Receipt from Sarah Burt Beman, 26 January 1839
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Source Note
on behalf of , Receipt, for on behalf of JS and , , Caldwell Co., MO, 26 Jan. 1839; handwriting of ; signature of ; one page; JS Collection, CHL. Includes docket.Single leaf measuring 3½ × 7⅞ inches (9 × 20 cm). The receipt was folded for carrying and storage. It has undergone conservation work. Since the time of its reception, the receipt has apparently remained in the possession of the LDS church.
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Historical Introduction
On 26 January 1839, created the following receipt in , Missouri, showing that had received a payment of $220.37 on behalf of his mother-in-law, . In creating this receipt, Partridge acted on behalf of JS and of the , who were imprisoned in , Missouri. The receipt represents the completion of the final step in a financial process that began in , Ohio, before Beman migrated to in July 1838. First, on 26 April 1838, Beman and some of her relatives deeded to church 130 acres, likely to help alleviate the church’s debts. Second, on the same day, church agent issued Beman one or more orders totaling the value Granger assigned to the donation—$1,700—which authorized her to receive the equivalent of that amount in land or cash from Partridge in Missouri. The third and final step in the process was to receive payment, which Beman did at least three times—for $300.00 on 22 August 1838, $63.44 on 9 January 1839, and $220.37 on 26 January 1839. On each occasion, Partridge wrote a receipt confirming that Beman received payment. The third receipt, featured here as representative of similar documents, was signed on Beman’s behalf by Noble, suggesting Beman was not present when the payment was received.
Footnotes
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1
Joseph B. Noble married Mary Beman on 11 September 1834. (Noble and Noble, Reminiscences, [10]–[12], [14].)
Noble, Joseph B., and Mary Adeline Beman Noble. Reminiscences, ca. 1836. CHL. MS 1031, fd. 1.
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2
JS and Rigdon held many of the church’s debts in their own names. (See, for example, Statement of Account from John Howden, 29 Mar. 1838; and Statement of Account from Perkins & Osborn, ca. 29 Oct. 1838; for information on Partridge’s role in handling financial affairs, see Historical Introduction to Pay Order to Edward Partridge for William Smith, 21 Feb. 1838.)
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3
Helen Mar Kimball Whitney, “Closing Paragraph of Life Incidents,” Woman’s Exponent, 15 June 1881, 9.
Woman’s Exponent. Salt Lake City. 1872–1914.
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4
Geauga Co., OH, Deed Record, 1795–1921, vol. 25, pp. 663–664, 26 Apr. 1838, microfilm 20,241, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL. For information on the use of donations to the church, see Historical Introduction to Pay Order to Edward Partridge for William Smith, 21 Feb. 1838.
U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.
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5
It is unknown whether Marks issued a single order or multiple orders that totaled $1,700, as the order(s) have apparently not survived. However, the 9 January 1839 receipt created when Beman received payment from Partridge confirms that Marks issued the corresponding order(s) on 26 April 1838. The fact that the three extant receipts total only $583.81 suggests that Beman did not redeem the entire $1,700 or that additional receipts are not extant. (Sarah Burt Beman, Receipt, Far West, MO, for JS and Sidney Rigdon, 22 Aug. 1838; Sarah Burt Beman, Receipt, Far West, MO, for JS and Sidney Rigdon, 9 Jan. 1839, JS Collection, CHL.)
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