard the Prophet say" type of statements. Nephi Packard (the primary source's brother and author of the letter to Musser) was born July 1832, so he was about one month old when his father was baptized and ~11 years old when the Prophet died.
If the letter was written in 1896, then Noah the 3rd would be ~75 years old (I assume he's dead by then?), and Nephi would be 64 years old. This helps to temper the criticism that 1896 is too late of a date for someone to mention "I heard the prophet say" - It was his brother who heard it, who was 11 years older than he was. Again, the timing of everything seems plausible. No gaping holes from what I can gather.
Here is some more information on Nephi Packard. Baptized at 8 in Nauvoo, age 14 at the exodus, moved to Hobble Creek (now Springville, UT), married at ~29, did some farming and mining, and was called as Bishop of Springville Ward in 1883 (age 51) and remained so until it split into 4 wards, in 1892. No mention of plural marriage (which wasn't uncommon). And the line that I like: "Mr. Packard is an amiable gentleman, of unusual intelligence, and a man of strict honesty and integrity." Unusual intelligence - so perhaps it was easy for him to remember the prophecy as his brother and "another brother" explained it to him. Strict honesty and integrity - we have no reason to doubt that he did not make this up.
More information on Noah Packard is a bit more difficult to find since he was named after his father and grandfather. I wish we had more detail on this "another brother" who told him that depreciation of the currency was the cause.
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