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Introduction to William Clayton Agent Papers

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Introduction to William Clayton Agent Papers

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When he went into hiding in late summer and fall 1842 to avoid attempts to extradite him to , JS instructed the Saints to rely on his for business matters. The man who served as JS’s primary financial agent in , Illinois, was ; none of JS’s Nauvoo agents were more widely involved in finances or keeping church records. Clayton was born in and was trained as a bookkeeper. He joined the in England in 1837 and served a mission there before immigrating to the in 1840. He first settled in , but in 1841 he moved his family to Nauvoo.
initially began working in JS’s office as an assistant to , who was JS’s scribe and the temple recorder. But JS apparently recognized Clayton’s skill in recordkeeping, and Clayton began taking on additional assignments. Clayton began working as a financial agent for JS and the church by April 1842, when JS delegated transactions involving land held by the church to Clayton. His responsibilities included showing land to prospective buyers and drawing up and signing the necessary contracts and other paperwork, such as bonds, deeds, or promissory notes. The full extent of this work is difficult to capture, but it may best be documented through Clayton’s own journal and JS’s journal, both of which record Clayton’s time spent conducting land transactions, as well as the land record book he created, titled Trustees Land Book B.
In summer 1842, prepared for a trip to the eastern and turned over the work of JS’s office and the temple recorder’s office, also known as the office, to . This work involved scribal duties such as keeping JS’s journal, taking dictation of letters, and recording tithing donations. In September 1842, JS appointed Clayton as temple recorder in Richards’s place. As temple recorder, Clayton received, recorded, and distributed tithing and other goods and funds donated for temple construction. In this capacity, he maintained several interconnected financial record books. Tithing was first recorded in a daybook, then in the Book of the Law of the Lord. The distribution of these donations was then recorded in a book known as Trustee-in-Trust Ledger A. Clayton’s detailed recordkeeping, as well as that of clerks he directed, carefully documented incoming goods and funds and their distribution and use by the church. As temple recorder, Clayton also authorized use of the baptismal font to individuals who had paid their tithing.
’s work as JS’s clerk and scribe often overlapped with his work as agent. The scribal work of drafting, copying, or recording information would sometimes be followed by Clayton signing the financial documents he had created on JS’s behalf. As JS’s scribe, he wrote many letters for JS, and sometimes these letters included financial information Clayton had access to as JS’s agent. Clayton also wrote letters as JS’s agent to conduct business on JS’s behalf.
As JS’s primary financial agent and the head clerk or secretary of several different church offices, including that of the trustee-in-trust, oversaw the business of the church. It was not uncommon for missionaries and others to leave money intended for JS or the church with Clayton; his position as JS’s financial agent was well known and understood by those who worked with JS. However, the cash-poor economy of complicated Clayton’s work as JS’s clerk and agent. When urgent debts arose and had to be paid, Clayton frequently tried to borrow money within the community, sometimes from wealthier Latter-day Saints, with the promise of later repayment.
, as JS’s agent, was also involved in some of JS’s legal proceedings. The most convoluted of these was likely the settlement of JS’s estate after his death. But complications also arose during JS’s attempts to secure the title for lands he had purchased from Erie Rhodes in September 1841. JS had contracted to purchase this land and completed payments on it in April 1842, but he did not receive title to the land. To obtain the title, JS transferred the land to Clayton in June 1843. The next month Clayton initiated a lawsuit requiring the estate of Erie Rhodes to provide the title for the land in question.
also worked with JS in municipal roles. When JS was appointed registrar of deeds for in March 1842 and became responsible for recording deeds, he apparently delegated that responsibility to Clayton, who recorded and certified deeds for Nauvoo residents. In September 1842, Clayton was elected the city treasurer for Nauvoo and worked with JS, who was the mayor of Nauvoo, until 1844. Clayton worked as a scribe, clerk, and agent for JS from 1842 to 1844. He served as trustee pro tempore immediately after JS’s death and continued to work for the new church trustees, and , after they were appointed in August 1844.
The majority of ’s personal papers have apparently not survived. The papers included here, documenting his work as an agent for JS and the church, are an exception. Yet Clayton’s role as a financial agent is evident in JS’s correspondence as well as throughout JS’s business and church financial records. The documents included here are a sample of the types of documents Clayton created as JS’s financial agent and an integral clerk for the church, but several genres are not represented. For example, Clayton created or certified hundreds of deeds that have not been included in the agent papers gathered here but can be found under Illinois Land Transactions. Likewise, there are documents that Clayton created as a clerk for the and that have not been included here. His vast work in recording tithing donations, first as a clerk and later as temple recorder, can be found under Tithing Records and have not been included here.
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Editorial Title
Introduction to William Clayton Agent Papers
ID #
21866
Total Pages
1
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    Footnotes

    1. [1]

      Letter to “All the Saints in Nauvoo,” 1 Sept. 1842 [D&C 127].

    2. [2]

      Clayton, Diary, 10 Feb. 1842; Clayton, History of the Nauvoo Temple, 16, 18; Historical Introduction to Trustees Land Book B.

      Clayton, William. Diary, Vol. 1, 1840–1842. BYU.

      Clayton, William. History of the Nauvoo Temple, ca. 1845. CHL. MS 3365.

    3. [3]

      See, for example, JS, Journal, 2, 9, and 16 July 1842; Clayton, Journal, 21 Jan. 1843; 7 and 8 Mar. 1843; and Trustees Land Book B.

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

    4. [4]

      JS, Journal, 29 June 1842; JS and Willard Richards, “To the Eastern Churches,” Times and Seasons, 1 June 1842, 3:814; Clayton, History of the Nauvoo Temple, 30; William Clayton, Affidavit, Salt Lake Co., Utah Territory, 16 Feb. 1874, [1], copy, Joseph F. Smith, Affidavits about Celestial Marriage, CHL; Introduction to the Trustee Records.

      Clayton, William. History of the Nauvoo Temple, ca. 1845. CHL. MS 3365.

      Smith, Joseph F. Affidavits about Celestial Marriage, 1869–1915. CHL. MS 3423.

    5. [5]

      Clayton, History of the Nauvoo Temple, 30–31.

      Clayton, William. History of the Nauvoo Temple, ca. 1845. CHL. MS 3365.

    6. [6]

      See Introduction to the Trustee Records.

    7. [7]

      See, for example, Authorization for Shadrach Roundy, 24 Nov. 1842. Few of these documents have survived.

    8. [8]

      See, for example, Promissory Note to Chauncey Robison, 22 Oct. 1842—A; and Agreement with Hugh Rhodes, 19 May 1843.

    9. [9]

      See, for example, Letter to Edward Hunter, ca. Aug. 1842; and Letter to Justin Butterfield, 14 June 1843.

    10. [10]

      Clayton served as the clerk for the Council of Fifty, clerk for the Nauvoo temple committee, and temple recorder, the clerk responsible for recording and distributing tithing. (See Historical Introduction to Council of Fifty, Minutes, Mar. 1844–Jan. 1846; Volume 1, 10 Mar. 1844–1 Mar. 1845.)

    11. [11]

      See, for example, Letter from Hiram Clark and Others, 21 Oct. 1842; Letter, William F. Dickinson to William Clayton, 29 Aug. 1842; and Clayton, Journal, 27 October 1843; 1 May 1844; 14 July 1844.

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

    12. [12]

      See Letter to Horace Hotchkiss, 13 May 1842, 2n9.

    13. [13]

      See, for example, Clayton, Journal, 24 Dec. 1842; 23 May 1843; 3 June 1843; 18 Aug. 1843; 15 Sept. 1843; and JS, Journal, 24 Dec. 1842.

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

    14. [14]

      For more on this legal matter, see Introduction to E. Smith Administratrix of the Estate of JS.

    15. [15]

      For more on the Rhodes lawsuit, see Introduction to Clayton v. E. W. Rhodes et al.

    16. [16]

      Nauvoo City Council Minute Book, 5 Mar. 1842, 66–67; Introduction to Nauvoo City Register of Deeds Records; Deed from Wilford and Phebe Carter Woodruff, 26 Apr. 1843.

    17. [17]

      Nauvoo City Council Rough Minute Book, 9 Sept. 1842, 40.

    18. [18]

      “Clayton, William,” in Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 1:717–718; Allen, No Toil nor Labor Fear, 1, 7–8, 33, 63–64, 68, 70–71, 73–75, 157–158; Clayton, Diary, 5 Sept. 1840; 14 Dec. 1841; 10 Feb. 1842.

      Jenson, Andrew. Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia: A Compilation of Biographical Sketches of Prominent Men and Women in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 4 vols. Salt Lake City: Andrew Jenson History Co., 1901–1936.

      Allen, James B. No Toil nor Labor Fear: The Story of William Clayton. Provo, UT: Brigham Young University Press, 2002.

      Clayton, William. Diary, Vol. 1, 1840–1842. BYU.