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Agreement with John Taylor, 23 January 1844

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Agreement with John Taylor, 23 January 1844

Source Note

, Agreement, with JS, [, Hancock Co., IL], 23 Jan. 1844; handwriting of ; one page; JS Office Papers, CHL. Includes redaction.
Single leaf measuring 11¼ × 7⅝ inches (29 × 19 cm). The paper is ruled with thirty-two horizontal lines printed in blue ink. The bottom edge of the paper was unevenly hand cut. The document was inscribed on one side, with the back left blank. The leaf was folded in half twice, and a portion of the left margin was torn near the top of the recto.
In 2012 the document was cataloged as part of the JS Office Papers. The document’s inclusion within the JS Office Papers suggests continuous institutional custody.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    This collection comprises correspondence addressed to JS’s clerks, correspondence to other recipients that was forwarded to JS for his perusal, copies of miscellaneous documents created by JS’s clerks, and miscellaneous financial documents. (See “Introduction to Joseph Smith Office Papers.”)

Historical Introduction

On 23 January 1844, drafted an agreement to transfer JS’s guardianship for the estate to and to provide Taylor with the land, building, and printing equipment used to publish the Times and Seasons. Lawrence, a member and husband of , died in , Illinois, in late 1839. In December 1839, his will was submitted to the probate court in Adams County. The will designated three estate executors, but it did not name a guardian for Edward Lawrence’s children or his estate. According to law, children over fourteen years old could nominate a new guardian for themselves and their younger siblings. The eldest Lawrence children, (seventeen) and (fifteen), nominated JS to be their legal guardian rather than their new stepfather, , who had married Margaret Lawrence in 1840. JS legally assumed the responsibilities of guardianship for all seven Lawrence children in June 1841.
Over the next two and a half years, JS fulfilled his obligations as guardian of the Lawrence children. These responsibilities included creating annual statements of expenditures JS made on their behalf, facilitating payments out of estate funds to and for their financial support of the youngest Lawrence children, completing interest payments to Margaret for her dower right, and documenting and reporting these transactions to the probate court. Later documents indicate that JS was sealed to both and , then aged nineteen and seventeen, respectively, during his tenure as guardian.
JSs decision to transfer his guardianship of the estate to may have been related to Taylor’s role in printing the church’s newspaper in , Illinois, the Times and Seasons. JS purchased the Times and Seasons printing establishment from for $6,600 in early 1842. Later that year, JS leased the to Taylor and for five years. On 27 March 1844, Woodruff received a receipt from Taylor certifying that “all private, & partnership concerns between ‘Taylor & Woodruff’ are settled up to this date, & that I have received from Willford Woodruff, in full of all demands.” and signed the receipt as witnesses, which suggests that assets from the Lawrence estate were involved in the business transaction between the partners. drafted this contract in such a way that predicated Taylor’s receipt of the Times and Seasons assets upon his assumption of guardian responsibilities for the Lawrence estate and children.
Though the agreement bears a specific date, the legal transfer of guardianship to was not completed because the parties did not acquire the requisite court approval. This document was never signed or certified, and there is no evidence that Taylor gained legal possession of the land or capital mentioned in this agreement or that he became the legal guardian of the Lawrence children.
See also Introduction to JS Guardian of Maria Lawrence et al., Babbitt Guardian of James Lawrence et al. v. William Law et al., and Maria Lawrence et al. v. Coolidge Administrator of the Estate of JS.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Cook, Nauvoo Marriages, 31; Adams Co., IL, Probate Letters of Administration, 1826–1849, bk. B, p. 254, 23 Dec. 1839, microfilm 1,853,890, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL.

    Cook, Lyndon W. Nauvoo Marriages Proxy Sealings, 1843–1846. Provo, UT: Grandin Book, 2004.

    U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.

  2. [2]

    Adams Co., IL, Probate Letters of Administration, 1826–1849, bk. B, p. 254, 23 Dec. 1839, microfilm 1,853,890, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL. Lawrence created his will on 5 November 1839 and died sometime before it was entered into the probate court on 23 December. (Adams Co., IL, Will Records, 1837–1908, vol. 1, pp. 44–46, 5 Nov. 1839, microfilm 961,242, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL.)

    U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.

  3. [3]

    Lawrence was survived by his wife, Margaret Major Lawrence, and their six children. Margaret Lawrence was also pregnant with the couple’s seventh child. (Adams Co., IL, Will Records, 1837–1908, vol. 1, pp. 44–46, 5 Nov. 1839, microfilm 961,242, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL.)

    U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.

  4. [4]

    An Act concerning Minors, Orphans, and Guardians [5 Feb. 1827], Public and General Statute Laws of the State of Illinois, p. 465, sec. 1.

    The Public and General Statute Laws of the State of Illinois: Containing All the Laws . . . Passed by the Ninth General Assembly, at Their First Session, Commencing December 1, 1834, and Ending February 13, 1835; and at Their Second Session, Commencing December 7, 1835, and Ending January 18, 1836; and Those Passed by the Tenth General Assembly, at Their Session Commencing December 5, 1836, and Ending March 6, 1837; and at Their Special Session, Commencing July 10, and Ending July 22, 1837. . . . Compiled by Jonathan Young Scammon. Chicago: Stephen F. Gale, 1839.

  5. [5]

    Adams Co., IL, Marriage Record, 1825–1890, vol. 1, p. [20], microfilm 1,870,158, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL.

    U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.

  6. [6]

    See Receipt to Executors of Edward Lawrence Estate, 4 June 1841; Andrew Miller, Order, Quincy, IL, for JS et al., 4 June 1841, in Adams Co., IL, Circuit Court, Chancery Case Files, 1827–1854, box C7, microfilm 1,839,547, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL; and Madsen, “Joseph Smith as Guardian,” 181.

    Madsen, Gordon A. “Joseph Smith as Guardian: The Lawrence Estate Case.” Journal of Mormon History 36, no. 3 (2010): 172–211.

  7. [7]

    See Madsen, “Joseph Smith as Guardian,” 181–192; and An Act concerning Minors, Orphans, and Guardians [5 Feb. 1827], Public and General Statute Laws of the State of Illinois, p. 466, sec. 7. Two years after assuming guardianship, JS provided a detailed account of his efforts to manage the estate, which was approved by the probate court in Adams County. (See JS, Journal, 29 May 1843; and Clayton, Journal, 30 May 1843; 1 and 3 June 1843; see also Statement of Account, 3 June 1843–A and B, JS Guardian of Maria Lawrence et al. [Adams Co. Cir. Ct. 1843], Adams Co., IL, Chancery Case Files, 1827–1854, vol. C7, microfilm 1,839,547, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL.)

    Madsen, Gordon A. “Joseph Smith as Guardian: The Lawrence Estate Case.” Journal of Mormon History 36, no. 3 (2010): 172–211.

    The Public and General Statute Laws of the State of Illinois: Containing All the Laws . . . Passed by the Ninth General Assembly, at Their First Session, Commencing December 1, 1834, and Ending February 13, 1835; and at Their Second Session, Commencing December 7, 1835, and Ending January 18, 1836; and Those Passed by the Tenth General Assembly, at Their Session Commencing December 5, 1836, and Ending March 6, 1837; and at Their Special Session, Commencing July 10, and Ending July 22, 1837. . . . Compiled by Jonathan Young Scammon. Chicago: Stephen F. Gale, 1839.

    Clayton, William. Journals, 1842–1845. CHL.

  8. [8]

    See “Autobiography of Emily D. P. Young,” Woman’s Exponent, 1 Aug. 1885, 14:38; and Young, “Incidents of the Life of a Mormon Girl,” 185–[187].

    Woman’s Exponent. Salt Lake City. 1872–1914.

    Young, Emily Dow Partridge. “Incidents of the Life of a Mormon Girl,” ca. 1884. CHL. MS 5220.

  9. [9]

    Agreement with Ebenezer Robinson, 4 Feb. 1842.

  10. [10]

    Lease to John Taylor and Wilford Woodruff, between 8 and 10 Dec. 1842.

  11. [11]

    John Taylor to Wilford Woodruff, Receipt, 27 Mar. 1844, Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, CHL; see also Madsen, “Joseph Smith as Guardian,” 193–198.

    Woodruff, Wilford. Journals and Papers, 1828–1898. CHL. MS 1352.

    Madsen, Gordon A. “Joseph Smith as Guardian: The Lawrence Estate Case.” Journal of Mormon History 36, no. 3 (2010): 172–211.

  12. [12]

    A few weeks before his death, JS intended to travel to Quincy, Illinois, with Taylor to legally transfer the guardianship of the Lawrence estate. This transaction was never completed. Almon Babbitt became the legal guardian in September 1844. (JS, Journal, 4 June 1844; Bond, 5 Sept. 1844, Hancock Co., IL, Probate Record, vol. C, pp. 40–41; Letters of Guardianship, 5 Sept. 1844, Hancock Co., IL, Probate Record, vol. C, p. 41, microfilm 927,935, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL.)

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This article of agreement made and entered into this twenty third day of January in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty four between of the County of and State of of the one part and Joseph Smith of the and aforesaid of the other part, Witnesseth that the said for the considerations hereinafter mentioned doth hereby bind himself, to assume the Guardianship of the Estate of deceased, and to free the said Joseph Smith from all liabilities and responsibilities for the same in or pertaining thereto, in any manner whatever. And further to obtain and give over to the said Joseph Smith all obligations, receipts & liabilities now laying in the hands of the Judge of Probate for at the the City of or elswhere pertaining to the Guardianship for the aforesaid Estate, And in consideration of which the said Joseph Smith agrees to make to the said a good and sufficient Warranty Deed for a part of Lot No 4 in Block 150 in the City of together with the and all the fixtures furniture, printing materials and every thing pertaining to the said whenever the said shall produce the aforesaid Bonds and obligations and sufficient evidence that the said Joseph Smith is fully released from the Guardianship as aforesaid [5 lines blank] [p. [1]]
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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Agreement with John Taylor, 23 January 1844
ID #
6405
Total Pages
2
Print Volume Location
Handwriting on This Page
  • William Clayton

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    The Times and Seasons printing office was located on the southeast corner of this lot, which was on the northwest corner of Water and Bain streets, in the Fourth Ward (southwestern quadrant) of the city of Nauvoo. (Masthead, Times and Seasons, 15 Feb. 1842, 3:702; “Western Nauvoo, Illinois, 15 May 1844.”)

    Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.

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