Notice, circa Late August 1837
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Source Note
JS, Notice, , Geauga Co., OH, ca. late Aug. 1837. Featured version published in “Caution,” Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate, Aug. 1837, 3:560. For more complete source information, see the source note for Letter to Oliver Cowdery, Dec. 1834.
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Historical Introduction
JS wrote the notice featured here in late August after returning to , Ohio, from a trip to . The notice, printed in the August issue of the Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate, warned the public against using or accepting the notes of the .Prior to his travels, JS actively distanced himself from the Kirtland Safety Society in June and July 1837. On 8 June, he sold his shares of stock in the society to and . In addition, sometime before 7 July he and resigned their respective positions as the treasurer and secretary of the Kirtland Safety Society. Their resignations officially ended their leadership of the society but did not signal the close of the institution. The Safety Society’s directors elected new officers, and , and the society continued to function. Its already tenuous credibility, however, was further marred by the new officers’ decision to issue more loans, increasing the number of notes the society had in circulation. The society probably still held some specie to back its notes, but it had lost what little public confidence remained; in May and June, stockholders withdrew their funds and unloaded their stock. The society’s further-diminished specie reserves were likely not enough to provide any security for the number of notes already in circulation. By issuing additional loans, Williams and Parrish may have hoped to improve the Safety Society’s funding, but their decision resulted in steeper discounts for the redemption of Safety Society notes at any banks still willing to accept them.Faced with the resignation of JS and , the unsound practices of and , and the financial tensions throughout the , some felt there should be further separation between the church and the Kirtland Safety Society. In a meeting of the of the in held 30 July 1837, a suggestion was made, possibly by , that members of the church should no longer use society notes to meet their financial obligations outside of Kirtland. The members of the Seventy present at that meeting voted “that none of the corum should hereafter be allowed to deal or trade in any manner Kirtland Money away from this place” and that “the above transactions be published in the messenger & advocate.” They appointed John Gould, , and to compose the message. On 6 August, the Seventy revisited the resolution and, after some deliberation, voted to “submit the above named resolutions to the inspection of the of the church for their approval or disapproval,” along with the suggestion that if the First Presidency approved of the resolution, it should be printed in the Messenger and Advocate. No statement from the Seventy, however, appeared in the church’s newspaper.While such expressions of doubt may have influenced JS to write this notice, his warning goes beyond the suggestion of the Quorum of the Seventy. Instead, JS warned more broadly against any use or acceptance of the notes of the Kirtland Safety Society, and he cautioned the public that unscrupulous individuals were dealing in the severely devalued notes. He may have been particularly anxious to dissuade church members who were acquiring devalued notes in an effort to aid JS and , who were thought to be responsible for repaying the notes they had signed.
Footnotes
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1
JS, Sidney Rigdon, and Thomas B. Marsh began their trip to Canada on 27 July but were detained in Painesville, Ohio, by several lawsuits involving JS in the Geauga County Court of Common Pleas. They started again the evening of 28 July and arrived in Buffalo by 30 July. JS’s history records that he spent most of August in Canada and returned to Kirtland “about the last of August.” (JS History, vol. B-1, 767, 770, addenda, 6.)
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2
By transferring or selling stock, individuals could discontinue their membership in and financial support of the Safety Society. The 8 June transaction appears to be the earliest instance of Oliver Granger acting in the capacity of an agent for JS. Granger was given a financial power of attorney for JS and Sidney Rigdon in September 1837. He was made an official agent of the church in May 1839. (Power of Attorney to Oliver Granger, 27 Sept. 1837; JS Authorization for Oliver Granger, 6 May 1839, CHL; JS and Others, Commerce, IL, Letter of Recommendation for Oliver Granger, 13 May 1839, in JS Letterbook 2, pp. 45–46.)
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3
In a July 1837 editorial, Warren A. Cowdery suggested that JS’s and Sidney Rigdon’s resignations occurred around the same time as the transfer of their stock. According to the society’s stock ledger, JS transferred his stock on 8 June, but there is no record of Rigdon transferring his stock. JS’s history recounts that he resigned as an officer of the society before 7 July 1837. It is likely that the officers stepped down soon after they sold their stock, but they may have had to wait until the directors could meet and elect new officers before they could remove themselves from their positions. (“Argument to Argument Where I Find It,” Elders’ Journal, Aug. 1838, 55–60; Warren A. Cowdery, Editorial, LDS Messenger and Advocate, July 1837, 3:535–541; Kirtland Safety Society, Stock Ledger, 1–2, 273; JS History, vol. B-1, 764.)
Elders’ Journal of the Church of Latter Day Saints. Kirtland, OH, Oct.–Nov. 1837; Far West, MO, July–Aug. 1838.
Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. Kirtland, OH. Oct. 1834–Sept. 1837.
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4
An editorial in the August 1838 Elders’ Journal mentions that Williams and Parrish were elected to replace JS and Rigdon but does not indicate when this election took place. (“Argument to Argument Where I Find It,” Elders’ Journal, Aug. 1838, 58.)
Elders’ Journal of the Church of Latter Day Saints. Kirtland, OH, Oct.–Nov. 1837; Far West, MO, July–Aug. 1838.
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5
“Look Out,” Daily Herald and Gazette (Cleveland, OH), 8 July 1837, [3].
Daily Herald and Gazette. Cleveland. 1837–1839.
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6
On 20 May John Johnson and his daughter Emily Johnson withdrew the money they had paid the society for their shares of stock; Wilford Woodruff, William F. Cahoon, and Sabra Granger followed suit on 22 May 1837. JS, eight members of his family, and nineteen other stockholders sold their stock to Oliver Granger and Jared Carter between 8 and 20 June 1837. (Kirtland Safety Society, Stock Ledger, 13–16, 23–24, 45, 47–50, 53–55, 61–64, 87–88, 107–108, 115–120, 149–151, 177–178, 181–182, 187–188, 193–196, 201–202, 207–208, 219, 227, 237–238, 261–262, 265–266, 273–274; see also Introduction to Part 6: 20 Apr.–14 Sept. 1837.)
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7
See Introduction to Part 5: 5 Oct. 1836–10 Apr. 1837; and Introduction to Part 6: 20 Apr.–14 Sept. 1837.
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8
The Record of the Seventy does not name the individual responsible for the suggestion. Nathan Tanner’s reminiscent account of the meeting attributes the idea to John Gould. Tanner also suggests that Gould’s idea included disfellowshipping those who continued to circulate the notes. Tanner claimed that when a vote was called he was the sole opposing vote and that his opposition led Joseph Young to dismiss the resolution. In contrast, the Record of the Seventy indicates that the resolution was accepted and forwarded to the First Presidency. (Tanner, Address, [21]–[23]; Record of Seventies, bk. A, 31–33.)
Tanner, Nathan. Address, no date. CHL. MS 2815.
Record of Seventies / First Council of the Seventy. “Book of Records,” 1837–1843. Bk. A. In First Council of the Seventy, Records, 1837–1885. CHL. CR 3 51, box 1, fd. 1.
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9
Record of Seventies, bk. A, 32.
Record of Seventies / First Council of the Seventy. “Book of Records,” 1837–1843. Bk. A. In First Council of the Seventy, Records, 1837–1885. CHL. CR 3 51, box 1, fd. 1.
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10
Record of Seventies, bk. A, 33.
Record of Seventies / First Council of the Seventy. “Book of Records,” 1837–1843. Bk. A. In First Council of the Seventy, Records, 1837–1885. CHL. CR 3 51, box 1, fd. 1.
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11
Nathan Tanner recounted that he and other church members traded their goods for the devalued currency in order to remove it from circulation and thereby relieve JS and Rigdon of the burden of redeeming the notes of the Kirtland Safety Society. Entries in the society’s stock ledger also suggest church members who were not stockholders were helping to buy up “Kirtland Funds.” (Tanner, Address, [24]; Kirtland Safety Society, Stock Ledger, 130, 180.)
Tanner, Nathan. Address, no date. CHL. MS 2815.
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