Where was Smith finding these Egyptian papyrus scrolls in New York state?
In July 1835, while living in Kirtland, Ohio, the Prophet Joseph Smith purchased, on behalf of the Church, four Egyptian mummies and accompanying papyri from Michael H. Chandler, a traveling entrepreneur from Pennsylvania.
The price was $2,400. Chandler had acquired eleven mummies in early 1833 and had sold the other seven in the eastern United States prior to meeting Joseph Smith.
Shortly after obtaining the antiquities, Joseph Smith announced that the papyri contained some writings of the Patriarchs Abraham and joseph, both of whom had lived in Egypt (Gen. 12:37, 39-50).
Mummies. It was common at the time to have traveling shows of Egyptian mummies (mostly black market). Smith saw one of those shows and approached the owner about buying one. He raised the money and purchased one - which had a scroll in it (common book of the dead). He then claimed to ‘translate’ the scroll and that it was the writings of Abraham.