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Pay Order to Edward Partridge for William Smith, 21 February 1838–A

Source Note

, agent, on behalf of JS and , Pay Order, to , for , [, Geauga Co., OH], 21 Feb. 1838; one page; handwriting of ; photocopy, JS Collection, CHL. Includes docket.
Single leaf. The photocopied image of the document measures 5–5⅜ × 8 inches (13–14 × 20 cm), which is similar in size to other pay orders produced the same day. The photocopy shows file folds in the original. A two-line docket on the verso of the original bled through and is slightly visible in the photocopy. The docket was made legible through producing a digital mirror image. The docket, which is in unidentified handwriting, reads: “Land order | for $100”. The location of the original document is unknown.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    See Orders on Edward Partridge, for William Smith, 21 Feb. 1838, JS Office Papers, CHL.

Historical Introduction

On 21 February 1838, church financial wrote several “orders” for JS’s brother . These orders functioned like receipts for money given to the church in , and Smith could redeem them for money or land after moving to . Marks wrote and signed these and other pay orders on behalf of JS and , members of the . The pay orders for William Smith were apparently given in exchange for land he sold to Marks at a reduced rate, which Marks could then sell at market value in order to pay debts JS and Rigdon owed.
In 1836 JS and other church leaders began renegotiating old debts and incurring new ones as they attempted to finance the and expand the economy of the Mormon community in . Ultimately, they contracted thousands of dollars of debt. In April 1837, JS and began engaging as an agent for church business holdings and dealings. In September 1837, Marks was appointed to the and appointed as an agent for Kirtland . Marks was appointed to preside over the Saints in Kirtland shortly before JS and Rigdon left for in January 1838. In these roles, he worked to settle the debts of JS and Rigdon and helped the faithful members of the church prepare to migrate to Missouri. Following directions from JS, Marks sold land in Kirtland Township to raise money to pay creditors. He kept a register of people who gave money or land, which he used to settle church debts. In return for these goods, Marks wrote pay orders on behalf of JS and Rigdon. Saints could redeem their pay orders after moving to Missouri, where Bishop would exchange the orders for money or for property the church owned there.
eventually listed twenty donors in his register, which ran from 1 February through 19 April. Many of these orders are still extant. The extant pay orders were issued the day the donations were made or within a day after, as dated in Marks’s register. The number of pay orders Marks wrote per donation varied. In some cases, Marks apparently wrote a single order for one donation. For example, sold his farm on 30 January 1838 for $3,300. Two days later, Marks noted a donation from Perry for $3,200 and wrote him an order for the same amount. In other cases, Marks wrote two or more orders to compensate for one donation. For example, on 1 March, John Isham sold his property for $1,300 and donated $1,100 to the church. The same day, Marks noted the donation in his register and made out four orders totaling $1,100. Breaking the donated amount into smaller quantities may have allowed the donor more financial flexibility. While each pay order names the donor, it then indicates that should remit the specified amount to “the bearer” in land or money, suggesting that the notes could be transferred in subsequent financial dealings.
The donations made and the pay orders he received differ somewhat from the general pattern. noted a donation of $500 from Smith in an entry dated 14 February 1838. The next day, Smith deeded two pieces of his property to Marks. One of these properties, deeded for $1,500, was Smith’s land in lot 30, near the . Smith may have deeded this land in an attempt to safeguard his property from creditors, as suggested by the fact that Marks did not sell this property for money to pay JS’s and ’s debts. Instead, three years later, when the church’s financial troubles in Kirtland had diminished considerably, Marks sold the property back to Smith for $1,800. The other property Smith deeded to Marks on 15 February was his land in lot 31, which he had purchased five months earlier for $1,500. This property apparently coincides with the donation noted in the register the previous day. Instead of selling land to someone else and giving Marks money from the sale, Smith apparently made his donation by selling the property to Marks at the greatly reduced price of $100. Smith’s pay orders note that his donations were made “in Lands.” If this property were still worth the $1,500 Smith had recently paid for it, his donation in land value would have been closer to $1,400 than to the $500 Marks noted in his register on 14 February. Determining how much to compensate Smith may have taken some time; Marks did not issue pay orders to Smith until almost a week later. There may have been other properties, debts, or considerations involved in the dealings between Smith and Marks, so it is impossible to establish with certainty the details of their agreement.
In any case, on 21 February, Marks made out several pay orders for Smith. It is not certain how many orders Marks wrote or for what total value. Six orders are known to be extant, totaling $625 in value: two notes for $150, three notes for $100, and one note for $25.
deeded his land to in preparation for leaving with the extended Smith family for . On 15 February, the same day Marks received deeds for Smith’s land, Marks’s register notes that , the husband of William’s sister , paid Marks $300. On 7 March, Katharine Smith Salisbury sold property in for $300 and perhaps gave the proceeds to Marks. Two months later, William and , Wilkins Jenkins and Katharine Salisbury, and other members of the Smith family departed for Missouri. Upon arriving in , William Smith apparently redeemed some of his pay orders for land or money. Five extant orders have the signatures torn off, indicating they were redeemed. As late as January 1839, when the Saints were preparing for their forced removal from the state, he had not redeemed at least one of the orders. On 7 January 1839, he received $20 from as a partial payment for one order. The pay order featured here, which represents all of the William Smith orders, as well as the pay orders from this period generally, is complete, with the signatures still intact, indicating it was never canceled and may not have been redeemed.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    See, for example, Statement of Account from John Howden, 29 Mar. 1838; Statement of Account from Perkins & Osborn, ca. 29 Oct. 1838; and Statement of Account from Hitchcock & Wilder, between 9 July and 6 Nov. 1838.

  2. [2]

    Staker, Hearken, O Ye People, 519–522; Minutes, 3 Sept. 1837; Minute Book 1, 9 Sept. 1837; Minutes, 17 Sept. 1837–A.

    Staker, Mark L. Hearken, O Ye People: The Historical Setting of Joseph Smith’s Ohio Revelations. Salt Lake City: Greg Kofford Books, 2009.

  3. [3]

    John Smith and Clarissa Lyman Smith, Kirtland, OH, to George A. Smith, Shinnston, VA, 1 Jan. 1838, George Albert Smith, Papers, CHL; Hepzibah Richards, Kirtland, OH, to Willard Richards, Bedford, England, 18–19 Jan. 1838, Willard Richards, Papers, CHL.

    Smith, George Albert. Papers, 1834–1877. CHL. MS 1322.

    Richards, Willard. Journals and Papers, 1821–1854. CHL.

  4. [4]

    See, for example, Geauga Co., OH, Deed Record, 1795–1921, vol. 25, pp. 570–571, 5 Feb. 1838; vol. 26, pp. 298–299, 300–301, 15 and 23 Feb. 1838, microfilm 20,241, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL.

    U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.

  5. [5]

    “List of Demands on J Smith & S. Rigdon,” 1 Feb.–19 Apr. 1838, JS Collection, CHL.

  6. [6]

    See Corrill, Brief History, 27; and Reed Peck, Quincy, IL, to “Dear Friends,” 18 Sept. 1839, pp. 14–15, Henry E. Huntington Library, San Marino, CA. The orders that Marks wrote functioned similarly to the certificates Saints received before moving to Jackson County earlier in the 1830s. Saints would present to Partridge a certificate from Bishop Whitney in Kirtland or another authorized officer who vouched for the faithfulness of the individual; the certificate entitled the individual to receive an inheritance of land from the bishop. (See Revelation, 9 Feb. 1831 [D&C 42:31–36, 71–72]; Revelation, 20 July 1831 [D&C 57:7]; and Revelation, 4 Dec. 1831–B [D&C 72:17].)

    Peck, Reed. Letter, Quincy, IL, to “Dear Friends,” 18 Sept. 1839. Huntington Library, San Marino, CA.

  7. [7]

    See, for example, Orders on Edward Partridge, Feb.–Apr. 1838, JS Office Papers, CHL.

  8. [8]

    See “List of Demands on J Smith & S. Rigdon,” 1 Feb.–19 Apr. 1838; Order on Edward Partridge, for Aaron Johnson, 21 Mar. 1838, JS Collection, CHL; Order on Edward Partridge, for Oliver Granger, 3 Mar. 1838, JS Collection (Supplement), CHL; and Orders on Edward Partridge, for Winslow Farr, 5 Mar. 1838, JS Office Papers, CHL. On 26 April 1838, Marks wrote Granger another pay order, which is also located in the JS Office Papers collection at the Church History Library.

  9. [9]

    Geauga Co., OH, Deed Record, 1795–1921, vol. 25, pp. 463–464, 30 Jan. 1838, microfilm 20,241, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL.

    U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.

  10. [10]

    “List of Demands on J Smith & S. Rigdon,” 1 Feb.–19 Apr. 1838, JS Collection, CHL; Order on Edward Partridge, for Asahel Perry, 1 Feb. 1838, JS Office Papers, CHL. Perry may have decided to keep $100 for traveling expenses.

  11. [11]

    Geauga Co., OH, Deed Record, 1795–1921, vol. 25, pp. 423–424, 1 Mar. 1838, microfilm 20,241, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL.

    U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.

  12. [12]

    “List of Demands on J Smith & S. Rigdon,” 1 Feb.–19 Apr. 1838, JS Collection, CHL; Orders on Edward Partridge, for John Isham, 1 Mar. 1838, JS Office Papers, CHL; Order on Edward Partridge, for John Isham, 1 Mar. 1838, Newel K. Whitney, Papers, BYU.

  13. [13]

    Financial notes were often constructed in this way so they could be transferred to another party. (See, for example, Promissory Note to John Gillet and Smith Tuttle, 12 Aug. 1839.)

  14. [14]

    Geauga Co., OH, Deed Record, 1795–1921, vol. 30, pp. 382–383, 15 Feb. 1838, microfilm 20,242, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL.

    U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.

  15. [15]

    Lake Co., OH, Deeds, 1840–1950, vol. C, p. 536, 10 Feb. 1841, microfilm 974,941, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL.

    U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.

  16. [16]

    Geauga Co., OH, Deed Record, 1795–1921, vol. 30, p. 384, 4 Sept. 1837, microfilm 20,242, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL.

    U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.

  17. [17]

    Geauga Co., OH, Deed Record, 1795–1921, vol. 30, p. 383, 15 Feb. 1838, microfilm 20,242, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL.

    U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.

  18. [18]

    See Orders on Edward Partridge, for William Smith, 21 Feb. 1838, JS Office Papers, CHL.

  19. [19]

    Geauga Co., OH, Deed Record, 1795–1921, vol. 30, pp. 381–382, 7 Mar. 1838, microfilm 20,242, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL.

    U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.

  20. [20]

    Letter from Don Carlos Smith, ca. Late May 1838; Lucy Mack Smith, History, 1844–1845, bk. 15, [3]–[6].

  21. [21]

    William Smith, Receipt, Far West, MO, to JS and Sidney Rigdon, 7 Jan. 1839, JS Collection, CHL.

Page [1]

Febuary 21st 1838
Received of one hundeed Dollars in Lands to apply on the debts in agreeable To the directions of the presidaccy there fore
Mr Sir
Please to pay the bearer One hundred Dollars in money or Lands as shall accommodate and oblige yours
Joseph Smith Jun.
—
By
there agent [p. [1]]
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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Pay Order to Edward Partridge for William Smith, 21 February 1838–A
ID #
378
Total Pages
1
Print Volume Location
JSP, D6:27–30
Handwriting on This Page
  • William Marks

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Through various partnerships—such as Rigdon, Smith & Co.a—JS and Rigdon had contracted much of the debt that church leaders incurred in their attempt to develop the economy of the Mormon community in Kirtland Township.b Frederick G. Williams, who had served as the second counselor in the First Presidency, had been less involved in business activities. In fact, JS and Rigdon assumed some of the business he previously supervised, as reflected in the transfer of the church printing company from the firm F. G. Williams & Co. to O. Cowdery & Co. and then to JS and Rigdon (and eventually to William Marks).c In November 1837, Williams was replaced by Hyrum Smith as the third member of the general church presidency.d Hyrum Smith had not incurred business debts; in fact, he donated land or money to Marks to help JS and Rigdon.e

    (aSee, for example, “Mormonism in Ohio,” Yankee Farmer [Portland, ME], 4 Feb. 1837, 38; and Rigdon, Smith & Co., Store Ledger. bStatement of Account from Hitchcock & Wilder, between 9 July and 6 Nov. 1838. c“Notice,” LDS Messenger and Advocate, June 1836, 2:329–330; “Notice,” LDS Messenger and Advocate, Feb. 1837, 3:458–459; Advertisement, LDS Messenger and Advocate, Mar. 1837, 3:480; “Notice,” LDS Messenger and Advocate, Apr. 1837, 3:496. dMinutes, 7 Nov. 1837. e“List of Demands on J Smith & S. Rigdon,” 1 Feb.–19 Apr. 1838, JS Collection, CHL.)

    Yankee Farmer. Portland, ME. 1836–1837.

    Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. Kirtland, OH. Oct. 1834–Sept. 1837.

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