Joseph Smith of The Church of Latter-Day Saints: Money Digger?

On March 20, 1826, Joseph Smith, Jr. was brought before the justice of the peace in Bainbridge, New York. On court records he is referred to as "Joseph Smith the Glass looker." The charge: disturbing the peace.

Glass lookers were not uncommon in New York farm country in the 1820's. They were shysters and con men who claimed that by looking into a piece of glass (or sometimes a special stone) they could see things others could not, including the locations of buried treasure. They would then charge poor farmers for this service to aid them in finding these great treasures supposedly buried beneath the ground. Of course none of these "treasures" were ever found.

By 1826 Joseph Smith had developed a reputation as a glass looker (also known as a money digger). Smith used a seer stone rather than a piece of glass. He would place the seer stone into a stovepipe hat which he would then cover with his face. By peering at the stone while in the hat he could see things which were far removed from him, even buried under the ground.

Early in 1826 a man by the name of Josiah Stowell had come to Smith to hire him for his money digging abilities. Stowell believed that there was a treasure buried on his land, left by Spaniards long ago. With Smith's great powers Stowell would be able to find the great Spanish treasure.

For a month Smith worked on the Stowell farm, but nothing was ever found. Stowell himself never doubted Smith's abilities, but many of those close to Stowell felt the old man was being taken for a ride by Smith and brought him up on charges.

Arad Stowell, Josiah's son, testified that he had personally tested Joseph Smith's abilities and saw clearly that it was nothing but a con job. With his testimony and that of two other men involved with Josiah Stowell, Joseph Smith was found guilty of disturbing the peace.