Footnotes
Transcript of Proceedings, 5 June 1837, State of Ohio on Complaint of Newell v. JS [Geauga Co. C.P. 1837], Geauga Co., OH, Court of Common Pleas, Record Book T, pp. 52–53, Geauga County Archives and Records Center, Chardon, OH. Grandison Newell had persecuted JS and other church members for several years. In 1837 he focused much of his opposition on the institution of the Kirtland Safety Society. (See Introduction to Part 5: 5 Oct. 1836–10 Apr. 1837.)
Geauga Co., OH, Court of Common Pleas, Record Book T. Geauga County Archives and Records Center, Chardon, OH.
Woodruff, Journal, 13 Apr. 1837; see also “The Humbug Ended,” Painesville (OH) Republican, 15 June 1837, [2].
Woodruff, Wilford. Journals, 1833–1898. Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, 1828–1898. CHL. MS 1352.
Painesville Republican. Painesville, OH. 1836–1841.
Woodruff, Journal, 13 Apr. 1837. The trial record from Justice Flint indicates that a warrant was issued for JS on 13 April and that it was returned by the constable George Lockwood. Unlike other trial records, Flint does not mention if JS was arrested by Lockwood and released on a bail bond. Flint’s transcript only indicates that after the warrant was returned JS appeared before the justice court in Painesville, Ohio, on 30 May to be tried on Newell’s complaint. (Transcript of Proceedings, 5 June 1837, State of Ohio on Complaint of Newell v. JS [Geauga Co. C.P. 1837], Geauga Co., OH, Court of Common Pleas, Record Book T, pp. 52–53, Geauga County Archives and Records Center, Chardon, OH.)
Woodruff, Wilford. Journals, 1833–1898. Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, 1828–1898. CHL. MS 1352.
Geauga Co., OH, Court of Common Pleas, Record Book T. Geauga County Archives and Records Center, Chardon, OH.
Martin Harris may have had residences in both Palmyra and Kirtland at this time. After separating from his first wife in the early 1830s, he married Caroline Young in late 1836 or early 1837 in Kirtland and may have established a home there as early as November 1836, while retaining his Palmyra farm. (Geauga Co., OH, Probate Court, Marriage Records, 1806–1920, 1 Nov. 1836, microfilm 873,464, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL.)
U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.
Though JS may have returned to Kirtland as early as 10 May—the date Brigham Young’s account book contains an entry for JS—it is not clear that he was present in the immediate area until 19 May 1837, when he made a transaction at the store in Chester, Ohio. (Young, Account Book, [35]; “Bill of Goods Taken from the Chester Store,” 19–24 May 1837, JS Office Papers, CHL.)
Young, Brigham. Account Book, 1836–1837, 1841–1846. CHL.
Transcript of Proceedings, 24 Oct. 1837, Newbould v. Rigdon, JS, and Cowdery [Geauga Co. C.P. 1837], Geauga Co., OH, Court of Common Pleas, Record Book U, pp. 351–353, Geauga County Courthouse, Chardon, OH.
Geauga Co., OH, Court of Common Pleas, Record Book U. Geauga County Archives and Records Center, Chardon, OH.
JS’s trial on the allegation of conspiring to have Newell killed was heard first by the justice court in Painesville and then by the Geauga County Court of Common Pleas. Judge Van R. Humphrey of the court of common pleas dismissed the charges against JS. (Transcript of Proceedings, 5 June 1837, State of Ohio on Complaint of Newell v. JS [Geauga Co. C.P. 1837], Geauga Co., OH, Court of Common Pleas, Record Book T, pp. 52–53, Geauga County Archives and Records Center, Chardon, OH; “The Humbug Ended,” Painesville [OH] Republican, 15 June 1837, [2].)
Geauga Co., OH, Court of Common Pleas, Record Book T. Geauga County Archives and Records Center, Chardon, OH.
Painesville Republican. Painesville, OH. 1836–1841.
No deeds transferring property from Martindale to any of the four men are found in the Geauga County deed records. It is likely that the men attempted to buy the farm from Martindale but were unable to fulfill the payments.
Transcript of Proceedings, 5 June 1837, Martindale v. JS et al. [Geauga Co. C.P. 1837], Geauga Co., OH, Court of Common Pleas, Record Book U, pp. 106–107, Geauga County Courthouse, Chardon, OH.
Geauga Co., OH, Court of Common Pleas, Record Book U. Geauga County Archives and Records Center, Chardon, OH.
Transcript of Proceedings, 5 June 1837, Martindale v. JS et al. [Geauga Co. C.P. 1837], Geauga Co., OH, Court of Common Pleas, Record Book U, pp. 106–107, Geauga County Courthouse, Chardon, OH.
Geauga Co., OH, Court of Common Pleas, Record Book U. Geauga County Archives and Records Center, Chardon, OH.
Transcript of Proceedings, 5 June 1837, Martindale v. JS et al. [Geauga Co. C.P. 1837], Geauga Co., OH, Court of Common Pleas, Record Book U, pp. 107–108, Geauga County Courthouse, Chardon, OH.
Geauga Co., OH, Court of Common Pleas, Record Book U. Geauga County Archives and Records Center, Chardon, OH.
Record of Judgment, 5 June 1837, Martindale v. JS et al. [Geauga Co. C.P. 1837], Geauga Co., OH, Court of Common Pleas, Journal Book N, p. 189, Geauga County Archives and Record Center, Chardon, OH.
Geauga County Archives and Records Center, Chardon, OH.
This was a common scenario when individuals who contracted to purchase land defaulted on their promissory notes or were otherwise unable to fulfill their financial obligations. (See, for example, Ames, Autobiography and Journal, [13].)
Ames, Ira. Autobiography and Journal, 1858. CHL. MS 6055.
Lucius Verus Bierce was the prosecuting attorney for Portage County, Ohio, from 1829 to 1839. He lived in Ravenna, Ohio, until 1851, when he moved to Akron, Ohio. He may have offered JS and Newel K. Whitney legal advice regarding the charges filed by Grandison Newell. JS had a respectful relationship with Bierce dating back to their first meeting in April 1834. (History of Portage County, Ohio, 337, 339; JS, Journal, 2–5 Apr. 1834.)
History of Portage County, Ohio. Containing a History of the County, Its Townships, Towns, Villages, Schools, Churches, Industries, Etc. . . . Chicago: Warner, Beers, 1885.
This was likely Quartus Clarke, a miller in Kirtland who was antagonistic toward JS and the church. He was a witness in the trial State of Ohio on Complaint of Grandison Newell v. JS. In a letter to her sister Mercy, Mary Fielding also mentioned a Mr. Clarke who was cursed by JS for his refusal to sell his mill to the church. (Transcript of Proceedings, 5 June 1837, State of Ohio on Complaint of Newell v. JS [Geauga Co. C.P. 1837], Geauga Co., OH, Court of Common Pleas, Record Book T, pp. 52–53, Geauga County Archives and Records Center, Chardon, OH; Guinn, Historical and Biographical Record of Southern California, 444; Mary Fielding, [Kirtland, OH], to Mercy Fielding, [Upper Canada], ca. June 1837, Mary Fielding Smith, Collection, CHL.)
Geauga Co., OH, Court of Common Pleas, Record Book T. Geauga County Archives and Records Center, Chardon, OH.
Guinn, J. M. Historical and Biographical Record of Southern California. Containing a History of Southern California from Its Earliest Settlement to the Opening Year of the Twentieth Century. Chicago: Chapman, 1902.
Smith, Mary Fielding. Collection, ca. 1832–1848. CHL. MS 2779.
An unnamed enemy was also mentioned in Wilford Woodruff’s journal and in Emma Smith’s letters to JS. Although they do not identify the enemy who apparently wished to harm JS, it likely included Newell and his associates. (Woodruff, Journal, 13 Apr. 1837; Letter from Emma Smith, 25 Apr. 1837; Letter from Emma Smith, 3 May 1837; “The Humbug Ended,” Painesville [OH] Republican, 15 June 1837, [2].)
Woodruff, Wilford. Journals, 1833–1898. Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, 1828–1898. CHL. MS 1352.
Painesville Republican. Painesville, OH. 1836–1841.
In a May letter to Sidney Rigdon printed in the Painesville Telegraph, Grandison Newell claimed that two church members living in Kirtland, whom he later identified only by their surnames of Denton and Davis, were his would-be assassins. Newell likely referred to Solomon W. Denton, who was called as a witness in the trial. The identity of Davis is less certain. It may have been a reference to Marvel C. Davis, who was also listed as a witness in the trial record, although there is no indication that he testified. Both Solomon Denton and Marvel Davis had connections to the church, but Denton had been excommunicated two or three months before the June trial and Davis was disaffected at the time of the trial. (“To Sidney Rigdon—Letter No. 2,” Painesville [OH] Telegraph, 26 May 1837, [3]; Grandison Newell, Letter to the Editor, Painesville Telegraph, 30 June 1837, [3]; Transcript of Proceedings, 5 June 1837, State of Ohio on Complaint of Newell v. JS [Geauga Co. C.P. 1837], Geauga Co., OH, Court of Common Pleas, Record Book T, pp. 52–53, Geauga County Courthouse, Chardon, OH.)
Painesville Republican. Painesville, OH. 1836–1841.
Painesville Telegraph. Painesville, OH. 1822–1986.
Geauga Co., OH, Court of Common Pleas, Record Book T. Geauga County Archives and Records Center, Chardon, OH.
The suit Martindale was pursuing against JS, Newel K. Whitney, Reynolds Cahoon, and John Johnson for their defaulted promissory note of $5,000 had reached $7,500 in principal, damages, and interest by April 1837. (See Transcript of Proceedings, 5 June 1837, Martindale v. JS et al. [Geauga Co. C.P. 1837], Geauga Co., OH, Court of Common Pleas, Record Book U, pp. 106–107, Geauga County Courthouse, Chardon, OH.)
Geauga Co., OH, Court of Common Pleas, Record Book U. Geauga County Archives and Records Center, Chardon, OH.