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Balance of Account, 23 April 1834

Source Note

, Balance of Account, , Geauga Co., OH, 23 Apr. 1834; handwriting of ; one page; Newel K. Whitney, Papers, BYU. Includes docket and archival marking.
One leaf, measuring 5⅜ × 7⅞ inches (14 × 20 cm). The left and bottom sides of the leaf were cut, suggesting this paper was excised from a larger piece of paper or removed from a book. The manuscript was folded in half once lengthwise and twice widthwise. It was then folded in half again; soiling on two panels on the verso indicate it was left in this configuration for some time. A docket inscribed by on the verso panel reads: “Memo. of Balances v.s. Individuals | Balanced 23d day of apl. 1834 | without value Recd. because | Joseph said it must be don”. This document, along with many other personal and institutional documents kept by Whitney, was inherited by his daughter Mary Jane Whitney, who married Isaac Groo. This collection was passed down in the Groo family and donated by members of the family to the Harold B. Lee Library at Brigham Young University during 1969–1974.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Andrus et al., “Register of the Newel Kimball Whitney Papers, 1825–1906,” 5–6.

    Andrus, Hyrum L., Chris Fuller, and Elizabeth E. McKenzie. “Register of the Newel Kimball Whitney Papers, 1825–1906,” Sept. 1998. BYU.

Historical Introduction

On 23 April 1834, prepared a list of debts owed by JS and several others, all of whom were members of the . According to a notation Whitney made on the list, the debts were forgiven. The document does not specify to whom the debts were owed or what transactions generated the obligations, but it is likely that they were owed to , the mercantile branch of the United Firm in , Ohio.
When the United Firm was formed in 1832, a revelation stated that the members—including the two , who supervised the church’s temporal concerns, and the six men responsible for managing church publications—were “to have equal claims” on the firm’s property, according to their wants and needs. Essentially, their different responsibilities were to be managed jointly by the United Firm, and each member of the firm could draw on the resources of the church’s mercantile and publishing endeavors for support. Any leftover assets were to be considered church property, to be used for the benefit of the church and its members. However, by April 1834, the expulsion of the Saints from , Missouri, had effectively ended the storehouse and there, while the United Firm’s debts continued to increase. JS was planning on leading an expedition to to help the expelled Saints reoccupy their Jackson County property, but it appears that his departure may have been hindered, since each firm member held joint responsibility for the firm’s indebtedness.
On 10 April 1834, members of the firm in decided “that the firm should be desolvd” and that each member “have their set off to them.” A 23 April 1834 revelation reorganized the firm, assigning each individual a stewardship, or a specific piece of property or business to manage. , a member of the firm and a counselor in the , reported that around the same time that JS dictated this 23 April 1834 revelation, he dictated another revelation requiring “every one of what was then called the firm to give up all notes & demands that they had against each other.” likely prepared this 23 April statement in response to that direction.
kept the list he prepared with his own records. There is no indication that he gave it to JS or any other member of the firm.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    See Revelation, 26 Apr. 1832 [D&C 82:11]; Note, 15 Mar. 1833; and Revelation, 4 June 1833 [D&C 96:6–8].

  2. [2]

    See “Statement of Facts Relative to J. Smith and Myself,” no date, Frederick G. Williams, Papers, CHL.

    Williams, Frederick G. Papers, 1834–1842. CHL. MS 782.

  3. [3]

    Minutes, 26–27 Apr. 1832.

  4. [4]

    Revelation, 26 Apr. 1832 [D&C 82:17].

  5. [5]

    Revelation, 12 Nov. 1831 [D&C 70:5–8]; Revelation, 26 Apr. 1832 [D&C 82:17].

  6. [6]

    Letter from John Whitmer, 29 July 1833; JS History, vol. A-1, 327–328.

    JS History / Smith, Joseph, et al. History, 1838–1856. Vols. A-1–F-1 (original), A-2–E-2 (fair copy). Historian’s Office, History of the Church, 1839–ca. 1882. CHL. CR 100 102, boxes 1–7. The history for the period after 5 Aug. 1838 was composed after the death of Joseph Smith.

  7. [7]

    See Letter to Orson Hyde, 7 Apr. 1834. The revelation directing the establishment of the United Firm specified that its members were to “be bound together by a bond & Covennant,” indicating that they held joint responsibility for the firm’s debts, just as they were to share equally in the firm’s assets. (Revelation, 26 Apr. 1832 [D&C 82:11].)

  8. [8]

    JS, Journal, 10 Apr. 1834.

  9. [9]

    Revelation, 23 Apr. 1834 [D&C 104].

  10. [10]

    Frederick G. Williams, Statement, no date, Frederick G. Williams, Papers, CHL. Williams was also required to forgive debts, including those incurred by JS for the use of Williams’s farm, for monetary loans, and for “oxon farming utential [utensils] waggon & ox sled &c.”

    Williams, Frederick G. Papers, 1834–1842. CHL. MS 782.

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Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Balance of Account, 23 April 1834
ID #
224
Total Pages
2
Print Volume Location
JSP, D4:31–33
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