Pay Order from Robert Snodgrass, 18 September 1838

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Pay Order from Robert Snodgrass, 18 September 1838
Source Note

Robert Snodgrass, Pay Order, to
Edward Partridge
27 Aug. 1793–27 May 1840. Hatter. Born at Pittsfield, Berkshire Co., Massachusetts. Son of William Partridge and Jemima Bidwell. Moved to Painesville, Geauga Co., Ohio. Married Lydia Clisbee, 22 Aug. 1819, at Painesville. Initially a Universal Restorationist...
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and JS, [
Far West
Originally called Shoal Creek. Located fifty-five miles northeast of Independence. Surveyed 1823; first settled by whites, 1831. Site purchased, 8 Aug. 1836, before Caldwell Co. was organized for Latter-day Saints in Missouri. William W. Phelps and John Whitmer...
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, Caldwell Co., MO], 18 Sept. 1838; handwriting probably of Robert Snodgrass; one page; JS Collection, CHL.

Single leaf measuring 2⅛–2¼ × 7⅝ inches (6 × 19 cm). The top and right edges of the recto have the square cut of manufactured paper, whereas the left and bottom edges were unevenly hand cut. The document was trifolded, likely for transmission.

Little is known about the pay order’s custodial history. The document was presumably filed with JS’s financial papers in
Far West
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, Missouri, and has remained in continuous institutional custody. In 1973 the Historical Department of the LDS church cataloged the pay order in the JS Collection.
1
Johnson, Register of the Joseph Smith Collection, 10.
Comprehensive Works Cited
Johnson, Jeffery O. Register of the Joseph Smith Collection in the Church Archives, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Salt Lake City: Historical Department of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1973.
Footnotes
[1]
Johnson, Register of the Joseph Smith Collection, 10.
Johnson, Jeffery O. Register of the Joseph Smith Collection in the Church Archives, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Salt Lake City: Historical Department of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1973.
Historical Introduction
On 18 September 1838,
Latter-day Saint
The Book of Mormon related that when Christ set up his church in the Americas, “they which were baptized in the name of Jesus, were called the church of Christ.” The first name used to denote the church JS organized on 6 April 1830 was “the Church of Christ...
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Robert Snodgrass wrote a pay order near
Far West
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, Missouri, requesting that JS and
Edward Partridge
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pay the unspecified holder of the note $28.93 on behalf of Snodgrass. Snodgrass purchased land in
Clay County
Settled ca. 1800. Organized from Ray Co., 1822. Original size diminished when land was taken to create several surrounding counties. Liberty designated county seat, 1822. Population in 1830 about 5,000; in 1836 about 8,500; and in 1840 about 8,300. Refuge...
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, Missouri, in 1836.
1
Bushman, Index of the First Plat Book of Clay County, Missouri, 14. Snodgrass joined the church in 1834 in Indiana. (John Gregg, Sugar Creek, IN, to Oliver Cowdery, [Kirtland, OH], 12 Aug. 1834, in The Evening and the Morning Star, Sept. 1834, 192.)
Bushman, Katherine Gentry, comp. Index of the First Plat Book of Clay County, Missouri, 1819–1875. Stanton: VA: By author, 1967.
The Evening and the Morning Star. Independence, MO, June 1832–July 1833; Kirtland, OH, Dec. 1833–Sept. 1834.
By 1838 he had moved to
Caldwell County
Located in northwest Missouri. Settled by whites, by 1831. Described as being “one-third timber and two-thirds prairie” in 1836. Created specifically for Latter-day Saints by Missouri state legislature, 29 Dec. 1836, in attempt to solve “Mormon problem.” ...
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, Missouri, where he purchased land and built a mill approximately three miles from Far West. This mill was one of the closest to Far West, and the Saints depended on it to grind their grain.
2
Murdock, Journal, ca. Nov. 1838, 106; Gentry and Compton, Fire and Sword, 454–455.
Murdock, John. Journal, ca. 1830–1859. John Murdock, Journal and Autobiography, ca. 1830–1867. CHL. MS 1194, fd. 2.
Gentry, Leland Homer, and Todd M. Compton. Fire and Sword: A History of the Latter-day Saints in Northern Missouri, 1836–39. Salt Lake City: Greg Kofford Books, 2011.

A pay order, such as the one Snodgrass produced, authorized the bearer of the order (the person receiving payment) to be paid by the individual named in the order rather than by the creator of the order. The amount would then be charged against the creator’s account, with the creator later reimbursing the person making the payment, or would be credited against any debt the individual providing payment owed the creator.
3
“Bearer,” in Bouvier, Law Dictionary, 1:124. Bouvier stated, “If a bill note be made payable to bearer, it will pass by delivery only, without endorsement; and whoever fairly acquires a right to it, may maintain an action against the drawer or acceptor.”
Bouvier, John. A Law Dictionary, Adapted to the Constitution and Laws of the United States of America, and of the Several States of the American Union; with References to the Civil and Other Systems of Foreign Law. 2 vols. Philadelphia: T. and J. W. Johnson, 1839.
No extant documents indicate whether Snodgrass repaid JS and
Partridge
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, but Snodgrass may have done so by deducting the amount from an account that JS or Partridge had at Snodgrass’s mill. The order Snodgrass created is the only extant pay order in the records from
Far West
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, although such requests for payment may have been relatively common, especially among individuals who did business with the church.
Footnotes
[1]
Bushman, Index of the First Plat Book of Clay County, Missouri, 14. Snodgrass joined the church in 1834 in Indiana. (John Gregg, Sugar Creek, IN, to Oliver Cowdery, [Kirtland, OH], 12 Aug. 1834, in The Evening and the Morning Star, Sept. 1834, 192.)
Bushman, Katherine Gentry, comp. Index of the First Plat Book of Clay County, Missouri, 1819–1875. Stanton: VA: By author, 1967.
The Evening and the Morning Star. Independence, MO, June 1832–July 1833; Kirtland, OH, Dec. 1833–Sept. 1834.
[2]
Murdock, Journal, ca. Nov. 1838, 106; Gentry and Compton, Fire and Sword, 454–455.
Murdock, John. Journal, ca. 1830–1859. John Murdock, Journal and Autobiography, ca. 1830–1867. CHL. MS 1194, fd. 2.
Gentry, Leland Homer, and Todd M. Compton. Fire and Sword: A History of the Latter-day Saints in Northern Missouri, 1836–39. Salt Lake City: Greg Kofford Books, 2011.
[3]
“Bearer,” in Bouvier, Law Dictionary, 1:124. Bouvier stated, “If a bill note be made payable to bearer, it will pass by delivery only, without endorsement; and whoever fairly acquires a right to it, may maintain an action against the drawer or acceptor.”
Bouvier, John. A Law Dictionary, Adapted to the Constitution and Laws of the United States of America, and of the Several States of the American Union; with References to the Civil and Other Systems of Foreign Law. 2 vols. Philadelphia: T. and J. W. Johnson, 1839.
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Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Pay Order from Robert Snodgrass, 18 September 1838
ID #
2007
Total Pages
2
Print Volume Location
JSP, D6:245–246
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