William Stafford, son of Joshua Stafford and Susannah Corey, was born on April 3, 1776 in Tiverton, Newport, Rhode Island. He lived a mile-and-a-half from the Joseph Smith Sr. farm on Stafford Road, a road named for him. He married Mary Cook on October 21, 1802.
William claimed to have conversations with Joseph Smith Sr. in the winter of 1828 about the Book of Mormon. He possessed a seer stone that he claimed to look through. In December 1833, William swore that he joined the Smiths in their nocturnal excursions in search of hidden treasure. He claimed that Joseph Smith Jr. was preoccupied with treasure digging. His testimony against the Smiths was printed in Mormonism Unvailed.
Pomeroy Tucker claimed that William Stafford encouraged him to invest in the speculation of treasure hunting. William died on February 10, 1863 in Manchester. He was buried in the Palmyra City Cemetery.[1]
[1] Quinn, Early Mormonism and the Magic Worldview, pp. 41, 42, 46, 136; Howe, Mormonism Unvailed, pp. 333–334; Tucker, Origin, Rise, and Progress of Mormonism, pp. 12, 24; Vogel, Early Mormon Documents, 2:59, 172, 194.