Footnotes
When the letter was copied into JS’s second letterbook by scribe James Mulholland, no mailing information was included. The “Brother Robinson” mentioned at the conclusion of the letter may have acted as a courier and personally delivered the letter to JS. For more information about JS’s absence from Kirtland, see Letter from Newel K. Whitney, 20 Apr. 1837.
See Letter from Emma Smith, 25 Apr. 1837. The store in Chester was run by the mercantile firm of Rigdon, Smith & Co. The store appears to have closed in late May 1837. (See Rigdon, Smith & Co., Store Ledger, Sept. 1836–May 1837.)
For more on coverture laws, see Historical Introduction to Deed to Caroline Grant Smith, 11 Dec. 1836.
JS appears to have partnered with Sidney Rigdon and Oliver Cowdery in the printing firm of O. Cowdery & Co. in Kirtland, which purchased the church’s printing office after the firm of F. G. Williams & Co. was dissolved in June 1836. When Cowdery became a bank director and vice president of the Bank of Monroe, he dissolved the firm of O. Cowdery & Co., and in February 1837 JS and Rigdon formed a firm named Smith & Rigdon. JS, Rigdon, and Cowdery were also involved in mercantile ventures, using the firm names of Rigdon, Smith & Cowdery; Rigdon, Smith & Co.; and Smith & Cowdery. (“Notice,” LDS Messenger and Advocate, June 1836, 2:329; “Notice,” LDS Messenger and Advocate, Feb. 1837, 3:458; Invoices, June and Oct. 1836, JS Office Papers, CHL.)
Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. Kirtland, OH. Oct. 1834–Sept. 1837.
JS Office Papers / Joseph Smith Office Papers, ca. 1835–1845. CHL. MS 21600.
By April 1837 lawsuits had begun on at least five different cases on debts for which JS was liable. (See Transcript of Proceedings, ca. 5 June 1837, Martindale v. JS et al. [Geauga Co. C.P. 1837] , Record Book U, pp. 106–108; Transcript of Proceedings, ca. 5 June 1837, E. Holmes v. Dayton et al. [Geauga Co. C.P. 1837], Record Book U, pp. 86–87; Transcript of Proceedings, ca. 5 June 1837, G. Patterson and J. Patterson v. Cahoon, Carter & Co. and Rigdon, Smith & Cowdery [Geauga Co. C.P. 1837], Record Book U, pp. 126–128; Transcript of Proceedings, ca. 6 June 1837, Kelley v. Rigdon, Smith & Cowdery [Geauga Co. C.P. 1837], Record Book U, pp. 97–101; Transcript of Proceedings, ca. 6 June 1837, Bank of Geauga v. JS et al. [Geauga Co. C.P. 1837], Record Book U, pp. 67–69, Geauga County Archives and Records Center, Chardon, OH.)
Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack Smith had been living with JS and Emma in their home north of the House of the Lord since December 1835. (JS, Journal, 17 and 29 Dec. 1835.)
Legal judgments that involved the collection of money from debtors usually stipulated the seizure of the debtor’s goods or property. The sheriff was responsible for executing the seizure and auctioning off the goods or property to satisfy the amount stipulated in the judgment. Although Emma did not reference a particular debt or judgment, her statement here suggests that creditors were coming after JS’s property and other assets to satisfy outstanding debts. (An Act Regulating Judgments and Executions [1 Mar. 1831], Statutes of the State of Ohio [1841], 467–473, secs. 1–5, 9; Docket Entry, Judgment, 5 June 1837, G. Patterson and J. Patterson v. Cahoon, Carter & Co. and Rigdon, Smith & Cowdery [Geauga Co. C.P. 1837], Common Pleas, Journal Book N, p. 190, Geauga County Archives and Records Center, Chardon, OH; Docket Entry, Costs, ca. 5 June 1837, G. Patterson and J. Patterson v. Cahoon, Carter & Co. and Rigdon, Smith & Cowdery [Geauga Co. C.P. 1838], Execution Docket G, p. 54, Geauga Co. Courthouse, Chardon, OH.)
Statutes of the State of Ohio, of a General Nature, in Force, December 7, 1840; Also, the Statutes of a General Nature, Passed by the General Assembly at Their Thirty-Ninth Session, Commencing December 7, 1840. Columbus, OH: Samuel Medary, 1841.
Current money meant paper currency issued by a bank or other financial institution and circulating at face value.
“The French place” likely refers to the Peter French farm bought by the church in 1833 or possibly to another farm or business owned by French, a significant landowner in Kirtland who had sold hundreds of acres of land to JS and the church in 1833 and 1836. (Geauga Co., OH, Deed Records, 1795–1921, vol. 17, pp. 38–39, 359–360, 10 Apr. 1833; vol. 17, pp. 360–361, 17 June 1833, microfilm 20,237, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL; Mortgage to Peter French, 5 Oct. 1836.)
U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.
Probably Ezra Strong, the only known church member in Kirtland with that surname. (Backman, Profile, 69.)
Backman, Milton V., Jr., comp. A Profile of Latter-day Saints of Kirtland, Ohio, and Members of Zion’s Camp, 1830–1839: Vital Statistics and Sources. 2nd ed. Provo, UT: Department of Church History and Doctrine and Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1983.