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H. Smith & Co. Ledger, July–November 1836

Source Note

, Ledger, , Geauga Co., OH, 1 July 1836–5 Jan. 1838; handwriting of , , and ; thirty-five pages; CHL. Includes archival markings.
Accounts for the mercantile firm of in , Ohio, were inscribed in a large, commercially produced ledger book measuring 12¾×8×1¼ inches (32×20×3 cm) with leather-covered boards and pastedowns of marbled paper with a brown body and blue veins. The ledger’s binding has detached from the boards and deteriorated, making it impossible to reconstruct gatherings. The leaves, which measure 12⅛×7¾ inches (31×20 cm), are ruled vertically with eight single red lines and three interspersed red double lines and horizontally with thirty-four blue lines and one red double line at the top of the page.
The book was originally used as a financial ledger for , a mercantile firm run by , beginning in July 1836. Thirty-five pages were inscribed with account information for customers of the firm by and . Thirty-three of these pages were paginated; two pages at the end of the ledger were included without pagination. While the firm appears to have stopped selling goods by November 1836, some accounts were settled in 1837 and 1838. The ledger was later repurposed by JS’s scribes in to create a daybook for the trustee-in-trust’s office and record the sale of city lots by the trustee.
The volume may have been included in the exodus inventory as “Lists of property in Nauvoo.” The book’s archival markings as well as its listing in mid- and late nineteenth-century inventories of the Church Historian’s Office indicate continuous institutional custody.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    H. Smith & Co., Ledger, 1–2, 6, 14, 27, in Trustees Land Book A, CHL.

  2. [2]

    See Historical Introduction to Trustees Land Book A, 11 Sept. 1839–30 Apr. 1842.

  3. [3]

    “Schedule of Church Records. Nauvoo 1846,” [1], Historian’s Office, Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904, CHL.

    Historian’s Office. Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904. CHL. CR 100 130.

Historical Introduction

This ledger records business conducted from July to November 1836 by , a mercantile company created and run by in , Ohio. It is unclear when Smith started the business, although records show he began selling goods in July 1836. It is also unclear whether he operated an independent store or if the business merely sold goods in the Kirtland stores operated by or . It appears the company closed in November 1836. Surviving invoices indicate that Smith purchased goods in in October 1836 and sold them along with other remaining goods to Kirtland residents the following month. These transactions included selling goods to his brothers JS and and and , his business partners in the firm of Cahoon, Carter & Co. These sales were likely in connection with the closing of the business.
This is the only extant ledger for the . It consists of basic accounts with little detail about what was sold. Each entry in the ledger generally includes a date followed by the transaction, a page number, and the monetary amount of the transaction. Initially this record was kept by clerk , with later accounting by .
While the appears to have closed in November 1836, several accounts in the ledger were still being settled throughout 1837 and into 1838. The record book used for the ledger was later repurposed by JS’s scribes in to record business for the trustee-in-trust’s office and land transactions.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Geauga County, Ohio, tax records indicate that there was no taxable property owned by H. Smith & Co. (Geauga Co., OH, Tax Duplicates, vol. 7, pp. 21, 24–25, 33, Ohio Local Government Record Collection, Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland; Geauga Co., OH, Duplicate Tax Records, 1816–1850, Tax Record for 1836, pp. 19, 22–24, microfilm 559,345, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL.)

    Ohio Local Government Record Collection, 1825–1826, 1832–1870. Geauga County Auditor Collection. Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, OH.

    U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.

  2. [2]

    See, for example, Invoice, Mead, Stafford & Co. to H. Smith & Co., 8 Oct. 1836; Invoice from H. Smith & Co., 12 Nov. 1836; Invoice, H. Smith & Co. to William Smith, 15 Nov. 1836; and Invoice, H. Smith & Co. to Jared Carter, Nov. 1836; see also “Joseph Smith Documents from October 1835 through January 1838.”

  3. [3]

    The number correlates with the page number of the partial daybook for the firm found in Gilbert Belnap, Account Book, 1836–1874, CHL.

  4. [4]

    In the ledger, both Kingsbury and Knight were credited payment for work. (H. Smith & Co., Ledger, 12, 16, in Trustees Land Book A, CHL.) Kingsbury’s handwriting is the most prominent in the ledger, with Knight adding in information later and managing accounts as the firm closed.

  5. [5]

    H. Smith & Co., Ledger, 1–2, 6, 14, 27, in Trustees Land Book A, CHL.

  6. [6]

    See Historical Introduction to Trustees Land Book A, 11 Sept. 1839–30 Apr. 1842.

Page 2

1836 Dr. 1837 Crt.
July 1 To Goods Book A 1 $14.46 March 29 By this am[oun]t Crt. on said s Books to balance a/c [account] 73.21
[July] 8 [To Goods Book A] 2 0.75
[July] 13 [To Goods Book A] 3 [$]15.69
[July] 19 [To Goods Book A] 4 [$]0.41
[July 19] [To] P[ai]d Hide & Brads for Bd 5 [$]2.29
[July] 25 [To] Screws p[e]r Badlam 6 0.13
[July] 28 [To] Pd Burges— 7 0.94
Augt [To] Cive shoes turpentine & 8 3.20
[Augt] ◊ [To] Green Base & W[hite] Lead 9 1.84
[Augt] 18 [To] Pd man 10 1.22
[Augt] 23 [To] Nails 11 6.46
[Augt 23] [To] Pd Babbit & Bell 12 2.07
[Augt 23] [To] White Lead pr Badlam 13 0.63
Sept [To] Pd order & Babbitt & Shirts 14 5.46
[Sept] Pd Babbit & hands 16 7.39
[Sept] 15 [To] Pd Murrey— 17 0.61
[Sept 15] [To] Pd L Woodworth 18 4.07
[Sept] 17 [To Pd] James Fulton 18 1.19
[Sept] 28 [To] Pd Order 21 0.50
Oct 5 [To] Pd. Pulman 24 1.25
[Oct] 11 [To] Pd Babbitt 26 0.84
[Oct] 15 [To] Pd 28 0.56
[Oct] 17 [To Pd ] 29 [$]1.25
$73.21 73.21
[p. 2]
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Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
H. Smith & Co. Ledger, July–November 1836
ID #
18935
Total Pages
42
Print Volume Location
Handwriting on This Page
  • Joseph Kingsbury

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