There Are Several Accounts of Joseph Smith’s Translation Process, Mormon Seer Stone

  • The most commonly cited accounts of Joseph Smith’s translation of the Book of Mormon are from his wife, Emma Smith, and the three witnesses of the Book of Mormon: Oliver Cowdery, Martin Harris, and David Whitmer. Emma, Whitmer, and Harris recorded that Smith translated with the seer stone, which he placed in a hat to be able to see the translation clearly on the stone. Whitmer, Harris, and Cowdery also recorded that Smith used the Nephite interpreters, to translate.