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Letter from A. Miles, 21 March 1837
Source Note
Source Note
A. Miles, Letter, Brunswick, Medina Co., OH, to JS, , Geauga Co., OH, 21 Mar. 1837; manuscript and printed form; handwriting probably of A. Miles; three pages; JS Collection, CHL. Includes address, postal markings, and docket.
Bifolium measuring 9⅞ × 8⅛ inches (25 × 21 cm) when folded. The upper left corner of the third page is embossed with an oval paper-mill insignia containing a bird with a parcel hanging from its neck. Above the bird are the words “JOHN BUTLER | HARTFORD CT”. Below the bird are two leafy branches that are crossed. The first and second pages are inscribed; the third contains a printed advertisement for the Western Bank Note Engraving Company of Cincinnati, Ohio. The letter included enclosures of sample banknotes and promissory notes.
The letter was folded in two patterns. First, the document was trifolded in letter style, addressed, and sealed with two red adhesive wafers, partially extant. Second, the letter was folded in a four-panel roll fold for filing and was docketed in red ink by : “Mch 21. 1837 | A. Miles to | Joseph Smith”. The docket indicates the letter was in institutional custody no later than the mid-1850s (likely earlier). The letter first appeared in the Church Historian’s Office inventory about 1904.
Footnotes
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“Letters to and from the Prophet,” ca. 1904, Historian’s Office, Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904, CHL.
Historian’s Office. Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904. CHL. CR 100 130.
Historical Introduction
Historical Introduction
The 21 March 1837 letter featured here was sent to JS by one A. Miles, a business agent for the Western Bank Note Engraving Company in , Ohio. The letter consisted of a handwritten message from Miles soliciting engraving orders, a printed business notice from the company, and sample banknotes and promissory notes. Miles likely contacted JS because of his position as an officer of the .
The Western Bank Note Engraving Company was started by two engravers, William Woodruff and Zelotus H. Mason, probably around 1836. They were working to establish a clientele for their new business by January 1837, when they printed a notice announcing their services in at least one newspaper. Their efforts to find business may have been made more difficult by the fact that the Ohio legislature granted no new bank charters in the legislative sessions from 1836 to 1838, even though many representatives petitioned for banks in these sessions.
The Kirtland Safety Society had already commissioned the firm of Underwood, Bald, Spencer & Hufty to engrave notes for their institution. These notes bore the institution’s original name, the Kirtland Safety Society Bank. It appears that Miles or the engravers he worked for, Woodruff and Mason, learned of the society’s January 1837 restructuring and sent enclosures of examples for engravings with the company’s new name, the Kirtland Safety Society Anti-Banking Company, likely hoping the Safety Society would purchase new engravings from them. However, there is no record of further communication between JS and Miles.
Footnotes
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Woodruff and Mason had created their partnership by the end of 1836. Woodruff was born in Philadelphia around 1797. He trained under the respected engraver George Murray and worked in Philadelphia from 1817 to 1824. He moved to Ohio and was working as an engraver in Cincinnati by 1825. Little is known about Mason. By 1839, Woodruff had a new partner, a Mr. Hammond. (See “Western Bank Note Co.,” Ohio State Journal and Columbus Gazette, 24 Jan. 1837, [1]; “William Woodruff,” in U.S. Customs Service, Proof of Citizenship . . . for the Port of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1792–1875, Record Group 36, microfilm, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington DC; Stauffer, American Engravers upon Copper and Steel, 295; Hall, Cincinnati Directory for 1825, 107; and Bank Notes and Stock Certificates, Ohio Obsolete Paper Money Collection, Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland.)
Ohio State Journal and Columbus Gazette. Columbus. 1825–1837.
U.S. Customs Service. Proof of Citizenship Used to Apply for Seamen’s Certificates for the Port of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1792–1875. Record Group 36. Microfilm. National Archives and Records Administration, Washington DC.
Stauffer, David McNeely. American Engravers upon Copper and Steel. Part 1. New York: Grolier Club of the City of New York, 1907.
Hall, Harvey. The Cincinnati Directory, for 1825, Containing the Names of Its Citizens, Their Occupations, Places of Residence, and Places of Nativity; Alphabetically Arranged. With a Variety of Other Matter. Cincinnati: Samuel J. Browne, 1825.
Ohio Obsolete Paper Money Collection. Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland.
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“Western Bank Note Co.,” Ohio State Journal and Columbus Gazette, 24 Jan. 1837, [1]. The note was prepared in December.
Ohio State Journal and Columbus Gazette. Columbus. 1825–1837.
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Huntington, “History of Banking and Currency in Ohio before the Civil War,” 377; “Ohio Legislature,” Ohio State Journal and Columbus Gazette, Dec. 1836–Apr. 1837.
Huntington, C. C. “A History of Banking and Currency in Ohio before the Civil War.” Ohio Archaeological and Historical Quarterly 24, no. 3 (July 1915): 235–539.
Ohio State Journal and Columbus Gazette. Columbus. 1825–1837.
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See Historical Introduction to Kirtland Safety Society Notes, 4 Jan.–9 Mar. 1837.
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WESTERN BANK NOTE ENGRAVING COMPANY.
WOODRUFF & MASON,
, OHIO.
The subscribers having established themselves in for the purpose of executing
BANK NOTE ENGRAVING AND PRINTING,
respectfully solicit any Orders in their line that may be agreeable to your Institution to favor them with.
It may be necessary only to say in reference to their respective qualifications, that William Woodruff was a pupil of the celebrated George Murray, of the firm of Murray, Draper, Fairman & Co., and during a term of many years, devoted his time principally to the execution of Bank Notes—of which the West received a considerable portion of his labors.
In reference to Z. H. Mason, it is only necessary to say, that the beautiful specimens of Die work with which many of the latest notes abound, are the production of that gentleman.
Believing that an establishment, located in the West, would afford conveniences to the Banking Institutions of the country—which has not hitherto existed—we have undertaken the above business, relying upon our own merits for success.
Having been engaged for the last year in making new Dies, Vignettes, &c. we are now prepared to furnish Notes in a very superior style, and on short notice.
☞ Bank Note Paper, of the best quality, always kept on hand.
Believing that the above information would not be unacceptable in the distribution of your Orders,
The subscribers respectfully remain
Your obedient servants,
WM. WOODRUFF,
ZELOTUS H. MASON.
, January, 1837.
Enclosed you have 2 samples as specemines of their work
A M [p. [3]]
Source Note
Source Note
Document Transcript
Document Information
Document Information
Footnotes
Footnotes
Handwriting ends; printed form begins.
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George Murray was a well-known engraver, a native of Scotland who studied engraving in London and moved to Philadelphia in 1800. In 1810–1811, he formed the engraving firm Murray, Draper, Fairman & Co., a company that gained the reputation of being the finest banknote engravers in the United States. He was responsible for training many young engravers who worked as his apprentices. He died in Philadelphia in 1822. (Stauffer, American Engravers upon Copper and Steel, 186–187; Scharf and Wescott, History of Philadelphia, 2:1057–1059.)
Stauffer, David McNeely. American Engravers upon Copper and Steel. Part 1. New York: Grolier Club of the City of New York, 1907.
Scharf, J. Thomas, and Thompson Westcott. History of Philadelphia, 1609–1884. 3 vols. Philadelphia: L. H. Everts, 1884.
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Metal dies created intricate designs, often geometric, that distinguished the notes of different banks and made them harder to counterfeit.
Printed form ends; handwriting—probably of A. Miles—begins.
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The enclosures were separated from the letter but appear to have been retained by JS. Sheets of uncut banknotes bearing the phrase “Treasurer of the Kirtland Safety Society Anti=Banking Co.,” along with sheets of printed promissory notes including “Kirtland” and “1837,” were used to record a JS sermon on the priesthood in 1840 and may be the enclosures sent with this letter. (Sample Kirtland Safety Society Notes, JS Papers Holding Collection, CHL.)