Letter from Emma Smith, 3 May 1837
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Source Note
, Letter, , Geauga Co., OH, to JS, 3 May 1837. Featured version copied [between ca. 29 May and ca. 27 June 1839] in JS Letterbook 2, pp. 35–36; handwriting of ; JS Collection, CHL. For more complete source information, see the source note for JS Letterbook 2.
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Historical Introduction
wrote this letter, dated 3 May 1837, to her husband while he was absent from , Ohio. JS’s location during the latter part of April and for much of May 1837 remains unknown. In a previous letter to JS, dated 25 April 1837, Emma discussed her efforts to obtain goods and money, as well as the difficulty she faced at JS’s mercantile store in , Ohio. In this 3 May letter she described how the family’s financial situation had worsened, as money and goods she had expected to receive were not available and creditors were demanding repayment. Because of coverture laws, Emma Smith had no legal identity of her own, no legal right to JS’s goods or property, and no ability to intervene with his creditors. JS was liable not only for his own debts but also for those of his business partners and any individuals for whom he had acted as surety, or guarantor on a loan. Emma specifically noted here that the partnerships in which JS was involved were causing financial problems for their family. Beginning in spring 1837, JS faced litigation on his and others’ outstanding debts. Emma may have been referring to these debts, some of which were being pursued in court at the time, when she wrote that creditors claimed “an unaccountable right to every particle of property or money that they could lay their hands on” and that she felt everyone else had a “better right to all that is called yours than I have.”told JS she was resolved to do what she could to ensure that any subsequent transactions benefited JS and their family. She also wrote that the situation would be improved if JS returned and addressed the matters she could not. It was perhaps this need for someone to act in financial matters that prompted Emma’s postscript about giving power of attorney to , who served as clerk for the H. Smith & Co. store in and as counselor to . Emma may also have thought if JS returned, he could relieve tensions that were growing among church members and counter a group of dissenters that was forming in his absence. Members of this group, including , , , and others, confronted JS in May after he returned to Kirtland.
Footnotes
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1
When the letter was copied into JS’s second letterbook by scribe James Mulholland, no mailing information was included. The “Brother Robinson” mentioned at the conclusion of the letter may have acted as a courier and personally delivered the letter to JS. For more information about JS’s absence from Kirtland, see Letter from Newel K. Whitney, 20 Apr. 1837.
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2
See Letter from Emma Smith, 25 Apr. 1837. The store in Chester was run by the mercantile firm of Rigdon, Smith & Co. The store appears to have closed in late May 1837. (See Rigdon, Smith & Co., Store Ledger, Sept. 1836–May 1837.)
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3
For more on coverture laws, see Historical Introduction to Deed to Caroline Grant Smith, 11 Dec. 1836.
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4
JS appears to have partnered with Sidney Rigdon and Oliver Cowdery in the printing firm of O. Cowdery & Co. in Kirtland, which purchased the church’s printing office after the firm of F. G. Williams & Co. was dissolved in June 1836. When Cowdery became a bank director and vice president of the Bank of Monroe, he dissolved the firm of O. Cowdery & Co., and in February 1837 JS and Rigdon formed a firm named Smith & Rigdon. JS, Rigdon, and Cowdery were also involved in mercantile ventures, using the firm names of Rigdon, Smith & Cowdery; Rigdon, Smith & Co.; and Smith & Cowdery. (“Notice,” LDS Messenger and Advocate, June 1836, 2:329; “Notice,” LDS Messenger and Advocate, Feb. 1837, 3:458; Invoices, June and Oct. 1836, JS Office Papers, CHL.)
Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. Kirtland, OH. Oct. 1834–Sept. 1837.
JS Office Papers / Joseph Smith Office Papers, ca. 1835–1845. CHL.
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5
By April 1837 lawsuits had begun on at least five different cases on debts for which JS was liable. (See Transcript of Proceedings, 5 June 1837, Martindale v. JS et al. [Geauga Co. C.P. 1837], Record Book U, pp. 106–108; Transcript of Proceedings, 5 June 1837, Holmes v. Dayton et al. [Geauga Co. C.P. 1837], Record Book U, pp. 86–87; Transcript of Proceedings, 5 June 1837, Patterson and Patterson v. Cahoon et al. [Geauga Co. C.P. 1837], Record Book U, pp. 126–128; Transcript of Proceedings, 5 June 1837, Kelley v. Rigdon et al. [Geauga Co. C.P. 1837], Record Book U, pp. 97–101; Transcript of Proceedings, 5 June 1837, Bank of Geauga v. JS et al. [Geauga Co. C.P. 1837], Record Book U, pp. 67–69, Geauga County Archives and Records Center, Chardon, OH.)
Geauga Co., OH, Court of Common Pleas, Record Book U. Geauga County Archives and Records Center, Chardon, OH.
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6
See Charges against JS Preferred to Bishop’s Council, 29 May 1837; and Letter from Abel Lamb and Others, ca. 28 May 1837.
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