The promissory note was copied into the circa 7 May 1844 declaration, which was acquired by the Church Historical Department (now CHL) from Mark Hofmann in 1982. As was later discovered, Hofmann forged many early church history and Americana manuscripts and altered authentic documents to increase their market value; he also dealt in authentic manuscripts. In 1986, church representatives offered documents received from Hofmann to the courthouses or local government agencies where they may have originated, and this document was returned to the circuit court. A collection was created in 1995 to collate forged and suspect documents acquired from Hofmann directly or indirectly through other donors and included both manuscripts and photocopies of documents that were returned to government institutions in 1986. Since there is no provenance information definitively dating this document prior to its possession by Hofmann and there is no indication the document underwent forensic testing, it cannot be conclusively authenticated.