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Introduction to Rounds qui tam v. JS

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Introduction to Rounds qui tam v. JS Summons, 9 February 1837 [Rounds qui tam v. JS] Declaration, 22 April 1837 [Rounds qui tam v. JS] Docket Entry, Leave to Amend, 10 June 1837 [Rounds qui tam v. JS] Docket Entry, Costs, circa 10 June 1837 [Rounds qui tam v. JS] Docket Entry, Judgment, 25 October 1837 [Rounds qui tam v. JS] Docket Entry, Costs, circa 25 October 1837 [Rounds qui tam v. JS] Transcript of Proceedings, circa 25 October 1837 [Rounds qui tam v. JS] Assignment of Judgment, 1 March 1838 [Rounds qui tam v. JS]

Introduction to Rounds qui tam v. JS

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Rounds qui tam v. JS
Geauga Co., Ohio, Court of Common Pleas, 10 February 1837
 
Historical Introduction
In February 1837, , a resident of , Ohio, initiated six separate legal actions against JS, , and four junior officers of the . In November 1836, JS and other church leaders approved a constitution to organize and govern the Kirtland Safety Society Bank, likely hoping to benefit the local economy and provide financial aid to the church. Unsure whether they would be able to receive a charter for a bank from the state legislature, they altered the original articles organizing the bank to establish instead a joint stock association called the Kirtland Safety Society Anti-Banking Company. In January 1837, this “anti-banking company” began issuing notes, signed by JS and Rigdon as officers of the society.
’s legal actions were based on an statute that granted private citizens the right to sue persons acting as officers of unauthorized banks. The penalty was $1,000, which would be divided equally between the party who brought the action and the state. The suits against the four junior officers were concluded in their favor that summer.
The lawsuits against JS and were brought to trial in October 1837, months after the closed its doors amid a nationwide financial panic. The jury decided in favor of the plaintiff in both cases, after which of the judgment for the Rigdon case was sought and partially satisfied. assigned his half of the judgments for both cases to , the other half of the judgments still belonging to the state of . Newell in turn assigned his portion of the judgments to and , agents of JS, for $1,600. The combination of the approximately $700 partial satisfaction of judgment and the $1,600 assignment effectively paid judgments for both cases in full.
When and paid for the judgment in 1838, they failed to make the payment part of the court record; therefore, court records indicated that only a portion of the judgment had been satisfied. The oversight allowed Newell to proceed against JS’s assets as though he had not received payment in full. With the assistance of , Newell revived the judgment in 1860. For further information on the revived judgment, see Rounds for the use of the State of Ohio as well as Himself v. JS in Introduction to Holcomb Administrator of the Estate of JS.
 
Calendar of Documents
This calendar lists all known documents created by or for the court, whether extant or not. It does not include versions of documents created for other purposes, though those versions may be listed in footnotes. In certain cases, especially in cases concerning unpaid debts, the originating document (promissory note, invoice, etc.) is listed here. Note that documents in the calendar are grouped with their originating court. Where a version of a document was subsequently filed with another court, that version is listed under both courts.
 

1837 (11)

February (1)

9 February 1837

David D. Aiken, Summons, to Geauga Co. Sheriff, for JS, Geauga Co., OH

April (1)

22 April 1837

Samuel Rounds, Declaration, Geauga Co., OH

June (3)

Between ca. 22 April and 9 June 1837

JS, Demurrer, Geauga Co., OH

10 June 1837

Docket Entry, Leave to Amend, Chardon, Geauga Co., OH

  • 10 June 1837; Geauga County Court of Common Pleas, Journal, vol. N, p. 223, Geauga County Archives and Records Center, Chardon, OH; handwriting of Charles H. Foot.
Ca. 10 June 1837

Docket Entry, Costs, Chardon, Geauga Co., OH

  • Ca. 10 June 1837; Geauga County Court of Common Pleas, Execution Docket, vol. D, p. 15; microfilm at FHL; handwriting of David D. Aiken and Abel Kimball.

October (4)

25 October 1837

Docket Entry, Judgment, Chardon, Geauga Co., OH

  • 25 Oct. 1837; Geauga County Court of Common Pleas, Journal, vol. N, p. 237, Geauga County Archives and Records Center, Chardon, OH; handwriting of Charles H. Foot and David D. Aiken.
Ca. 25 October 1837

Docket Entry, Costs, Chardon, Geauga Co., OH

  • Ca. 25 Oct. 1837; Geauga County Court of Common Pleas, Execution Docket, vol. G, p. 105, Geauga County Archives and Records Center, Chardon, OH; handwriting of David D. Aiken; notations by Charles H. Foot and William N. Keeny; signature of Elijah G. White.
Ca. 25 October 1837

Transcript of Proceedings, Chardon, Geauga Co., OH

  • Ca. 25 Oct. 1837; Geauga County Court of Common Pleas, Common Pleas Record, vol. U, pp. 362–364, Geauga County Archives and Records Center, Chardon, OH; handwriting of Charles H. Foot; signature presumably of Van R. Humphrey.
Ca. 25 October 1837

JS, Bill of Exceptions, Geauga Co., OH

November (2)

6 November 1837

Fieri Facias, to Abel Kimball, Chardon, Geauga Co., OH

16 November 1837

David D. Aiken, Execution, to Abel Kimball, Chardon, Geauga Co., OH

1838 (2)

February (1)

Between ca. 6 November 1837 and ca. 28 February 1838

Assignment, to Grandison Newell, Geauga Co., OH

March (1)

1 March 1838

Grandison Newell, Assignment of Judgment, to William Marks and Oliver Granger, Kirtland Township, Geauga Co., OH

  • 1 Mar. 1838; handwriting of William Marks; signature of Grandison Newell; attestation in handwriting of Lyman Cowdery.
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Editorial Title
Introduction to Rounds qui tam v. JS
ID #
13295
Total Pages
1
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    Footnotes

    1. [1]

      Summons, 9 Feb. 1837 [Rounds qui tam v. JS]. In addition to suing JS and Rigdon, Rounds brought actions against Horace Kingsbury, Newel K. Whitney, Frederick G. Williams, and Warren Parrish. (See “Documents Related to Rounds qui tam v. JS.”)

    2. [2]

      Constitution of the Kirtland Safety Society Bank, 2 Nov. 1836.

    3. [3]

      For the Kirtland Safety Society’s revised articles and a discussion of the attempt to secure a charter, see Articles of Agreement for the Kirtland Safety Society Anti-Banking Company, 2 Jan. 1837; Documents, Volume 5, Introduction to Part 5: 5 Oct. 1836–10 Apr. 1837.

    4. [4]

      Historical Introduction to Articles of Agreement for the Kirtland Safety Society Anti-Banking Company, 2 Jan. 1837; Kirtland Safety Society Notes, 4 Jan–9 Mar. 1837.

    5. [5]

      An Act to Prohibit the Issuing and Circulating of Unauthorized Bank Paper [27 Jan. 1816], Swan, Statutes of the State of Ohio [1840], pp. 136–137, secs. 1, 5.

      Statutes of the State of Ohio, of a General Nature, in Force, December 7, 1840; Also, the Statutes of a General Nature, Passed by the General Assembly at Their Thirty-Ninth Session, Commencing December 7, 1840. Columbus, OH: Samuel Medary, 1841.

    6. [6]

      In these further suits, the plaintiff became nonsuit, meaning judgment was given against Rounds and the defendants recovered costs. (See Docket Entry, Verdict, 25 October 1837 [Rounds qui tam v. Parrish]; Transcript of Proceedings, circa 25 October 1837 [Rounds qui tam v. Whitney]; Transcript of Proceedings, circa 25 October 1837 [Rounds qui tam v. Williams]; Transcript of Proceedings, circa 25 October 1837 [Rounds qui tam v. Kingsbury]; and Documents, Volume 5, Introduction to Part 5: 5 Oct. 1836–10 Apr. 1837; see also Walker, “Kirtland Safety Society and the Fraud of Grandison Newell,” 33–148; and Adams, “Grandison Newell’s Obsession,” 173–175.)

      Walker, Jeffrey N. “The Kirtland Safety Society and the Fraud of Grandison Newell: A Legal Examination.” BYU Studies 54, no. 3 (2015): 33–147.

      Adams, Dale W. “Grandison Newell’s Obsession.” Journal of Mormon History 30 (Spring 2004): 159–188.

    7. [7]

      Docket Entry, Judgment, 25 Oct. 1837 [Rounds qui tam v. JS]. For the historical context of the Kirtland Safety Society and reasons for its collapse, see Joseph Smith Documents from October 1835 through January 1838; Documents, Volume 5, Introduction to Part 5: 5 Oct. 1836–10 Apr. 1837; and Documents, Volume 5, Introduction to Part 6: 20 Apr.–14 Sept. 1837.

    8. [8]

      Docket Entry, Judgment, 25 Oct. 1837 [Rounds qui tam v. JS]. Personal property totaling $716.25 was sold to facilitate payment of the judgment. (Docket Entry, Costs, ca. 25 Oct. 1837 [Rounds qui tam v. JS].) Attempts to pay judgment by levying property owned by Rigdon are recorded in docket entries for both cases, possibly due to a sheriff’s notation on the fieri facias interconnecting the two. (Docket Entry, Costs, ca. 25 Oct. 1837 [Rounds qui tam v. Rigdon].)

    9. [9]

      It is unclear why the amount paid for the judgments exceeded what the law required by $300. Litigant costs and fees for the sheriff and county clerk totaled about $140 for both cases, and the assignment required Newell to pay “all costs” accrued on the judgments. It is unclear if Newell’s obligation included the $140 or was in addition to it. Granger died in 1841, and physical custody of Newell’s assignment of the judgment passed to Oliver’s son Gilbert Granger. On 3 March 1842, JS apparently received this assignment from a settlement with Gilbert. (Assignment of Judgment, 1 Mar. 1838 [Rounds qui tam v. JS]; JS, Journal, 3 Mar. 1842.)

    10. [10]

      See An Act for the Relief of Grandison Newell [10 Mar. 1859], Acts of a General Nature, vol. 56, p. 271; Assignment of Judgment, 1 Mar. 1838 [Rounds qui tam v. JS]; Docket Entry, Judgment, 25 Oct. 1837 [Rounds qui tam v. JS]; and Docket Entry, Costs, ca. 25 Oct. 1837 [Rounds qui tam v. JS]. The judgment Newell assigned to Marks and Granger was only Rounds’s half. The status of the state’s portion of the judgment was unclear, thereby providing grounds for Newell to revive the judgment.

      Acts of a General Nature and Local Laws and Joint Resolutions, Passed by the Fifty-Third General Assembly, of the State of Ohio: At Its Second Session, Begun and Held in the City of Columbus, January 3, 1859, and the Fifty-Seventh Year of Said State. Vol. 56. Columbus, OH: Richard Nevins, 1859.