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Introduction to Underwood, Bald, Spencer & Hufty v. Rigdon et al.

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Introduction to Underwood, Bald, Spencer & Hufty v. Rigdon et al. Summons, 9 June 1837 [Underwood, Bald, Spencer & Hufty v. Rigdon et al.] Declaration, circa 7 July 1837 [Underwood, Bald, Spencer & Hufty v. Rigdon et al.] Plea, circa 28 October 1837 [Underwood, Bald, Spencer & Hufty v. Rigdon et al.] Transcript of Proceedings, circa 16 April 1839 [Underwood, Bald, Spencer & Hufty v. Rigdon et al.] Docket Entry, Costs, circa 16 April 1839 [Underwood, Bald, Spencer & Hufty v. Rigdon et al.] Notice, 12 August 1840 [Underwood, Bald, Spencer & Hufty v. Rigdon et al.] Docket Entry, Sheriff’s Sale, 21 October 1840 [Underwood, Bald, Spencer & Hufty v. Rigdon et al.] Docket Entry, Deed, 30 April 1841 [Underwood, Bald, Spencer & Hufty v. Rigdon et al.] Assignment of Judgment, 30 April 1841 [Underwood, Bald, Spencer & Hufty v. Rigdon et al.] Deed, 3 June 1841 [Underwood, Bald, Spencer & Hufty v. Rigdon et al.] Deed, 23 November 1841 [Underwood, Bald, Spencer & Hufty v. Rigdon et al.]

Introduction to Underwood, Bald, Spencer & Hufty v. Rigdon et al.

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Underwood, Bald, Spencer & Hufty v. Rigdon, JS, E. Boynton, S. Foster, McWithey, Joseph Smith Sr., Bosley, Parker, Holmes, W. Smith, J. Butterfield, Packard, Clark, Webb, Carrico, and A. Allen
Geauga Co., Ohio, Court of Common Pleas, 16 April 1839
 
Historical Introduction
In June 1837, attorneys for the engraving firm Underwood, Bald, Spencer & Hufty brought a lawsuit against JS, , and several other men who owed a debt to the firm for the engraving and printing of banknotes. In October 1836, JS, , and other church leaders began organizing a bank in , Ohio, which they named the . That same month, an agent acting on behalf of the bank—likely —commissioned Underwood, Bald, Spencer & Hufty to engrave and print a series of banknotes. Cowdery brought the finished printing plates and printed banknotes back to Kirtland Township by the end of December 1836. There is no extant record for the initial payment, though it was probably a promissory note given to the firm by Cowdery. The debt appears to have been renegotiated when JS and fifteen other Kirtland residents signed a new promissory note for $1,450.
The legal firm Andrews & Foot, representing the engravers, began an action in in the Court of Common Pleas against JS and his fellow signers on 9 June 1837. Either the or his left copies of the writ of summons with all but four of the sixteen defendants. A month later, Andrews & Foot filed a declaration with the court claiming $2,000 in damages. The defendants, represented by Perkins & Osborn, filed a plea in the October 1837 term of court for the Geauga County Court of Common Pleas. The matter remained unresolved until 16 April 1839, when the court rendered a judgment requiring JS and his fellow signers to pay $1,641.63 as well as the costs for the case. In order to satisfy the judgment, the sheriff seized land in May or June 1839 and attempted to sell it at public auction, but he was unable to find a buyer. Attempts to sell the seized property continued until October 1840, when a portion of the land was sold for $201 to . The remainder was sold in April 1841 to Latter-day Saint , through his agent . Babbitt may have been acting as an agent for JS and the church. In 1841, Babbitt paid Thomas Underwood and his partners in order to acquire the judgment they held against JS, , and the other signers. By 1848 the case costs had been paid and the judgment was satisfied.
 
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 (3)

June (1)

9 June 1837

David D. Aiken, Summons, to Geauga Co. Sheriff, for Sidney Rigdon and Others, Chardon, Geauga Co., OH

July (1)

Ca. 7 July 1837

Andrews & Foot on behalf of Thomas Underwood and Others, Declaration, Geauga Co., OH

October (1)

Ca. 28 October 1837

Perkins & Osborn on behalf of Sidney Rigdon and Others, Plea, Geauga Co., OH

1839 (4)

April (3)

Ca. 16 April 1839

Transcript of Proceedings, Chardon, Geauga Co., OH

  • Ca. 16 Apr. 1839; Geauga County Court of Common Pleas, Common Pleas Record, vol. X, pp. 34–36, Geauga County Archives and Records Center, Chardon, OH; handwriting of David D. Aiken; signature presumably of Van R. Humphrey.
Ca. 16 April 1839

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

  • Ca. 16 Apr. 1839; Geauga County Court of Common Pleas, Execution Docket, vol. G, p. 676, Geauga County Archives and Records Center, Chardon, OH; handwriting of David D. Aiken; notations in handwriting of David D. Aiken; notations in handwriting of Charles H. Foot; notation in unidentified handwriting; notation in handwriting of Lyman Cowdery; notation in handwriting of David D. Aiken with signature of Abel Kimball; notation in handwriting of Lorenzo J. Rider.
29 April 1839

Fieri Facias, Chardon, Geauga Co., OH

July (1)

31 July 1839

Venditioni Exponas, Chardon, Geauga Co., OH

1840 (7)

February (1)

29 February 1840

Alias Venditioni Exponas, Chardon, Geauga Co., OH

May (1)

4 May 1840

Pluries Venditioni Exponas, Chardon, Geauga Co., OH

July (2)

5 July 1840

Pluries Venditioni Exponas, Chardon, Geauga Co., OH

25 July 1840

Pluries Venditioni Exponas, Chardon, Geauga Co., OH

August (1)

12 August 1840

Abel Kimball, Notice, Geauga Co., OH

  • 12 Aug. 1840; “Sheriff’s Sale,” Painesville (OH) Telegraph, 13 Aug. 1840, [3].

October (1)

21 October 1840

Docket Entry, Sheriff’s Sale, Chardon, Geauga Co., OH

  • 21 Oct. 1840; Geauga County Court of Common Pleas, Journal, vol. O, p. 202, Geauga County Archives and Records Center, Chardon, OH; handwriting of David D. Aiken.

November (1)

Between 5 July and ca. November 1840

Appraisal, Geauga Co., OH

1841 (9)

March (3)

1 March 1841

Alias Venditioni Exponas, Chardon, Geauga Co., OH

Ca. 6 March 1841

Nathaniel Milliken and Others, Appraisal, Geauga Co., OH

Ca. 6 March 1841

Notice, Geauga Co., OH

April (3)

30 April 1841

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

  • 30 Apr. 1841; Geauga County Court of Common Pleas, Journal, vol. O, p. 238, Geauga County Archives and Records Center, Chardon, OH; handwriting of David D. Aiken.
30 April 1841

Andrews, Foot & Hoyt and Lyman Cowdery on behalf of Thomas Underwood and Others, Assignment of Judgment, to Almon Babbitt, Chardon, Geauga Co., OH

Ca. 30 April 1841

Almon Babbitt, Receipt, Geauga Co., OH, to Geauga Co. Sheriff

June (1)

3 June 1841

Erastus Spencer on behalf of Sidney Rigdon and Others, Deed for Property in Kirtland Township, Geauga Co., OH, to Almon Babbitt

  • 3 June 1841. Not extant.
  • 28 Sept. 1841; Lake County Deed Record, vol. A, pp. 513–515, Land Registry Records, 1840–1842, CHL; handwriting of H. F. Shepard.

September (1)

Ca. September 1841

Gilbert Granger, Assignment, to Daniel Carter, Geauga Co., OH

November (1)

23 November 1841

Erastus Spencer on behalf of Sidney Rigdon and Others (Including JS), Deed for Property in Kirtland Township, Lake Co., OH, to Daniel Carter

  • 23 Nov. 1841; JS Collection, CHL; handwriting of Alfred Phelps; signatures of Erastus Spencer and Alfred Phelps; probable signature of Edwin F. Phelps; docket in handwriting of Alfred Phelps; notation in handwriting of Daniel Kerr; notation in handwriting of H. F. Shepard.
  • 16 Mar. 1842; Lake County Deed Record, vol. B, pp. 100–102, Land Registry Records, 1840–1842, CHL; handwriting of H. F. Shepard.

1848 (1)

March (1)

2 March 1848

Satisfaction of Judgment, Chardon, Geauga Co., OH

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Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Introduction to Underwood, Bald, Spencer & Hufty v. Rigdon et al.
ID #
17605
Total Pages
1
Print Volume Location
Handwriting on This Page

    Footnotes

    1. [1]

      For more on the Kirtland Safety Society Bank, see Documents, Volume 5, Introduction to Part 5: 5 Oct. 1836–10 Apr. 1837.

    2. [2]

      Historical Introduction to Kirtland Safety Society Notes, 4 Jan.–9 Mar. 1837; see also Introduction to Eaton v. JS and O. Cowdery ; and Invoice, Winthrop Eaton to Smith & Cowdery, 11 October 1836.

    3. [3]

      Summons, 9 June 1837 [Underwood, Bald, Spencer & Hufty v. Rigdon et. al.]. The only way for Underwood, Bald, Spencer & Hufty to have a promissory note with the signatures of JS, Rigdon, and several other Latter-day Saints was if the original debt was renegotiated in Kirtland because Cowdery had paid the original debt in 1836 on his own without a large company of Saints with him to sign the note. However, it is unclear when this renegotiation took place. The declaration made by the plaintiffs’ attorneys suggests that it occurred on 1 June 1837. (Declaration, ca. 7 July 1837 [Underwood, Bald, Spencer & Hufty v. Rigdon et al.]. For more on JS’s debt renegotiations in 1837, see Historical Introduction to Power of Attorney to Oliver Granger, 27 Sept. 1837; Documents, Volume 5, Introduction to Part 6: 20 Apr.–14 Sept. 1837; and Historical Introduction to Statement of Account from Perkins & Osborn, ca. 29 Oct. 1838.)

    4. [4]

      Summons, 9 June 1837 [Underwood, Bald, Spencer & Hufty v. Rigdon et al.]. It is unclear from the return notation whether the summons was served by Sheriff Abel Kimball or Deputy Sheriff Abner P. Axtell. The sheriff or deputy could not find Samuel Parker, William Smith, Hiram Clark, or Andrew Allen to serve their summons.

    5. [5]

      Declaration, ca. 7 July 1837 [Underwood, Bald, Spencer & Hufty v. Rigdon et. al.]. The renegotiated promissory note signed by JS and others amounted to $1,450. The $2,000 in damages may have included interest or additional expenses incurred in collecting the note. Additionally, when seeking damages, attorneys often requested more than the defaulted debt. (Summons, 9 June 1837 [Underwood, Bald, Spencer & Hufty v. Rigdon et al.].)

    6. [6]

      Plea, ca. 28 Oct. 1837 [Underwood, Bald, Spencer & Hufty v. Rigdon et al.]; Transcript of Proceedings, ca. 16 Apr. 1839 [Underwood, Bald, Spencer & Hufty v. Rigdon et al.]. Although in October 1837 the defendants requested a jury trial, at the April 1839 term of court the attorneys for both sides agreed to submit the case to the decision of the court. The transcript of proceedings indicates that the defendants intended to appeal the decision to the Ohio Supreme Court, but they apparently never did, possibly because they were no longer living in Ohio by that time.

    7. [7]

      Docket Entry, Costs, ca. 16 Apr. 1839 [Underwood, Bald, Spencer & Hufty v. Rigdon et al.].

    8. [8]

      Docket Entry, Costs, ca. 16 Apr. 1839 [Underwood, Bald, Spencer & Hufty v. Rigdon et al.]; Deed, 23 Nov. 1841 [Underwood, Bald, Spencer & Hufty v. Rigdon et al.]. Granger sold the land to Daniel Carter, who petitioned the court for a deed in September 1841. Carter was given a deed of conveyance on 23 November 1841.

    9. [9]

      Deed, 3 June 1841 [Underwood, Bald, Spencer & Hufty v. Rigdon et al.].

    10. [10]

      Assignment of Judgment, 30 Apr. 1841 [Underwood, Bald, Spencer & Hufty v. Rigdon et al.].

    11. [11]

      Docket Entry, Costs, ca. 16 Apr. 1839 [Underwood, Bald, Spencer & Hufty v. Rigdon et al.].