Promissory Note to Horace Hotchkiss, 12 August 1839–W
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Source Note
[, JS, and ], Promissory Note, , Hancock Co., IL, to , 12 Aug. 1839; handwriting of ; probable signatures of , JS, and (now missing); one page; JS Collection, CHL.One leaf measuring 3½ × 7¾ inches (9 × 20 cm), with ten printed lines. The top edge of the leaf was unevenly hand cut, presumably from a larger sheet of paper. The document was folded twice for transmission or filing. The note was likely returned to JS when it was voided, whereupon the signatures were removed and the note was filed with JS’s other papers in , Illinois. Presumably, the note has remained in continuous institutional custody since then.
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Historical Introduction
On 12 August 1839, JS, , and signed three promissory notes in connection with a bond for land they arranged to purchase that day from . This bond was one of two that the entered into with Hotchkiss on 12 August for land in and around , Illinois. Hotchkiss created the bonds for the two transactions; the bond associated with the three promissory notes was for land that Hotchkiss arranged to purchase from . One of these promissory notes—for $1,000—was given to White. The two other notes—for $1,250 each—were payable to Hotchkiss; one was due in five years, and the other, featured here, was due in ten years. In April 1840, JS and his paid White, who provided the men with a deed for the specified land. On 23 October 1840, the First Presidency renegotiated the two notes for Hotchkiss by combining the two payments into one new note for $2,500, due in eight months. As part of this new agreement, the signatures of the First Presidency were removed from the featured promissory note, indicating the note had been voided.
Footnotes
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1
The other bond was with Hotchkiss and his business partners, John Gillet and Smith Tuttle. (See Bond from Horace Hotchkiss, 12 Aug. 1839–A.)
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3
JS et al., Promissory Note, Nauvoo, IL, to Horace Hotchkiss, 23 Oct. 1840, JS Collection, CHL. The 23 October 1840 promissory note was paid no later than October 1841 by James Ivins on behalf of JS. (Horace R. Hotchkiss, Fair Haven, CT, to JS, Nauvoo, IL, 11 Oct. 1841; Horace R. Hotchkiss, Fair Haven, CT, to JS, Nauvoo, IL, 9 Nov. 1841, JS Collection, CHL.)
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4
When a promissory note was paid or canceled, the signatures on the note were removed to invalidate the note, ensuring it was no longer negotiable; the invalidated note could then serve as a receipt for payment. Signatures might also be removed to void a note that had been renegotiated. (“Cancellation,” in Bouvier, Law Dictionary, 1:151; Chitty, Practical Treatise on Bills of Exchange, 303.)
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: T. and J. W. Johnson, 1839.
Chitty, Joseph. A Practical Treatise on Bills of Exchange, Checks on Bankers, Promissory Notes, Bankers’ Cash Notes, and Bank Notes. 6th American ed. Philadelphia: H. C. Carey and I. Lea, 1826.
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