Jacob Whitmer’s Seer Stone

Jacob Whitmer’s Seer Stone

Seer stones were used by many of the early Mormons. Jacob Whitmer, one of the 8 witnesses of the Book of Mormon, owned the stone pictured above. Jacob likely obtained this stone from a Native American burial site in western New York, as this stone is a Native American trapezoidal gorget — a rock worn around the neck as a decorative and functional piece of armor. This stone was used both by Jacob Whitmer in the 1830s and his son John C. Whitmer in the 1880s for the Whitmer church (The Church of Christ). The stone stayed in the Whitmer family for a time, but is now owned by a private collector.

jacob-whitmer-stone-ruler

Photo by Alvin R. Dyer, 1955

gorget

This is a similar gorget (but not a seer stone) currently for sale at Ripley Auctions

native-american-gorget

Wee-tá-ra-shá-ro, Head Chief of the Wichita Tribe, 1834. Image copyright George Caitlan, now held at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. (note the gorget)

Learn More:

Wikipedia – Jacob Whitmer
Ripley Auctions – Slate Gorget 3 inch Ohio Indian Artifact
Amazon.com – Early Mormonism and the Magical World View

Featured Image Copyright- 1984 – Rick Grunder Books

Published: September 8, 2016

Categories: Magic

Tags: Magic, Seer Stone, Stone, Whitmer

Mormon history is absolutely fascinating. LostMormonism grew out of our notes keeping track of all the weird and wacky things we learned about Mormon history. Rather than producing more walls of text on these topics, we wanted to create a visual learning experience. We are not scholars or historians and we are not attempting to be the detailed authority on any of these topics. That being said, if we got our facts wrong, let us know and provide a source for your correction. We just love repeating these stories and do not want them lost.

We grew up as devoted Latter-Day Saints. We have ancestors that we can trace back to Joseph Smith and recent forebears who converted to this new faith. We excelled at scripture mastery, went on missions, married in the temple, and diligently started families. We discovered many of the topics now discussed on our website and realized that the Restored Gospel that we were raised to believe in during the 1980s and 1990s never really existed except in the collective historical imagination of modern Latter-Day Saints. Instead, we found a rich history of fascinating stories-- some harmless fun, some absurdly bizarre, and some seriously troubling. This heritage is one we embrace as a formative part of our identity. We hope that you enjoy reading these stories as much as we do.