According to Latter Day Saint theology, seer stones were used by Joseph Smith, as well as ancient prophets, to receive revelations from God. Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) believe that Smith used seer stones to translate the Book of Mormon. The culture that early Latter Day Saints developed in was steeped in Western esotericism, which included American folk magic practices. A seer stone in this culture was a prevalent divination tool used for a form of crystal gazing, or scrying. Seer stones are mentioned in the Book of Mormon in the Book of Mosiah, where they are also called "interpreters" and described as being used by seers to translate and receive revelations. The term "Urim and Thummim" is usually used by Latter Day Saints members to refer to the "interpreters" mentioned in the Book of Mormon. Some Latter Day Saints use the term Urim and Thummim and seer stones interchangeably. Smith owned at least two seer stones before his early twenties, when he had employed them for treasure seeking at the bequest of Josiah Stowell, before he founded the church. Other early Mormons, such as Hiram Page, David Whitmer, and Jacob Whitmer, also owned seer stones.
Seer stones and treasure-hunting Some early-19th-century Americans used seer stones in attempts to gain revelations from God or to find buried treasure. From about 1819, Smith regularly practiced scrying, a form of divination in which a "seer" looked into a seer stone to receive supernatural knowledge. Smith's usual procedure was to place the stone in a white stovepipe hat, put his face over the hat to block the light, and "see" the necessary information in the stone's reflections. Smith and his father achieved "something of a mysterious local reputation in the profession—mysterious because there is no record that they ever found anything despite the readiness of some local residents to pay for their efforts." In late 1825, Josiah Stowell, a well-to-do farmer from South Bainbridge, Chenango County, New York, was searching for a lost Spanish mine near Harmony Township, Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania with another seer. Stowell traveled to Manchester to hire Smith "on account of having heard that he possessed certain keys, by which he could discern things invisible to the natural eye." Smith worked with the Stowell-Hale team for approximately one month, attempting, according to their contract, to locate "a valuable mine of either Gold or Silver and also...coined money and bars or ingots of Gold or Silver". According to an uncorroborated account by Hale, Smith attempted to locate the mine by burying his face in a hat containing the seer stone; however, as the treasure hunters got close to their objective, Smith said that an enchantment became so strong that Smith could no longer see it. The failed project disbanded on November 17, 1825; however, Smith continued to work for Stowell on other matters until 1826.
In 1826, Smith was arrested and brought to court in Bainbridge, New York, on the complaint of Stowell's nephew who accused Smith of being "a disorderly person and an imposter." Court records show that Smith, identified as "The Glass Looker," stood before the court on March 20, 1826, on a warrant for an unspecified misdemeanor charge, and that the judge issued a mittimus for Smith to be held, either during or after the proceedings. Although Smith's associate Oliver Cowdery later stated that Smith was "honorably acquitted," the result of the proceeding is unclear, with some claiming he was found guilty, others claiming he was "condemned" but "designedly allowed to escape," and yet others (including the trial note taker) claiming he was "discharged" for lack of evidence. Martin Harris said that Smith once found a pin in a pile of shavings with the aid of a stone. Smith had at least two seer stones, including a white stone that he found in about 1819, and a chocolate-colored stone that he found in 1822. His favored stone, chocolate-colored and about the size of an egg, was found in a deep well he helped dig for one of his neighbors. In 1827, Smith said he obtained the "Urim and Thummim" which was composed of two white stones, different from the previous two.
Seer stones and the Book of Mormon
In 1823, Smith said that an angel told him of the existence of golden plates along with "two stones in silver bows" fastened to a breastplate that the angel said God had prepared for translating the plates. In dictating the Book of Mormon, Smith said he used these "interpreters," which he later referred to as "Urim and Thummim." Smith's wife, Emma, said that Smith used the Urim and Thummim to translate the lost 116 pages of the manuscript, but that Smith translated the published Book of Mormon using the single chocolate-colored stone that he had previously used in treasure-quests. David Whitmer said, regarding Smith's translation of the Book of Mormon:
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