Attachment, 17 May 1839 [Rigdon et al. for the use of L. Cowdery v. W. Smith]. This type of attachment was used when the debtor had either “absconded to the injury of his creditors” or was “not a resident of the state.” By 1839, William Smith was no longer living in Ohio. (An Act Allowing and Regulating Writs of Attachment [17 Jan. 1824], Statutes of Ohio, vol. 2, p. 1321, sec. 1; Letter from Don Carlos Smith, ca. Late May 1838.)  

The Statutes of Ohio and of the Northwestern Territory, Adopted or Enacted from 1788 to 1833 Inclusive: Together with the Ordinance of 1787; the Constitutions of Ohio and of the United States, and Various Public Instruments and Acts of Congress: Illustrated by a Preliminary Sketch of the History of Ohio; Numerous References and Notes, and Copious Indexes. 3 vols. Edited by Salmon P. Chase. Cincinnati: Corey and Fairbank, 1833–1835.

Attachment, 17 May 1839 [Rigdon et al. for the use of L. Cowdery v. W. Smith]. The actual amount of the debt is unknown, as plaintiffs typically pleaded “any sum sufficient to cover the real demand.” (Swan, Practice in Civil Actions and Proceedings at Law, 1:216.)  

Swan, Joseph R. The Practice in Civil Actions and Proceedings at Law, in Ohio, and Precedents in Pleading, with Practical Notes; together with the Forms of Process and Clerks’ Entries. 2 vols. Columbus: Isaac N. Whiting, 1845.

Attachment, 17 May 1839 [Rigdon et al. for the use of L. Cowdery v. W. Smith].  

Oliver Cowdery returned to the Kirtland area in late 1838. He studied law there through 1839. (Walker, “Oliver Cowdery’s Legal Practice in Tiffin, Ohio,” 304.)  

Walker, Jeffrey N. “Oliver Cowdery’s Legal Practice in Tiffin, Ohio.” In Days Never to Be Forgotten: Oliver Cowdery, edited by Alexander L. Baugh, 295–325. Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 2009.

See Woodruff, Journal, 18 May 1839.  

Woodruff, Wilford. Journals, 1833–1898. Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, 1828–1898. CHL. MS 1352.

Transcript of Proceedings, ca. 12 Nov. 1839 [Rigdon et al. for the use of L. Cowdery v. W. Smith].  

Transcript of Proceedings, ca. 12 Nov. 1839 [Rigdon et al. for the use of L. Cowdery v. W. Smith]; Hammond, Cases Decided in the Supreme Court of Ohio, 9:112; see also Swan, Practice in Civil Actions and Proceedings at Law, 2:1197.  

Hammond, Charles. Cases Decided in the Supreme Court of Ohio, in Bank, at December Terms, 1833, 1834. Vol. 6. Cincinnati: Robert Clarke, 1872.

Swan, Joseph R. The Practice in Civil Actions and Proceedings at Law, in Ohio, and Precedents in Pleading, with Practical Notes; together with the Forms of Process and Clerks’ Entries. 2 vols. Columbus: Isaac N. Whiting, 1845.