Joseph Knight’s Recollection of Early Mormon History — with emphasized text, endnotes, and observations from Rich
Kelsey
Joseph Knight’s account reproduced below, although undated and unsigned, appears
to be a *holograph penned sometime between the author’s departure from Jackson
County, Missouri in 1833 and his death in 1847. Located in the Church Archives,
the document is written in ink on both sides of five 8 x 10 inch pages. The
manuscript is incomplete, missing at least one beginning page. Although written
in pencil from one to ten, the page numbers were obviously added by a later
writer to designate the sequence of surviving pages. A clerk’s filing
inscription on the document reads, “22 Sept. 1827. Manuscript of the early
History of Joseph Smith finding of plates, &c. &c.” The words “22 Sept. 1827,”
“early,” and “finding of plates, &c. &c.” were inserted by Thomas Bullock, a
church clerk from 1843 to 1857. Minimal punctuation has been added here to
facilitate reading:
[*Note: A holograph is a document written entirely in the handwriting of the
person whose signature it bears]
MANUSCRIPT OF THE EARLY HISTORY OF JOSEPH SMITH
From thence he went to the hill where he was informed the Record was and found
no trouble for it appeard plain as tho he was acquainted with the place it was
so plain in
the vision that he had of the place. He went and found the place and opened it
and
found a plane Box. He oncovered it and found the Book and took it out and laid
[it]
Down By his side and thot he would Cover the place over again thinking there
might be
something else here. But he was told to take the Book and go right away.1 And
after he
had Covered the place he turned round to take the Book and it was not there and
he was
astonished that the Book was gone. He thot he would look in the place again and
see if
it had not got Back again. He had heard people tell of such things.2 And he
opened the
Box and Behold the Book was there. He took hold of it to take it out again and
Behold
he Could not stur the Book any more then he Could the mountin. He exclaimed “why
Cant I stur this Book?” And he was answered, “you cant have it now.” Joseph says
“when can I have it?” The answer was the 22nt Day of September next if you Bring
theright person with you. Joseph says,” who is the right Person?”
The answer was
“youroldest Brother.”3
But before September Came his oldest Brother Died. Then he was Disapinted and
did not [k]now what to do. But when the 22nt Day of September Came he went to
the
place and the personage appeard4 and told him he Could not have it now. But the
22nt
Day of September nex he mite have the Book if he Brot with him the right person.
Joseph says, “who is the right Person?”5 The answer was you will know. Then
he
lookedin his glass6 and found it was Emma Hale, Daughter of old Mr Hail of Pensylvany,
a girl
that he had seen Before, for he had Bin Down there Before with me.
Joseph then went to Mr Stowels [Stowell] whare he had lived sometime Before.
But Mr Stowel Could not pay him money for his work very well and he came to me
perhaps
in November and worked for me until about the time that he was Married, which
I think was in February. And I paid him the money and I furnished him with a
horse
and Cutter to go and see his girl Down to Mr. Hails. And soon after this he was
Married
and Mr Stowel moved him and his wife to his fathers in Palmyra Ontario County.
Nothing material took place untill toard fall the forepart of September. I went
to
Rochester on Buisness and returnd By Palmyra to be there about the 22nt of
September.
I was there several Days. I will say there [was] a man near By the name Samuel
Lawrance. He was a Seear [Seer] and he had Bin to the hill and
knew about the
thingsin the hill and he was trying to obtain them. He [Joseph Smith] had talked with
me and
told me the Conversation he had with the personage which told him if he would Do
right according to the will of God he mite obtain [the plate] the 22nt Day of
September
Next and if not he never would have them. Now Joseph was some affraid of him
[Samuel Lawrence] that he mite be a trouble to him. He therefore sint his father
up to
Sams as he Called him near night to see if there was any signs of his going away
that
night. He told his father to stay till near Dark and if he saw any signs of his
going you
till if I find him there I will thrash the stumps with him. So the old man came
a way and
saw no thing like it. This is to shoe [show] the troubles he had from time to
time to
obtain the plates.
So that night we all went to Bed and in the morning I got up and my Horse and
Carriage was gone. But after a while he Came home and he turned out the Horse.
All
Come into the house to Brackfirst [breakfast]. But no thing said about where
they had
Bin. After Brackfirst Joseph Cald me into the other Room and he set his foot on
the Bed
and leaned his head on his hand and says, “Well I am Dissopinted. “Well,” say I,
“I am
sorrey.” “Well,” says he, “I am grateley Dissopinted; it is ten times Better
then I
expected.” Then he went on to tell the length and width and thickness I
expected.”
Then he went on to tell the length and width and thickness of the plates, and
said he,
“they appear to be Gold.” But he seamed to think more of the glasses or the urim
and
thummem then [than] he Did of the Plates, for, says he, “I can see anything;
they are
Marvelus. Now they are written in Caracters and I want them translated.”
Now he was Commanded not to let no [any] one see those things But a few for
witness at a given time. Now it soon got about that Joseph Smith had found the
plates
and peopel Come in to see them But he told them that they Could not for he must
not
shoe [show] them. But many insisted and oferd money and Property to see them.
But,for keeping them from the Peopel they persecuted and abused them [him] and
they
[the Smiths] ware obliged to hide them [the plates], and they hid them under a
Brick
harth in the west Room. About this time Came this Samuel Lawrance and one Beeman
a grate Rodsman and wanted to talk with him. And he went into the west Room
and they Proposed to go shares with him and tried every way to Bargain with him
But
Could not. Then Beeman took out his Rods and hild [held] them up and they
pointed
Dow[n] to the harth whare they ware hid. “There,” says Beeman, “it is under that
harth.” So they had to garde the house until some time in November. He obtaind
fifty
Dollars in money and hired a man to move him and his wife to Pensylvany to hir
Fathers, his wife Being onwell and wanted to go to her Fathers. He Bout [bought]
a
piece of Land of hir Father with a house and Barn on it. Here the People Began
to tease
him to see the Book and to offer him money and property and they Crouded so
harde
that he had to hide it in the Mountin.
He now Began to be anxious to git them translated. He therefore with his wife
Drew of[f] the Caricters exactley like the ancient and sent Martin Harris to see
if he
Could git them Translated. He went to Albeny and to Philadelpha and to new york
and
he found men that Could Translate some of the Carictors in all those places.
Mitchel
[Samuel L. Mitchill] and Anthony [Charles Anthon] of New York ware the most
Larded [learned[ But there were some Caricters they could not well understand.
Therefore
Anthony told him that he thot if he had the original he culd translate it.
And he
rote a very good piece to Joseph and said if he would send the original he would
translate
it. But at Last Martin Harris told him that he Could not have the original for
it was
Commanded not to be shone. And he was mad and said what Does this mean, and he
tore the paper that he wrote all to pieces and stampid it under his feet and
says Bring me
the original or I will not translate it. Mr. Harris, seeing he was in a passion,
he said, “well
I will go home and see, and if they can be had I will wright to you immeditely.”
So he
Came home and told how it was and they went to him no more. Then was fulfild the
29th Chapter of Isiah. Now he [Joseph Smith] Bing [being] an unlearned man did
not
know what to Do. Then the Lord gave him Power to Translate himself. Then ware
the
Larned men Confounded, for he, By the means he found with the plates, he Could
translate those Caricters Better than the Larned.Now the way he translated was
he put the urim and thummim into his hat andDarkned his Eyes than he would take a sentance and it would apper in Brite Roman
Letters.
Then he would tell the writer and he would write it. Then that would go away thenext sentance would Come and so on. But if it was not Spelt rite it would not go
awaytill it was rite, so we see it was marvelous. Thus was the hol [whole]
translated. < (see
documentation)
Now when he Began to translate he was poor and was put to it for provisions and
had no one to write a little for him through the winter.17 The Next Spring
Oliver
Cowdry a young man from palmyra Came to see old Mr Smith, Josephs father, about
this work and he sent him Down to pensylveny to see Joseph and satisfy him self.
So he
Came Down and was soon Convinced of the truth of the work. The next Spring Came
Martin Harris Down to pennsylvany to write for him and he wrote 116 pages of the
first
part of the Book of Mormon. And about this time Martin wanted to go home a Bout
some Buisness and he wanted to take the writings with him But Joseph put him
of[f].
But he urged him By fair promises that he would be Careful and he would Return
it
again. But he Being free with it some person go[t] hold of it and Cept [kept] it
so that
he never Could obtain it again. There fore Joseph Lost his privilige for a
while. But after
Repenting he again received the privelage of translating again, as in Book of
Covenants
page 163.18
Now he Could not translate But little Being poor and nobody to write for him But
his wife and she Could not do much and take Care of her house and he Being poor
and
no means to live But work. His wifes father and familey ware all against him and
would
not j[e]lp him. He and his wife Came up to see me the first of the winter 1828
and told
me his Case. But I was not in easy Circumstances and I did not know what it mite
amount to and my wife and familey all against me about helping him. But I let
him have
some little provisions and some few things out of the Store a pair of shoes and
three
Dollars in money to help him a litle. In January his father and Samuel [Smith]
came
from Manchester to my house when I was Buisey a Drawing Lumber. I told him they
had traviled far enough. I would go with my sley and take them down to morrow.
I went Down and found them well and the[y] were glad to see us. We conversed
about
many things. In the morning I gave the old man a half a Dollar and Joseph a
little
money to Buoy paper to translate, I having But little with me. The old gentlemen
told
me to Come and see him once in a while as I could I went home followed teaming
till
the last of March the slaying [sleighing] Being good. I told my wife I must go
Dow[n]
and see Joseph again. “Why Do you go soon, for,” said she. Says I, “Come go and
see.”
And she went with me. Next morning we went Down and found them well and ware
glad to see us. Joseph talked with us about his translating and some Revelation
he had
Received and from that time my wife began to Beleve and Continuwed a full
Believer
untill she Died and that was the 7 Day of August 1831.
In the spring of 1829 Oliver Cowdry a young man from Palmry went to see old Mr.
Smith about the Book that Joseph had found. And he told him about it and advised
him
to go Down to Pensylvany and see for him self and to write for Joseph. He went
Down
and Received a Revelation Concerning the work and he was Convinced of the truth
of
the work and he agreed to write for him till it was Done. How Joseph and Oliver
Came
up to see me if I Could help him to some provisons, [they] having no way to Buy
any.But I was to Cattskill. But when I came home my folks told me what Joseph
wanted. But
I had ingaged to go to Catskill again the next Day and I went again and I Bought
a Barral
of Mackrel and some lined paper for writing. And when I came home I Bought some
nine or ten Bushels of grain and five or six Bushels taters [potatoes] and a
pound of tea,
and I went Down to see him and they ware in want. Joseph and Oliver ware gone to
see
if they Could find a place to work for provisions, But found none. They returned
home
and found me there with provisions, and they ware glad for they ware out. Their
familey
Consisted of four, Joseph and wife, Oliver and his [Joseph’s] Brother Samuel.
Then
they went to work and had provisions enough to Last till the translation was
Done. Then
he agreed with Martin Harris to print. They therefore agreed with E. Grandin to
Print
five thousand Coppies which was Printed and Bound at Palmiry in the Spring of
1830.
Now in the Spring of 1830 I went with my Team and took Joseph out to Manchester
to his Father. When we was on our way he told me that there must be a Church
formed But did not tell when. Now when we got hear to his fathers we saw a man
some
Eighty Rods Before us run acros the street with a Bundle in his hand. “there,”
says
Joseph, “There is Martin going a Cros the road with some thing in his hand.”
Says I,“how Could you know himi so far? Says he, “I Believe it is him,” and when
we Came up
it was Martin with a Bunch of morman Books. He Came to us and after Compliments
he says, “The Books will not sell for no Body wants them. Joseph says, “I think
they will
sell well.” Says he, “I want a Commandment.” “Why,” says Joseph, “fullfill what
you
have got.” “But,” says he, “I must have a Commandment.” Joseph put him off. But
he
insisted three or four times he must have a Commandment.
We went home to his fathers and Martin with us. Martin stayed at his Fathers and
slept in a Bed on the flor with me. Martin awoke me in the nite and asked me if
I felt
any thing on the Bed. I told him no. Says I, “Did you?” “Yes, I felt some thing
as Big as
a grat Dog Sprang upon my Brest.” Says I, “Was you not mistekened.” “No,” says
he. “It
was so.” I Sprang up and felt, But I Could see nor feal nothing. In the morning
he got
up and said he must have a Commandment to Joseph and went home. And along in the
after part of the Day Joseph and Oliver Received a Commandmant which is in Book
of
Covenants Page 174.20 I stayd a few Days wating for some Books to Be Bound.
Joseph
said there must Be a Church Biltup. I had Ben there several Days. Old Mr Smith
and
Martin Harris Come forrod [forward] to Be Babtise[d] for the first. They found a
place
in a lot a small Stream ran thro and they ware Babtized in the Evening Because
of Persecution.
They went forward and was Babtized Being the first I saw Babtized in the new
and everlasting Covenant. I had some thots to go forrod, But I had not re[a]d
the Book
of Mormon and I wanted to oxeman [examine] a little more I being a Restorationar
and had not oxamined so much as I wanted to. But I should a felt Better if I had
a gone
forward. But I went home and was Babtised in June with my wife and familey.
There was one thing I will mention that evening that old Brother Smith and
Martin
Harris was Babtised. Joseph was fild with Spirrit to a grate Degree to see his
Father
and Mr Harris that he had Bin with so much he Bast [burst?] out with greaf and
Joy and
seamed as tho the world Could not hold him. He went out into the Lot and appeard
to
want to git out of side of every Body and would sob and Crie and seamed to Be so
full
that he could not live. Oliver and I went after him and Came to him and after a
while
he Came in. But he was the most wrot upon that I ever saw any man. But his joy
seemed
to Be full. I think he saw the grate work he had Begun and was Desirus to Carry
it out.
On the sixth Day of April 1830 he Begun the Church with six members and received
the
following Revelation Book of Covenants Page 177.21 They all kneeld down and
prayed
and Joseph gave them instructions how to Bild up the Church and exorted them to
Be
faithfull in all things for this is the work of God.
Now after he had set things in order and got a number of Mormon Books we
Returned home. Then in June as I Before said I and my familey and a number more
ware Babtised, Joseph Being present and Confirmed them. And through that season
there ware many Babtised in Many places and the Church grew and multiplied. But
soon after the Church Began to gro the People Began to Be angry and to persecute
and
Cald them fools and said they ware Decived. But along toards fall Joseph and
Oliver
Cowdray and David Whitmore [Whitmer] and John Whitmore Came from Harmony
in Pennsylvany to my house on some Buisness. And some of the Vagabonds found
they
ware there and they made a Catspaw of a young fellow By the name of Docter
Benton
in Chenengo County to sware out a warrent against Joseph for as they said
pertending
to see under ground. A little Clause they found in the york Laws against such
things.
The oficer Came to my house near knite [night] and took him. I harnesed my
horses
and we all went up to the villige But it was so late they Could not try him that
nite and
it was put of[f] till morning. I asked Joseph if [he] wanted Counsell he said he
thot he
should. I went that nite and saw Mr James Davison [Davidson] a man I was
acquainted
with. The next morning the gatherd a multitude of people that ware against him.
Mr Davison said it looked like a squaley [squally] Day; he thot we had Better
have John
Read [Reid]a prety good speaker near by. I told him we would, so I imployed them
Both. So after a trial all Day jest at nite he was Dismissed. Then there was
another oficer
was Ridy [ready] and took him on the same Case Down to Broom County Below
forth with. I hired Boath these Lawyers and took them Down home with me that
nite.
The next Day it Continued all Day till midnite. But they Could find no thing
against
him therefore he was Dismist.
Soon after this Joseph Left the Susquhannah river and went to Manchester to his
Fathers. Then about the first thing Sidney Rigdin came from ohio to see Joseph
and
they Boath Came Down to Broom County and Joseph and Sidney went Down to Harmoney
to settle some Buisness. And the Mob found they ware gone and they found
when they ware expected Back and we found they had a plan laid to take Joseph
and
Sidney and me. Now Sidney had Ben at my house several Days and had preached
there
several times and he was too smart for them therefore they wanted to trouble
him. And
the Day we expected them I sent my son Down to meat them and told them of their
Plan and they turned acrost to Chenango point. And so went to the Lakes. And I
Loaded up what I Could Cary and went away that nite for the Lakes. I also took
my wife
and Daughter for we war[e] calcalating to go soon for we a litle Before had a
revelation
to go to ohio. So the Mob watched all nite at the Bridge. But Behold we all Came
up
missing and the poor mob Lost all their truble. Now Joseph and I went rite on to
Kirtland
ohio But did not stay long there for in March we went to the town of Thompson a
bout twenty miles and in the spring the Colesvill Church all Came on. But Joseph
remaind in Kirtland and Sidney soon Came to Kirtland.
Now this Spring Joseph received anumber of Revelation. One was to purchase a
thousand acres of Land which was Claimed by Leman Copley and not paid for. He
had a little Before Come into the Church and apeard to Be Zelaus and faithful.
We all
went to work and made fence and planted and sowed the fields. About this time we
ware Cald upon to Consecrate our properties. But Brother Copley would not
Consecrate
his property therefore he was Cut of[f] from the Church. Then we was Commanded
to take up our Jorney to the Regions westward to the Boarders of the Lamanites.
And
we sold out what we Could But Copley took the advantege of us and we Could not
git
any thing for what we had done. So we left Copleys in June and moved our things
to
wellsvill on the ohio river which was about ninety miles. Then we went on Board
the
Steamer the third Day of July and we landed in uper Misouria the 26th of the
same
Month. We found our selves among strangers But the people seamed to Be frindley
with us. And we found the Country to be Butiful rich and plesent and we made our
selves as Comfortable as we Could. And in a few Day Joseph and Sidney and a
number
of Brotherin came and they looked out and Enterd a Considrible of Land, for the
People to Settle on.25 We found it a new Country with some settlrs on it.
There was one Joshua Lewis that had Come into the Church the winter Before,
he and his wife. And they ware faithful and good to us and took us in to their
house, my
wife Being sick as before stated. She Died the Seventh Day of August and Joseph
and
Sidney attended her funeral on the Eighth. She was Burried in the woods a spot
Chosen
out By our selves. I was along By where she was Buried a few Days after and I
found the
hogs had Began to root whare she was Buried. I being verry unwell But I took my
ax
the nex Day and went and Bilt a pen round it. It was the Last I done for her.
Joseph at this time Looked out the Country and found the place for the City and
Temple and set Mark, and after giving all other nesesary instructions he
Returned Back
for Kirtland. But as time Came along we often heard form him and Recevied
Revelation.
The next year in 1832 he Came again to Missouri and set things in order and
Cald the Colesvill Church to gather and seald them up to Eternal Life. And this
made
some little feeling among others But I think he [k]new Best. So that passed
of[f] and he
Returned to Kirtland again and I think he Did not Come to Missouri the next year
for
the Mob Began to sho their Black heads in 1833. But Joseph Sent and Counsled
During
our troubles in Jackson County and after the worst Came to the worst thot we had
Better
leve the County.
“In the moment of excitement, Joseph was overcome by the powers of darkness, and
forgot the injunction that was laid upon him. Having some further conversation
with the angel on this occasion, Joseph was permitted to raise the stone again,
when he beheld the plates as he had done before. He immediately reached forth
his hand to take them, but instead of getting them, as he anticipated,
he was hurled back upon the ground with great
violence. When he recovered, the angel was gone, and he arose
and returned to the house weeping for grief and disappointment.” (LDS.org,
1973, The Greatness of Joseph Smith and His Remarkable Visions / Lucy Smith,
Biographical Sketches, p. 347)
Joseph Smith's neighbor Willard Chase substantiated Lucy's account:
"... he [Joseph Smith] again stooped down and strove to take the book, whenthe spirit struck him again, and knocked him
three or four rods, and hurt him prodigiously.
After recovering
from his fright, he enquired why he could not obtain the plates; to which the
spirit made reply, because you have not obeyed your orders. He then enquired
when he could have them, and was answered thus: come one year from this day, and
bring with you your oldest brother, and you shall have them." (MORMONISM, p.242)
2. Joseph Smith was most likely referring to
stories he had heard about money digging. One example is of Martin Harris
describing how a box of treasure "moved away:"
"It was reported by these money-diggers, that they had found boxes, but before
they could secure them, they would sink into the earth. A candid old
Presbyterian told me, that on the Susquehannah flats he dug down to an iron
chest, that he scraped the dirt off with his shovel, but had nothing with him to
open the chest; that he went away to get help, and when they came to it, it
moved away two or three rods into the earth, and they could not get it." (Joel
Tiffany, Interview with Martin Harris)
3. LDS publication documenting four trusted
accounts of Alvin being the right person:
“Willard Chase evidently reported the instructions concerning Alvin correctly.
The event was confirmed by Joseph Knight, the LDS convert who supplied Joseph
and Oliver with necessities while they translated the Book of Mormon. Brother
Knight tells how Joseph first went to the hill but was denied the record because
of carelessness: “Joseph says, ‘When can I have it?’ The answer wasthe 22nd day of September next if you bring
the right personwith you. Joseph says, ‘Who is the right
person?’ The answer was ‘Your oldest brother.’ But before September came his
oldest brother died.” — Dean Jessee, “Joseph Knight’s Recollection of Early
Mormon History,” BYU Studies, Autumn 1976, p. 31. — Two later reports tell
similar stories, basically repeating the Chase affidavit. — Fayette Lapham
claimed to give particular words of Joseph Smith, Sr., forty years after
conversing with him: “The Mormons,” Historical Magazine 7 (2d ser. 1870): 305–9;
also cited in Kirkham, 2:283–391. Here the command to bring Alvin is given at a
second visit to the hill, and “during that year … his oldest brother died.” See
also the Kelley interviews with Lorenzo Saunders. On 17 September 1884, Lorenzo
said to William H. Kelley that the ‘angel’ appeared to Joseph ‘in the woods’ and
‘told him where the plates were and he could take his oldest brother with him in
a year from that time and go and get them. But his oldest brother died before
the year was out.” (E. L. Kelley Papers, box 1, fd. 7, pp. 9–10, historical
archives of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints,
hereafter cited as RLDS Archives.) On 12 November 1884, Lorenzo said: “he saw
the angel and … was notified of these plates … but it was not at that time made
known to him, but he must take his older brother and go to the spotand he could obtain them.
Before that time his oldest brother died.’” (E. L. Kelley interview with
Saunders, E. L. Kelley Papers, box 1, fd., 1884 Nov. and Dec., p. 16, RLDS
Archives.) - (Ensign, 1987, August, The Alvin Smith Story: Fact and Fiction, By
Richard Lloyd Anderson)
4. Evidently, Joseph Knight was not aware what
the name of the personage was. Because, in this, as well as other early
accounts, the personage is not identified by name. Here is an example:
"I fell into transgressions and sinned in many things which brought a wound upon
my soul and there were many things which transpired that cannot be writen and my
Fathers family have suffered many persicutions and afflictions and it came to
pass when I was seventeen years of age I called again upon the Lord and he
shewed unto me a heavenly vision for behold an angel of the Lord came and stood
before me and it was by night and he called me by name and he said the Lord had
forgiven me my sins and he revealed unto me that in the Town of Manchester
Ontario County N.Y. there was plates of gold upon which there was engravings
which was engraven by Maroni & his fathers the servants of the living God in
ancient days and deposited by th[e] commandments of God and kept by the power
thereof and that I should go and get them and he revealed unto me many things
concerning the inhabitents of of the earth which since have been revealed in com
mandments & revelations and it was on the 22d day of Sept. AD 182 1822 and thus
he appeared unto me three times in one night and once on the next day and then I
immediately went to the place and found where the plates was deposited as the
angel of the Lord had commanded me and straightway made three attempts to get
them and then being excedingly frightened I supposed it had been a dreem of
Vision but when I considred I knew that it was not therefore I cried unto the
Lord in the agony of my soul why can I not obtain them behold the angel appeared
unto me again and said unto me you have not kept the commandments of the Lord
which I gave unto you therefore you cannot now obtain them for the time is not
yet fulfilled..." (Letterbook
I, Joseph Smith Papers)
Notice that the vision is at night, and then an appearance the next day. Joseph
is 17 years of age, the messenger is called "an angel
of the Lord", and, while this angel does speak of
"Maroni [Moroni]", he was clearly not
referring to himself; nor is it mentioned that Moroni is the name of a personage
watching over the plates.
5. In early versions of the gold plate
stories, bringing the right person was the central theme. The story about the
spirit saying:
" ... that the time for bringing them forth had not yet arrived, neither would
it, until four years from that time ..." (History of the Church Vol. 1, 1:53)
runs contrary to general theme of early accounts, which is a clear indication
that the, (four-year-from-now) doctrine, is a later invention.
6. John S. Reed, Smith's legal counsel during
his 1830 trials, remembered that Smith had been arrested
"for the crime of glass looking …" (John S. Reed to Brigham Young, 6 December
1861, p. 1, Brigham Young Collection, LDS Church Archives, Salt Lake City, UT).
In other words, for using a seer stone to see underground, as documented in a
statement from Gordon A. Madsen's BYU Studies work on the 1826 trial:
"...
he [Josiah Stowell] emphatically denied that he had been deceived or defrauded;
on the contrary he positively knew the accused [Joseph Smith] could discern the
whereabouts of subterranean objects..." (Joseph Smith's 1826 Trial: The Legal
Selling, BYU Studies, p. 105)
The text in this document:
"Then he looked in his glass and found it was Emma
Hale ..."
backs up what Joseph Smith told judge Neely in court during the 1826 trial:
“With some labor and exertion he found the stone, carried it to the creek,
washed and wiped it dry, sat down on the bank, placed it in his hat, and
discovered that time, place and distance were annihilated; that all intervening
obstacles were removed, and that he possessed
one of the attributes of Deity, an All-Seeing-Eye. He arose with
a thankful heart, carried his tools to their owner, turned his feet towards the
rising sun, and sought with weary limbs his long deserted home.” (Purple
account, Joseph Smith
Testimony, 1826 trial)
“For the most part, the quest for buried wealth and its associated belief system
have slipped away into a forgotten world. Though strange to us today,
treasure-seeking beliefs probably influenced hundreds of thousands of Europeans
and thousands of early European Americans. Many early Americans believed that
treasures had been secreted in the earth by ancient inhabitants of the
continent, by Spanish explorers, by pirates, or even by the dwarves of European
mythology. Treasure hunters usually looked for caves and lost mines or dug into
hills and Native American mounds to find these hidden deposits. A legend, a
treasure map, or a dream of buried wealth initiated the hunt. Local specialists
were enlisted to use their divining rods or seer stones to locate the treasure.
To hide from the scrutiny of skeptics and the notice of other treasure seekers,
they worked under the cover of darkness. Gathering at the designated spot, the
treasure seekers staked out magical circles around the treasure. They used Bible
passages and hymns, prayers and incantations, ritual swords and other magical
items, or even propitiatory animal sacrifices to appease or fend off
preternatural guardians of the treasure. Excavation usually commenced under a
rule of silence. Should someone carelessly mutter or curse, the treasure
guardian could penetrate the circle or carry the treasure away through the
earth.” (Moroni as Angel and as Treasure Guardian, Mark Ashurst-McGee, FARMS
Review Vol. 18 - 1 p.p. 34-100, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, 2006)
