Footnotes
See Historical Introduction to Mortgage to Peter French, 5 Oct. 1836.
Editorial, LDS Messenger and Advocate, June 1837, 3:521; Backman, Heavens Resound, 139–140; see also Historical Introduction to Minutes, 22 Dec. 1836; Historical Introduction to Notice, ca. Late Aug. 1837; and Historical Introduction to Mortgage to Peter French, 5 Oct. 1836.
Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. Kirtland, OH. Oct. 1834–Sept. 1837.
Backman, Milton V., Jr. The Heavens Resound: A History of the Latter-day Saints in Ohio, 1830–1838. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1983.
No deeds confirm JS’s or Pratt’s involvement in the transaction, probably because Pratt never acquired a deed for the lots, being unable to pay for the land.
Pratt, Autobiography, 181–183.
Pratt, Parley P. The Autobiography of Parley Parker Pratt, One of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Embracing His Life, Ministry and Travels, with Extracts, in Prose and Verse, from His Miscellaneous Writings. Edited by Parley P. Pratt Jr. New York: Russell Brothers, 1874.
Thomas B. Marsh and David W. Patten, Far West, MO, to Parley P. Pratt, Toronto, Upper Canada, 10 May 1837, in JS Letterbook 2, pp. 62–63.
Geauga Co., OH, Probate Court, Marriage Records, 1806–1920, vol. C, p. 220, 14 May 1837, microfilm 873,464, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL.
U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.
By May 1837, JS faced lawsuits on debts relating to land purchased from Timothy Martindale, money borrowed from the Bank of Geauga, goods purchased from the New York firm of Patterson & Patterson, and promissory notes given to Ezra Holmes and Hezekiah Kelley. (Transcript of Proceedings, 5 June 1837, Martindale v. JS et al. [Geauga Co. C.P. 1837]; Transcript of Proceedings, 5 June 1837, Bank of Geauga v. JS et al. [Geauga Co. C.P. 1837]; Transcript of Proceedings, 5 June 1837, Holmes v. Dayton et al. [Geauga Co. C.P. 1837]; Transcript of Proceedings, 5 June 1837, Kelley v. Rigdon et al. [Geauga Co. C.P. 1837], Record Book U, pp. 67–69, 86–87, 97–101, 106–108, Geauga County Archives and Records Center, Chardon, OH. For information on JS’s absence from Kirtland in April, see Letter from Newel K. Whitney, 20 Apr. 1837; and Notes Receivable from Rigdon, Smith & Co., 22 May 1837.)
Geauga Co., OH, Court of Common Pleas, Record Book U. Geauga County Archives and Records Center, Chardon, OH.
The return of land that had been mortgaged or paid through promissory notes was a common settlement when the purchaser could not pay the promised amount. However, in such a case the Kirtland Safety Society would have lost money on the transaction. By requiring Pratt’s home—his improvement on the land—the society would make a small profit. For his part, Pratt requested the seventy-five dollars he had paid on the land transaction. Previous payments would not generally be returned but considered the loss of the purchaser. For similar resolutions of failed transactions, see Historical Introduction to Letter from Newel K. Whitney, 20 Apr. 1837; and Ames, Autobiography and Journal, [11]–[12].
Ames, Ira. Autobiography and Journal, 1858. CHL. MS 6055.
Mary Fielding, Kirtland, OH, to Mercy Fielding, [Upper Canada], ca. June 1837, Mary Fielding Smith, Collection, CHL.
Smith, Mary Fielding. Collection, ca. 1832–1848. CHL. MS 2779.
John Smith, Kirtland, OH, to George A. Smith, West Township, Columbiana Co., OH, 28 July 1837, George Albert Smith, Papers, CHL; Mary Fielding, Kirtland, OH, to Mercy Fielding, [Upper Canada], ca. June 1837, Mary Fielding Smith, Collection, CHL.
Smith, George Albert. Papers, 1834–1877. CHL. MS 1322.
Smith, Mary Fielding. Collection, ca. 1832–1848. CHL. MS 2779.
Pratt, Autobiography, 183–184.
Pratt, Parley P. The Autobiography of Parley Parker Pratt, One of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Embracing His Life, Ministry and Travels, with Extracts, in Prose and Verse, from His Miscellaneous Writings. Edited by Parley P. Pratt Jr. New York: Russell Brothers, 1874.
Mary Fielding, Kirtland, OH, to Mercy Fielding Thompson, [Upper Canada], 8 July 1837, Mary Fielding Smith, Collection, CHL; Pratt, Autobiography, 184.
Smith, Mary Fielding. Collection, ca. 1832–1848. CHL. MS 2779.
Pratt, Parley P. The Autobiography of Parley Parker Pratt, One of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Embracing His Life, Ministry and Travels, with Extracts, in Prose and Verse, from His Miscellaneous Writings. Edited by Parley P. Pratt Jr. New York: Russell Brothers, 1874.
It is not clear how Parrish acquired a copy of Pratt’s letter. Even though Pratt later stated it was not intended for publication, he may have circulated it among those individuals in Kirtland who shared his frustrations with JS and Rigdon in the summer of 1837. The letter Parrish sent to Zion’s Watchman first appeared as a letter to the editor of the Painesville (Ohio) Republican, an original copy of which has not been located. (Parley P. Pratt, Kirtland, OH, to JS, 23 May 1837, in Zion’s Watchman, 24 Mar. 1838, 46; “To the Public,” Elders’ Journal, Aug. 1838, 50–51.)
Zion's Watchman. New York City. 1836–1838.
Elders’ Journal of the Church of Latter Day Saints. Kirtland, OH, Oct.–Nov. 1837; Far West, MO, July–Aug. 1838.
“Mormonism,” Zion’s Watchman, 24 Mar. 1838, 46.
Zion's Watchman. New York City. 1836–1838.
“To the Public,” Elders’ Journal, Aug. 1838, 50–51.
Elders’ Journal of the Church of Latter Day Saints. Kirtland, OH, Oct.–Nov. 1837; Far West, MO, July–Aug. 1838.
Richard Livesey, Exposure of Mormonism (Preston: J. Livesey, 1838).
Livesey, Richard. An Exposure of Mormonism, Being a Statement of Facts relating to the Self- Styled “Latter Day Saints,” and the Origin of the Book of Mormon. Preston, England: J. Livesey, 1838.
Pratt, Reply, 7.
Pratt, Parley P. A Reply to Mr. Thomas Taylor’s “Complete Failure,” &c., and Mr. Richard Livesey’s “Mormonism Exposed.” Manchester: R. Thomas, 1840.
“Parley P. Pratt’s Letter,” Naked Truths about Mormonism (Oakland, CA), Apr. 1888, 4.
Naked Truths about Mormonism: Also a Journal for Important, Newly Apprehended Truths, and Miscellany. Oakland, CA. Jan. and Apr. 1888.
Arthur Deming, Preface to “Parley P. Pratt’s Letter,” Naked Truths about Mormonism (Oakland, CA), Apr. 1888, 4. A “Lake County Library and Historical Society” was founded in June 1876, but that organization, long discontinued, has no relation to the present-day Lake County Historical Society, which was started in 1936 and has no record of the letter being in their collection. (History of Geauga and Lake Counties, 43.)
Naked Truths about Mormonism: Also a Journal for Important, Newly Apprehended Truths, and Miscellany. Oakland, CA. Jan. and Apr. 1888.
History of Geauga and Lake Counties, Ohio, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Its Pioneers and Most Prominent Men. Philadelphia: Williams Brothers, 1878.
“To the Public,” Elders’ Journal, Aug. 1838, 50.
Elders’ Journal of the Church of Latter Day Saints. Kirtland, OH, Oct.–Nov. 1837; Far West, MO, July–Aug. 1838.
It is not clear who was involved in making these changes. Parrish may have altered the letter before sending it, or the editors of Zion’s Watchman may have imposed changes to conform with standardized spelling in their publication. Sunderland and Merritt may also have decided to omit the postscript because of its affirmation of the Book of Mormon.
Page 4
Page 4
TEXT: Between the date and the body of the letter is a paragraph by Deming: “The following letter is an exact copy of the original, which is in the possession of the Lake County Historical Society at Painesville, Ohio. P. P. Pratt was a brother of Orson, and was killed in the Indian Territory in 1857 by a man whose wife he had seduced.” For information on Pratt’s murder by Hector McLean, former husband of Eleanor Jane McComb McLean Pratt, one of Parley P. Pratt’s plural wives, see Givens and Grow, Apostle Paul of Mormonism, 361–383.
Givens, Terryl L., and Matthew J. Grow. Parley P. Pratt: The Apostle Paul of Mormonism. New York: Oxford University Press, 2011.
The Zion’s Watchman instead has “scheme.” (“Mormonism,” Zion’s Watchman, 24 Mar. 1838, 46.)
Zion's Watchman. New York City. 1836–1838.
Engaging in uncertain land investments in hopes of making a profit was a reality for most of the western frontier, including Ohio in the mid-1830s. Church members were involved in frequent land transactions, some of which were likely risky investments made to turn a profit. Warren A. Cowdery’s May 1837 editorial in the Messenger and Advocate detailed speculation and inflation in Kirtland: “Real estate rose from one to eight hundred per cent and in many cases more. Men who were not thought worth fifty or an hundred dollars became purchasers to the amount of thousands. Notes, (some cash,) deeds, and mortgages passed and repassed, till all, or nearly all, vainly supposed they had become wealthy.” In April 1837, JS, Hyrum Smith, and Sidney Rigdon each emphasized the need for church members outside of Kirtland to move there and buy the lands for which JS and other church members had gone into debt to acquire for the Saints. Since no records indicate the amounts for which this land was sold, it is impossible to know if the prices were significantly inflated. (Editorial, LDS Messenger and Advocate, June 1837, 3:520–522; Historical Introduction to Mortgage to Peter French, 5 Oct. 1836; Discourse, 6 Apr. 1837. For accounts of speculation occurring among church members in this period, see JS History, vol. B-1, 761; Kimball, “History,” 77–78; Fielding, Journal, 12–13; and Cyrus Smalling, Letter, Kirtland, OH, 10 Mar. 1841, in “Banking and Financiering at Kirtland,” 669.)
Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. Kirtland, OH. Oct. 1834–Sept. 1837.
Kimball, Heber C. “History of Heber Chase Kimball by His Own Dictation,” ca. 1842–1856. Heber C. Kimball, Papers, 1837–1866. CHL. MS 627, box 2.
Fielding, Joseph. Journals, 1837–1859. CHL. MS 1567.
“Banking and Financiering at Kirtland.” Magazine of Western History 11, no. 6 (Apr. 1890): 668–670.
Referencing how the spirit of speculation had led members to exploit their neighbors, in a May 1837 editorial, Warren A. Cowdery warned new arrivals in Kirtland to beware of those who would take advantage of their inexperience to sell them land at much higher rates. (Editorial, LDS Messenger and Advocate, May 1837, 3:505–506.)
Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. Kirtland, OH. Oct. 1834–Sept. 1837.
The word “hell” is italicized in Zion’s Watchman. (“Mormonism,” Zion’s Watchman, 24 Mar. 1838, 46.)
Zion's Watchman. New York City. 1836–1838.
In Zion’s Watchman this amount is written as $100. Pratt considered JS’s treatment of him to be extortion because JS had originally paid much less for the land. The exact lots mentioned by Pratt are not known, but if these were lands for which JS had received the title from Frederick G. Williams or John Johnson, JS may have paid very little. However, if they were sections of land from more recent purchases, JS may have still been paying off the high costs of land and may not have inflated the price as significantly as Pratt claimed. During the height of land transactions in late 1836 and early 1837, the price of lots around the House of the Lord in Kirtland were driven up by demand, and JS may have asked $2,000 for the property due to the inflated land values. The deeds for the three lots mentioned here were not recorded in the deed books for Geauga County. The land transaction may have been voided when Pratt was unable to pay his obligations on the land. (“Mormonism,” Zion’s Watchman, 24 Mar. 1838, 46; Historical Introduction to Revelation, 23 Apr. 1834 [D&C 104]; Balance of Account, 23 Apr. 1834; Hyrum Smith, Kirtland, OH, to Charles C. Rich, [Pleasant Grove, IL], 5 Feb. 1837, Charles C. Rich, Collection, CHL; see also Historical Introduction to Notice, ca. Late Aug. 1837.)
Zion's Watchman. New York City. 1836–1838.
Rich, Charles C. Collection, 1832–1908. CHL. MS 889.
This likely refers to a promissory note or something similar Pratt gave JS for the debt on the land.
In Zion’s Watchman, this is rendered as “SACRED PROMISES.” (“Mormonism,” Zion’s Watchman, 24 Mar. 1838, 46.)
Zion's Watchman. New York City. 1836–1838.
“These writings” refer to promissory notes or other financial obligations held by JS.
Charges such as those Pratt refers to here against a member of the First Presidency would have been addressed not to the high council but to the bishop’s council for possible action.
This postscript was not printed in the Zion’s Watchman version of the letter. (“Mormonism,” Zion’s Watchman, 24 Mar. 1838, 46.)
Zion's Watchman. New York City. 1836–1838.
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