Joseph Smith Hunting for Treasure
September 20, 2007
Before Joseph Smith claimed to have discovered golden plates buried in the ground, he claimed to have a special ability to locate other buried treasure. In 1826, while being employed by Josiah Stowell, a well-heeled farmer in Bainbridge County, New York, to find Spanish treasure that Stowell believed was buried on his property, Joseph was arrested and brought before a judge on criminal charges related to being a “glass-looker”.
What is a glass-looker? A glass-looker is a person who looks into an object, such as a crystal ball or a stone, to see into the future or to see into the spirit world.
Joseph Smith’s method of glass-looking is pictured above. It is largely identical to the method he would later use to translate the Book of Mormon. It consisted of placing a stone in a white stovepipe hat, holding it tightly around his face to keep the light out, and seeing whatever images the stone presented to him. The glass-looking skills Joseph claimed to have were very desirable for believing people with money and time to spare. Joseph charged a fee and a commission for helping such people locate buried treasure and outwit the spirits that guard such treasure.
The facts surrounding Joseph Smith’s 1826 arrest and the legal proceedings that resulted are the subject of much debate. Here is a link to a short article, written by a faithful Latter-day Saint and first published in 1972 in BYU Studies, that provides a concise summary of some of the religious and historical issues raised by the 1826 trial. For a more in-depth look at the evidence found in the historical record, here is a link to another article, also written by a faithful Mormon. Here is a link to chapter two of a book presenting some of Dale Morgan’s research on early Mormonism, first published by Signature Books in 1986, which (starting about halfway through) sets forth in detail Joseph Smith’s employment with Josiah Stowell as a glass-looker.
October 2nd, 2007 at 12:22 pm
I see what you are trying to do. You are bending the facts to fit your preconceived notions of what Joseph Smith was doing, and who he was. Kudos on knowing how to draw, but come on, this is pure propaganda.
Best of luck to you.
RBO
October 2nd, 2007 at 1:47 pm
Please expand on the “preconceived notions” you are seeing.
What do you think would be a more constructive purpose than this? Have you read the “About” page in the menu bar at the top of this page? You, and all other people who care about these things, are invited to constructively participate in the creation of historically accurate pieces of Mormon art. Just present a substantive argument that convincingly backs up your assertion that the facts supporting these images are “bent” somehow, and the artist will alter them so that the facts are straightened out as much as possible.
October 18th, 2007 at 8:57 am
RBO,
How is an historically accurate depiction of an event from the life of Joseph Smith “propaganda”? I think there is propaganda about Joseph Smith, but it comes out of 50 South Temple, not this site.
October 19th, 2007 at 5:49 am
You know I love your artwork, Admin. And this picture in particular actually tugs on my heartstrings a little bit. Even though I have no illusions that JS was a prophet or any of that, I do feel something affectionate for and about him. He’s a poor kid from a dirt farming background, and he’s got some moxie. He might not have much, but he’s got his own native smarts and charisma. It’s truly an American story. For some reason, this picture totally captures all of that for me.
October 22nd, 2007 at 6:20 am
Hey wry! Thank you very much for stopping by and adding your thoughts.
I feel much the same way about young Joseph Smith. He was just a kid at this point, occupying a very low station in life. People will always debate how high he would rise as his life went on, but I think most people agree that whatever he eventually attained, he started with almost nothing. And we are still talking about him.
This is the first Mormon history-related image I ever drew, and it is the only one of mine featured on this site (so far) that isn’t completely digital. I drew it very quickly in pencil during a break at work, on a piece of copy paper. I have since gone back into it with Photoshop, just to change the hat from a dark, rounded field worker-style hat to a white top hat, which is what he actually used (the edit was a price I had to pay to put it up on this site). The image is definitely not perfect, but there is something about it that just “works” for me, and has kept me from following up with a more refined version.
-JV
[Just to clarify, “Admin” is the name of the guy who does the technical dirty work (involving computer code and stuff) for this site, and he contributes to the explanatory notes below the pictures, but I am the same anonymous person you have seen around in the past.]
October 22nd, 2007 at 10:29 am
Love the site. Keep up the good work.
March 19th, 2008 at 7:53 am
well done, dude
March 23rd, 2008 at 11:55 am
What is the bottom line of all this talk. To me the bottom line can be stated with IF -
IF the Book Of Mormon is true scripture then Joseph Smith had to be a prophet.
IF Jospeh Smith was a true prophet then the Book of Mormon has to be the work of God.
You may want to read “The Trial Of The Stick Of Joseph” by Jack West. He defended the Book of Mormon as his final exam in Law School. He had to take on the whole class as his final exam. He was the only one in the class that was able to defend his claim that the Book of Mormon was really a history book about the people that lived in South and Cental America. Not much amout the ruins in this area were discovered until about the 1950s. The Book of Mormon was printed in 1829. Everything that has been found since that time has confirmed that these people were just like the book says.
That’s all I have to say about that.
March 28th, 2008 at 10:47 am
I love this depiction of Joseph finding answers. I’m 17. I never thought f Joseph as meek as this picture describes. Thank you for an excellent resource and perspective.
March 31st, 2008 at 5:24 pm
i think it would be interesting to see some images drawn using magic circles drawn in the dirt, and maybe including the wiccan or occult item around js’s neck at the time of his death as demonstrated in mormonism and the magic world view.
June 2nd, 2008 at 1:05 am
Very cool stuff. Thanks!
March 29th, 2009 at 3:10 pm
Wow. GET YOUR FACTS STRAIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! For one thing, Mormons don’t drink or smoke, which is what you’re not showing in Carthage jail, and, these pictures are unbelievably badly drawn. Find something else to get you a quick buck.
May 12th, 2009 at 4:13 pm
Too bad I’m not orthodox enough to teach in church any more. I would love to present some of these pictures during a lesson.
January 4th, 2010 at 8:53 am
The historical facts that you are illustrating in your illustrations are correct and true, and easily validated using True Mormon History sources rather than the white washed “Faithful” Church Educational System sources that the Chapel Mormons on this page seem to be citing.
In fact by dogmatically regurgitating the lies that the LdS Church feeds the faithful via CES and other official LdS Church sources your detractors are merely displaying their narrow minded ignorance in a public forum - thus making themselves look the fool.
Your illustrations are superb and are telling the true story of True Mormon History that needs to be told.
Thank you for your diligent effort and good work.