Schedule of Creditors, circa 14–16 April 1842
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Source Note
JS, “Schedule Setting Forth a List of Petitioners Creditors, Their Residence, and the Amount Due to Each,” [, Hancock Co., IL, ca. 14–16 Apr. 1842]. Featured version copied [ca. 3–5 Aug. 1844] in Illinois District Court, , Sangamon Co., IL, to [on behalf of ], , Hancock Co., IL, 7 Aug. 1844; handwriting of Stanislaus Lalumière; four pages; CCLA.Bifolium measuring 12¼ × 8 inches (31 × 20 cm). The paper is ruled with thirty-three blue horizontal lines. The papermaker’s embossment in the upper left corner of the recto of each leaf reads “P.S&Co.”. The text on the versos is upside down in relation to the text on the rectos. The document may have been trifolded twice in letter style for enclosure within the accompanying inventory of property. The document was folded in half twice horizontally for filing. The bifolium is nearly separated along the central fold.gave the document to , and it likely remained in possession of the Smith family, eventually passing into the custody of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (now Community of Christ).
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Historical Introduction
In mid-April 1842 JS applied for bankruptcy with the assistance of attorney . Following the economic panic of 1837 and the ascension of the Whig Party in 1840, Congress passed a new bankruptcy law in August 1841. This act allowed, for the first time in American history, voluntary bankruptcy. Any individual (the law prohibited voluntary bankruptcy by corporations) could apply for bankruptcy for either personal or business debts. Shortly after the act took effect on 1 February 1842, use of the new law became widespread, with debtors flocking to lawyers who quickly 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 first and second issues of the Wasp, a new , Illinois, newspaper edited by JS’s brother , published an advertisement by Ralston, Warren & Wheat. It stated that one of the three partners—, , or Almeron Wheat—would be in Nauvoo, and one in , Illinois, beginning on 14 April and for the subsequent three or four days, expressly to assist anyone wishing to apply for bankruptcy.JS attempted to make use of the new law and the relief it could provide. He was saddled with considerable debts that stemmed primarily from -related business ventures in and land purchases made in and after the Saints were expelled from northern in 1838 and 1839. Significant losses of personal and real property in the Missouri expulsion compounded the financial distress of JS and other Saints. Foremost among the Ohio debts for which JS was personally liable were those contracted by church firms and (often called ). These two organizations operated mercantile stores in and , Ohio, respectively, and made extensive purchases on credit in June and October 1836 from wholesale dealers in , New York, and , respectively. Though JS was not a named partner in the first firm, by 1842 he personally took on responsibility for both companies’ debts. Consequently, he employed the services of Ralston, Warren & Wheat to apply for bankruptcy. He was one of fifteen residents to do so in April 1842; others included his brothers and , as well as church and civic leaders , , , , and .The act required that all applicants for bankruptcy submit a petition for bankruptcy, together with a list of their assets and their creditors (with amounts owed), to the federal district court. Pursuant to this requirement, JS created these documents between 14 and 16 April 1842. inscribed entries in JS’s personal journal noting that arrived in on 14 April and that JS spent 15 and 16 April preparing the schedules. Warren likely assisted JS with preparing at least the petition. On 16 April, JS paid Warren for his services with a rifle valued at $50. JS’s petition is no longer extant, but copies of his schedules of creditors and assets are featured below. Warren likely instructed JS to make the list of debts as inclusive as possible. It is unclear whether —the church’s deceased former in —had ever provided JS with a comprehensive report of which debts had been paid and which were still outstanding, so some of the entries on the schedule of creditors may have been paid by this time without JS’s knowledge.On 18 April, JS and others traveled to , the seat of , to declare insolvency before , clerk of the county commissioner’s court. Per statute, JS’s attorneys also published notice of his application for bankruptcy in local newspapers, including the Wasp and the , Illinois, Sangamo Journal. Use of the new law was so widespread that such notices filled the pages of newspapers at this time. JS’s was one of over 350 bankruptcy notices printed in the 6 May 1842 issue of the Sangamo Journal.Over the ensuing years JS’s application for bankruptcy was opposed by attorney for , largely because he believed JS had undisclosed assets. Following the discharge of thousands of debtors, the legislature repealed the 1841 bankruptcy act on 3 March 1843, a little over a year after it had gone into effect. JS was never successfully discharged.The original application manuscripts—the petition, the schedule of creditors, and the list of assets—were presumably destroyed in the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. However, copies of the schedule of creditors and the list of assets (labeled “Inventory of Property”) have survived. These copies, featured below, were made the first week of August 1844 by District Court deputy clerk Stanislaus Lalumière. One week after JS’s death in June 1844, and attorney met with JS’s widow to begin getting JS’s estate documents in order. On Emma Smith’s behalf, Woods requested copies of the schedule of creditors and inventory of property from the Illinois District Court in . The four-dollar bill for copying work, to be paid to court clerk , was dated 3 August 1844 and contains a note that it was paid on 5 August. By itemizing the schedule of creditors and the inventory of property, the bill also makes clear that Woods did not request a copy of JS’s actual petition for bankruptcy—which presumably Woods and Emma Smith did not consider relevant in determining the assets and debts of JS’s estate.The inventory of property bears addressing to in and a stamped postmark dated 7 August. The lack of addressing or seals on the schedule of creditors suggests that this document was enclosed within the inventory of property when both documents were mailed to Woods. A graphite endorsement in ’s handwriting just below the address panel of the latter document indicates that these texts were received on 14 August 1844.
Footnotes
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1
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, “History of the Bankruptcy Laws in the United States,” 16–18.
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.
Tabb, Charles Jordan. “The History of the Bankruptcy Laws in the United States.” American Bankruptcy Institute Law Review 3 (1995): 5–51.
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2
Issues of the Quincy Whig from March and April printed numerous notices of bankruptcy applications being 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
Advertisement, Wasp, 16 Apr. 1842, [3]; 23 Apr. 1842, [3].
The Wasp. Nauvoo, IL. Apr. 1842–Apr. 1843.
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4
Bankruptcy Notice for JS, Sangamo Journal (Springfield, IL), 6 May 1842, [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]; and Calvin A. Warren, Quincy, IL, to JS, Nauvoo, IL, 3 June 1842, JS Collection, CHL.
Sangamo Journal. Springfield, IL. 1831–1847.
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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, 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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6
JS, Journal, 14–16 Apr. 1842. Richards writes that JS was “busily engaged in making out a list of Debtors & invoice of Property.” Richards undoubtedly meant “creditors” rather than “debtors” when referring to the first list, as debts due to JS were noted on the list of property, or assets, and the other legally required document was a list of JS’s creditors. This also matches the two schedules actually produced (copies of which are featured below).
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7
Trustee-in-Trust, Ledger A, 240. It is unclear whether the rifle was payment for filing only JS’s application or also those of other Nauvoo applicants.
Trustee-in-Trust. Index and Accounts, 1841–1847. CHL.
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8
JS, Journal, 18 Apr. 1842; Cochran et al., History of Hancock County, Illinois, 624.
Cochran, Robert M., Mary H. Siegfried, Ida Blum, David L. Fulton, Harold T. Garvey, and Olen L. Smith, eds. History of Hancock County, Illinois: Illinois Sesquicentennial Edition. Carthage, IL: Board of Supervisors of Hancock County, 1968.
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10
Bankruptcy Notice for JS, Sangamo Journal (Springfield, IL), 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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11
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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12
An Act to Establish a Uniform System of Bankruptcy [19 Aug. 1841], Public Statutes at Large, 27th Cong., 1st Sess., chap. 9, p. 440; Tabb, “History of the Bankruptcy Laws in the United States,” 18.
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.
Tabb, Charles Jordan. “The History of the Bankruptcy Laws in the United States.” American Bankruptcy Institute Law Review 3 (1995): 5–51.
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13
Records of the court were moved to Chicago in 1855, when the federal circuit court, district of Illinois, was divided into two districts, one located in Springfield and the other in Chicago. (An Act to Divide the State of Illinois into Two Judicial Districts [Feb. 13, 1855], Statutes at Large and Treaties of the United States of America, 33rd Cong., 2nd Sess., chap. 96, pp. 606–607; Putnam, “Life and Services of Joseph Duncan,” 170.)
The Statutes at Large and Treaties of the United States of America. From December 1, 1845, to March 3, 1851. . . . Edited by George Minot. Vol. 9. Boston: Little, Brown, 1862.
Putnam, Elizabeth Duncan. “The Life and Srvice of Joseph Duncan, Governor of Illinois, 1834–1838.” Transactions of the Illinois State Historical Society 26 (1921): 107–195.
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14
Clayton, Journal, 4 July 1844.
Clayton, William. Journals, 1842–1845. CHL.
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15
Receipt, 5 Aug. 1844, microfilm, Wilford C. Wood Collection of Church Historical Materials, CHL.
Wilford C. Wood Collection of Church Historical Materials. Microfilm. CHL. MS 8617.
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1
| , & . | $1804.94 |
| To | , who resides in the city of , Illinois balance on note jointly with , & . | $500.00 |
| To | John Isham’s Estate, late of aforesaid deceased on joint account against & myself | $1100.00 |
| To | Truman Blodget who resides in said city of against said & myself jointly | $100.00 |
| To | , who resides in said city of on account against myself and | $500.00 |
| To | , who resides in said city of on account. | $2800.00 |
| To | ’s Estate, who is deceased late of said | $10.000.00 |
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