Salvation and Solvency : The Socio-Economic Policies of Early Mormonism

This monograph tracks the development of the socio-economic stance of early Mormonism, an American Millenarian Restorationist movement, through the first fourteen years of the church's existence, from its incorporation in the spring of 1830 in New York, through Ohio and Missouri and Illinois, up to the lynching of its prophet Joseph Smith Jr in the summer of 1844. Mormonism used a new revelation, the Book of Mormon, and a new apostolically inspired church organization to connect American antiquities to covenant-theological salvation history. The innovative religious strategy was coupled with a conservative socio-economic stance that was supportive of technological innovation. This analysis of the early Mormon church uses case studies focused on socio-economic problems, such as wealth distribution, the financing of publication projects, land trade and banking, and caring for the poor. In order to correct for the agentive overtones of standard Mormon historiography, both in its supportive and in its detractive stance, the explanatory models of social time from Fernand Braudel's classic work on the Mediterranean are transferred to and applied in the nineteenth-century American context. Contents 9 Acknowledgements 5 List of Figures 19 List of Tables 19 Abbreviations 20 1. Introduction 21 1.1 Nineteenth-Century American Restorationism 22 1.2 Historiographical Intention 23 1.3 Overall Process 25 1.3.1 Pilot Study and Initial Hypothesis 25 1.3.2 Archival Research 25 1.3.3 Case Analysis 26 1.3.4 Constraint Identification and Application 26 1.4 Monograph Organzation and Findings 27 1.4.1 Groundwork 27 1.4.2 Case Studies 30 1.4.3 Models and Narratives 36 Part I: Groundwork 41 2. Methodology 43 2.1 Research Thesis 43 2.2 Event Interpretation 43 2.2.1 Scripts and Events 44 2.2.2 Enculturation 45 2.2.3 Events in the Historical Record 46 2.2.4 Linearization Strategies 47 2.2.5 Narrative Strategy 47 2.3 Braudel’s Historiographical Method 48 2.3.1 Braudel’s Trifurcated Historical Time 48 2.3.2 Analysis 50 2.4 Inspiration and Biases 52 2.5 Organization 54 3. Nineteenth-Century Economic Life 56 3.1 Introduction 56 3.2 Settlement 56 3.3 Pioneer and Farm Life 58 3.4 Settled Life 63 3.5 Mobility and Trade 64 3.5.1 Using Person Power 64 3.5.2 Using Animal Power 65 3.5.3 Water Transportation 66 3.5.4 Transportation Infrastructure 71 3.6 Manufacturing and Industry 83 3.6.1 Bootstrapping the Process 83 3.6.2 Refining and Processing 85 3.6.3 Goods and Transportation Services 87 3.7 The Gentleman Farmer 88 3.7.1 Some Famous Exemplars 88 3.7.2 The Projected Image 94 3.8 Outlook 95 4. Joseph Smith Jr’s Socio-Economic Baseline 96 4.1 Introduction 96 4.1.1 Methodological Considerations 96 4.1.2 On Extended Family Influences 97 4.1.3 On Geographic Influences 97 4.1.4 On Business Influences 98 4.2 Socio-Economic Family Influences 98 4.2.1 The Nuclear Family 98 4.2.2 The Extended Family 103 4.2.3 Summary 113 4.3 Influences of the Local Economy 114 4.3.1 Palmyra 114 4.3.2 Manchester 115 4.3.3 Canandaigua 116 4.3.4 Summary 117 4.4 Joseph Smith Jr, Supernatural Consultant 118 4.4.1 Defusing the Treasure-Hunter Stigma 118 4.4.2 Searching for the Silver Mine 119 4.4.3 The Articles of the Agreement 121 4.4.4 Evaluating Joseph Smith Jr’s Consultancy 123 4.5 Summary 124 5. A New Scripture 126 5.1 The Unexpected Openness of the Canon 127 5.1.1 Which Bible 127 5.1.2 The Textual Incompleteness of the Canon 128 5.1.3 The Conceptual Insufficiency of the Canon 130 5.1.4 The Lost Tribes 131 5.2 Recognizing a New Revelation 135 5.2.1 The Process of Revelation 136 5.3 The Impeccable Translation 137 5.4 The Socio-Economic Stance of the Book of Mormon 140 5.4.1 The Role of Trade in the Book of Mormon 141 5.4.2 The Socio-Economic Optimum and its Loss 142 5.4.3 Discussion 144 5.5 Outlook 146 Part II: Socio-Economic Case Studies 147 6. Funding the Book of Mormon 149 6.1 Introduction to the Case Studies 149 6.1.1 Apologetics 150 6.1.2 Dominating through Details 151 6.1.3 Argumentative Focus 152 6.2 Scribes and Sponsors 153 6.2.1 The Knight Family 153 6.2.2 The Whitmer Family 155 6.2.3 Martin Harris 156 6.3 Presses, Proofs and Book Publishing 158 6.4 Conclusions 160 6.4.1 Supported by Gentlemen Farmers 161 6.4.2 Outlook 162 7. Raiding the Campbellites 163 7.1 Introduction 163 7.1.1 The Split between the Baptists and the Disciples 163 7.1.2 The Spaulding-Rigdon Thesis 164 7.1.3 Outlook 165 7.2 The Campbellite Movement 166 7.2.1 Alexander Campbell 166 7.2.2 Adamson Bentley 168 7.2.4 The Mahoning Baptist Association 170 7.2.5 Pittsburgh 170 7.2.6 The Christian Baptist 171 7.2.7 The McCalla Debate 173 7.2.8 Rigdon as a Campbellite 173 7.2.9 Walter Scott’s Evangelizing 175 7.2.10 Spreading the Restoration 177 7.2.11 Debating Robert Owen 178 7.2.12 Disagreeement at Austintown 182 7.2.13 Rigdon and the Rigdonites Become Mormons 185 7.2.14 Rigdon’s Conversion 186 7.2.15 Differences Explored 187 7.3 Excursion: The Problem of Compensating Religious Work 189 7.3.1 Salaries 191 7.3.2 Collections 192 7.3.3 Patronage 193 7.3.4 Independence 193 7.3.5 Bishops are not Preachers 194 7.3.6 The Mormon Stance 195 7.4 Outlook: Transition in Kirtland 196 8. Consecration and Stewardship 198 8.1 Edward Partridge 198 8.2 The Economics of Moving the Fayette Saints 200 8.3 Newel Kimball Whitney 202 8.3.1 Early Life 202 8.3.2 Doing Business in Kirtland 203 8.3.3 Newel K. Whitney and Company 206 8.3.4 The Fullness of the Gospel 207 8.4 The First Bishop 209 8.5 Phase I: The Beginning 211 8.5.1 Revelation D&C 42 211 8.5.2 Discussion 213 8.5.3 Early Implementation in Ohio 215 8.6 Phase II: Independence, MS 217 8.6.1 Bringing the Partridge Family 217 8.6.2 Consecration upon Arrival 219 8.6.3 The Problem of Atomization 220 8.7 Phase III: Donations Replace Consecration in Ohio 221 8.7.1 Enforcing Donations 221 8.7.2 Relief from other Branches 222 8.8 Phase IV: The Move to Far West, Missouri 223 8.9 Outlook 224 9. The United Firm 226 9.1 Introduction 226 9.2 Initial Founding 228 9.3 Shifts and Realignments 233 9.3.1 Independence and Connectedness 233 9.3.2 Dr Frederick G. Williams 234 9.3.3 The Johnson Family 235 9.4 The United Firm at Work 237 9.4.1 Businesses in Kirtland 237 9.4.2 Properties in Missouri 238 9.4.3 Missouri Operations Disrupted 239 9.4.4 The Literary Firm Moves to Ohio 240 9.4.5 Disagreements in the United Firm 241 9.4.6 The Introduction of High Councils 241 9.5 Separation and Obfuscation 242 9.5.1 Publishing an Indemnifying Revelation 243 9.6 Reorganization and Debt 244 9.6.1 High Councils Replace the United Firm 244 9.6.2 Battling the Debt 245 10. The Kirtland Safety Society 247 10.1 Banking in Ohio 250 10.1.1 Chartered Banking in Ohio 1831-1836 250 10.1.2 The Infamous Owl Creek Bank of Mount Vernon 258 10.1.3 Excursion: The Old Bank of Michigan 263 10.1.4 Leverage in Ohio 265 10.2 The Short History of the Safety Society 268 10.2.1 Cash Flow and Cash Constriction 268 10.2.2 Unclear Origins of a Bad Idea 268 10.2.3 Founding a Bank Differently 270 10.2.4 Going it Alone 273 10.2.5 Leverage and Circulation 274 10.2.6 Further Attempts to Charter 276 10.2.7 Would the Charter have Helped? 278 10.2.8 The Banking Crisis 279 10.3 The Fall-Out 280 11. Settling Nauvoo 282 11.1 Aftermath of the Mormon War 282 11.1.1 Preventing the Scatter 282 11.1.2 Purchasing Commerce and Environs 283 11.1.3 The Church as Land Promoter 285 11.1.4 Containing Financial Troubles 288 11.2 Plats and Lots 289 11.3 Settling the Swamp 290 11.4 Experienced Hands 292 11.4.1 The Law Brothers 292 11.4.2 Edwin Woolley 295 11.4.3 Edward Hunter 299 12. Ruling Nauvoo 305 12.1 Social Engagement 306 12.1.1 Managing the Poverty Relief 306 12.1.2 The Female Relief Society of Nauvoo 308 12.2 New Ventures 310 12.2.1 The Red Brick Store 311 12.2.2 Joseph Smith Jr’s Steamboats 317 12.3 Administrating the City 323 12.3.1 The Nauvoo City Charter 323 12.3.2 Funding Change—The Case of the Nauvoo House 326 12.4 The Interference from Polygamy 329 12.4.1 Ephraimite Roots 331 12.4.2 Excursion: Testing of Loyalties 332 12.4.3 Bonding and Proximity 333 12.4.4 Failure to Convince 335 12.4.5 Loyal Dissent 336 12.4.6 The Fight with the Law Brothers 337 12.5 Outlook 338 13. Nauvoo Loose Ends 341 13.1 The British Influence 341 13.2 Agricultural Association 343 13.3 Economic Bipolarism 344 13.4 Nauvoo—Periphery to Central St Louis 347 13.5 Epilogue: Superior Organization 349 13.5.1 Organizational Shortcomings of the Campbellites 349 13.5.2 Organizing the Restoration 350 14. The Evolution of Socio-Economic Policy 357 14.1 Joseph Smith Jr’s Solution 357 14.1.1 Dynamic but Non-Agentive Processes 359 14.1.2 The Beginnings of Specialization 360 14.1.3 The Confluence of Problems 360 14.2 Research Findings 361 14.2.1 Research Hypothesis Reviewed 361 14.2.2 Concluding Theses 362 Part III: Models and Narratives 367 15. Braudel’s Mediterranean Models 369 15.1 Basic Topics 369 15.1.1 Sifting the Topics 370 15.2 The Economic Measure of Distance 371 15.2.1 Description 371 15.3 Specie and Inflation 374 15.4 The Grain Trade 377 15.5 The Imperial State 377 15.6 The Elite in Society 378 15.7 The Middle Class 379 15.8 The Poor and the Outlaws 380 15.9 On Model Transfers 381 16. Evaluating Mediterranean Models 383 16.1 The Economic Measure of Distance 383 16.2 Specie and Inflation 384 16.3 The Grain Trade 385 16.4 The Imperial State 386 16.5 Social Change 386 16.6 Model-Transfer Experiment 388 16.6.1 The Trope of Counterfeiting 388 16.6.2 A Culture of Violence 393 16.6.3 Policing Nauvoo 397 16.6.4 The Role of Drinking in Nauvoo 400 16.6.5 Detectives, Headhunters and Informers 401 16.6.6 Evaluation of Historical Models 403 16.7 Summary 407 17. Epilogue: Whence Salvation History? 408 17.1 Introduction 408 17.2 The Implausibility of Mormon Salvation History 409 17.3 Demythologizing Salvation History 411 17.3.1 Rudolf Bultmann’s Program of Interpreting Mythology 411 17.3.2 Cullmann’s Counter-proposal: History as Salvation 414 17.3.3 The Present State of Salvation History 415 17.4 A Farewell to “Big Men” Salvation History 416 17.5 Within Salvation History and yet Excluded 419 17.6 Conclusion 422 18. Appendix 424 18.1 The Role of Lucy Mack Smith’s Remniscences 424 18.2 Colonel Stephen Mack 426 18.2.1 Stephen Mack in the Rough Draft 427 18.2.2 Stephen Mack in the Clean Draft 428 18.2.3 Stephen Mack and the Oakland County Historians 429 18.2.4 How the Bank of Michigan Made Colonel Mack Poor 430 18.3 The 1825 Defalcation of the Bank of Michigan 432 18.3.1 Case Number Mapping 432 18.3.2 Key Events in the McCloskey Trial 433 18.3.3 Key Events in Henry J. Hunt’s Trial 438 18.3.4 Key Events in Gabriel Godfroy’s Trial 439 18.3.5 Key Events in Stephen Mack’s Trial 439 18.3.6 Key Events in Austin E. Wing’s Trial 440 18.3.7 Key Events in John M. Mack’s Petition 440 18.4 Ohio Banks and Capitalization 442 18.4.1 Notes 443 18.4.2 Skipped 443 18.5 Licenses 447 18.5.1 Software License for PAT Maps 447 Bibliography 449 Index 467 Most books on Mormonism focus, positively or negatively, on the early leading men and women of this American Millennarian religious movement. Inspired by Fernand Braudel's book on the Mediterranean, this monograph looks at the religious, social and the economic contexts and precedents in which the early Mormon leadership pursued their socio-economic policies, thus highlighting both the innovative and the conservative aspects in their planning