Divine Guidance to Palmyra - Genie or Good Spirit Directing

Solomon Chamberlain was traveling by boat toward Upper Canada in 1829 when, as the boat approached Palmyra, New York, he felt as if a good spirit or genie told him to leave the boat and go ashore. Acting on this prompting, he disembarked a few miles from where the gold plates had been found, still completely unaware of Joseph Smith or the Book of Mormon. The spirit manifested to him to travel southward, and after about three miles, he came to a farmhouse where the residents immediately asked him if he had heard of the 'Gold Bible.' This remarkable sequence of divine providences led him to the Smith family and became the first missionary to preach the Book of Mormon.

Fuller account of this event (in the witness’s own words):

I had occasion to go on a visit into Upper Canada. I took boat for Lockport, when the boat came to Palmyra, I felt as if some genii or good Spirit told me to leave the boat, this was a few miles from where the record was found. I had not as yet heard of the Gold Bible (so called) nor any of the Smith family. I was a stranger in that part of the country, a town where I never before had set my foot, and knew no one in the town. From the time I left the boat until now, I was wholly led by the Spirit or my genii. It was about sun down, and my guide directed me to put up for the night, which I did to a Farm house, in the morning the people of the house asked me if I had heard of the Gold Bible, when they said “Gold Bible” there was a power like electricity went from the top of my head to the end of my toes, This was the first time I ever heard of the gold bible. I was now within half a mile of the Smith family where Joseph lived. I went to the house and found Hyrum Smith at home, he told me that the record was found, and that Joseph was at home. I went to the house and found Joseph, and he told me that he had the record, and that he was the one that was to bring it forth. I stayed there two days, and I was convinced of the truth of the work.