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Power of Attorney to Hyrum Smith, 5 September 1837
Source Note
Source Note
JS and , Power of Attorney, to , , Geauga Co., OH, 5 Sept. 1837; handwriting of ; signatures of JS and ; witnessed by John Long, and Samuel Squire; certified by Charles H. Foot, , OH, 5 Sept. 1837, and , , MO, 14 Oct. 1837; two pages; JS Collection, CHL. Includes dockets.
Single leaf, measuring 12⅜ × 7⅞ inches (31 × 20 cm). This document has three vertical folds and contains seals that read, “Common Pleas of the County of Geauga” and “Seal of Caldwell County”. On the top fourth of the recto is a filing notation in ’s handwriting that reads, “Joseph Smith Jr | and wife | to | Hyrum Smith | letter of Attorney”. The provenance of this document is unknown; it is assumed that the document has remained in continuous institutional custody since its creation.
Historical Introduction
Historical Introduction
On 5 September 1837, wrote this power of attorney for JS and , designating as their to sell or transfer the titles of land purchased in their name in . The same day, Cowdery drafted another power of attorney for himself and his wife, , which authorized Hyrum Smith to sell their Missouri land as well. The two powers of attorney were certified and sealed by Charles Foot, deputy clerk of , Ohio.
Both JS and purchased land in through designated agents in the summer of 1836. In what became , this involved buying land from the federal government, which required an application for a land patent and a nonrefundable payment. The earliest applications filed on behalf of JS and Cowdery were submitted on 22 June 1836. This land was then apparently sold to members who moved to the area around what became , Missouri, likely beginning in July 1836 with the removal of members from . Because the land had been purchased in JS’s and Cowdery’s names, the title to the land could be conveyed only by them or their agents. These powers of attorney were timely. In late August 1837, wrote a letter from to and Oliver Cowdery addressing these concerns. His letter, which would not have reached by the time the powers of attorney were created, specifically mentioned the need for land titles to be transferred. Whitmer wrote that some church members were “becoming impatient” and wanted “a title for their land which is to come from yourself and J. Smith Jr.” He recommended that they send someone with a power of attorney to transfer the titles to their new owners in order to avoid litigation on the matter.
left for sometime before 11 September, accompanied by and . The men arrived in Far West by mid-October, when Hyrum Smith took the powers of attorney to clerk to be recorded. Cleminson copied the text of the power of attorney featured here on 16 October 1837 and added a filing notation to the original power of attorney indicating a copy of the text was in “Book A.” He then returned the original to Hyrum Smith for his use. With the powers of attorney recognized and sealed by officials in both , Ohio, and Caldwell County, Missouri, Smith was authorized to act as the agent for JS and and the Cowderys and conduct necessary business on their behalf. There is only one known land record indicating Hyrum Smith’s actions in : he signed a deed selling land owned by JS and Emma in Caldwell County to George Beebe on 17 October 1837.
Footnotes
- [1]
Oliver Cowdery and Elizabeth Ann Cowdery, to Hyrum Smith, Power of Attorney, 5 Sept. 1837, Kirtland, OH, Hyrum Smith, Papers, CHL; Johnson and Romig, Index to Early Caldwell County, 47; Land Patents for Oliver Cowdery, Caldwell Co., MO, nos. 7869, 7870–7872, 8666, 8785, General Land Office Records, Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Department of the Interior.
Smith, Hyrum. Papers, 1834–1843. CHL.
Johnson, Clark V., and Ronald E. Romig. An Index to Early Caldwell County, Missouri, Land Records. Rev. ed. Independence, MO: Missouri Mormon Frontier Foundation, 2002.
General Land Office Records. Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Department of the Interior. Digital images of the land patents cited herein are available at http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/.
- [2]
- [3]
- [4]
John Whitmer, Far West, MO, to Oliver Cowdery and David Whitmer, Kirtland Mills, OH, 29 Aug. 1837, Western Americana Collection, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.
Whitmer, John. Letter, Far West, MO, to Oliver Cowdery and David Whitmer, Kirtland Mills, OH, 29 Aug. 1837. Western Americana Collection, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University, New Haven, CT.
- [5]
Vilate Murray Kimball, Kirtland, OH, to Heber C. Kimball, Preston, England, ca. 10 Sept. 1837, Heber C. Kimball, Collection, CHL.
Kimball, Heber C. Collection, 1837–1898. CHL. MS 12476.
- [6]
On the process for filing and recording documents with government offices, see An Act to Provide for the Filing and Reporting the Decisions of the Supreme Court [20 Mar. 1835], Revised Statutes of the State of Missouri [1835], 217–219.
The Revised Statutes of the State of Missouri, Revised and Digested by the Eighth General Assembly, During the Years One Thousand Eight Hundred and Thirty-Four, and One Thousand Eight Hundred and Thirty-Five. Together with the Constitutions of Missouri and of the United States. 3rd ed. St. Louis: Chambers and Knapp, 1841.
- [7]
JS and Emma Smith by Hyrum Smith to George Beebe, Deed, 17 Oct. 1837, Historical Department, Nineteenth-Century Legal Documents Collection, CHL.
Know all men by these presents, that we, Joseph Smith, jr. and , wife of the said Joseph Smith, jr. of , Geauga County, Ohio, do hereby constitute and appoint , of the place aforesaid, our attorney, for us and in our names to bargain, sell and convey, in fee simple, by deed of general warranty, for such price, upon such terms of credit, and to such person or persons, as he shall think fit, the whole or any part of land owned by us in or Counties, in the State of . Hereby ratifying and confirming all such bargains, receipts for purchase money, agreements, and deeds as shall be made, executed, or acknowledged, in the premises, by our said attorney, the same as if we were personally present and <did> the same. In witness whereof we have hereunto set our hand and seals, this fifth day of September, in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and thirty seven.
J Smith Jr Seal
Seal
In the twelfth line from the top the word “did” is interlined before signing.
In the presence of
John L Long
Saml Squire
The State of Ohio)
ss.)
Sept. 5. 1837.
Personally appeared <before me> Joseph Smith Jr. and wife of the said Joseph Jr. and severally acknowledged the executing of the foregoing instrument to be their free act and deed— for the purposes therein stated— I further certify that I did examine the said separate and apart from her said husband, and upon such examination she did declare that she did sign and seal the same as her own free act and deed and that she is still satisfied therewith.
In testimony whereof I hereunto sign my name and affix the seal of the Court of Common Pleas for said at , the day and year above written
C[harles] H. Foot Deputy Clerk of the Court of Common Pleas for said [p. [1]]
Source Note
Source Note
Document Transcript
Document Information
Document Information
Footnotes
Footnotes
Oliver Cowdery handwriting begins.
- [1]
According to the extant land records, agents acting on behalf of JS applied and paid for land patents for around 560 acres in what became Caldwell County, Missouri, in June and September 1836. Land claimed for JS in Daviess County is not documented but may have involved preemption claims since Daviess had not been surveyed. (Application for Land Patent, 22 June 1836; Johnson and Romig, Index to Early Caldwell County, 202; Walker, “Mormon Land Rights,” 4–55.)
Johnson, Clark V., and Ronald E. Romig. An Index to Early Caldwell County, Missouri, Land Records. Rev. ed. Independence, MO: Missouri Mormon Frontier Foundation, 2002.
Walker, Jeffrey N. “Mormon Land Rights in Caldwell and Daviess Counties and the Mormon Conflict of 1838: New Findings and New Understandings.” BYU Studies 47, no. 1 (2008): 4–55.
Signatures of JS and Emma Smith.
Each instance of “Seal” is enclosed in a hand-drawn representation of a seal. Handwriting of Oliver Cowdery.
Signatures of John Long and Samuel Squire.
Oliver Cowdery handwriting ends; Charles H. Foot begins.
- [2]
Charles H. Foot resided at Chardon, Ohio, the Geauga County seat, where he was “engaged for many years as deputy to Mr. D.D. Aikens’ county clerk’s office.” (History of Geauga and Lake Counties, 127.)
History of Geauga and Lake Counties, Ohio, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Its Pioneers and Most Prominent Men. Philadelphia: Williams Brothers, 1878.