Notice, 28 April 1842
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Source Note
, , and [attorneys for JS], on behalf of JS, Notice of application for bankruptcy for JS, [, Sangamon Co., IL], 28 Apr. 1842; signed by , , and ; attested by . Featured version published in Wasp (Nauvoo, Hancock Co., IL), 7 May 1842, vol. 1, no. 4, [3]; edited by ; CHL.The Wasp was a weekly newspaper printed in , Illinois, from April 1842 to April 1843. Each issue consisted of four pages with four columns per page, measuring approximately 15 × 10 inches (38 × 25 cm). The sixteenth issue of the paper bears two dates: 30 July and 4 August 1842. The printing office ran out of paper in late July 1842, preventing them from publishing the 30 July issue as planned; as a result, they were forced to wait until 4 August to complete the issue. The next issue of the paper was dated 13 August 1842, and the paper then resumed weekly publication.The first editor of the newspaper was . Although he was acknowledged as editor until October 1842, by August 1842 he appears to have been editor in name only, with assuming the editorial responsibilities of the paper The volume used for transcription was owned by , who apparently had his loose copies of individual issues of the Wasp bound together later, probably in territorial Utah. The bound volume measures 15¼ × 10½ inches (39 × 27 cm). The lower portion of some issues was trimmed when the volume was bound. Smith’s volume was given to the Church Historian’s Office (now CHL), probably during his time as church historian.
Footnotes
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1
See Notice, Wasp, between 30 July and 4 Aug. 1842, [3].
The Wasp. Nauvoo, IL. Apr. 1842–Apr. 1843.
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2
In a letter to the editor of the Sangamo Journal, a disgruntled George W. Robinson commented on the confusing status of the editorship of the Wasp, sarcastically stating that because of “the dozen would be editors, who are prowling and loafing about the printing office, it would be difficult to ascertain the editors!” (“Letter from Col. Robinson,” Sangamo Journal [Springfield, IL], 26 Aug. 1842, [2], italics in original; “To the Public,” Wasp, 8 Oct. 1842, [2]; see also Crawley, Descriptive Bibliography, 1:192–193.)
Sangamo Journal. Springfield, IL. 1831–1847.
The Wasp. Nauvoo, IL. Apr. 1842–Apr. 1843.
Crawley, Peter. A Descriptive Bibliography of the Mormon Church. 3 vols. Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1997–2012.
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3
George A. Smith served as church historian from 1854 to 1870. (“Smith, George Albert,” in Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 1:41; Esshom, Pioneers and Prominent Men of Utah, 1283.)
Jenson, Andrew. Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia: A Compilation of Biographical Sketches of Prominent Men and Women in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 4 vols. Salt Lake City: Andrew Jenson History Co., 1901–1936.
Esshom, Frank. Pioneers and Prominent Men of Utah: Comprising Photographs, Genealogies, Biographies. Salt Lake City: Utah Pioneers Book, 1913.
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Historical Introduction
On 28 April 1842 JS’s attorneys , , and gave notice on his behalf that he had filed a petition for bankruptcy. In August 1841 the Congress passed a new bankruptcy law allowing, for the first time in American history, voluntary bankruptcy. Use of the new law quickly became widespread, with debtors flocking to lawyers who tailored their services to the new act’s opportunities. Local lawyers in soon began assisting applicants, and in early April 1842 the , Illinois–based law firm Ralston, Warren & Wheat began advertising its interest in doing the same.The new act required that all applicants for bankruptcy—or “bankrupts”—submit a petition for bankruptcy along with a list of their creditors and an inventory of their assets to the federal district court. Between 14 and 16 April 1842, JS created these documents. The law also required that all bankrupts have printed, in at least one newspaper in the district in which they resided, a notice of their petitions and notices of all hearings relating to their case. Acting on JS’s behalf, his attorneys accordingly drew up a notice of petition for bankruptcy, which was printed in the 7 May and subsequent issues of the Wasp. JS was one of fifteen residents represented by Ralston, Warren & Wheat for whom notices appeared in the 7 and 14 May issues of the Wasp. Others included JS’s brothers and , as well as and civic leaders , , , , and . JS’s notice also appeared in the Sangamo Journal, published in the capital of . Use of the new law was so widespread that the legally required notices filled the pages of newspapers throughout the country. JS’s was one of over 350 bankruptcy notices printed in the 6 May 1842 issue of the Sangamo Journal, one of the others being that of his own solicitor, (represented by his partner ).Over the ensuing years JS’s application for bankruptcy was opposed by attorney for , largely because he believed JS had undisclosed assets.
Footnotes
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1
Tabb, “History of the Bankruptcy Laws in the United States,” 16–18; An Act to Establish a Uniform System of Bankruptcy [19 Aug. 1841], Public Statutes at Large, 27th Cong., 1st Sess., chap. 9, pp. 440–449.
Tabb, Charles Jordan. “The History of the Bankruptcy Laws in the United States.” American Bankruptcy Institute Law Review 3 (1995): 5–51.
The Public Statutes at Large of the United States of America, from the Organization of the Government in 1789, to March 3, 1845. . . . Edited by Richard Peters. 8 vols. Boston: Charles C. Little and James Brown, 1846–1867.
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2
Issues of the Quincy Whig from March and April printed numerous notices of bankruptcy applications facilitated by the firm Lott, Dixon & Gilman (owned by Peter Lott, George C. Dixon, and Charles Gilman), as well as by individual attorneys such as Cyrus Walker. (See, for example, Notices, Quincy [IL] Whig, 3 Mar. 1842, [3]; Notice, Quincy Whig, 26 Mar. 1842, [2]; and the recurring “Bankrupt Notices” column in the Quincy Whig beginning with the 2 April 1842 issue.)
Quincy Whig. Quincy, IL. 1838–1856.
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3
An Act to Establish a Uniform System of Bankruptcy [19 Aug. 1841], Public Statutes at Large, 27th Cong., 1st Sess., chap. 9, pp. 440–442, sec. 1.
The Public Statutes at Large of the United States of America, from the Organization of the Government in 1789, to March 3, 1845. . . . Edited by Richard Peters. 8 vols. Boston: Charles C. Little and James Brown, 1846–1867.
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5
An Act to Establish a Uniform System of Bankruptcy [19 Aug. 1841], Public Statutes at Large, 27th Cong., 1st Sess., chap. 9, p. 446, sec. 7.
The Public Statutes at Large of the United States of America, from the Organization of the Government in 1789, to March 3, 1845. . . . Edited by Richard Peters. 8 vols. Boston: Charles C. Little and James Brown, 1846–1867.
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6
Bankruptcy Notices for JS and Calvin A. Warren, Sangamo Journal (Springfield, IL), 6 May 1842, [1], [3]; see also Bankruptcy Notices for Hyrum Smith, Samuel Smith, Sidney Rigdon, Elias Higbee, Amos Davis, Henry G. Sherwood, and Vinson Knight, Sangamo Journal, 6 May 1842, [3]. This and other issues of the Sangamo Journal from this period included notices submitted by prominent attorneys such as Jesse B. Thomas, Josiah Lamborn, Lyman Trumbull, and Abraham Lincoln for clients all over western Illinois.
Sangamo Journal. Springfield, IL. 1831–1847.
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7
See Oaks and Bentley, “Joseph Smith and Legal Process,” 756–763.
Oaks, Dallin H., and Joseph I. Bentley. “Joseph Smith and Legal Process: In the Wake of the Steamboat Nauvoo.” Brigham Young University Law Review, no. 3 (1976): 735–782.
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