Receipt to Jonathan Harrington, 8 July 1842

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Receipt to Jonathan Harrington, 8 July 1842
Source Note

[
William Clayton
17 July 1814–4 Dec. 1879. Bookkeeper, clerk. Born at Charnock Moss, Penwortham, Lancashire, England. Son of Thomas Clayton and Ann Critchley. Married Ruth Moon, 9 Oct. 1836, at Penwortham. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by Heber...
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on behalf of JS], Receipt, to Jonathan Harrington, [
Nauvoo
Principal gathering place for Saints following expulsion from Missouri. Beginning in 1839, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints purchased lands in earlier settlement of Commerce and planned settlement of Commerce City, as well as surrounding areas....
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, Hancock Co., IL], 8 July 1842; handwriting of
William Clayton
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; one page; JS Office Papers, CHL. Includes docket.

Single leaf measuring 5–5¼ × 8 inches (13 × 20 cm). The document, ruled with sixteen horizontal lines (now faded), was apparently cut from a larger leaf; the top and right side of the recto have the square cut of manufactured paper, while the left side and bottom of the recto appear to be hand cut. After being inscribed, it was trifolded for filing.

William Clayton
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, who served as scribe to JS from 1842 to 1844 and as
Nauvoo
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temple recorder from 1842 to 1846,
1
JS, Journal, 29 June 1842; “Clayton, William,” in Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 1:718; Clayton, History of the Nauvoo Temple, 18, 30–31.
Comprehensive Works Cited
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.
Clayton, William. History of the Nauvoo Temple, ca. 1845. CHL. MS 3365.
created the document for JS’s Nauvoo office, where it was presumably retained and filed with other office papers. Clayton also docketed the document. It and other such papers from JS’s office were likely part of the financial documents in possession of the Historian’s Office in Utah Territory. The document was cataloged as part of the Joseph Smith Office Papers collection at the Church History Library in 2012.
2
See the full bibliographic entry for Joseph Smith’s Office Papers, 1835–1844, in the CHL catalog.
The document’s docket and inclusion in the Joseph Smith Office Papers suggest continuous institutional custody.
Footnotes
[1]
JS, Journal, 29 June 1842; “Clayton, William,” in Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 1:718; Clayton, History of the Nauvoo Temple, 18, 30–31.
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.
Clayton, William. History of the Nauvoo Temple, ca. 1845. CHL. MS 3365.
[2]
See the full bibliographic entry for Joseph Smith’s Office Papers, 1835–1844, in the CHL catalog.
Historical Introduction
On 8 July 1842,
William Clayton
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, acting as secretary and financial
agent
A specific church office and, more generally, someone “entrusted with the business of another.” Agents in the church assisted other ecclesiastical officers, especially the bishop in his oversight of the church’s temporal affairs. A May 1831 revelation instructed...
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for JS, wrote out a receipt detailing a financial transaction with Latter-day Saint Jonathan Harrington.
1
Jonathan Cyrus Harrington and his wife, Julia Ann, were probably introduced to the church in the late 1830s and likely were baptized by the time Oliver Granger visited Oswego County, New York, in October 1840. The family apparently moved west in late 1841 or early 1842, settling in Lee County, Iowa Territory, before moving to Fremont County in Iowa Territory. (“Jonathan Cyrus Harrington, 1794–1852,” Individual Record, FamilySearch Ancestral File [Ancestral File no. 4W3V-09Q]; Obituary for Daniel Harrington, True Latter Day Saints’ Herald, 15 Sept. 1874, 571; “Death Claims Old Pioneers,” Mills County Tribune [Glenwood, IA], 10 May 1910, [1].)
FamilySearch Ancestral File. Compiled by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. https://www.familysearch.org/search/family-trees.
Saints’ Herald. Independence, MO. 1860–.
Mills County Tribune. Glenwood, IA. 1891–1927.
In October 1840, Harrington had sold fifty acres of land in the township of Mexico, New York, to
Oliver Granger
7 Feb. 1794–23/25 Aug. 1841. Sheriff, church agent. Born at Phelps, Ontario Co., New York. Son of Pierce Granger and Clarissa Trumble. Married Lydia Dibble, 8 Sept. 1813, at Phelps. Member of Methodist church and licensed exhorter. Sheriff of Ontario Co. ...
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, who, as JS’s financial agent in
Kirtland
Located ten miles south of Lake Erie. Settled by 1811. Organized by 1818. Latter-day Saint missionaries visited township, early Nov. 1830; many residents joined Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Population in 1830 about 55 Latter-day Saints and...
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, Ohio, was working to resolve outstanding
church
The Book of Mormon related that when Christ set up his church in the Americas, “they which were baptized in the name of Jesus, were called the church of Christ.” The first name used to denote the church JS organized on 6 April 1830 was “the Church of Christ...
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debts.
2
See Oswego Co., NY, Deeds, 1792–1902, vol. 32, pp. 33–34, microfilm 1,011,773, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL. Granger began acting as an agent for JS in Kirtland, Ohio, in 1837. With JS’s move to Missouri in January 1838, Granger took responsibility for settling church debts in Ohio and New York. (See Statement of Account from John Howden, 29 Mar. 1838; Authorization for Oliver Granger, 6 May 1839; and Agreement with Mead & Betts, 2 Aug. 1839.)
In exchange for Harrington’s land, Granger had created and signed two promissory notes on 10 October 1840 amounting to $1,000, to be paid in money or in land in
Lee County
First permanent settlement established, 1820. Organized 1837. Population in 1838 about 2,800; in 1840 about 6,100; in 1844 about 9,800; and in 1846 about 13,000. Following expulsion from Missouri, 1838–1839, many Saints found refuge in eastern Iowa Territory...
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, Iowa Territory. Harrington was one of several individuals Granger purchased land from in the eastern
United States
North American constitutional republic. Constitution ratified, 17 Sept. 1787. Population in 1805 about 6,000,000; in 1830 about 13,000,000; and in 1844 about 20,000,000. Louisiana Purchase, 1803, doubled size of U.S. Consisted of seventeen states at time ...
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in October 1840.
3
See Oswego Co., NY, Deeds, 1792–1902, vol. 32, pp. 32–36, microfilm 1,011,773, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL.
U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.
These purchases were part of a larger effort to pay the church’s debts to
New York
Located in northeast region of U.S. Area settled by Dutch traders, 1620s; later governed by Britain, 1664–1776. Admitted to U.S. as state, 1788. Population in 1810 about 1,000,000; in 1820 about 1,400,000; in 1830 about 1,900,000; and in 1840 about 2,400,...
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merchants by acquiring land from New York residents, most of whom were Latter-day Saints, in exchange for land the church owned in
Illinois
Became part of Northwest Territory of U.S., 1787. Admitted as state, 1818. Population in 1840 about 480,000. Population in 1845 about 660,000. Plentiful, inexpensive land attracted settlers from northern and southern states. Following expulsion from Missouri...
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or
Iowa Territory
Area acquired by U.S. in Louisiana Purchase, 1803. First permanent white settlements established, ca. 1833. Organized as territory, 1838, containing all of present-day Iowa, much of present-day Minnesota, and parts of North and South Dakota. Population in...
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.
4
This system of acquiring land from Latter-day Saints was also used in Kirtland, Ohio, in 1838 when many Saints relocated to Missouri. (See Pay Order to Edward Partridge for William Smith, 21 Feb. 1838.)

At some point between October 1840 and Harrington’s July 1842 visit to
Nauvoo
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, Illinois, he received a promissory note for land in
Lee County
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, Iowa Territory, as payment for the debt and returned the two promissory notes created earlier by
Granger
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.
5
In the featured text, Clayton characterized this promissory note as a “land Receipt.” This may have been a stock certificate, sometimes referred to as “scrip,” for the Half-Breed Land Company issued by Isaac Galland for land in the Half-Breed Tract of Iowa Territory. (See Half Breed Land Company, Stock Certificate, May 1839, photocopy, CHL; JS, Journal, 4 Feb. 1842; and Letter to Isaac Galland, 19 Jan. 1842.)
Half Breed Land Company. Stock Certificate, May 1839. Photocopy. CHL.
It is unclear whether Harrington received the note from Granger or another church agent. It is also unknown whether the 1840 promissory notes were retained in Granger’s possession or kept with JS’s office papers in Nauvoo. After Granger’s death in August 1841, the financial matters he had overseen as an agent for JS and the church were in disarray, leaving many debts unresolved and JS unsure of financial matters.
6
Granger had apparently not kept JS informed about financial matters, and JS had little knowledge of the state of the church’s accounts after Granger’s death. (See Letter to Oliver Granger, 30 Aug. 1841; and Letter from Reuben McBride, 3 Jan. 1842.)
Oliver Granger’s son
Gilbert Granger
14 Oct. 1814–25 Aug. 1850. Born in Phelps, Ontario Co., New York. Son of Oliver Granger and Lydia Dibble. Moved to Kirtland, Geauga Co., Ohio, 1833. Married first Alice Marble, 20 June 1838, in Cuyahoga Co., Ohio. Married second Susan Bristol Williams, 24...
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, who was antagonistic toward JS and the church, held many of the notes and other assets that had been in his father’s possession as a church agent.
7
Before his death, Granger transferred church property to his son Gilbert, who considered the property he received from his father to be personal property. Oliver Granger suffered a serious decline in his health in summer 1841, and it is possible that Gilbert took advantage of his father’s poor health to transfer to himself property his father had held for the church. (See Letter from Reuben McBride, 3 Jan. 1842; and Oswego Co., NY, Deeds, 1792–1902, vol. 34, pp. 157–158, microfilm 1,011,774, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL.)
In March 1842, JS met with Gilbert Granger in an attempt to settle business affairs and acquire the notes and deeds in his possession.
8
JS, Journal, 3 Feb. and 2–3 Mar. 1842; Account with Estate of Oliver Granger, between ca. 3 Feb. and ca. 2 Mar. 1842; Memorandum of Deeds, 3 Mar. 1842.
As part of this attempted settlement,
Willard Richards
24 June 1804–11 Mar. 1854. Teacher, lecturer, doctor, clerk, printer, editor, postmaster. Born at Hopkinton, Middlesex Co., Massachusetts. Son of Joseph Richards and Rhoda Howe. Moved to Richmond, Berkshire Co., Massachusetts, 1813; to Chatham, Columbia Co...
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created a memorandum of promissory notes; the list included the two promissory notes Granger had given Harrington.
9
, Newel K. Whitney, Papers, BYU; see also Memorandum of Deeds, 3 Mar. 1842.
The purpose of the list is uncertain, and it is unclear whether Gilbert Granger actually had the Harrington promissory notes in his possession at this time.
10
The meeting between JS and Gilbert Granger in early March 1842 proved unsuccessful, and it is unclear whether they reached a settlement. (See JS, Journal, 3 Feb. and 2–3 Mar. 1842; and Memorandum of Deeds, 3 Mar. 1842.)

On 8 July 1842, Harrington met with
Clayton
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and returned the promissory note that had granted him land in
Lee County
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. In exchange, Clayton returned to Harrington the two 1840 promissory notes signed by
Oliver Granger
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. Granger’s signatures had not been removed from the promissory notes, which meant that Harrington could redeem them through
Gilbert Granger
14 Oct. 1814–25 Aug. 1850. Born in Phelps, Ontario Co., New York. Son of Oliver Granger and Lydia Dibble. Moved to Kirtland, Geauga Co., Ohio, 1833. Married first Alice Marble, 20 June 1838, in Cuyahoga Co., Ohio. Married second Susan Bristol Williams, 24...
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. This exchange benefited both JS and Harrington. JS had lost control of Harrington’s
New York
Located in northeast region of U.S. Area settled by Dutch traders, 1620s; later governed by Britain, 1664–1776. Admitted to U.S. as state, 1788. Population in 1810 about 1,000,000; in 1820 about 1,400,000; in 1830 about 1,900,000; and in 1840 about 2,400,...
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property when Oliver Granger died, and there was confusion regarding the ownership of the land.
11
Shortly before his death, Oliver Granger had promised the land he purchased from Harrington to Reuben Hitchcock, an Ohio attorney and the district judge for the Court of Common Pleas; this land was intended as payment for debts the church owed to the New York mercantile firm of John Hitchcock & Son, whom Reuben Hitchcock represented. Painesville, Ohio, lawyer William Perkins received the promissory notes from Granger and sent them to New York to fulfill the agreement on Granger’s behalf. However, Granger then deeded the same land to his son, Gilbert, who sold the land to Edward Wallace in April 1842. (See Letter from Reuben McBride, 3 Jan. 1842; and Oswego Co., NY, Deeds, 1792–1902, vol. 35, p. 420, microfilm 1,011,774, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL.)
The return of the notes allowed Harrington to pursue payment from Gilbert Granger, since he was likely the executor of his father’s estate, or to contest in court the sale of his New York property, in an effort to obtain either payment or a return of the land. Church agent
Reuben McBride
16 June 1803–26 Feb. 1891. Farmer. Born at Chester, Washington Co., New York. Son of Daniel McBride and Abigail Mead. Married Mary Ann Anderson, 16 June 1833. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 4 Mar. 1834, at Villanova, Chautauque...
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, who took over Oliver Granger’s efforts to settle the church’s New York and
Ohio
French explored and claimed area, 1669. British took possession following French and Indian War, 1763. Ceded to U.S., 1783. First permanent white settlement established, 1788. Northeastern portion maintained as part of Connecticut, 1786, and called Connecticut...
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debts, informed JS in 1844 that Harrington’s notes were still unpaid.
12
Reuben McBride, Kirtland, OH, to JS, Nauvoo, IL, 28 Feb. 1844, JS Collection, CHL.

Clayton
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created the receipt featured here to document the 8 July 1842 transaction with Harrington, as well as to copy the text of the two 1840 promissory notes he returned to Harrington. The receipt was apparently retained by Clayton and presumably filed with other papers in JS’s
Nauvoo
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office.
Footnotes
[1]
Jonathan Cyrus Harrington and his wife, Julia Ann, were probably introduced to the church in the late 1830s and likely were baptized by the time Oliver Granger visited Oswego County, New York, in October 1840. The family apparently moved west in late 1841 or early 1842, settling in Lee County, Iowa Territory, before moving to Fremont County in Iowa Territory. (“Jonathan Cyrus Harrington, 1794–1852,” Individual Record, FamilySearch Ancestral File [Ancestral File no. 4W3V-09Q]; Obituary for Daniel Harrington, True Latter Day Saints’ Herald, 15 Sept. 1874, 571; “Death Claims Old Pioneers,” Mills County Tribune [Glenwood, IA], 10 May 1910, [1].)
FamilySearch Ancestral File. Compiled by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. https://www.familysearch.org/search/family-trees.
Saints’ Herald. Independence, MO. 1860–.
Mills County Tribune. Glenwood, IA. 1891–1927.
[2]
See Oswego Co., NY, Deeds, 1792–1902, vol. 32, pp. 33–34, microfilm 1,011,773, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL. Granger began acting as an agent for JS in Kirtland, Ohio, in 1837. With JS’s move to Missouri in January 1838, Granger took responsibility for settling church debts in Ohio and New York. (See Statement of Account from John Howden, 29 Mar. 1838; Authorization for Oliver Granger, 6 May 1839; and Agreement with Mead & Betts, 2 Aug. 1839.)
[3]
See Oswego Co., NY, Deeds, 1792–1902, vol. 32, pp. 32–36, microfilm 1,011,773, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL.
[4]
This system of acquiring land from Latter-day Saints was also used in Kirtland, Ohio, in 1838 when many Saints relocated to Missouri. (See Pay Order to Edward Partridge for William Smith, 21 Feb. 1838.)
[5]
In the featured text, Clayton characterized this promissory note as a “land Receipt.” This may have been a stock certificate, sometimes referred to as “scrip,” for the Half-Breed Land Company issued by Isaac Galland for land in the Half-Breed Tract of Iowa Territory. (See Half Breed Land Company, Stock Certificate, May 1839, photocopy, CHL; JS, Journal, 4 Feb. 1842; and Letter to Isaac Galland, 19 Jan. 1842.)
[6]
Granger had apparently not kept JS informed about financial matters, and JS had little knowledge of the state of the church’s accounts after Granger’s death. (See Letter to Oliver Granger, 30 Aug. 1841; and Letter from Reuben McBride, 3 Jan. 1842.)
[7]
Before his death, Granger transferred church property to his son Gilbert, who considered the property he received from his father to be personal property. Oliver Granger suffered a serious decline in his health in summer 1841, and it is possible that Gilbert took advantage of his father’s poor health to transfer to himself property his father had held for the church. (See Letter from Reuben McBride, 3 Jan. 1842; and Oswego Co., NY, Deeds, 1792–1902, vol. 34, pp. 157–158, microfilm 1,011,774, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL.)
[8]
JS, Journal, 3 Feb. and 2–3 Mar. 1842; Account with Estate of Oliver Granger, between ca. 3 Feb. and ca. 2 Mar. 1842; Memorandum of Deeds, 3 Mar. 1842.
[9]
, Newel K. Whitney, Papers, BYU; see also Memorandum of Deeds, 3 Mar. 1842.
[10]
The meeting between JS and Gilbert Granger in early March 1842 proved unsuccessful, and it is unclear whether they reached a settlement. (See JS, Journal, 3 Feb. and 2–3 Mar. 1842; and Memorandum of Deeds, 3 Mar. 1842.)
[11]
Shortly before his death, Oliver Granger had promised the land he purchased from Harrington to Reuben Hitchcock, an Ohio attorney and the district judge for the Court of Common Pleas; this land was intended as payment for debts the church owed to the New York mercantile firm of John Hitchcock & Son, whom Reuben Hitchcock represented. Painesville, Ohio, lawyer William Perkins received the promissory notes from Granger and sent them to New York to fulfill the agreement on Granger’s behalf. However, Granger then deeded the same land to his son, Gilbert, who sold the land to Edward Wallace in April 1842. (See Letter from Reuben McBride, 3 Jan. 1842; and Oswego Co., NY, Deeds, 1792–1902, vol. 35, p. 420, microfilm 1,011,774, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL.)
[12]
Reuben McBride, Kirtland, OH, to JS, Nauvoo, IL, 28 Feb. 1844, JS Collection, CHL.
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Copy of Two notes given up to Jonathon Herrington [Jonathan Harrington] this 8th. day of July 1842 for which said Herrington gave up a land Receipt value $1000— and signed
Isaac Galland
15 May 1791–27 Sept. 1858. Merchant, postmaster, land speculator, doctor. Born at Somerset Co., Pennsylvania. Son of Matthew Galland and Hannah Fenno. Married first Nancy Harris, 22 Mar. 1811, in Madison Co., Ohio. Married second Margaret Knight, by 1816....
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By
[Elias] Higbee
23 Oct. 1795–8 June 1843. Clerk, judge, surveyor. Born at Galloway, Gloucester Co., New Jersey. Son of Isaac Higbee and Sophia Somers. Moved to Clermont Co., Ohio, 1803. Married Sarah Elizabeth Ward, 10 Sept. 1818, in Tate Township, Clermont Co. Lived at ...
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and
[Alanson] Ripley
8 Jan. 1798–before 1860. Surveyor, lawyer. Born at New York. Son of Asa Ripley and Polly Deforest. Married Sarah Finkle. Resided in Massachusetts, 1827. Member of Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Ohio. Participated in Camp of Israel expedition...
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1
Elias Higbee and Alanson Ripley had served as land agents for the church and arranged to buy land from Isaac Galland in 1839. (See Letter from Edward Partridge, 5 Mar. 1839; and Introduction to Part 4: 24 Apr.–12 Aug. 1839.)

Agents
A specific church office and, more generally, someone “entrusted with the business of another.” Agents in the church assisted other ecclesiastical officers, especially the bishop in his oversight of the church’s temporal affairs. A May 1831 revelation instructed...
View Glossary
and Numbered 11
2
The “land Receipt” mentioned here may have been a stock certificate, sometimes referred to as “scrip,” for the Half-Breed Land Company issued by Isaac Galland for land in the Half-Breed Tract of Iowa Territory. The value of these certificates varied, and each stock certificate was given a unique serial number. (See Half Breed Land Company, Stock Certificate, May 1839, photocopy, CHL; JS, Journal, 4 Feb. 1842; and Letter to Isaac Galland, 19 Jan. 1842.)
——

For value received I promise to pay Jonathon Herrington or order nine hundred dollars when called for in
Lee County
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Iowa Territory in lands or money

Palermo
3
The original promissory notes Granger provided Harrington were made in Palermo, New York, while the land that was part of the transaction was located in Mexico, New York, on the border between Palermo and Mexico townships.
Oct 10— 1840——

Oliver Granger
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For value received I promise to pay Jonathon Herrington or order one hundred dollars by the first day of May next with use

Palermo Octr 10— 1840

Oliver Granger
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Copy of two notes given up to Jonathon Herrington July 8th. 1842
4
TEXT: Written vertically across the main body of text, possibly to clarify that this was a copy of the October 1840 promissory notes and not the original sheet of notes.
[p. [1]]
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Footnotes
[1]
Elias Higbee and Alanson Ripley had served as land agents for the church and arranged to buy land from Isaac Galland in 1839. (See Letter from Edward Partridge, 5 Mar. 1839; and Introduction to Part 4: 24 Apr.–12 Aug. 1839.)
[2]
The “land Receipt” mentioned here may have been a stock certificate, sometimes referred to as “scrip,” for the Half-Breed Land Company issued by Isaac Galland for land in the Half-Breed Tract of Iowa Territory. The value of these certificates varied, and each stock certificate was given a unique serial number. (See Half Breed Land Company, Stock Certificate, May 1839, photocopy, CHL; JS, Journal, 4 Feb. 1842; and Letter to Isaac Galland, 19 Jan. 1842.)
[3]
The original promissory notes Granger provided Harrington were made in Palermo, New York, while the land that was part of the transaction was located in Mexico, New York, on the border between Palermo and Mexico townships.
[4]
TEXT: Written vertically across the main body of text, possibly to clarify that this was a copy of the October 1840 promissory notes and not the original sheet of notes.