Footnotes
William Clayton served as a recorder and scribe for JS in Nauvoo from 1842 to 1844. (Clayton, Diary, 10 Feb. 1842; Clayton, History of the Nauvoo Temple, 18, 30–31; JS, Journal, 29–30 June 1842.)
Clayton, William. Diary, Vol. 1, 1840–1842. BYU.
Clayton, William. History of the Nauvoo Temple, ca. 1845. CHL. MS 3365.
Footnotes
Perkins prepared another undated statement that appears to be an earlier rendering of several of the mercantile debts included in this October 1838 statement. In the other undated statement, Perkins included notes indicating he had written to New York merchants, asking for instructions on their unpaid promissory notes, and was awaiting their reply. In the October 1838 statement featured here, Perkins identified who was in possession of the notes and who should be paid. (Perkins & Osborn, “Demands in Hands of Perkins & Osborn,” between 1 Sept. 1837 and 28 Oct. 1838, JS Office Papers, CHL.)
Transcript of Proceedings, 24 Oct. 1837, Rounds v. JS (Geauga Co. C.P. 1837), Final Record Book U, pp. 362–364; Transcript of Proceedings, 24 Oct. 1837, Rounds v. Rigdon (Geauga Co. C.P. 1837), Final Record Book U, pp. 359–362, microfilm 20,279, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL.
The mercantile firm Rigdon, Smith & Cowdery was a partnership that Sidney Rigdon, JS, and Oliver Cowdery began by June 1836. The mercantile firm Cahoon, Carter & Co., which included Reynolds Cahoon, Jared Carter, and Hyrum Smith, was selling goods by June 1835. The mercantile efforts of Cahoon, Carter, and Smith appear to be related to their endeavor to construct and finance the House of the Lord in Kirtland. (See John A. Newbould, Invoice, Buffalo, NY, for Rigdon, Smith & Cowdery, 17 June 1836; Mead, Stafford & Co., Invoice, New York City, for Rigdon, Smith & Cowdery, 8 Oct. 1836, JS Office Papers, CHL; Advertisement, Northern Times, 2 Oct. 1835, [4]; and Minutes, 6 June 1833.)
Northern Times. Kirtland, OH. 1835–[1836?].
Transcript of Proceedings, 5 June 1837, Kelley v. Rigdon et al. (Geauga Co. C.P. 1837), Final Record Book U, pp. 97–99; Transcript of Proceedings, 5 June 1837, Kelley v. Cahoon et al. (Geauga Co. C.P. 1837), Final Record Book U, pp. 100–101, microfilm 20,279, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL. Promissory notes were transferrable financial instruments. An individual or company could receive a promissory note and then endorse it and transfer it to another individual or company for payment.
U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.
As calculated in this statement, JS personally owed Perkins & Osborn $159.50 for the firm’s services. He was credited $23.01 for money lent and goods purchased, and he was then required to pay Cahoon’s note for $51.34. With these additions plus a year of interest, JS’s costs amounted to around $191.00. JS also likely paid the retainer fee of $5.00 for a lawsuit Timothy Martindale initiated.
The debts JS and Rigdon owed jointly in connection with the mercantile firm Rigdon, Smith & Cowdery were for the judgment and damages in the Kelley lawsuit, totaling $2,083.47, and for a promissory note given to John Ayer for $442.12, which totaled $506.49 after twenty-five months of simple interest at 7 percent.
Amounts were not recorded for the promissory notes given to John A. Newbould, due eighteen months and twenty-four months after September 1837.
See Historical Introduction to Letter of Introduction from John Howden, 27 Oct. 1838.
| 1837 1836 | To Orrin Terry Dr | |
| Jun 25 Oct 18 | To one barrel Liver Oil 36 Gals $28— at 28¢ for 31½ Galls | <$> 32 00 |
| Interest fr[o]m 18 Oct 1836 at 7 p ct— |
| s note to Endorsed to & the property of Geo. W. Bucknell Jnr dated Sept. 16. 1836 at 3 mo payable in N. York | 442 12 | |
| Int after due at 7 per cent—— |
Another statement of demands from Perkins & Osborn indicated this debt was owed to an Oliver Terry.a It is not clear whether Rigdon purchased the oil from Orrin Terry or Oliver Terry. Orrin Terry was a Buffalo, New York, merchant who sold hides, oil, leather goods, and wholesale groceries in the 1830s and 1840s.b Purchasing agents for the Kirtland-area stores, likely Cowdery and Hyrum Smith, traveled to New York to purchase goods and could have purchased oil for Rigdon at Orrin Terry’s store.c Oliver Terry was a merchant who did business in Hartford, Connecticut, from the 1830s to the 1850s. Rigdon may have ordered the oil from Oliver Terry and had it shipped to Kirtland.d
(aPerkins & Osborn, “Demands in Hands of Perkins & Osborn,” between 1 Sept. 1837 and 28 Oct. 1838, JS Office Papers, CHL. bDirectory for the City of Buffalo [1837], 131; Walker, Walker’s Buffalo City Directory, 213. cSee Ames, Autobiography, [12]; and Cyrus Smalling, Kirtland, OH, to “Dear Sir,” 10 Mar. 1841, in Lee, Mormons, 13–14. d“New Flour Store,” Independent Press [Hartford, CT], 7 July 1834, [4]; 1850 U.S. Census, Hartford, Hartford Co., CT, 625.)A Directory for the City of Buffalo; Containing the Names and Residence of the Heads of Families, Households, and Other Inhabitants, in Said City, on the 1st of May, 1837. Buffalo, NY: Sarah Crary, 1837.
Walker, Horatio N. Walker’s Buffalo City Directory, containing a List of Civil, Naval, and Military Officers . . . on the 1st of June, 1842. Buffalo, NY: Steele’s Press, 1842.
Ames, Ira. Autobiography and Journal, 1858. CHL. MS 6055.
Lee, E. G. The Mormons; or, Knavery Exposed, Giving an Account of the Discovery of the Golden Plates. . . . Frankford, PA: By the author, 1841.
Independent Press. Hartford, CT. 1833–1834.
Census (U.S.) / U.S. Bureau of the Census. Population Schedules. Microfilm. FHL.
The firm Rigdon, Smith & Cowdery purchased wholesale goods in New York in 1836. These goods were then sold by the firm Rigdon, Smith & Co. While the two firms were related, it is not clear whether Oliver Cowdery was a partner in both. (John A. Newbould, Invoice, Buffalo, NY, for Rigdon, Smith & Cowdery, 17 June 1836; Mead, Stafford & Co., Invoice, New York City, to Rigdon, Smith & Cowdery, 8 Oct. 1836, JS Office Papers, CHL; Rigdon, Smith & Co., Store Ledger, 1; “Mormonism in Ohio,” Aurora [New Lisbon, OH], 21 Jan. 1837, [3]; Notes Receivable from Rigdon, Smith & Co., 22 May 1837.)
Aurora. New Lisbon, OH. 1835–1837.
Ayer was a cobbler and wholesale merchant in Buffalo, New York, in 1836 and 1837. The mercantile firm Cahoon, Carter & Co. purchased shoes from Ayer in June 1836. In late 1836, Ayer apparently bought stock in the Bank of Monroe in Monroe, Michigan, and may have informed JS and Rigdon, in their role as officers of the Kirtland Safety Society, about the opportunity to purchase stock in the Bank of Monroe or may have sold them a portion of the stock he had purchased. (Directory for the City of Buffalo [1836], 40; John Ayer, Invoice, Buffalo, NY, for Cahoon, Carter & Co., 16 June 1836, JS Office Papers, CHL; “Bank of Monroe,” Daily Cleveland Herald, 7 Feb. 1837, [2]; “Monroe Bank,” Painesville [OH] Telegraph, 24 Feb. 1837, [3]; see also Bank of Monroe, Account Statement, [Monroe, MI], for Kirtland Safety Society, ca. Apr. 1837, CHL; and Introduction to Part 5: 5 Oct. 1836–10 Apr. 1837.)
A Directory for the City of Buffalo; Containing the Names and Residence of the Heads of Families and Householders, in Said City, on the First of May, 1836. Buffalo, NY: L. P. Crary, 1836.
Daily Cleveland Herald. Cleveland. 1835–1837.
Painesville Telegraph. Painesville, OH. 1822–1986.