Footnotes

1. [1]

   William Miller was born in Avon, New York, in 1814. He married Phebe Scott in May 1834 and was baptized into the Latter-day Saint church on 28 October 1834. He first bought land in Kirtland in November 1834, and he and his wife moved there in fall 1835. Miller may have been involved because he was in a position to help finance the purchase. He may have also been intended to act as a caretaker or overseer since he owned land in an adjacent lot. (Jenson, LDS Biographical Encyclopedia, 1:481–482; Geauga Co., OH, Deed Records, 1795–1921, vol. 19, pp. 178–179, 1 Nov. 1834, microfilm 20,238, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL.)

   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.

   U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.

2. [2]

   Peter and Sarah French to William Miller et al., Deed, Kirtland, OH, 5 Oct. 1836, Geauga County Deed Record, vol. 23, pp. 94–95, Geauga County Archives and Records Center, Chardon, OH. Peter French was one of the earliest settlers of Kirtland, moving there in 1811, and was a major property owner in Kirtland. The church had purchased 103 acres from him in 1833, including the land on which the House of the Lord had been built as well as part of the area JS and other church leaders platted for the use of the Saints. (Crary, Pioneer and Personal Reminiscences, 6; Geauga Co., OH, Deed Records, 1795–1921, vol. 17, pp. 38–39, 359–361, 10 Apr. and 17 June 1833, microfilm 20,237, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL; Minutes, 23 Mar. 1833–A and 23 Mar. 1833–B; Historical Introduction to Covenant, 29 Nov. 1834; Historical Introduction to Minutes, 18 Jan. 1835.)

   Crary, Christopher G. Pioneer and Personal Reminiscences. Marshalltown, IA: Marshall Printing Co., 1893.

   U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.

3. [3]

   This was the first of two extant mortgage agreements JS and others made for land bought in fall 1836. The second mortgage was for over 132 acres, purchased from Alpheus Russell by JS, Jacob Bump, and Reynolds Cahoon on 10 October 1836. (Geauga Co., OH, Deed Records, 1795–1921, vol. 23, pp. 539–540, 10 Oct. 1836, microfilm 20,240, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL.)

   U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.

4. [4]

   “Mortgage,” in Bouvier, Law Dictionary [1839], 2:150–151.

   Bouvier, John. A Law Dictionary, Adapted to the Constitution and Laws of the United States of America, and of the Several States of the American Union; with References to the Civil and Other Systems of Foreign Law. 2 vols. Philadelphia: T. and J. W. Johnson, 1839.

5. [5]

   For the recorded land purchases by JS between September and November 1836, see Geauga Co., OH, Deed Records, 1795–1921, vol. 22, p. 305, 13 Sept. 1836; pp. 428–429, 14 Sept. 1836; pp. 430–431, 1 Oct. 1836; p. 430, 14 Oct. 1836; pp. 567–568, 2 Nov. 1836, microfilm 20,239, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL; and Alpheus Russell to JS et al., Deed, Kirtland, OH, 10 Oct. 1836, Geauga County Deed Record, vol. 23, p. 539, Geauga County Archives and Record Center, Chardon, OH..

6. [6]

   See JS History, vol. B-1, 733. The population of Ohio grew significantly in the 1830s, as did the number of Latter-day Saints in Kirtland. Milton Backman estimated the number of Saints in Kirtland in 1836 at 1,300, with an annual growth of 200 to 500 members and the period of 1835 to 1837 seeing the greatest amount of growth. By December 1836 there was a shortage of land for arriving church members, and guidelines were established for those intending to move to Kirtland. Sidney Rigdon later described the objective of purchasing land: “that there might be a place of rest, a place of safety, a place that the saints might lawfully call their own.” He instructed the elders to discuss the gathering of the Saints and “urge the necessity and propriety of the measure from the fact that we have a place for them, and not only so, it is the will of God that they should come.” (Backman, Heavens Resound, 139–140; Minutes, 22 Dec. 1836; “Anniversary of the Church of Latter Day Saints,” LDS Messenger and Advocate, Apr. 1837, 3:488–489, italics in original.)

   Backman, Milton V., Jr. The Heavens Resound: A History of the Latter-day Saints in Ohio, 1830–1838. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1983.

   Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. Kirtland, OH. Oct. 1834–Sept. 1837.

7. [7]

   Geauga Co., OH, Deed Records, 1795–1921, vol. 23, p. 539, 10 Apr. 1837, microfilm 20,240, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL. Bouvier’s legal dictionary defines a quitclaim deed as a release of the possession of land by the owner. A quitclaim deed was used to release an individual’s title, interest, or claims to property. It did not act as a warranty deed granting title but merely conveyed all of that individual’s ties, if any, to another person. (“Quit claim,” in Bouvier, Law Dictionary [1839], 2:321; Greenwood, Researcher’s Guide to American Genealogy, 409.)

   U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.

   Bouvier, John. A Law Dictionary, Adapted to the Constitution and Laws of the United States of America, and of the Several States of the American Union; with References to the Civil and Other Systems of Foreign Law. 2 vols. Philadelphia: T. and J. W. Johnson, 1839.

   Greenwood, Val D. The Researcher’s Guide to American Genealogy. 3rd ed. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing, 2000.

8. [8]

   See Historical Introduction to Deed to William Marks, 10 Apr. 1837.