Other early Mormons, among whom were Jacob and David Whitmer, Philo Dibble, W. W. Phelps, and Elizabeth Ann Whitney, valued seer stones. In 1830, Hiram Page, one of the Eight Witnesses to the Book of Mormon, stated he had a series of revelations through a black seer stone. After Smith announced that these revelations were of the devil, Page agreed to discard the stone which, according to a contemporary, was "Broke to powder and the writings Burnt." Apparently, the apostasy of some early Mormon believers can be traced to Smith's move away from the use of seer stones. The Whitmer family, devoted to their importance, "later said their disenchantment with Mormonism began when Joseph Smith stopped using his seer stone as an instrument of revelation." In November 1837, the Kirtland high council disfellowshipped 11-year-old James C. Brewster, his parents, and several associates for claiming that he had "the gift of seeing and looking through or into a stone." Nevertheless, some Mormons continued to believe in the power of seer stones. After Smith's death, Brigham Young endorsed their use. In 1855, he reminisced, "Joseph said there is a Stone for every person on Earth." At the first general conference after Smith's death, Young declared, "The president of the priests has a right to the Urim and Thummim, which gives revelation." James Strang, who led a small breakaway group after Smith's death, proclaiming himself Smith's successor, claimed he unearthed ancient metal plates, known as the Voree plates, and translated them using a seer stone.