LDS Quotes about Seer Stones

I have always been fascinated with rocks, stones, and magical powers. So, I have no problem reading about Joseph Smith’s seer stone. We taught our kids about Joseph’s seer stone. We talked about wanting one for ourselves. We read Michael Quinn’s book on Early Mormonism and the Magic World View back in 1987. And I believe in the 16 stones that the brother of Jared used to light their vessel. All very magical.

Since the LDS church decided to publish photos of the brown seer stone that Joseph used in his hat, I’ve been reading about the history. I’ve decided to keep all the quotes in one place so I can access them later. I Thought I would share them with you. Now, just so you know, I believe all this stuff. I have a strong testimony of Joseph Smith, the seer. I believe in more than what the physical eye can see, or what science can prove.

The Bible talks about a white stone,

To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it. (Rev 2:17)

And Joseph Smith received this revelation in 1843 about that white stone:

Then the white stone mentioned in Revelation 2:17, will become a Urim and Thummim to each individual who receives one, whereby things pertaining to a higher order of kingdoms will be made known;

And a white stone is given to each of those who come into the celestial kingdom, whereon is a new name written, which no man knoweth save he that receiveth it. The new name is the key word. (Doctrine and Covenants 130:10-11)

Richard Bushman in Joseph Smith, Rough Stone Rolling explains:

Joseph had discovered two stones, one in 1822 while digging a well with Willard Chase a half mile from the Smith farm. (called the Chase seer stone) The source of the other stone is uncertain. These stones were the keys that enable Joseph to see things, as Lucy said, “invisible to the natural eye.” Emma Smith described one of them as “a small stone, not exactly black, but was rather a dark color.”

In 1841, Joseph showed his other, whitish stone to the Council of the Twelve in Nauvoo and told them, Brigham Young reported, “that every man who lived on the earth was entitled to a seer stone and should have one, but they are kept from them in consequence of their wickedness.”

Alva Hale….said Joseph Smith Jr. told him that the “gift of seeing with a stone” was “a gift from God” but that “peeping” was all d__d nonsense.” (Bushman, p. 48-52)

B.H. Roberts, assistant church historian wrote about the stone from 1907-1930:

The seer stone referred to here was a chocolate-colored, somewhat egg-shaped stone which the Prophet found while digging a well in company with his brother Hyrum, for a Mr. Clark Chase, near Palmyra, N.Y. It possessed the qualities of Urim and Thummim, since by means of it — as described above, — as well as by means of the Interpreters found with the Nephite record, Joseph was able to translate the characters engraven on the plates.” (1907, 1:257; 1909, 2:108; 1930, 1:129; also Widtsoe 1951, 260, as quoted in Quinn, p. 145).

Brigham Young in December 27, 1841:

–27– I met with the Twelve at Brother Joseph’s. He conversed with us in a familiar manner on a variety of subjects, and explained to us the Urim and Thummim which he found with the plates, called in the Book of Mormon the Interpreters. He said that every man who lived on the earth was entitled to a seerstone, and should have one, but they are kept from them in consequence of their wickedness, and most of those who do find one make an evil use of it; he showed us his seerstone. (Brigham Young (1801-1877)Autobiography (1801-1844) in Manuscript History of Brigham Young Source: Manuscript History of Brigham Young, 1801-1844, ed. Elden Jay Watson (Salt Lake City: Smith Secretarial Service, 1968).

Brigham Young said at the October 6, 1844 conference after the death of Joseph Smith:

The president of the priests has a right to the Urim and Thummim, which gives revelation. (HC volume 7, chapter 23,  p.285)

Perhaps, Brigham did not see himself as Joseph, the seer. Wilford Woodruff recorded in his journal (volume 5:550) that Apostle John Taylor explained,

Brigham Young in saying that He did not profess to be a prophet seer & Revelator as Joseph Smith was, was speaking of men being born Natural Prophets & seers. Many have the fit of seeing through seer stones without the Priesthood at all. He had not this gift naturally yet He was an Apostle & the President of the Church. (Wilford Woodruff, 5:550, as quoted in Quinn, Early Mormonism)

The Urim and Thummim and seer stone has been described by others:

Martin Harris relates that the lenses were “about two inches in diameter, perfectly round, and about five-eighths of an inch thick at the centre. . . . They were joined by a round bar of silver, about three-eights of an inch in diameter, and about four inches long, which with the two stones, would make eight inches” Harris read proofs of this article before publication and verified the accuracy of the reporting. (Joel Tiffany, Tiffany’s Monthly, June 1859, pp. 165-66. Van Wagoner & Walker, Joseph Smith, the Gift of Seeing, Dialogue a Journal of Mormon Thought, p. 65 n. 27.

Another supportive account is a Whitmer interview recorded in the Chicago Tribune, 17 Dec. 1885: “The plates were never restored to Joseph—nor the spectacles, but a different Urim & Thummim—one oval or kidney-shaped—a seer’s stone, which he placed in his hat, and, face in hat, he would see character and translation on the stone.”Whitmer’s account is also corroborated by William E. McLellan, an early member of the Quorum of the Twelve: “After the 116 pages were lost Joseph translated the rest of the Book of Mormon with a stone,” Saints’ Herald 19 (1 Aug. 1872): 473. (Ibid., p 65 n. 29)

Joseph Knight said that the seer stone was used by Joseph:

An interesting account related by Joseph Knight, Sr., suggests that Emma Smith’s involvement in the recovery of the plates on 22 September 1827 was shown in vision through the Chase Seer Stone: “Joseph says when can I have it [the Nephite Record] the answer was the 22nt Day of September next if you bring the right person with you Joseph says who is the right person the answer is your oldest Brother But before September Came his oldest Brother Died [Alvin died 19 November 1823] then he was disappointed and did not [k]now what to do but when the 22nt day of September came he went to the place and the personage appeared and told him he could not have it now But the 22nt day of September next he might have the Book if he brot with him the right person Joseph says who is the right person the answer was you will know then he looked in his glass and found it was Emma Hale daughter of old Mr. Hale of Pennsylvany,” Knight manuscript, LDS Church Archives. (Ibid. p 66 n. 42)

Two seer stones were in President Brigham Young’s estate:

His daughter, Zina Young Card, in a letter to her cousin, Apostle F. D. Richards, related: “There is a matter that I wish to lay before you, that weighs upon my mind, and seems very important to me. I refer to some very sacred articles I bought at the sale of my father’s personal effects,—articles that never should have been given up to the idle gaze; but being brought out, my mother and myself felt it a wish of our hearts to get them, that their sacredness might not be sullied. “They are: two sear-stones and an arrow point. They are in the possession of President Woodruff now, and very properly too, but I feel dear cousin, that they should ever be the property of the President of the Church, and not of individuals; that at his demise, they are not retained as they were before among ‘personal effects,’ but considered ever the legitimate property of God’s mouth-piece,” (Zina Young Card to F. D. Richards, 31 July 1896, F. D. Richards Letter Collection, LDS Church Archives.)

In addition to the seer stones, President Young also possessed a “bloodstone” which he wore about his neck on a chain “when going into unknown or dangerous places” (See display #1076, Brigham Young Collection, Daughters of Utah Pioneers Museum, Salt Lake City, Utah). (Ibid. p. 66 n. 53)

Wilford Woodruff and Orson Pratt:

18 May 1888 “We Met in the upper room & I set Daniel H Wells Apart to Preside over the Temple….Before leaving I Consecrated upon the Altar the seers Stone that Joseph Smith found by Revelation some 30 feet under the Earth Carried By him through life.” (Waiting for World’s End, The Diaries of Wilford Woodruff, edited by Susan Staker, p. 378)

Though the reason for the consecration is not given, Orson Pratt related in 1873 that through the medium of Urim and Thummim, “which the Lord God has ordained to be used in the midst of his holy house, in his Temple. . . books of genealogy, tracing individuals and nations among all people back to ancient times will be revealed,” Journal of Discourses, 16:26 ( Van Wagoner & Walker, Joseph Smith, the Gift of Seeing, Dialogue a Journal of Mormon Thought,p. 66 n. 55)

Emma Smith Bidamon to Emma Pilgrim, 27 March 1870, RLDS Church Archives:

Joseph described the interpreters in his 1842 Wentworth Letter as “two transparent stones set in the rim of a bow.” But Martin Harris described them in an 1859 Tiffany’s Monthly interview as “white, like polished marble, with a few grey streaks.” An interview with David Whitmer (“The Golden Fables,” The Chicago Times, 7 Aug. 1875) clarifies this confusion by explaining the interpreters as “shaped like a pair of ordinary spectacles, though much larger, and at least half an inch in thickness, and perfectly opaque save to the prophetic vision of Joseph Smith.” (Van Wagoner & Walker, p. 67 n. 78)

From Russell M. Nelson’s talk, quoting,   David Whitmer:

David Whitmer, one of the Three Witnesses, described Smith’s method of translation: “Joseph Smith would put the seer stone into a hat, and put his face in the hat, drawing it closely around his face to exclude the light; and in the darkness the spiritual light would shine. A piece of something resembling parchment would appear, and on that appeared the writing. One character at a time would appear, and under it was the interpretation in English. Brother Joseph would read off the English to Oliver Cowdery, who was his principal scribe, and when it was written down and repeated to Brother Joseph to see if it was correct, then it would disappear, and another character with the interpretation would appear. Thus the Book of Mormon was translated by the gift and power of God, and not by any power of man.” David Whitmer, Address to All Believers in Christ Part 1 (1886) (Wikipedia)

Joseph Fielding Smith:

“The statement has been made that the Urim and Thummim was on the altar in the Manti Temple when that building was dedicated. The Urim and Thummim so spoken of, however, was the seer stone which was in the possession of the Prophet Joseph Smith in early days. This seer stone is currently in the possession of the Church.” Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1954–56) 3: 225 (Wikipedia)

While the statement has been made by some writers that the Prophet Joseph Smith used a seer stone part of the time in his translating of the record, and information points to the fact that he did have in his possession such a stone, yet there is no authentic statement in the history of the Church which states that the use of such a stone was made in that translation. The information is all hearsay, and personally, I do not believe that this stone was used for this purpose. The reason I give for this conclusion is found in the statement of the Lord to the Brother of Jared as recorded in Ether 3:22–24. These stones, the Urim and Thummim which were given to the Brother of Jared, were preserved for this very purpose of translating the record, both of the Jaredites and the Nephites. Then again the Prophet was impressed by Moroni with the fact that these stones were given for that very purpose. It hardly seems reasonable to suppose that the Prophet would substitute something evidently inferior under these circumstances. It may have been so, but it is so easy for a story of this kind to be circulated due to the fact that the Prophet did possess a seer stone, which he may have used for some other purposes. Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, 3:225–26.

I guess you could say that Joseph Fielding Smith did not or would not believe that Joseph used the seer stone in his hat to translate. Perhaps is this one of the reasons it was not known to future generations. Thank goodness for scholars who have now evidence of the truth. Isn’t that what is important — truth?

Links about seer stones:

Seerstone Belcher-Dibble Stone photo

Whitmer seer stone photo

Seer stone stories

Teraphim and the Urim and Thummim

Urim and Thummim

Urim and Thummim  – Jewish Encyclopedia

Glowing Stones in Ancient and Medieval Lore (John A. Tvedtnes) Neal Maxwell Institute

Early Mormonism and the Magic World View (Michael Quinn Book)