Footnotes
JS, Journal, 13 Dec. 1841 and 21 Dec. 1842; Orson Spencer, “Death of Our Beloved Brother Willard Richards,” Deseret News (Salt Lake City), 16 Mar. 1854, [2].
Deseret News. Salt Lake City. 1850–.
Andrus and Fuller, Register of the Newel Kimball Whitney Papers, 24.
Andrus, Hyrum L., and Chris Fuller, comp. Register of the Newel Kimball Whitney Papers. Provo, UT: Division of Archives and Manuscripts, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, 1978.
Footnotes
Ebenezer Robinson, “Items of Personal History of the Editor,” Return, July 1890, 302. Robinson and Don Carlos Smith owned and operated the church’s printing establishment jointly, beginning in June 1839. In December 1840 a steady flow of business persuaded the men to dissolve their partnership and divide their printing equipment to specialize in specific printing tasks—Smith focused on the Times and Seasons and small handbill job printing, while Robinson ran the stereotype foundry and bookbindery. Following Smith’s passing, Robinson purchased his interest in the Times and Seasons from his widow, Agnes Coolbrith Smith. (Ebenezer Robinson, “Items of Personal History of the Editor,” Return, May 1890, 257; June 1890, 286; July 1890, 302.)
The Return. Davis City, IA, 1889–1891; Richmond, MO, 1892–1893; Davis City, 1895–1896; Denver, 1898; Independence, MO, 1899–1900.
The press and at least some of the type were recovered in 1839 after they were buried in a yard in Far West, Missouri, in October 1838. Robinson purchased the materials for a stereotype foundry and bookbindery from Edwin Shepard of Cincinnati in mid-1840. The building that originally housed the printing establishment was constructed in spring 1841. (JS History, vol. C-1 Addenda, 17; Ebenezer Robinson, “Items of Personal History of the Editor,” Return, May 1890, 257, 261–262; Editorial, Times and Seasons, 1 Dec. 1841, 3:615; Masthead, Times and Seasons, 1 Feb. 1842, 3:686.)
The Return. Davis City, IA, 1889–1891; Richmond, MO, 1892–1893; Davis City, 1895–1896; Denver, 1898; Independence, MO, 1899–1900.
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
Ebenezer Robinson, “Items of Personal History of the Editor,” Return, Oct. 1890, 346, italics in original.
The Return. Davis City, IA, 1889–1891; Richmond, MO, 1892–1893; Davis City, 1895–1896; Denver, 1898; Independence, MO, 1899–1900.
JS, Journal, 4 Feb. 1842. In December 1842 JS leased the printing establishment to John Taylor and Wilford Woodruff for $400 a year for five years. (JS to John Taylor and Wilford Woodruff, Indenture, 1 Dec. 1842, JS Collection [Supplement], CHL.)
Woodruff, Journal, 3 Feb. 1842.
Woodruff, Wilford. Journals, 1833–1898. Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, 1828–1898. CHL. MS 1352.
Robinson also kept track of the various payments he received for the printing office and its attending equipment in his personal account book. In 1890 he published in the newspaper Return an excerpt from that book specifically detailing payment made on the printing establishment. (Ebenezer Robinson, “Items of Personal History of the Editor,” Return, Oct. 1890, 346.)
The Return. Davis City, IA, 1889–1891; Richmond, MO, 1892–1893; Davis City, 1895–1896; Denver, 1898; Independence, MO, 1899–1900.
JS, Daybook, 9 Jan. 1844, 93. This matches Robinson’s later recollection that the remainder of the debt was “paid in small payments from time to time.” (Ebenezer Robinson, “Items of Personal History of the Editor,” Return, Oct. 1890, 346.)
Smith, Joseph. Daybook, 1842–1844. Iowa Masonic Library, Cedar Rapids. Microfilm copy at CHL. MS 8461.
The Return. Davis City, IA, 1889–1891; Richmond, MO, 1892–1893; Davis City, 1895–1896; Denver, 1898; Independence, MO, 1899–1900.
| Received Feb 4th <1842> on the within two hundred dollars in cash—— | $200, |
| Also, Received same date, 3 yoke of oxen & 8 cows— value Two hundred and ninety six dollars | ——296, |
| Also, by entry to my credit on the — eight hundred dollars— | 8,00, |
| Also, two shares in the ,— Nos 65 & 67.— fifty dollars each | 100, |
| also, same date, Received a deed of three fourth of Lot No four <in> Block 126. of City value one thousand dollars.— | 1000, |
| Received, in cash, on the within, eighty dollars per hand . Feb 14, 1842. | 80, |
| Received Feb 24th 1842— on Settlement with Joseph Smith, one thousand, and fifty five dollars & ninety one cents. | 1055.91 |
Given that hard money (or specie) was scarce in Illinois during this period, “cash” may refer to one or more promissory notes. (Edward Hunter, Nauvoo, IL, to “Respected Uncle,” 6 May 1841, photocopy, Edward Hunter, Collection, ca. 1798–1965, CHL; “State Bank of Illinois,” Times and Seasons, 15 Mar. 1842, 3:728.)
Hunter, Edward. Collection, ca. 1798–1965. Photocopy and typescript. CHL.
Robinson, quoting from his contemporary account book, later indicated that he was paid “by live stock delivered to Wm. Marks,” likely indicating that Robinson owed a debt to Marks. (Ebenezer Robinson, “Items of Personal History of the Editor,” Return, Oct. 1890, 346.)
The Return. Davis City, IA, 1889–1891; Richmond, MO, 1892–1893; Davis City, 1895–1896; Denver, 1898; Independence, MO, 1899–1900.
The credit was recorded in a 4 February 1842 entry in the Book of the Law of the Lord: “Received of Ebenezer Robinson $800 as consecration and labour Tithing for the present year, to be reckoned out of the printing establishment sold Willard Richard.” (Book of the Law of the Lord, 72.)
A January 1841 revelation directed church members to build a boardinghouse where “strangers may come from afar to lodge therein.” On 23 February 1841 the Nauvoo House Association was incorporated, and the building was largely financed by the sale of stock in the association. Stock shares were valued at $50 each. The specific notes referred to here were originally purchased by Hyrum Smith on 18 May 1841. (Revelation, 19 Jan. 1841 [D&C 124:23]; An Act to Incorporate the Nauvoo House Association [23 Feb. 1841], Laws of the State of Illinois [1840–1841], p. 131, sec. 3; Nauvoo House Association, Stock Book, 18 May 1842, certificate nos. 65, 67, Nauvoo House Association, Records, CHL.)
Laws of the State of Illinois, Passed by the Twelfth General Assembly, at Their Session, Began and Held at Springfield, on the Seventh of December, One Thousand Eight Hundred and Forty. Springfield, IL: William Walters, 1841.
Nauvoo House Association. Stock Book, 1841–1845. Nauvoo House Association, Records, 1841–1846. CHL. MS 2375, box 5, fd. 1.
This property was located near the northwest corner of Main and Parley streets in Nauvoo. Records housed in the Hancock County recorder’s office date this transaction 2 February 1842. (Hancock Co., IL, Deed Book, vol. K, pp. 89–90, Hancock County Clerk’s and Recorder’s Office, Carthage, IL.)
Hancock Co., IL. Deed Records, 1817–1917. Hancock County Clerk’s and Recorder’s Office, Carthage, IL.
Robinson later noted that his account book dated this transaction 25 February 1842. (Ebenezer Robinson, “Items of Personal History of the Editor,” Return, Oct. 1890, 346.)
The Return. Davis City, IA, 1889–1891; Richmond, MO, 1892–1893; Davis City, 1895–1896; Denver, 1898; Independence, MO, 1899–1900.
A 23 February 1842 entry in JS’s journal notes, “assisted in the counting room in settling with E. Robinson Esqr.” Robinson later noted that his account book dated this transaction 22 February 1842. (JS, Journal, 23 Feb. 1842; Ebenezer Robinson, “Items of Personal History of the Editor,” Return, Oct. 1890, 346.)
The Return. Davis City, IA, 1889–1891; Richmond, MO, 1892–1893; Davis City, 1895–1896; Denver, 1898; Independence, MO, 1899–1900.