Kirtland Safety Society Bank Stock Ledger, 18 October 1836–12 June 1837
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Source Note
Kirtland Safety Society, Stock Ledger, , Geauga Co., OH, 18 Oct. 1836–12 June 1837; handwriting of , , and ; 287 pages; Chicago History Museum. Includes redactions and archival stamp.The accounts for stockholders in the were inscribed in a commercially produced ledger book measuring 15½ × 6½ inches (39 × 17 cm). The ledger contains a total of 156 leaves, or 312 pages. The pages measure 157/16 × 63/8 inches (39 × 16 cm), and each page is ruled with fifty-six printed horizontal lines. Each page also contains vertical lines to create columns; these printed ledger lines consist of three single lines and one set of double lines. The front and back boards of the ledger are covered by marbled paper with green, yellow, and pink veins. The corners of the boards and the spine are covered in leather. Both the front and back boards have separated from the book. The spine is also worn and contains the following inscription: “Stock Ledger ◊◊◊”, the illegible characters possibly indicating a date or year. The ledger has pastedowns of ledger paper on the inside front and back covers of the volume. The inside front pastedown contains the following graphite notation: “S◊◊◊ | $750 00”. Pagination, in the handwriting of , begins with page 1 on the verso of the second leaf and ends with page 316. However, two pages have been numbered page 274. Pages 305 through 312 are missing and appear to have been removed from the volume at some point. Stockholder account entries are inscribed on pages 1–286. Warren Parrish, who served as the primary clerk for the Kirtland Safety Society, did most of the recordkeeping from October 1836 to May 1837. He appears to have written the names of stockholders in graphite before inscribing them in ink. Additional entries were made in the ledger by and , who helped keep and correct the accounts begun by Parrish and recorded the transfer of stocks in 1837.According to an inscription, probably in the handwriting of Arthur B. Deming, on the recto of the second leaf of the ledger, the volume was in the possession of , former clerk and treasurer of the , and his descendants until 1885, when Arthur B. Deming, the son of General , discovered it “while secureing evidence as to the true origin and early history of Mormonism.” The Chicago Historical Society (now Chicago History Museum) appears to have acquired it from Charles Gunther or his estate and has retained continuous institutional custody to the present. An embossed stamp on the bottom right corner of the first page reads: “CHARLES F. GUNTHER | MEMORIAL | CHICAGO HISTORICAL SOCIETY”.
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Historical Introduction
When JS and other leaders of the took steps to establish a community bank in , Ohio, in 1836, stock sales were vital to its success. In order to acquire the funds needed to operate the institution, which they named the , and redeem its banknotes for specie, the society solicited subscriptions from individuals interested in purchasing the society’s stock. The society’s constitution and articles of agreement set the capital stock at $4 million and divided that amount into 80,0000 shares of stock sold for $50 each. Stockholders could purchase as little as a single share of stock and as many as 3,000 shares. Once they agreed to purchase stock in the society, they were required to pay an initial installment of $0.26 per share of stock, based on the total amount of stock they had agreed to purchase.The $50 price of stock for the Kirtland Safety Society was lower than average, but not unusually low when compared with similar financial institutions. What was substantially reduced was the amount stockholders were required to pay when they first subscribed for stock. At $0.26 per share, this payment was significantly lower than what other banks charged—typically between $5 and $50 per share.Stock subscriptions began in mid-October 1836, when purchased the first stock. On 22 October 1836, JS subscribed for 3,000 shares and made an initial payment of $1,342.69. The majority of stockholders in the Kirtland Safety Society subscribed for their shares of stock between October and December 1836. By January 1837, the society had more than one hundred stockholders who had paid nearly $12,000 in specie or banknotes to fulfill some portion of the first installment due on their stock. The Safety Society officers showed leniency to those who could not pay their full initial payment. Although individuals who subscribed for 1,000 shares should have made an initial payment of $262.50, many only ever paid a few dollars, and some never paid anything. This created a severe funding problem for the society.The stock ledger featured here, which includes entries from October 1836 to June 1837, contains an individual account, spanning two pages, for each of the society’s stockholders. These accounts note the amount of stock the individual subscribed for and any payments or withdrawals made on the stock. Most stockholders were Latter-day Saints living in , with a small number of residents also investing in the society. The majority of the stockholders were men, though a number of women also subscribed. Most subscribers were not wealthy, helping explain why many paid only a small portion of what they owed on stock to the bank. While some church leaders invested in the bank, the majority of stockholders held no leadership positions in the church.A complete list of stockholders was never created, but a partial list was printed in the March 1837 issue of the church newspaper Messenger and Advocate. The ledger is the best contemporary source for identifying stockholders. However, the ledger may be incomplete, as some individuals named as subscribers in January 1837 do not appear in the book. In a few instances the names in the ledger were altered by knife erasure and overwriting from the original name inscribed in the ledger. This was probably done after the Safety Society had closed. However, these names can be recovered through careful analysis, along with a comparison to the contemporary index and aided by notations made by Arthur Deming, a church critic who acquired the book in the 1880s.
Footnotes
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1
The Society’s capital stock was a considerably higher amount than that of other community banks in the period, which ranged from $100,000 to $300,000.
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2
The Kirtland Safety Society charged $0.26¼ per share of stock for the initial installment payment once an individual agreed to purchase stock. This amount was not a published figure but can be calculated based on stockholders’ payments recorded in the society’s stock ledger. Stockholders paid certain amounts consistently, including $2.63 for 10 shares of stock, $5.25 for 20 shares, $10.50 for 40 shares, $15.75 for 60 shares, $26.25 for 100 shares, $52.50 for 200 shares, and $105 for 400 shares. When the amount paid is divided by number of shares, the price of an individual share comes to $0.26¼. While the requirement remained constant, some individuals paid more than the required amount when they initially paid for their stock, and many others paid less for their initial payment. (Kirtland Safety Society, Stock Ledger, 33–34, 43–44, 81–82, 183–184, 191–192, 195–196.)
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3
In the 1836 Ohio legislature proceedings, the most common cost for a share of stock for banks in Ohio towns was $100. Stock shares in larger, well-established areas varied from $100 to $500 per share, but most community banks on the western frontier could not demand such elevated prices. Shares in the stock of the Commercial Bank of Lake Erie were $100 and required five percent to be paid upon subscription. (“A Bill for the Regulation of Banks within This State,” sec. 7, Ohio State Journal and Columbus Gazette, 13 Jan. 1837, [2]; Bodenhorn, State Banking in Early America, 19–20; Charter Acceptance, Letterbook, vol. 1, 1816–1839, [1], Commercial Bank of Lake Erie Records, Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, OH.)
Ohio State Journal and Columbus Gazette. Columbus. 1825–1837.
Bodenhorn, Howard. State Banking in Early America: A New Economic History. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003.
Commercial Bank of Lake Erie Records, 1816–1840. Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland.
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4
No compilations of data for installment payments have been created for nineteenth-century banks, but the Bank of Geauga in Painesville, Ohio, notified stockholders that an installment of $6.50 was due on each share on 20 January 1837. The charter for the Commercial Bank of Lake Erie in Cleveland, Ohio, required an installment of 5 percent, or $5.00 on each share. The Bank of Monroe in Michigan notified stockholders of the need to pay monthly installments of $5.00 per share after the bank’s 10 February 1837 meeting. (Notice from Bank of Geauga, 16 Nov. 1836, in Painesville [OH] Telegraph, 30 Dec. 1836, [4]; Charter Acceptance, Letterbook, vol. 1, 1816–1839, [1], Commercial Bank of Lake Erie Records, Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, OH; “Bank of Monroe,” Painesville [OH] Republican, 29 Feb. 1837.)
Painesville Telegraph. Painesville, OH. 1822–1986.
Commercial Bank of Lake Erie Records, 1816–1840. Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland.
Painesville Republican. Painesville, OH. 1836–1841.
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5
Kirtland Safety Society, Stock Ledger, 1–2. Brigham Young recorded in his personal account book that he “paid to the Bank this day 150 cents in silver” on 15 October 1836, but no record of this transaction is found in the stock ledger. It is possible the money was paid to the Bank of Geauga in Painesville or that Young paid the money to the Kirtland Safety Society in some other capacity than payment for stock subscription. The Kirtland Safety Society loan book is not extant, and only a few pages of discount records have survived to the present. (Young, Account Book, [1].)
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7
In the ledger these payments are recorded as being made in “cash,” which in nineteenth-century banking and accounting terminology could mean either specie, such as gold or silver coins, or banknotes. (Coffin, Progressive Exercises in Book Keeping, 10–39.)
Coffin, James H. Progressive Exercises in Book Keeping, by Single and Double Entry. Greenfield, MA: A. Phelps, 1836.
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8
Five individuals who subscribed for stock have no recorded payments in the extant stock ledger: Joseph Brayn, Frederick G. Williams, Samuel Willard, Luther P. Bates, and Samuel Wittemore. (Kirtland Safety Society, Stock Ledger, 159–160, 197–198, 199–200, 207–208, 213–214.)
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9
Six women were among the subscribers in October and early November. The majority of women who were stockholders were related to JS or were the wives of men involved in the society.
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10
“Minutes of a Meeting,” Messenger and Advocate, Mar. 1837, 3:475–477.
Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. Kirtland, OH. Oct. 1834–Sept. 1837.
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1
| Dr. | Contra Cr. | |||||
| 2,000 Shares Stock $50.00 Ea | 100,000.00 | 1836 Dec. 12 | By Cash | 11.16 | ||
| 1837 Jany. 5 | By do | 35.50 | ||||
| $46.66 | ||||||
| $478.34 due | ||||||
| Dr. | Contra Cr. | |||||
| 600 Shares Stock $50.00 Ea | 30,000.00 | 1837 Feby. 3 | By Cash | 26.25 | ||
| $131.25 |
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