License for Jonathan H. Hale, 26 January 1839

Preprinted form ends; George W. Robinson handwriting begins.  

TEXT: Possibly “28th”.  

In March 1836, members at a church conference resolved that a clerk should record licenses in a record book “and that said recording clerk be required to endorse a certificate under his own hand and signature on the back of said licences, specifying the time when & place where such license was recorded, and also a reference to the letter and page of the Book containing the same.” Although Robinson wrote on Hale’s license that it was recorded on page 51 of License Record Book, December 1837–May 1862, the last copied license was recorded in September 1838 on page 32. When Robinson resumed issuing licenses in December 1838, he apparently did not simultaneously copy the new licenses into the record book, opting instead to create a list of issued licenses, including the name, office, date of issuance, and page number, on the flyleaf of the record book. The list suggests that Robinson anticipated recording Hale’s license in the book on page 51, but he apparently was unable to do so given the Saints’ exodus from the state. (Minutes, 3 Mar. 1836; General Church Recorder, License Record Book, 32.)