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Articles of Agreement for the Kirtland Safety Society Anti-Banking Company, 2 January 1837

Source Note

Articles of Agreement for the Kirtland Safety Society Anti-Banking Company, , Geauga Co., OH, 2 Jan. 1837. Featured version published in “Articles of Agreement,” Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate, Jan. 1837, 3:441–443. For more complete source information, see the source note for Letter to Oliver Cowdery, Dec. 1834.

Historical Introduction

On 2 January 1837, officers and JS, along with the society’s directors, met with stockholders in , Ohio, to replace their November 1836 constitution with new articles of agreement to govern the society. Because only the legislature could grant banking privileges, those interested in establishing a bank were required to petition the legislature for an act of incorporation, also known as a charter. had been assigned in November 1836 to find a politician to present the society’s petition for a charter, but the only petition on record was not presented to the Ohio senate until 10 February 1837. When the society met on 2 January, it was uncertain whether the Democratic majority (with its aversion to private banking and paper currency) in the state legislature would approve a charter for the Kirtland Safety Society. The articles of agreement featured here were created to allow the society to act as an unincorporated bank, which they called an “anti-banking company” but which may have functioned as a joint-stock company. Despite this restructuring, the society continued to seek a banking charter after 2 January and continued to conduct banking services.
In drafting this new document, the authors reused many of the original articles from the 2 November 1836 constitution, though they also made changes, such as adding a new introduction and changing the terminology used in the text. Banking-specific terminology was replaced with generic business terms; for instance, references to the “bank” were changed to “company” and “stockholders” became “managers.” New articles were also added, including one that addressed the wording to be used for promissory notes made to the society. The officers may have received legal counsel in the process of drafting new articles of agreement, as reported by one contemporary observer. As had perhaps been the case with the original constitution, they may have also relied on their general knowledge of business and legal structures, supplemented by the language found in legal handbooks of the time. Footnotes to the text presented here identify substantive differences between the articles of the November 1836 constitution and those of the January 1837 articles of agreement.
The articles of agreement were printed in the January 1837 issue of the Messenger and Advocate, with a postscript by JS that asked members of the church to invest in the Kirtland Safety Society. JS’s quotations from the book of Isaiah suggest he envisioned a spiritual purpose for the Kirtland Safety Society in conjunction with its temporal benefits. The establishment of the Safety Society was tied to JS’s goals of developing into a large city and gathering the Saints there. JS and others may have had ambitious hopes that by developing Kirtland, and especially the Safety Society, funds could be raised for the church and for the redemption of .
The articles of agreement featured here were also reprinted in newspapers in and , Ohio. The March 1837 issue of the Messenger and Advocate published a slightly different version of these articles of agreement, along with the names of 187 individuals who identified themselves as stockholders. The version of the articles of agreement published in March 1837 reintroduced banking terminology that was altered in the text featured here. It also called the institution the “Kirtland Safety Society Banking Company,” and other records vary in usage of “anti-banking company” and “banking company.”

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Between the 2 November 1836 stockholders’ meeting and the 2 January 1837 meeting, seventy-four more individuals subscribed for stock in the society, making a total of around 137 stockholders at the beginning of January. This number included seventeen women who subscribed for stock in their own name. Many of these women were married yet seem to have had an independent financial role in the Kirtland Safety Society. The demographics of the stockholders remained similar to the earlier composition of stockholders in November 1836, with most stockholders living in Kirtland and having ties to the Church of the Latter Day Saints. (Kirtland Safety Society, Stock Ledger, 1836–1837, in Collection of Manuscripts about Mormons, Chicago History Museum; Historical Introduction to Constitution of the Kirtland Safety Society Bank, 2 Nov. 1836.)

  2. [2]

    “In Senate,” Ohio State Journal and Columbus Gazette, 14 Feb. 1837, [2]; Journal of the Senate of the State of Ohio, 365–366. JS’s history suggests that Hyde was given this task sometime after the 2 November meeting of the society’s stockholders. (JS History, vol. B-1, 750; see also Introduction to Part 5: 5 Oct. 1836–10 Apr. 1837.)

    Ohio State Journal and Columbus Gazette. Columbus. 1825–1837.

    Journal of the Senate of the State of Ohio; Being the First Session of the Thirty-fifth General Assembly, Begun and Held in the City of Columbus, Monday, December 5, 1836, and in the Thirty-fifth year of Said State. Columbus: James B. Gardiner, 1836.

  3. [3]

    Webster’s 1828 dictionary defines society as “any number of persons associated for a particular purpose, whether incorporated by law, or only united by articles of agreement; a fraternity.” The articles of agreement served to bind the stockholders together in place of legal incorporation. For more information on the Safety Society possibly functioning as a joint-stock company, see Walker, “Kirtland Safety Society and the Fraud of Grandison Newell,” 44–48. (“Society,” in American Dictionary.)

    Walker, Jeffrey N. “The Kirtland Safety Society and the Fraud of Grandison Newell: A Legal Examination.” BYU Studies 54, no. 3 (2015): 33–147.

    An American Dictionary of the English Language: Intended to Exhibit, I. the Origin, Affinities and Primary Signification of English Words, as far as They Have Been Ascertained. . . . Edited by Noah Webster. New York: S. Converse, 1828.

  4. [4]

    “About Matters in Kirtland,” Ohio Observer (Hudson), 2 Mar. 1837, [2].

    Ohio Observer. Hudson. 1827–1855.

  5. [5]

    Woodruff, Journal, 9 Apr. 1837; “Anniversary of the Church,” LDS Messenger and Advocate, Apr. 1837, 3:486–489.

    Woodruff, Wilford. Journals, 1833–1898. Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, 1828–1898. CHL. MS 1352.

    Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. Kirtland, OH. Oct. 1834–Sept. 1837.

  6. [6]

    “Kirtland Safety Society,” Cleveland Weekly Advertiser, 19 Jan. 1837, 1; “Anti-Banking Company,” Painesville (OH) Republican, 19 Jan. 1837, [2]–[3].

    Cleveland Weekly Advertiser. Cleveland. 1836–1840.

    Painesville Republican. Painesville, OH. 1836–1841.

  7. [7]

    “Minutes of a Meeting,” LDS Messenger and Advocate, Mar. 1837, 3:475–477. Terminology such as the titles of president, cashier, and directors were reintroduced, replacing the neutral language in the version of the articles of agreement featured here. This may have resulted from the decision of the society’s officers by March 1837 to operate the society more explicitly in the style of a bank rather than a company.

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation.
*Articles of Agreement for the Kirtland Safety Society Anti-Banking Company, 2 January 1837
History, 1838–1856, volume B-1 [1 September 1834–2 November 1838] “History of Joseph Smith”

Page 441

ARTICLES OF AGREEMENT.
Minutes of a meeting of the members of the “,” held on the 2d day of January, 1837.
At a special meeting of the Kirtland Safety Society, two thirds of the members being present, was called to the Chair, and chosen Secretary.
The house was called to order, and the object of the meeting explained by the chairman; which was:
1st. To annul the old constitution, which was adopted by the society, on the 2d day of November, 1836: which was, on motion, by the unanimous voice of the meeting, annulled.
2nd. To adopt Articles of Agreement, by which the Kirtland Safety Society are to be governed.
After much discussion and investigation, the following Preamble and Articles of Agreement were adopted, by the unanimous voice of the meeting.
We, the undersigned subscribers, for the promotion of our temporal interests, and for the better management of our different occupations, which consist in agriculture, mechanical arts, and merchandising; do hereby form ourselves into a firm or company for the before mentioned objects, by the name of the “Kirtland Safety Society Anti-Banking Company,” and for the proper management of said firm, we individually and jointly enter into, and adopt, the following Articles of Agreement.
Art. 1st. The capital stock of said society or firm shall not be less than four millions of dollars; to be divided into shares of fifty dollars each; and may be increased to any amount, at the discretion of the managers.
Art. 2d. The management of said company shall be under the superintendence of thirty-two managers, to be chosen annually by, and from among the members of the same; each member being entitled to one vote for each [p. 441]
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Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Articles of Agreement for the Kirtland Safety Society Anti-Banking Company, 2 January 1837
ID #
339
Total Pages
3
Print Volume Location
JSP, D5:324–331
Handwriting on This Page
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Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Constitution of the Kirtland Safety Society Bank, 2 Nov. 1836.

  2. [2]

    In this and subsequent instances, the November 1836 constitution has “Bank” instead of “society or firm.”

  3. [3]

    When the Kirtland Safety Society charter was presented before the state senate on 10 February 1837, the capital stock was set at $300,000 instead of the $4 million stated here and in the earlier constitution. The revised figure was within the range of the capital stocks of other community banks in the West. (Journal of the Senate of the State of Ohio, 365–366; see also Historical Introduction to Constitution of the Kirtland Safety Society Bank, 2 Nov. 1836; and Introduction to Part 5: 5 Oct. 1836–10 Apr. 1837.)

    Journal of the Senate of the State of Ohio; Being the First Session of the Thirty-fifth General Assembly, Begun and Held in the City of Columbus, Monday, December 5, 1836, and in the Thirty-fifth year of Said State. Columbus: James B. Gardiner, 1836.

  4. [4]

    Except where noted, the November 1836 constitution has “directors” instead of “managers” throughout the text.

  5. [5]

    In this and subsequent instances, the November 1836 constitution has “Bank” instead of “company.”

  6. [6]

    In this and subsequent instances, the November 1836 constitution uses “Stockholders” rather than “members.”

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