and [on behalf of JS], Agreement, with , , Hancock Co., IL, 4 Feb. 1842; handwriting of ; unknown signature(s) (now removed); two pages; Newel K. Whitney, Papers, BYU. Includes docket, notations, and archival marking.
Bifolium measuring 12¼ × 7½ inches (31 × 19 cm). The agreement was written on the recto of the first leaf. Notations of payment were inscribed on the verso of the first leaf, with the last eight lines written in blue ink. The agreement was folded for filing. The signature or signatures of attestation have been clipped. The agreement has moderate water damage.
The document was docketed by , who served as JS’s scribe from December 1841 until JS’s death in June 1844 and served as church historian from December 1842 until his own death in March 1854. The docket reads “Agreement of &c.” This agreement, along with many other personal and institutional documents that kept, was inherited by Newel K. and ’s daughter Mary Jane Whitney, who was married to Isaac Groo. The documents were passed down within the Groo family. Between 1969 and 1974 the Groo family donated their collection of Newel K. Whitney’s papers to the Harold B. Lee Library at Brigham Young University.
Andrus and Fuller, Register of the Newel Kimball Whitney Papers, 24.
Andrus, Hyrum L., and Chris Fuller, comp. Register of the Newel Kimball Whitney Papers. Provo, UT: Division of Archives and Manuscripts, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, 1978.
Historical Introduction
On 4 February 1842 drew up an agreement stating that —who was acting as JS’s —purchased Robinson’s printing establishment for $6,600; the agreement also stated that and agreed to take responsibility for making specified payments to Robinson. Robinson became the sole proprietor of the printing establishment, which included the newspaper Times and Seasons, following the death of in August 1841. The total assets Robinson owned in February 1842 included the printing office building, located at the northwest corner of ’s Water and Bain streets, and an assortment of printing equipment, including a press, type, and the components of a stereotype foundry and bookbindery.
On 28 January 1842 JS dictated a revelation directing the to “take in hand the Editorial department of the Times and Seasons.” After he was apprised of the revelation, reportedly told church leaders that he would sell the newspaper only if they purchased the entire printing establishment, including its physical assets. JS agreed to Robinson’s terms, and Robinson was instructed to draw up a bill for the sale. “I took an invoice of the printing establishment,” recalled Robinson in 1890, “which amounted to six thousand six hundred dollars, which they agreed to pay, and I made and executed a deed accordingly.” In the same account, Robinson noted that though he had considered the transaction to have been “made with the Twelve alone, I find by reference to my account book, which I kept at the time, and which is now before me, that Joseph Smith’s name stands as principal.” The 4 February entry in JS’s journal confirms that on that date he “closed the contract for the printing office by proxy.”
In addition to signifying that had purchased ’s printing business, the agreement indicates that and , whom the Quorum of the Twelve had appointed to “take charge of the whole esstablishment under the direction of Joseph the seer,” were to assume responsibility for making payments. In doing so Taylor and Woodruff may have been acting on behalf of JS, on behalf of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, or as sureties in the transaction. While Taylor and Woodruff may have coordinated efforts to pay Robinson, the verso of the agreement lists payments from only JS, , , and other unidentified individuals between 4 and 24 February 1842. The payment list demonstrates the cash-poor nature of the community; although payments amounting to $280 were made in cash (likely in the form of promissory notes), the business was paid for through various types of financial transactions, including deeded property, stock shares, transfer of livestock, and the assumption of at least some of Robinson’s debts. The sum of these February payments totaled $3,531.91, leaving a balance of $3,068.09. An entry made in JS’s daybook indicates that on 9 January 1844, Robinson was credited with $3,068.09 at JS’s mercantile in Nauvoo to pay off the “balance Due on Taylor & Woodruffs obligation for Printing Co.” Additional entries, also dated 9 January, show that JS paid for some of that remaining balance by assuming debts Robinson owed to other individuals in .
Ebenezer Robinson, “Items of Personal History of the Editor,” Return, July 1890, 302. Robinson and Don Carlos Smith owned and operated the church’s printing establishment jointly, beginning in June 1839. In December 1840 a steady flow of business persuaded the men to dissolve their partnership and divide their printing equipment to specialize in specific printing tasks—Smith focused on the Times and Seasons and small handbill job printing, while Robinson ran the stereotype foundry and bookbindery. Following Smith’s passing, Robinson purchased his interest in the Times and Seasons from his widow, Agnes Coolbrith Smith. (Ebenezer Robinson, “Items of Personal History of the Editor,” Return, May 1890, 257; June 1890, 286; July 1890, 302.)
The Return. Davis City, IA, 1889–1891; Richmond, MO, 1892–1893; Davis City, 1895–1896; Denver, 1898; Independence, MO, 1899–1900.
The press and at least some of the type were recovered in 1839 after they were buried in a yard in Far West, Missouri, in October 1838. Robinson purchased the materials for a stereotype foundry and bookbindery from Edwin Shepard of Cincinnati in mid-1840. The building that originally housed the printing establishment was constructed in spring 1841. (JS History, vol. C-1 Addenda, 17; Ebenezer Robinson, “Items of Personal History of the Editor,” Return, May 1890, 257, 261–262; Editorial, Times and Seasons, 1 Dec. 1841, 3:615; Masthead, Times and Seasons, 1 Feb. 1842, 3:686.)
The Return. Davis City, IA, 1889–1891; Richmond, MO, 1892–1893; Davis City, 1895–1896; Denver, 1898; Independence, MO, 1899–1900.
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
Robinson also kept track of the various payments he received for the printing office and its attending equipment in his personal account book. In 1890 he published in the newspaper Return an excerpt from that book specifically detailing payment made on the printing establishment. (Ebenezer Robinson, “Items of Personal History of the Editor,” Return, Oct. 1890, 346.)
The Return. Davis City, IA, 1889–1891; Richmond, MO, 1892–1893; Davis City, 1895–1896; Denver, 1898; Independence, MO, 1899–1900.
JS, Daybook, 9 Jan. 1844, 93. This matches Robinson’s later recollection that the remainder of the debt was “paid in small payments from time to time.” (Ebenezer Robinson, “Items of Personal History of the Editor,” Return, Oct. 1890, 346.)
Smith, Joseph. Daybook, 1842–1844. Iowa Masonic Library, Cedar Rapids. Microfilm copy at CHL. MS 8461.
The Return. Davis City, IA, 1889–1891; Richmond, MO, 1892–1893; Davis City, 1895–1896; Denver, 1898; Independence, MO, 1899–1900.
Page [1]
Know all Men by these presats [presents] that Whereas, of , county of Hancock, and state of Illinois, have this day purchased of of the same place, his entire Printing Establishment, Book Bindery, Stereotype foundry, Books stationary and binding situate in the City of , for the sum of six Thousand and six hundred Dollars. Now know ye, that we and , of the place aforesaid, agree to pay or cause to be paid to the said the sum above specified in manner and terms following to wit: six hundred Dollars in cash in two weeks from date, four hundred Dollars on or before the last day of March next and four hundred on or before the last day of April next AD. 1842. The remainder to be paid in property as follows. We agree to pay or cause to be paid the debt due Joseph Smith from the said also, the debt due to Agnes M. [Coolbrith] Smith: the residue to be paid in city Lots, Dry goods, Live stock, or other property as we can agree, all amounting to the sum of six thousand six hundred Dollars.
In witness whereof, we have here unto set our hands and seals, this 4th day of February, A. D. 1842.
Sometime after her husband, Don Carlos Smith, died in early August 1841, Agnes Smith sold her interest in the Times and Seasons to Robinson. It appears that JS assumed the balance of the debt that Robinson owed Agnes Smith. An entry in JS’s account book suggests that the debt was not fully satisfied until January 1844. (Ebenezer Robinson, “Items of Personal History of the Editor,” Return, July 1890, 302; JS, Daybook, 9 Jan. 1844, 93.)
The Return. Davis City, IA, 1889–1891; Richmond, MO, 1892–1893; Davis City, 1895–1896; Denver, 1898; Independence, MO, 1899–1900.
Smith, Joseph. Daybook, 1842–1844. Iowa Masonic Library, Cedar Rapids. Microfilm copy at CHL. MS 8461.
On 28 February 1842 JS deeded land located on Nauvoo city block 150 to Robinson’s wife, Angelina Works Robinson; he also deeded land to Ebenezer Robinson on city block 125 on 26 April 1842. It is possible that the sale of these properties—with a combined value of $700—was related to the sale of the printing establishment. (Hancock Co., IL, Deed Records, 1817–1917, vol. L, pp. 25–26, microfilm 954,599, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL.)