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Promissory Note to Jason Brunell, 14 September 1837
Source Note
Source Note
JS, Promissory Note, to , , Geauga Co., OH, 14 Sept. 1837; handwriting of JS; notations of payment in handwriting of , , , , and two unidentified scribes; two pages; JS Collection, CHL.
One leaf, measuring 4½ × 8¼ inches (11 × 21 cm). The top edge of the recto has the square cut of manufactured paper; the bottom, left, and right edges of the recto were cut. The note was folded in half and then folded twice in a parallel fold. Details of efforts to pay the note are found in subsequent notations on the verso by unidentified scribes, , , and . JS’s signature was removed from the note, either to indicate payment when noted on the recto that the note was paid in full or later by a signature collector. The leaf contains marked staining, soiling at the folds, and fly specks. Payment notations by Willard Richards, William Clayton, and Brigham Young indicate continuous institutional custody.
Historical Introduction
Historical Introduction
On 14 September 1837, JS wrote this promissory note, thereby committing to pay five hundred dollars with interest by 20 January 1838. Given the scarcity of currency and JS’s many financial obligations, it is likely that he borrowed money from Brunell to pay debts. This is one of two notes JS gave to Brunell in fall 1837; the second note is not extant.
was a member of the from York County, Upper Canada, who moved to , Ohio, with his family between August 1837 and March 1838. During the summer of 1837, Brunell made more than one trip between Kirtland and . , in a June 1837 letter to her sister , mentioned that Brunell personally delivered a note from Mercy, then living in Upper Canada (probably in Ontario County). A month later, Mary Fielding recorded that Brunell departed Kirtland for Canada in late June or early July 1837. He had returned to Kirtland by 3 August 1837, when he bought land there, and he may have remained in Kirtland from that time to mid-September, when this promissory note was created.
The note was paid by April 1842. According to payment records on the back of the note, a portion was paid with a section of land in . The note was canceled by , indicating it had been paid and was no longer a transferable financial obligation. Notations on the back of the promissory note indicate it was fully paid by April 1842.
Footnotes
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On 1 September 1837, the mercantile firms of Rigdon, Smith & Cowdery and Cahoon, Carter & Co. renegotiated their existing debts to several New York mercantile firms, creating new promissory notes to pay outstanding debts with the firms. (JS, Sidney Rigdon, and Oliver Cowdery to Holbrook & Firme [Ferme], Promissory Note, Kirtland, OH, 1 Sept. 1837, Ohio Historical Society, Columbus, OH; JS, Sidney Rigdon, and Oliver Cowdery to Holbrook & Firme [Ferme], Promissory Note, Kirtland, OH, 1 Sept. 1837, BYU; Hyrum Smith, Reynolds Cahoon, and Jared Carter to Halsted, Haines & Co., Promissory Note, 1 Sept. 1837, private possession, copy at CHL; Hyrum Smith et al. to Halsted, Haines & Co., Promissory Note, 1 Sept. 1837, Brigham Young Office Files, CHL; Hyrum Smith et al. to Mead & Betts, Promissory Note, 1 Sept. 1837, Mead & Betts v. Estate of JS, Illinois State Historical Society, Circuit Court Case Files, CHL; see also Perkins & Osborn, Account Statement, ca. 29 Oct. 1838, JS Office Papers, CHL.)
Smith, Joseph. Papers. Ohio Historical Society, Columbus, OH.
Smith, Joseph, et al. Promissory Note to Holbrook & Firme, 1 Sept. 1837. BYU.
Smith, Hyrum, Reynolds Cahoon, and Jared Carter. Promissory Note to Halsted, Haines and Co., Kirtland, OH, 1 Sept. 1837. Private possession. Copy at CHL.
Brigham Young Office. Halsted, Haines & Co. File, 1867. Copy of case, Halsted, Haines & Co. v. Granger et al. (Geauga Co. C.P. 1841). CHL.
Illinois State Historical Society. Circuit Court Case Files, 1830–1900. Microfilm. CHL. MS 16278.
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A second note for $372 was due 10 January 1838 and was likely created around this same time. Although not extant, the note was listed in the estate records after Brunell’s death in 1841. Those records indicate that the note was paid for with land in Nauvoo. (Adams Co., IL, Estate Records, ca. 1832–1938, box 4, microfilm 933,883, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL.)
U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.
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Jason Brunell was born in Upper Canada (now Ontario) around 1800. He married Susan Lamoreaux in 1824 in York, Upper Canada. He likely joined the church in 1836 at the same time as his wife and her parents, John and Abigail Lamoreaux. In April 1837, Brunell sent $200 with Parley P. Pratt, who had been proselytizing in Upper Canada, to pay for land purchased by the church in Kirtland. Brunell was in York, Upper Canada, on 26 April 1837 when he gave the money to Pratt. He traveled to Kirtland in June 1837 and returned to Upper Canada by July 1837, possibly to bring his family to Kirtland. He signed the Kirtland Camp constitution on 13 March 1838 and recorded seven members of his family participating in the Kirtland Camp, indicating that he had moved his family to Kirtland by March 1838. (Jenkins, Richmond Hill, Ontario; Pratt, Autobiography, 168–169; Jason Brunell, Receipt, York, Upper Canada, 26 Apr. 1837, JS Office Papers, CHL; Mary Fielding, Kirtland, OH, to Mercy Fielding, [Upper Canada], ca. June 1837, Mary Fielding Smith, Collection, CHL; Mary Fielding, Kirtland, OH, to Mercy Fielding Thompson, [Upper Canada], 8 July 1837, Mary Fielding Smith, Collection, CHL; Kirtland Camp, Journal, [2].)
Jenkins, Reverend William. Richmond Hill, Ontario: A Transcription of the Register of Marriages, 1819–1843. Richmond Hill, Ontario: York Region Branch, Ontario Genealogical Society, 1999.
Pratt, Parley P. The Autobiography of Parley Parker Pratt, One of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Embracing His Life, Ministry and Travels, with Extracts, in Prose and Verse, from His Miscellaneous Writings. Edited by Parley P. Pratt Jr. New York: Russell Brothers, 1874.
Smith, Mary Fielding. Collection, ca. 1832–1848. CHL. MS 2779.
Kirtland Camp. Journal, Mar.–Oct. 1838. CHL. MS 4952.
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Mary Fielding, Kirtland, OH, to Mercy Fielding, [Upper Canada], ca. June 1837, Mary Fielding Smith, Collection, CHL.
Smith, Mary Fielding. Collection, ca. 1832–1848. CHL. MS 2779.
- [6]
Mary Fielding, Kirtland, OH, to Mercy Fielding Thompson, [Upper Canada], 8 July 1837, Mary Fielding Smith, Collection, CHL.
Smith, Mary Fielding. Collection, ca. 1832–1848. CHL. MS 2779.
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Geauga Co., OH, Deed Records, 1795–1921, vol. 24, p. 482, 3 Aug. 1837, microfilm 20,240, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL.
U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.
Sept 14th 1837
For Value Recieved I promice to pay five hundred dollers by the twentieth of Jenuary next with use
J[oseph Smith Jr.]
Received payment in full.
[p. [1]]
Source Note
Source Note
Document Transcript
Document Information
Document Information
Footnotes
Footnotes
JS handwriting begins.
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That is, interest.
- [2]
TEXT: JS’s signature was cut out of the document, which may have served to cancel the note. However, it is unclear if this was done contemporaneously to void the note or years later by a signature collector.
JS handwriting ends; Brigham Young begins.
- [3]
TEXT: Note of payment—possibly paid by Young himself—written vertically over text, canceling the note. Eight payments, beginning October 1840, were recorded on the back of the note. Different individuals, including Jared Carter and Brigham Young, appear to have contributed to the effort to pay off JS’s debt, which was due in January 1838. Since the back of the note does not contain any signatures of endorsement, it appears the note was never transferred from Brunell, who died in 1841, or his family thereafter, meaning he or his family likely collected these payments.