# Willard Chase > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Willard_Chase > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Willard_Chase.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willard_Chase > Source revision: 1343067077 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{short description|American treasure hunter}} {{Multiple issues| {{over-quotation|date=September 2014}}{{More footnotes needed|date=May 2025}} }} {{Infobox person | name = Willard Chase | birth_date = {{Birth date|1798|02|01}} | death_date = {{Death date and age|1871|03|10|1798|02|01}} | image = | alt = | caption = | birth_name = | birth_place = | death_place = | other_names = | occupation = | known_for = }} '''Willard Chase''' (February 1, 1798 – March 10, 1871) was an American resident of 19th-century New York and an early associate of [Joseph Smith](/source/Joseph_Smith), the founder of the [Latter Day Saint movement](/source/Latter_Day_Saint_movement). He is known for his disputes with Joseph Smith regarding the ownership and existence of Joseph Smith's [seer stone](/source/Seer_stone_(Latter_Day_Saints)) and of the [golden plates](/source/golden_plates). ==Biography== Chase was born to parents Clark Chase (b. August 22, 1770) and Phebe Mason. Chase had two older siblings, Durfee and Mason, and seven younger siblings: Sarah "Sally", Edmund, Purley, Lucinda, Henry, Abel D., and Asa S.{{citation |last= Reed |first= William Field |year= 1902 |title= The descendants of Thomas Durfee of Portsmouth, R.I. |volume= 1 |place= Washington, D.C. |publisher= Gibson Bros., Printers |oclc= 5933884 |page= [https://archive.org/stream/descendantsoftho00reed#page/212/mode/2up 213–214] }} Chase married Malissa Sanders Sounders. The couple had two children: Luther M. and Clark S.{{citation |title= Historical Person Search > Search Results > Willard Chase (1798 - 1872)|url= http://records.ancestry.com/willard_chase_records.ashx?pid=9934880 |work= [Ancestry.com](/source/Ancestry.com) |accessdate= 2014-09-05 }}{{unreliable source?|date=September 2014}} Chase was a carpenter and lay [Methodist](/source/Methodism) minister.{{citation |last= Anderson |first= Richard Lloyd |authorlink= Richard Lloyd Anderson |date= August 1987 |title= The Alvin Smith Story: Fact and Fiction |url= https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/1987/08/the-alvin-smith-story-fact-and-fiction?lang=eng |journal= [Ensign](/source/Ensign_(LDS_magazine)) }} Chase died in Palmyra, New York, on March 10, 1871.{{citation |last= Wymetal |first= Ritter von Wilhelm |year= 1886 |title= Joseph Smith, the Prophet, His Family and His Friends |place= Salt Lake City |publisher= [Tribune Printing and Publishing Co.](/source/Salt_Lake_Tribune) |oclc= 1538597 |pages= [https://archive.org/stream/josephsmithproph01wyme#page/230/mode/2up 230–231] }} ==Role in Early Mormonism== Chase engaged in the practice of treasure hunting or "money digging". Neighbors, such as physician John Stafford, recalled that Chase's sister Sally used a [seer stone](/source/Seer_stone_(Latter_Day_Saints)) to locate treasure.{{citation |last= Bushman |first= Richard L |authorlink= Richard Bushman |year= 1984 |title= Joseph Smith and the Beginnings of Mormonism |place= Urbana |publisher= University of Illinois Press |isbn= 0252011430 |oclc= 10605085 |page= [https://archive.org/details/josephsmithbegin00bush/page/70 70] }} Chase lived "over the hill to the East" of the Smiths in Palmyra.{{citation |last= Ashurst-McGee |first= Mark |authorlink= Mark Ashurst-McGee |year= 2008 |title= Zion Rising: Joseph Smith's Early Social and Political Thought |type= Ph. D. Thesis |oclc= 436729912 |page= [https://books.google.com/books?id=90M0XiJvWjMC&pg=PA80 80] }} In 1833, Chase swore an [affidavit that was published](/source/Mormonism_Unvailed) in the book ''[Mormonism Unvailed](/source/Mormonism_Unvailed)'' by [E. D. Howe](/source/E._D._Howe)."In April, 1830, I again asked Hiram [sic] for the stone which he had borrowed of me; he told me I should not have it, for Joseph made use of it in translating his Bible. I reminded him of his promise, and that he had pledged his honor to return it; but he gave me the lie, saying the stone was not mine nor never was." According to Chase, Joseph Smith collaborated with seer [Samuel T. Lawrence](/source/Samuel_T._Lawrence). Chase reported that "Joseph believed that one Samuel T. Lawrence was the man alluded to by the spirit, and went with him to a singular looking hill, in Manchester, and [showed] him where the treasure was." Lawrence who was able to "see" not only the gold plates but also "saw" the pair of spectacles, which in Mormonism would later be identified with the biblical [Urim and Thummim](/source/Urim_and_Thummim_(Latter_Day_Saints)). ===Chase attempts to obtain the plates=== {{expand section|date=September 2014}} Although Chase's affidavit makes no mention of it, [Lucy Mack Smith](/source/Lucy_Mack_Smith) recalled that Chase and others attempted to obtain the Golden Plates themselves. Lucy wrote: "10 or 12 men were clubbed together with one Willard Chase, a Methodist class leader at their head, and what was most ridiculous they had sent for a conjuror to come 60 miles to divine the place where the record was deposited".{{cite web|url=http://josephsmithpapers.org/paperSummary/lucy-mack-smith-history-1844-1845?p=63#!/paperSummary/lucy-mack-smith-history-1844-1845&p=63|title=Lucy Mack Smith, History, 1844–1845, Page 63|publisher=josephsmithpapers.org|accessdate=2014-09-13}} ===Martin Harris=== Chase recalls that Smith "met one day in the streets of Palmyra, a rich man, whose name was Martin Harris, and addressed him thus; 'I have a commandment from God to ask the first man I meet in the street to give me fifty dollars, to assist me in doing the work of the Lord by translating the Golden Bible.'". Chase recalls that [Harris](/source/Martin_Harris_(Latter_Day_Saints)) "reported that the Prophet's wife ... would be delivered of a male child that would be able when two years old to translate the Gold Bible." ===Abel D. Chase=== In 1879, Chase's brother Abel Chase gave a sworn statement re-asserting claims Willard had made and asserting that the 1833 affidavit was genuine.{{cite book|title=The true origin of the Book of Mormon|author=Shook, C.A.|date=1914|publisher=Standard Pub. Co.|url=https://archive.org/details/trueoriginbookm00shoogoog}} ==Inspiration for the Salamander letter== The Chase Affidavit was a source of inspiration for the [Salamander letter](/source/Salamander_letter), a 20th-century forgery by [Mark Hofmann](/source/Mark_Hofmann). The Chase Affidavit describes "something like a toad", which was used as the source for Hofmann's "white salamander".{{cite web|url=http://www.mormoninformation.com/salamand.htm|title=The Salamander Letter|publisher=mormoninformation.com|accessdate=2014-09-13}} ==Notes== {{reflist|40em}} ==References== *{{cite book|title=Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling|author1=Bushman, R.L.|author2=Woodworth, J.|date=2007|publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group|isbn=9781400077533|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_izMO9Xdq2UC}} *{{cite book|title=Mormon Enigma: Emma Hale Smith|author1=Newell, L.K.|author2=Avery, V.T.|date=1994|publisher=University of Illinois Press|isbn=9780252062919|url=https://archive.org/details/mormonenigmaemma00newe_0|url-access=registration}} *{{cite book|title=History of Mormonism, or, A faithful account of that singular imposition and delusion: with sketches of the characters of its propagators : to which are added inquiries into the probability that the historical part of The Golden Bible was written by one Solomon Spalling, and by him intended to be published as a romance|author=Howe, E.D.|date=1840|publisher=Printed and published by the author|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kyVOAAAAYAAJ}} *{{cite book|title=The Mormon Delusion. Volume 3. Discarded Doctrines and Nonsense Revelations.|author=Whitefield, J.|date=2009|publisher=Lulu.com|isbn=9781409291817|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7Dk993FxE5AC}} *{{cite book|title=Mormonism 2010 Handbook on Mormonism|author=Stokes, J.|publisher=Jerry Stokes|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L3TqI4ZNuLQC}} *{{cite book|title=Dale Morgan on the Mormons: Collected Works, Part 2, 1949–1970|author1=Morgan, D.|author2=Saunders, R.L.|author3=Bagley, W.|date=2014|publisher=University of Oklahoma Press|isbn=9780806146713|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2rb0AgAAQBAJ}} *{{cite book|title=The Mormon People: The Making of an American Faith|author=Bowman, M.|date=2012|publisher=Random House Trade Paperbacks|isbn=9780812983364|url=https://archive.org/details/mormonpeoplemaki00bowm_0|url-access=registration}} ==External links== * [http://fr.fairmormon.org/Specific_works/The_Hurlbut_affidavits Apologetic rebuttal to Chase] from [FairMormon](/source/FairMormon) {{authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Chase, Willard}} Category:1798 births Category:1871 deaths Category:People from Palmyra, New York Category:American Methodist clergy Category:History of the Latter Day Saint movement Category:Treasure hunters Category:Seership in Mormonism Category:19th-century American Christian clergy --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Willard Chase](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willard_Chase) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willard_Chase?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.