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Introduction to Scribner v. Rigdon, Smith & Cowdery

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Introduction to Scribner v. Rigdon, Smith & Cowdery Summons, 26 October 1837 [Scribner v. Rigdon, Smith & Cowdery] Declaration, circa 4 December 1837 [Scribner v. Rigdon, Smith & Cowdery] Docket Entry, Judgment, 5 April 1838 [Scribner v. Rigdon, Smith & Cowdery] Docket Entry, Continuance, 7 November 1838 [Scribner v. Rigdon, Smith & Cowdery] Docket Entry, Costs, circa 20 October 1840 [Scribner v. Rigdon, Smith & Cowdery] Transcript of Proceedings, circa 20 October 1840 [Scribner v. Rigdon, Smith & Cowdery]

Introduction to Scribner v. Rigdon, Smith & Cowdery

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Scribner v. Rigdon, Smith & Cowdery
Geauga Co., Ohio, Court of Common Pleas, circa 20 October 1840
 
Historical Introduction
On 16 June 1836, the , Ohio, mercantile firm of purchased hardware and other goods, which cost $790.91, from , New York, merchant . This purchase was made on credit, and the firm gave Scribner as payment a promissory note due on 16 October 1836. Purchasing agents for the firm made another trip to in fall 1836 and purchased additional goods, including lead piping, from Scribner on 19 October. At the same time, they may have renegotiated and extended payment on the promissory note originally due that month.
The struggled to make the promised payments to and other merchants from whom it had bought goods in 1836. In spring 1837, JS sent and on a “special Business Mission” to the eastern . The mission apparently involved contacting several New York merchants about the firms’ outstanding debts and may also have involved raising money from local members of the church. Richards and Young met with Scribner in April 1837 in Troy, New York, likely to reassure him that JS and his partners were intent on paying their debt; they may also have renegotiated the Kirtland firms’ debts or paid Scribner using banknotes from the . In a further effort to resolve their debts, JS and appointed their agent in September 1837 and sent him to meet with Scribner.
Despite ’s efforts, decided to bring the case to litigation. On 26 October 1837, he filed a plea of to recover the debt owed by . A writ of summons was issued against JS, , and . The next day, deputy sheriff left copies of the summons with and Phebe Brooks Rigdon for their husbands, JS and Sidney Rigdon, but was unable to locate Cowdery. On 4 December 1837, Scribner, through his attorneys and , filed his declaration claiming $1,000 in damages. The case was brought before the Geauga County Court of Common Pleas on 5 April 1838. JS and Rigdon had moved to by that time and did not appear in court, so the court rendered a judgment that Scribner should recover his damages from them. However, the “damages [were] not assessed for want of proof of the account.” The case was continued until June 1840, apparently to give Scribner an opportunity to prove exactly what damages the court should assess. Finally, in October 1840, the case was ruled and terminated when Scribner or a designated representative failed to appear in court to prosecute the case. The failure to appear, along with a notation on a court record, suggests that by this time Scribner had abandoned his efforts to collect the debt and may have lacked the evidence necessary to prove the amount owed to pursue the case further.
 
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.
 

1836 (1)

June (1)

16 June 1836

Rigdon, Smith & Cowdery, Promissory Note, Buffalo, Erie Co., NY, to Jonathan Scribner

 
Geauga Co., Ohio, Court of Common Pleas

1837 (2)

October (1)

26 October 1837

Charles H. Foot, Summons, to Geauga Co. Sheriff, for Sidney Rigdon and Others, Chardon, Geauga Co., OH

December (1)

Ca. 4 December 1837

Hitchcock & Wilder on behalf of Jonathan Scribner, Declaration, Geauga Co., OH

1838 (2)

April (1)

5 April 1838

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

  • 5 Apr. 1838; Geauga County Court of Common Pleas, Journal, vol. N, p. 301, Geauga County Archives and Records Center, Chardon, OH; handwriting of David D. Aiken.

November (1)

7 November 1838

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

  • 7 Nov 1838; Geauga County Court of Common Pleas, Journal, vol. N, p. 399, Geauga County Archives and Records Center, Chardon, OH; handwriting of David D. Aiken.

1840 (3)

October (3)

Ca. 20 October 1840

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

  • Ca. 20 Oct. 1840; Geauga County Court of Common Pleas, Execution Docket, vol. H, p. 441, Geauga County Archives and Records Center, Chardon, OH; handwriting of David D. Aiken.
Ca. 20 October 1840

Transcript of Proceedings, Chardon, Geauga Co., OH

  • Ca. 20 Oct. 1840; Geauga County Court of Common Pleas, Common Pleas Record, vol. X, pp. 530–532, Geauga County Archives and Records Center, Chardon, OH; handwriting of Charles H. Foot.
Ca. 20 October 1840

Execution, Chardon, Geauga Co., OH

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Editorial Title
Introduction to Scribner v. Rigdon, Smith & Cowdery
ID #
14489
Total Pages
1
Print Volume Location
Handwriting on This Page

    Footnotes

    1. [1]

      According to store invoices, Scribner was an “Importer and Wholesale and Retail Dealer in Fancy and Staple Hardware, Iron, Steel, Nails, Spikes, &c. &c” in Buffalo. By 1837, he appears to have been living in Troy, New York, around three hundred miles from Buffalo. (Invoice, Jonathan Scribner to Rigdon, Smith & Cowdery, 16 June 1836; Directory for the City of Buffalo [1836], 133; Directory for the City of Buffalo [1837], 119; Richards, Journal, 22 Mar. 1837; 19 and 26 Apr. 1837; 6 June 1837.)

      A Directory for the City of Buffalo; Containing the Names and Residence of the Heads of Families and Householders, in Said City, on the First of May, 1836. Buffalo, NY: L. P. Crary, 1836.

      Richards, Willard. Journals, 1836–1853. Willard Richards, Papers, 1821–1854. CHL. MS 1490, boxes 1–2.

    2. [2]

      Invoice, Jonathan Scribner to Rigdon, Smith & Cowdery, 16 June 1836.

    3. [3]

      Jonathan F. Scribner, Statement, ca. Apr. 1838, JS Office Papers, CHL. Two reminiscent accounts identify Oliver Cowdery and Hyrum Smith as the men who traveled to New York to purchase merchandise in 1836, but the date of their trip is not specified. (Ames, Autobiography and Journal, [12]; Clark, Gleanings by the Way, 333.)

      Ames, Ira. Autobiography and Journal, 1858. CHL. MS 6055.

      Clark, John A. Gleanings by the Way. New York: Robert Carter, 1842.

    4. [4]

      JS History, vol. B-1, 762; Richards, Journal, 14 Mar.–11 June 1837.

      Richards, Willard. Journals, 1836–1853. Willard Richards, Papers, 1821–1854. CHL. MS 1490, boxes 1–2.

    5. [5]

      For more on the mission, their visits with Scribner, and the potential problems created by paying Scribner with Kirtland Safety Society banknotes, see Historical Introduction to Power of Attorney to Oliver Granger, 27 Sept. 1837.

    6. [6]

      Power of Attorney to Oliver Granger, 27 Sept. 1837.

    7. [7]

      Transcript of Proceedings, ca. 20 Oct. 1840 [Scribner v. Rigdon, Smith & Cowdery].

    8. [8]

      Transcript of Proceedings, ca. 20 Oct. 1840 [Scribner v. Rigdon, Smith & Cowdery]. At the same time, Scribner pursued litigation in a separate case against Cahoon, Carter & Co. for their unpaid promissory notes. (See Transcript of Proceedings, 3 Apr. 1838, Scribner v. Cahoon, Carter & Co., 3 Apr. 1838 [Geauga Co. C.P. 1838], Geauga County Court of Common Pleas, Common Pleas Record, vol. U, 584–585, microfilm 20,279, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL.)

      U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.

    9. [9]

      Transcript of Proceedings, ca. 20 Oct. 1840 [Scribner v. Rigdon, Smith & Cowdery]. Though the plaintiff’s declaration appears to ask for multiple damages, each for $1,000, it was actually a single debt, expressed in different ways. This followed legal procedures of the times. (Swan, The Practice in Civil Actions and Proceedings at Law, in Ohio, 1:212–217.)

      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.

    10. [10]

      Docket Entry, Judgment, 5 Apr. 1838 [Scribner v. Rigdon, Smith & Cowdery].

    11. [11]

      Jonathan F. Scribner, Statement, ca. April 1838, JS Office Papers, CHL.

    12. [12]

      Transcript of Proceedings, ca. 20 Oct. 1840 [Scribner v. Rigdon, Smith & Cowdery]; Docket Entry, Continuance, 7 Nov. 1838 [Scribner v. Rigdon, Smith & Cowdery]. Even though this case had been ruled nonsuit, JS included a $1,500 debt owed to Scribner on his 1842 bankruptcy schedule. The debt on JS’s bankruptcy schedule combined the amounts which the firms Rigdon, Smith & Cowdery and Cahoon, Carter & Co. owed to Scribner. The inclusion of the debt suggests that JS was not aware of the court’s ruling when he petitioned for bankruptcy in 1842. (See Application for Bankruptcy, ca. 14–16 April 1842, in JSP, D9:366.)

      JSP, D9 / Smith, Alex D., Christian K. Heimburger, and Christopher James Blythe, eds. Documents, Volume 9: December 1841–April 1842. Vol. 9 of the Documents series of The Joseph Smith Papers, edited by Matthew C. Godfrey, R. Eric Smith, Matthew J. Grow, and Ronald K. Esplin. Salt Lake City: Church Historian’s Press, 2019.