Bond from Horace Hotchkiss, 12 August 1839–A
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Source Note
, Bond for Property in , IL, to , JS, and , 12 Aug. 1839. Featured version copied 4 Sept. 1839 in Hancock County Deed Record, 1817–1917, vol. 12 G, p. 299; unidentified handwriting., IL, Recorder, Deed Record, vol. 12 G, 24 Apr.–7 Nov. 1839; 462 pages; Hancock County Courthouse, Carthage, IL. Includes notations and archival marking.Volume containing 236 leaves measuring 17½ × 11 inches (44 × 28 cm). At an unknown time, the original leather binding was covered with white canvas. The spine of the canvas was stamped in black ink: “DEED RECORD | 12 G | HANCOCK COUNTY”. The bound volume measures 18¼ × 12 × 3⅛ inches (46 × 30 × 8 cm). This volume has been in the continuous custody of the Hancock County, Illinois, Recorder’s Office since the volume’s creation.
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Historical Introduction
On 12 August 1839, prepared a bond for land in the northern part of the , Illinois, area that Hotchkiss and his partners, and , agreed to sell to JS and his in the . This transaction and another one that day with Hotchkiss and were the largest land purchases the had made in . The tract of land that Hotchkiss, Gillet, and Tuttle were selling consisted of approximately four hundred acres in and around the platted towns of Commerce and Commerce City, Illinois, minus the lots in the Commerce plat that had already been sold.In the bond, (who was representing his partners and ) specified that he would provide JS, , and with a warranty deed for the land if the men made the scheduled payments, which totaled $110,000. Half the amount was to be paid to Hotchkiss in the form of twenty promissory notes for $1,500 each, due annually for the next twenty years, with a final note for $25,000 due in 1859. The other half was to be paid to Tuttle and Gillet jointly in the same manner. The annual payments of $1,500 likely represented interest, although they were not specified as such in the bond. JS, Rigdon, and Hyrum Smith promised to make the scheduled payments by signing the forty-two promissory notes outlined in the bond. The original bond is apparently not extant; the version featured here was copied into a Hancock County deed record book in September 1839. In 1843, the bond was canceled by mutual agreement, and most of the land was returned to Hotchkiss, Tuttle, and Gillet through a quitclaim deed.
Footnotes
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1
Hotchkiss, Gillet, and Tuttle were land speculators from Connecticut who bought land in northwestern Illinois in 1836. Hotchkiss and Gillet purchased the land mentioned in this 12 August 1839 bond from Alexander White in June 1836. This land was originally set aside by the federal government as bounty land to be sold to men who held a military commission during the War of 1812. (Hancock Co., IL, Deed Records, 1817–1917, vol. B, p. 322, microfilm 954,192, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL; Anthony Hoffman, Rushville, IL, to John Reid, Argyle, NY, 1 Nov. 1833, Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library, Springfield, IL.)
U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.
Hoffman, Anthony. Letter, Rushville, IL, to John Reid, Argyle, NY, 1 Nov. 1833. Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library, Springfield, IL.
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2
In previous months, church agents had purchased smaller tracts of land in Illinois from Isaac Galland and Hugh White, as well as larger ones in Iowa Territory from Galland. (See, for example, Agreement with George W. Robinson, 30 Apr. 1839. For information on the other 12 August 1839 land transaction, see Bond from Horace Hotchkiss, 12 Aug. 1839–B.)
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3
Gregg, History of Hancock County, Illinois, 955.
Gregg, Thomas. History of Hancock County, Illinois, Together with an Outline History of the State, and a Digest of State Laws. Chicago: Charles C. Chapman, 1880.
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4
All of the notes are extant. (See Promissory Note to Horace Hotchkiss, 12 August 1839–A; Promissory Note to Horace Hotchkiss, 12 August 1839–B; Promissory Note to Horace Hotchkiss, 12 August 1839–C; Promissory Note to Horace Hotchkiss, 12 August 1839–D; Promissory Note to Horace Hotchkiss, 12 August 1839–E; Promissory Note to Horace Hotchkiss, 12 August 1839–F; Promissory Note to Horace Hotchkiss, 12 August 1839–G; Promissory Note to Horace Hotchkiss, 12 August 1839–H; Promissory Note to Horace Hotchkiss, 12 August 1839–I; Promissory Note to Horace Hotchkiss, 12 August 1839–J; Promissory Note to Horace Hotchkiss, 12 August 1839–K; Promissory Note to Horace Hotchkiss, 12 August 1839–L; Promissory Note to Horace Hotchkiss, 12 August 1839–M; Promissory Note to Horace Hotchkiss, 12 August 1839–N; Promissory Note to Horace Hotchkiss, 12 August 1839–O; Promissory Note to Horace Hotchkiss, 12 August 1839–P; Promissory Note to Horace Hotchkiss, 12 August 1839–Q; Promissory Note to Horace Hotchkiss, 12 August 1839–R; Promissory Note to Horace Hotchkiss, 12 August 1839–S; Promissory Note to Horace Hotchkiss, 12 August 1839–T; Promissory Note to Horace Hotchkiss, 12 August 1839–U; Promissory Note to John Gillet and Smith Tuttle, 12 August 1839–A; Promissory Note to John Gillet and Smith Tuttle, 12 August 1839–B; Promissory Note to John Gillet and Smith Tuttle, 12 August 1839–C; Promissory Note to John Gillet and Smith Tuttle, 12 August 1839–D; Promissory Note to John Gillet and Smith Tuttle, 12 August 1839–E; Promissory Note to John Gillet and Smith Tuttle, 12 August 1839–F; Promissory Note to John Gillet and Smith Tuttle, 12 August 1839–G; Promissory Note to John Gillet and Smith Tuttle, 12 August 1839–H; Promissory Note to John Gillet and Smith Tuttle, 12 August 1839–I; Promissory Note to John Gillet and Smith Tuttle, 12 August 1839–J; Promissory Note to John Gillet and Smith Tuttle, 12 August 1839–K; Promissory Note to John Gillet and Smith Tuttle, 12 August 1839–L; Promissory Note to John Gillet and Smith Tuttle, 12 August 1839–M; Promissory Note to John Gillet and Smith Tuttle, 12 August 1839–N; Promissory Note to John Gillet and Smith Tuttle, 12 August 1839–O; Promissory Note to John Gillet and Smith Tuttle, 12 August 1839–P; Promissory Note to John Gillet and Smith Tuttle, 12 August 1839–Q; Promissory Note to John Gillet and Smith Tuttle, 12 August 1839–R; Promissory Note to John Gillet and Smith Tuttle, 12 August 1839–S; Promissory Note to John Gillet and Smith Tuttle, 12 August 1839–T; and Promissory Note to John Gillet and Smith Tuttle, 12 August 1839–U.)
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5
An 1841 report by unidentified church agents noted that “$3000 are now due to Mr Hotchkiss being the first payment of Int.” An 1841 letter written by the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and printed in the church newspaper listed $53,500 as the amount the church owed for its August 1839 land transactions with Hotchkiss; the letter also noted that interest was accumulating on the promissory notes. The $53,500 appears to combine the two 12 August 1839 bonds made with Hotchkiss, with $50,000 representing the principal for the bond featured here and $3,500 representing the amount specified in the second bond. Therefore, the annual payments of $1,500 mentioned in the featured bond likely represent interest payments. (“Report of the Agents of the Church for Buying and Selling Land in Nauvoo,” ca. Jan. 1841, JS Office Papers, CHL; “An Epistle of the Twelve,” Times and Seasons, 15 Oct. 1841, 2:568.)
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
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6
See Promissory Note to John Gillet and Smith Tuttle, 12 Aug. 1839.
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7
JS et al., Quitclaim Deed, Nauvoo, IL, to Smith Tuttle et al., 7 July 1843, in Hancock Co., IL, Deed Records, 1817–1917, vol. 12 G, p. 299, microfilm 954,195, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL.
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