Letter from Reuben McBride, 3 January 1842
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Source Note
, Letter, , Lake Co., OH, to JS and , , Hancock Co., IL, 3 Jan. 1842; handwriting of ; four pages; JS Collection, CHL. Includes address, postal notations, and dockets.Bifolium measuring 12½ × 7⅞ inches (32 × 20 cm). All four pages are inscribed in black and blue ink. filled the recto and verso of each leaf, leaving space for the address on the verso of the second leaf. The fourth page of the letter also included writing to the right and left of the address block that was added after the letter was trifolded twice in letter style. It appears that McBride erased this text with a knife and then rewrote the content vertically across the text on the recto of the first leaf. Following this alteration, the letter was addressed, sealed with a red adhesive wafer, and postmarked. There is wafer residue on the fourth page. The letter appears to have torn when it was opened, resulting in some loss of text on the left side of the first and fourth pages and the right side of the second and third pages. It was later refolded for filing.The document was docketed by , who served as JS’s scribe from December 1841 until JS’s death in June 1844 and served as church historian from December 1842 until his own death in March 1854. Another docket was inscribed by , who served as a clerk in the Church Historian’s Office (later Church Historical Department) from 1853 to 1859. The document was listed in an inventory produced by the Church Historian’s Office circa 1904. By 1973 the document had been included in the JS Collection at the Church Historical Department (now CHL). The document’s early dockets as well as its inclusion in the circa 1904 inventory and in the JS Collection by 1973 indicate continuous institutional custody.
Footnotes
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1
JS, Journal, 13 Dec. 1841 and 21 Dec. 1842; Orson Spencer, “Death of Our Beloved Brother Willard Richards,” Deseret News (Salt Lake City), 16 Mar. 1854, [2].
Deseret News. Salt Lake City. 1850–.
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2
“Obituary of Leo Hawkins,” Millennial Star, 30 July 1859, 21:496–497.
Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star. Manchester, England, 1840–1842; Liverpool, 1842–1932; London, 1932–1970.
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3
“Letters to and from the Prophet,” ca. 1904, [2], Historian’s Office, Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904, CHL.
Historian’s Office. Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904. CHL. CR 100 130.
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4
See the full bibliographic entry for JS Collection, 1827–1844, in the CHL catalog.
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1
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Historical Introduction
On 3 January 1842 member wrote a letter from , Ohio, to JS in , Illinois, reporting on the state of JS’s and the church’s outstanding financial obligations. McBride was given power of attorney after church members at a held in Nauvoo the previous October voted that he “go, settle, and if possible close a business concern left in an uncertain condition by deceased.”In 1838, as the majority of church members migrated from to , JS empowered several men to act as the church’s financial to settle debts that had accrued between 1835 and 1837 from building the and supplying mercantile businesses in and around Kirtland. In 1839 a general conference of the church appointed presiding officer over the church in Kirtland; in conjunction with this appointment, the authorized Granger to act as a church agent to settle outstanding debts on behalf of JS and other church leaders.While settled many church debts over the following years, he failed to convey information about these settlements to JS with the expected regularity and detail. This meant that JS, as the church’s president and trustee, often had an incomplete picture of the church’s outstanding financial debts, which sometimes resulted in confusion. In October 1840, under the mistaken assumption that Granger planned to return to in the fall, a church conference voted to replace him with as the presiding officer in ; JS also empowered Babbitt to act as the church’s financial agent in Kirtland. After learning that Granger intended to remain in Kirtland and was still performing his duties, JS sent him a letter explaining the leadership change and urging him to work together with Babbitt. Granger’s communications regarding the settlement of earlier debts continued to be sparse, however, leaving JS in a difficult position in terms of responding to creditors and ascertaining the church’s financial position. In May 1841, after learning that Granger’s health was in decline, JS requested an update on his progress in settling church debts. JS received no further correspondence from Granger. Less than four months later, Granger died in Kirtland.In October 1841 a church conference voted to withdraw fellowship from and to appoint , who was apparently in attendance, as the church’s agent in . At the time, McBride was a counselor in the Kirtland . JS granted him power of attorney later that month, and McBride likely left for Kirtland shortly afterward. Given the uncertainty about ’s success in settling church debts, it is likely that JS asked McBride to assess the church’s financial situation in Kirtland and write to him as soon as possible.On 3 January 1842 wrote the featured letter to JS outlining some of the church’s outstanding debts and seeking JS’s counsel on how best to settle them. Specifically, McBride described the money owed for his transactions as an agent in ; McBride’s own efforts to collect a promissory note from a “Br More,” likely Henry Moore, and to pay taxes on church land; and the status of two legal s that creditors held against the church farm in . McBride also informed JS that Latter-day Saint Abel Owen and his family were stranded in Kirtland and living in a “suffering condition.” McBride added three postscripts, one of which was directed to and concerned the liquidation of a debt that More apparently owed Smith. It is possible that one or more of the postscripts were added on 4 January, the day the letter was mailed. JS likely received the letter in a couple of weeks later. Though there is no extant response from JS, McBride continued to resolve church debts as an agent of the church in subsequent years.
Footnotes
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1
Minutes and Discourse, 1–5 Oct. 1841, italics in original.
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2
See, for example, Statement of Account from Perkins & Osborn, ca. 29 Oct. 1838.
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3
Minutes, 4–5 May 1839; Authorization for Oliver Granger, 13 May 1839; see also Agreement with Oliver Granger, 29 Apr. 1840. Granger began acting as a church agent in 1837 and 1838. (See Statement of Account from John Howden, 29 Mar. 1838; Letter of Introduction from John Howden, 27 Oct. 1838; and Letter from William Perkins, 29 Oct. 1838.)
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4
Letter to Oliver Granger, 26 Jan. 1841; JS to Reuben McBride, Letter of Attorney, 2 Nov. 1841, in JS Letterbook 2, pp. 213–214.
- 5
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6
See Letter to Amos Keeler, 16 Mar. 1841; and Letter to Oliver Granger, 30 Aug. 1841.
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7
Letter to Oliver Granger, 4 May 1841; Letter to Oliver Granger, 30 Aug. 1841.
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8
Obituary for Oliver Granger, Times and Seasons, 15 Sept. 1841, 2:550.
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
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9
Minutes and Discourse, 1–5 Oct. 1841; Power of Attorney to Reuben McBride, 28 October 1841. Though the minutes do not explicitly state the reasons for withdrawing fellowship from Babbitt, they do suggest that he had encouraged eastern Saints to settle in Kirtland (going against the First Presidency’s directive to gather to Nauvoo) and “in many places taught doctrine contrary to the revelations of God and detrimental to the interest of the church.” Babbitt had also previously been accused of disparaging JS and Sidney Rigdon. On 28 October, JS revoked Babbitt’s authority to act as a church agent. (Historical Introduction to Letter to Oliver Granger, between ca. 22 and ca. 28 July 1840.)
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10
“Minutes of a Conference,” Times and Seasons, 1 July 1841, 2:458.
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
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11
Power of Attorney to Reuben McBride, 28 October 1841; see also JS to Reuben McBride, Letter of Attorney, 2 Nov. 1841, in JS Letterbook 2, pp. 213–214.
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12
See Reuben McBride to William Marks, 4 June 1843, copy, CHL; JS, Journal, 15 Sept. 1843; and Reuben McBride to JS, Bill, 6 May 1845, Illinois State Historical Society, Circuit Court Case Files [Cases pertaining to Mormon Residents], 1830–1900, CHL.
McBride, Reuben. Letter to William Marks, 4 June 1843. Copy. CHL.
Illinois State Historical Society. Circuit Court Case Files, 1830–1900. Microfilm. CHL. MS 16278.
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1
Document Transcript
| Which amounts to | $1990.58 | |
| J Smith Cr. By Land | 1300 | Amt. of Cr. |
| $1100,00 by Cash paid by | $690–58 |
Footnotes
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1
Likely in response to Almon Babbitt and others openly encouraging church members in Ohio and the eastern United States to settle in Kirtland, Hyrum Smith wrote a letter to an unnamed member of the Kirtland branch in October 1841 in which he asserted that “the organization of that branch of the church . . . is not according to the spirit and will of God.” He further warned members of the church in Kirtland to “pay out no monies nor properties for houses, nor lands, in that country, for if you do, you will lose them; for the time shall come that you shall not possess them in peace; but shall be scourged with a sore scourge; yet your children may possess them; but not until many years shall pass away.” The letter was published in the Times and Seasons in November 1841. (Historical Introduction to Letter to Church Leaders in Kirtland, OH, 15 Dec. 1841; Hyrum Smith, Letter, Times and Seasons, 15 [1] Nov. 1841, 3:589.)
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
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2
The church withdrew fellowship from Babbitt in October 1841. (Minutes and Discourse, 1–5 Oct. 1841.)
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3
This likely refers to the service fee charged for filing the deeds in Chardon, the seat of Geauga County, Ohio. Kirtland was part of Geauga County until 1840, when it became part of Lake County.
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4
TEXT: “[page torn]ned”. Missing characters here and in the remainder of the document are supplied from context.
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5
Underwood, Bald, Spencer & Hufty was a printing and engraving firm that had offices in New York City and Philadelphia. In 1836 church leaders commissioned the firm to make printing plates from which they printed notes for the Kirtland Safety Society. In June 1837 the engraving firm took JS and other Kirtland residents to court after they defaulted on the promissory note they had provided as payment for the plates. Underwood and the others were represented by the law firm Andrews, Foot & Hoyt. Although not part of the original lawsuit, Kirtland attorney Lyman Cowdery also represented the firm in 1839. In April 1841 Babbitt assumed the cost of the judgment. (Griffiths, Story of the American Bank Note Company, 27–28, 31; “Mormonism in Ohio,” Aurora [New Lisbon, OH], 19 Jan. 1837, [3]; “Bank at Kirtland,” Cleveland Weekly Advertiser, 29 Dec. 1836, [1]; Transcript of Proceedings, 16 Apr. 1839, Underwood et al. v. Rigdon et al. [Geauga Co. C.P. 1839], Geauga Co., OH, Court of Common Pleas, Record Book X, pp. 34–36, Geauga County Archives and Records Center, Chardon, OH; Case Costs, 16 Apr. 1839, Underwood et al. v. Rigdon et al. [Geauga Co. C.P. 1839], Geauga Co., OH, Court of Common Pleas, Execution Docket G, p. 676, Geauga County Archives and Records Center, Chardon, OH.)
Griffiths, William H. The Story of the American Bank Note Company. New York: American Bank Note Company, 1959.
Aurora. New Lisbon, OH. 1835–1837.
Cleveland Weekly Advertiser. Cleveland. 1836–1840.
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6
This may refer to the land that Peirce—a resident of Chester County, Pennsylvania—sold to church agent Isaac Galland for $5,000. On 29 May 1841 and 28 February 1842, JS, as trustee of the church, deeded Peirce land in Nauvoo worth $4,200 as payment. The $1,100 mentioned here may have been connected to that transaction. (Hancock Co., IL, Deed Records, 1817–1917, vol. I, pp. 330–331, 29 May 1841, microfilm 954,598, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL; Deed to Robert Peirce, 28 Feb. 1842; JS, Journal, 28 Feb. 1842; Letter from Robert Peirce, 28 Feb. 1842.)
U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.
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7
In February 1841 JS authorized Galland and Hyrum Smith to act as church agents to raise money for the construction of the Nauvoo House and the temple in Nauvoo, Illinois. While in the East, the men also facilitated land exchanges—wherein church members in New Jersey and Pennsylvania traded their land for lots in or around Nauvoo—to help pay debts incurred from the purchase of land in Illinois from Horace Hotchkiss. Galland left the eastern United States to return to Nauvoo in July 1841 and may have stopped in Kirtland along the way. (Historical Introduction to Authorization for Hyrum Smith and Isaac Galland, 15 Feb. 1841; Letter from William Smith, 5 Aug. 1841.)
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8
It appears that Babbitt had at some point acquired title to JS’s former residence in Kirtland, which was located just north of the cemetery on the bluff above the Kirtland flats in northwestern Kirtland Township. (See “Kirtland Township with Plots, January 1838.”)
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9
This may relate to a legal dispute over an unpaid promissory note—signed by JS and Brigham Young in October 1836—worth $235.50 that was originally due to Claudius Stannard in October 1837. (See Transcript of Proceedings, 3 Apr. 1838, Stannard v. Young and JS [Geauga Co. C.P. 1838], Geauga Co., OH, Court of Common Pleas, Record Book U, pp. 585–586, Geauga County Archives and Records Center, Chardon, OH.)
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10
Bissell was a Painesville, Ohio, attorney with the firm Bissell & Axtell. He served as counsel to JS’s brother Samuel Smith in 1835. (“Bissell and Axtell,” Painesville [OH] Telegraph, 25 Aug. 1837, 3; “The Late Salmon B. Axtell,” Painesville Telegraph, 19 Sept. 1861, 3; JS, Journal, 26 Oct. 1835.)
Painesville Telegraph. Painesville, OH. 1822–1986.
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11
A bill in chancery is a statement outlining a plaintiff’s case against a defendant in a chancery court. (“Bill,” in Bouvier, Law Dictionary, 1:197.)
Bouvier, John. A Law Dictionary, Adapted to the Constitution and Laws of the United States of America, and of the Several States of the American Union; With References to the Civil and Other Systems of Foreign Law. 2 vols. Philadelphia: Deacon and Peterson, 1854.
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12
The Painesville, Ohio, law firm Perkins & Osborn provided legal counsel to JS and other church leaders in 1837 and 1838 and had not been paid for all its services. Additionally, Perkins & Osborn represented New York creditors requiring payment on promissory notes signed by JS and church leaders in 1837. (See Statement of Account from Perkins & Osborn, ca. 29 Oct. 1838; and Agreement with Mead & Betts, 2 Aug. 1839.)
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13
This likely refers to Henry Moore. In December 1840, in exchange for a financial order owed to JS, Moore agreed to pay JS $150 and granted him control of a house and lot he owned in Nauvoo as security. It appears that Moore had not fully satisfied the debt by January 1842 and that JS empowered Reuben McBride to collect the remaining balance. If the featured letter is referring to Moore, he apparently refused to pay JS any additional money, since JS had collected rent on Moore’s Nauvoo property. (JS to Henry Moore, Agreement, 23 Dec. 1840, JS Collection [Supplement], CHL.)
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14
In August 1841 the Kirtland elders quorum voted that Henry Moore “be not considered to belong to the quorum of Elders.” (Kirtland Elders Quorum, “Record,” 8 Aug. 1841.)
Kirtland Elders Quorum. “A Record of the First Quorurum of Elders Belonging to the Church of Christ: In Kirtland Geauga Co. Ohio,” 1836–1838, 1840–1841. CCLA.
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15
This was likely a tax due Lake County on land the church owned in Kirtland. Taxes were usually assessed and due at the end of the year, so McBride may have struggled to pay taxes that were due in December 1841.
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16
This likely refers to church member Christopher Dixon, who lived in Kirtland during this period. (Lake Co., OH, Treasurer’s Tax Duplicates, 1840–1871, Tax Duplicates, 1843, p. 199, microfilm 973,857, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL.)
U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.
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17
Possibly Jedediah Woodard, a church member who lived in Kirtland. (Book of the Law of the Lord, 260; Geauga Co., OH, Deed Records, 1795–1921, vol. 30, p. 31, 13 Apr. 1839, microfilm 20,242, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL; 1840 U.S. Census, Kirtland Township, Lake Co., OH, 92; JS et al., Memorial to the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, 28 Nov. 1843, Record Group 46, Records of the U.S. Senate, National Archives, Washington DC.)
U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.
Census (U.S.) / U.S. Bureau of the Census. Population Schedules. Microfilm. FHL.
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18
Likely Mount Vernon, Ohio, which is located approximately 120 miles southwest of Kirtland.
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19
This likely refers to a new edition of the church hymnbook that became available in Nauvoo in April 1841. (Emma Smith, comp., A Collection of Sacred Hymns for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints [Nauvoo, IL: E. Robinson, 1841]; “Books,” Times and Seasons, 15 Mar. 1841, 2:355.)
A Collection of Sacred Hymns, for the Church of the Latter Day Saints. Edited by Emma Smith. Kirtland, OH: F. G. Williams, 1835.
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
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20
JS, individually or as part of the firm Rigdon, Smith & Co., reportedly operated a mercantile store in Kirtland. The building was apparently located across from JS’s Kirtland residence on Chillicothe Road. (Deed, 3 June 1841, in Lake Co., OH, Land Registry Records, bk. A, p. 513, CHL.)
Lake County, Ohio. Land Registry Records, 1840–1842. CHL.
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21
An execution of this type was “the act of carrying into effect the final judgment of a court.” (“Execution,” in Bouvier, Law Dictionary, 1:538.)
Bouvier, John. A Law Dictionary, Adapted to the Constitution and Laws of the United States of America, and of the Several States of the American Union; With References to the Civil and Other Systems of Foreign Law. 2 vols. Philadelphia: Deacon and Peterson, 1854.
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22
In April 1837 JS, Hyrum Smith, Rigdon, Bosley, and Johnson purchased goods on credit from Howden and provided him with two promissory notes totaling $1,650. One note was later endorsed by Howden and transferred to Ray Boynton and Harry Hyde, who sued JS and the others for payment in 1838. In August 1841 a man by the name of Devenport appeared in Nauvoo and presented JS and Hyrum Smith with a judgment related to the Boynton and Hyde case. Church leaders reportedly referred him to Oliver Granger, whom they instructed in an August 1841 letter to settle the judgment. By 1842 the execution was apparently held by the above-referenced Mathews of Painesville, Ohio. (Statement of Account from John Howden, 29 Mar. 1838; Transcript of Proceedings, 3 Apr. 1838, Boynton and Hyde v. JS [Geauga Co. C.P. 1838], Geauga Co., OH, Court of Common Pleas, Record Book U, pp. 512–513, Geauga County Archives and Records Center, Chardon, OH; Case Costs, ca. 3 Apr. 1838, Boynton and Hyde v. Rigdon [Geauga Co. C.P. 1838], Geauga Co., OH, Court of Common Pleas, Execution Docket G, p. 356, Geauga County Archives and Records Center, Chardon, OH; Letter to Oliver Granger, 30 Aug. 1841.)
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23
TEXT: The ink color changes at this point from brown to blue.
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24
In October 1840 Oliver Granger acquired several farms—totaling about two hundred acres—in Oswego County, New York, from Jonathan and Julia Harrington, Alonzo and Betsey Reed, Thomas and Elizabeth King, and Abel and Betsy Owen. The land was to be exchanged for land in Illinois or Iowa Territory. Apparently, Granger arranged with Reuben Hitchcock, attorney and district judge of the court of common pleas, to deed the Harrington, Reed, and Owen farms to the New York mercantile firm John Hitchcock & Son as payment for debts church leaders owed. (Abel Owen and Betsy Owen to Oliver Granger, Deed, 10 Oct. 1840, Hiram Kimball, Collection, CHL; JS per William Clayton to Jonathan Harrington, Receipt, 8 July 1842, JS Office Papers, CHL; Oswego Co., NY, Deeds, 1792–1902, vol. 32, pp. 33–36, microfilm 1,011,773; vol. 34, pp. 157–158, microfilm 1,011,774, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL; Benjamin Elsworth, Palermo, NY, 18 Oct. 1840, Letter to the Editor, Times and Seasons, 15 Nov. 1840, 2:219–220; see also, for example, John Hitchcock & Son to Cahoon, Carter & Co., Bill, ca. 12 Oct. 1836, JS Office Papers, CHL.)
Kimball, Hiram. Collection, 1830–1910. CHL.
U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
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25
As McBride noted, several individuals had competing claims to the land. It appears that before John Hitchcock & Son could respond to the proposed settlement, William Perkins, a Painesville lawyer representing Oliver Granger in resolving debts, sent the promissory notes Granger had signed that promised the farms, located in Oswego County, New York, as payment to the New York firm. After this arrangement was made, Granger apparently deeded the properties to his son Gilbert Granger. Perkins apparently argued that the arrangement to use the Oswego land as payment was in force before Granger deeded the land to his son.
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26
Owen sold his farm, located in Palermo, New York, to church agent Oliver Granger on 10 October 1840 for $700. The Owen family was apparently living in Kirtland by August 1841. (Abel Owen and Betsy Owen to Oliver Granger, Deed, 10 Oct. 1840, Hiram Kimball, Collection, CHL; Kirtland Elders Quorum, “Record,” 8 Aug. 1841.)
Kimball, Hiram. Collection, 1830–1910. CHL.
Kirtland Elders Quorum. “A Record of the First Quorurum of Elders Belonging to the Church of Christ: In Kirtland Geauga Co. Ohio,” 1836–1838, 1840–1841. CCLA.
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27
TEXT: Page torn.
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28
“Br More” likely refers to Henry Moore. He apparently owned property in block 151, lot 2, in Nauvoo, though it is unclear whether this is the property mentioned here. (JS to Henry Moore, Agreement, 23 Dec. 1840, JS Collection [Supplement], CHL; Miller, “Study of Property Ownership: Nauvoo,” 151; “A List and Description of All Taxable Lots and Lands Lying within the Fourth Ward of the City of Nauvoo,” 1842, p. 6, Nauvoo, IL, Records, CHL.)
Miller, Rowena J. “Study of Property Ownership: Nauvoo; Original Town of Nauvoo, 1839–1850,” ca. 1965. In Nauvoo Restoration, Inc., Corporate Files, 1839–1992. CHL.
Nauvoo, IL, Records, 1841–1845. CHL.
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29
Tate, a church member, was a medical doctor who graduated from the Medical College of Ohio in 1840 and lived in Cass County, Illinois, by 1841. He advertised his services in the Nauvoo publication Wasp. (Martin, History of Cass County, 2:767; Perrin, History of Cass County, Illinois, 84; Nauvoo Temple, Record of Baptisms for the Dead, vol. A, p. 160; “H. Tate, M.D.,” Wasp, 3 Dec. 1842, [3].)
Martin, Charles, ed. History of Cass County. 2 vols. Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois, edited by Newton Bateman and Paul Selby. Chicago: Munsell Publishing, 1915.
Perrin, William Henry, ed. History of Cass County Illinois. Chicago: O. L. Baskin, 1882.
Nauvoo Temple. Record of Baptisms for the Dead, 1841, 1843–1845. CHL.
The Wasp. Nauvoo, IL. Apr. 1842–Apr. 1843.
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30
Hyrum Smith’s Kirtland home was built on a one-acre lot located approximately two hundred yards south of the Kirtland temple (part of lot 30 in Kirtland Township). (Geauga Co., OH, Deed Records, 1795–1921, vol. 24, p. 124, 4 Nov. 1836, microfilm 20,240, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL.)
U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.
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31
Possibly church member Harrison Burgess, who was still living in Kirtland in December 1840. (Kirtland Elders Quorum, “Record,” 24 Dec. 1840.)
Kirtland Elders Quorum. “A Record of the First Quorurum of Elders Belonging to the Church of Christ: In Kirtland Geauga Co. Ohio,” 1836–1838, 1840–1841. CCLA.
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32
Likely the Western Reserve Teacher’s Seminary and Kirtland Institute, which was founded in 1838 to train male and female teachers. The institute initially met in the House of the Lord before relocating to the Methodist church. (Alcott, American Annals of Education, for the Year 1838, 429; Mackay and Mackay, “Time of Transition,” 133–134.)
Alcott, William A., ed. American Annals of Education, for the Year 1838. Boston: Otis and Broaders, 1838.
Mackay, Christin Craft, and Lachlan Mackay. “A Time of Transition: The Kirtland Temple, 1838–1880.” John Whitmer Historical Association Journal 18 (1998): 133–148.
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33
As agents of the church, Oliver Granger and Reuben McBride were authorized to rent out properties church leaders still owned in Kirtland. For example, former church member Joseph Coe reportedly rented JS’s farm in Kirtland during the early 1840s. (JS, Nauvoo, IL, to Joseph Coe, Kirtland, OH, 18 Jan. 1844, copy, JS Collection, CHL.)
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34
Probably church member Ira Oviatt, who lived in Kirtland between 1840 and 1842. (Obituary for Ira Oviatt, Deseret News [Salt Lake City], 15 July 1868, 183; 1840 U.S. Census, Kirtland Township, Lake Co., OH, 92; Kirtland Elders Quorum, “Record,” 11 July 1841; “Alphabetical List of Property Assessed in the Fourth Ward,” 1843, Nauvoo block 148, lot 1, Nauvoo, IL, Records, CHL.)
Deseret News. Salt Lake City. 1850–.
Census (U.S.) / U.S. Bureau of the Census. Population Schedules. Microfilm. FHL.
Kirtland Elders Quorum. “A Record of the First Quorurum of Elders Belonging to the Church of Christ: In Kirtland Geauga Co. Ohio,” 1836–1838, 1840–1841. CCLA.
Nauvoo, IL. Records, 1841–1845. CHL. MS 16800.
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35
TEXT: The text in this paragraph is written vertically across page [1], beginning at the left margin.
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36
Possibly Kirtland church member Otis Hobart, who was sustained as a counselor in the elders quorum presidency in November 1840 and apparently served as clerk of that body through May 1841. (Kirtland Elders Quorum, “Record,” 11 Nov. 1840 and 21 May 1841.)
Kirtland Elders Quorum. “A Record of the First Quorurum of Elders Belonging to the Church of Christ: In Kirtland Geauga Co. Ohio,” 1836–1838, 1840–1841. CCLA.
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37
TEXT: “let[page torn]”.
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Postage in unidentified handwriting; Lyman Cowdery was the postmaster of Kirtland at this time. (U.S. Post Office Department, Record of Appointment of Postmasters, reel 100, vol. 9, p. 211.)
U.S. Post Office Department. Record of Appointment of Postmasters, 1832–September 30, 1971. National Archives Microfilm Publications, microcopy M841. 145 microfilm reels. Washington DC: National Archives, 1977.
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Postmark likely written by Lyman Cowdery. (U.S. Post Office Department, Record of Appointment of Postmasters, reel 100, vol. 9, p. 211.)
U.S. Post Office Department. Record of Appointment of Postmasters, 1832–September 30, 1971. National Archives Microfilm Publications, microcopy M841. 145 microfilm reels. Washington DC: National Archives, 1977.
