The text is the second of three pay orders inscribed on a single leaf measuring 4⅝ × 8 inches (12 × 20 cm). Both sides of the leaf are ruled with thirteen horizontal lines, now greatly faded. The top edge of the leaf is uneven and the top portion of an inscription appears along the bottom edge, which suggest that the leaf was removed from a book or larger sheet. The document was folded in half vertically and then trifolded, presumably for filing. Some separation has occurred along the folds, and the document has undergone conservation.

, who served as scribe to JS from 1842 to 1844 and as temple recorder from 1842 to 1846, made a notation on and endorsed the document. The Church Historical Department (now CHL) published a register of the JS Collection in 1973. However, the department’s staff continued to locate documents authored by or directed to JS in uncataloged church financial records and in name and subject files. The department also acquired additional JS documents from donors, collectors, and dealers. These newly located and acquired documents were kept together in a supplement to the JS Collection that was closed to further acquisitions in 1984 and was named the JS Collection (Supplement), 1833–1844. The pay order’s early notation and endorsement and its later inclusion in the JS Collection (Supplement) suggest continuous institutional custody.