Joseph Smith misquoted?

The upper-crust forum for scholarly, polite, and respectful discussions only. Heavily moderated. Rated G.
Post Reply
_searcher
_Emeritus
Posts: 27
Joined: Sun Aug 21, 2016 4:08 am

Joseph Smith misquoted?

Post by _searcher »

I read somewhere that when Joseph was asked if he'd ever been a glass looker, he replied "yes, but I never made much money at it."

Does anyone know if he actually said that?

Was it in answer to something somebody wrote in to "The Times and Seasons"?
_I have a question
_Emeritus
Posts: 9749
Joined: Fri Feb 13, 2015 8:01 am

Re: Joseph Smith misquoted?

Post by _I have a question »

Have you considered using Google to do your own leg work?

By November 1826, Josiah Stowell could no longer afford to continue searching for buried treasure; Smith traveled to Colesville, New York, for a few months to work for Joseph Knight, Sr.,[78] one of Stowell's friends. There are reports that Smith directed further excavations on Knight's property and at other locations around Colesville.[79] Smith later commented on his working as a treasure hunter: "'Was not Joseph Smith a money digger?' Yes, but it was never a very profitable job for him, as he only got fourteen dollars a month for it."[80]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_lif ... seph_Smith

80. Smith (1976, p. 120); Quoted in Brodie (1971, pp. 20–21)
“When we are confronted with evidence that challenges our deeply held beliefs we are more likely to reframe the evidence than we are to alter our beliefs. We simply invent new reasons, new justifications, new explanations. Sometimes we ignore the evidence altogether.” (Mathew Syed 'Black Box Thinking')
_searcher
_Emeritus
Posts: 27
Joined: Sun Aug 21, 2016 4:08 am

Re: Joseph Smith misquoted?

Post by _searcher »

I use google, but I don't always find the results very helpful, and I didn't bother reading the Wikipedia article the first time I tried doing "my own leg work."

But when I tried using google again today, I did find this.

Question 10. Was not Jo Smith a money digger.
Answer. Yes, but it was never a very prof itable job to him, as he only got fourteen dol lars a month for it.

This is from the July 1838 Elder's Journal edited by Joseph Smith Jr. (and accessible on the Joseph Smith Papers website), so the quote appears genuine.

Whether or not there was any evidence that the quote is genuine was the question I asked in the OP, but without a copy of Fawn Brodie's book (which I don't posses, but which I'm sure cities this issue of The Elder's Journal), I doubt your post or that Wikipedia article would have been very helpful in answering that question.
Post Reply