Footnotes
Correspondence between editors and manuscripts curator at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library, Springfield, IL, 15 May 2017, copy in editors’ possession.
Correspondence between editors and manuscripts curator at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library, Springfield, IL, 15 May 2017, copy in editors’ possession.
Footnotes
See An Act to Establish a Uniform System of Bankruptcy [19 Aug. 1841], Public Statutes at Large, 27th Cong., 1st Sess., chap. 9, pp. 440–449.
The Public Statutes at Large of the United States of America, from the Organization of the Government in 1789, to March 3, 1845. . . . Edited by Richard Peters. 8 vols. Boston: Charles C. Little and James Brown, 1846–1867.
For more information on the bankruptcy act of 1841, see “Joseph Smith Documents from May through August 1842.”
The firm of Ralston, Warren & Wheat was composed of partners James H. Ralston, Calvin A. Warren, and Almeron Wheat. A 5 April 1842 notice from the firm stated that one of the partners would be at Nauvoo and Carthage, Illinois, around 14 April 1842 and would take applications for bankruptcy. (“Ralston, Warren & Wheat, Attorneys at Law,” Wasp, 16 Apr. 1842, [3].)
The Wasp. Nauvoo, IL. Apr. 1842–Apr. 1843.
JS, Journal, 18 Apr. 1842. The bankruptcy act of 1841 granted primary authority over bankruptcy proceedings to the federal district court, which for JS and other residents of Nauvoo was in Springfield, Illinois. However, the act stipulated that petitions and depositions could be filed before any commissioner appointed by the federal district court. This rule allowed the Saints to begin their application for bankruptcy in Carthage, about 25 miles away, instead of traveling to Springfield, which was 130 miles away. (An Act to Establish a Uniform System of Bankruptcy [19 Aug. 1841], Public Statutes at Large, 27th Cong., 1st Sess., chap. 9, pp. 445–446, sec. 5; Letter from Calvin A. Warren, ca. 23 June 1842.)
The Public Statutes at Large of the United States of America, from the Organization of the Government in 1789, to March 3, 1845. . . . Edited by Richard Peters. 8 vols. Boston: Charles C. Little and James Brown, 1846–1867.
The notice was dated 28 April 1842. It ran only once in the Sangamo Journal but was published weekly for six consecutive weeks in the Wasp, from 7 May to 11 June 1842.
See An Act to Establish a Uniform System of Bankruptcy [19 Aug. 1841], Public Statutes at Large, 27th Cong., 1st Sess., chap. 9, p. 442, sec. 2.
The Public Statutes at Large of the United States of America, from the Organization of the Government in 1789, to March 3, 1845. . . . Edited by Richard Peters. 8 vols. Boston: Charles C. Little and James Brown, 1846–1867.
As part of his application for bankruptcy, JS produced an inventory of property and other assets. The original inventory is not extant, but a later copy has survived. (See Application for Bankruptcy, ca. 14–16 Apr. 1842.)
According to the bankruptcy act of 1841, an assignee was given all rights to distribute and sell the bankrupt individual’s property. By early June 1842, the federal district court in Springfield had appointed Joel Catlin to be the assignee for individuals residing in Nauvoo and elsewhere in Hancock County, Illinois. (An Act to Establish a Uniform System of Bankruptcy [19 Aug. 1841], Public Statutes at Large, 27th Cong., 1st Sess., chap. 9, pp. 442–443, sec. 3; Letter from Calvin A. Warren, ca. 23 June 1842.)
The Public Statutes at Large of the United States of America, from the Organization of the Government in 1789, to March 3, 1845. . . . Edited by Richard Peters. 8 vols. Boston: Charles C. Little and James Brown, 1846–1867.
Nauvoo was an extremely cash-poor community. In an earlier letter to Hotchkiss, JS noted that the Saints had resorted to bartering since there was such limited specie and no alternative circulating medium. The closure of the State Bank of Illinois in February 1842 had eliminated the primary source of stable banknotes in the area. Other, more distant banks were also unstable after the financial panics of 1837 and 1839 and frequently failed or suspended the redemption of their banknotes for specie. (Letter to Horace Hotchkiss, 10 Mar. 1842; “State Bank of Illinois,” Times and Seasons, 15 Mar. 1842, 3:728–729; Letter to Edward Hunter, 9 and 11 Mar. 1842.)