Correlating Population with Bank Solvency

In the previous post we discussed two assumptions about Hill et al's 1977 argument regarding the prudence of opening a savings society in Kirtland in 1836. Recall that they had used Coover's enumeration of Ohio banks to conclude that the population in Kirtland should have been sizeable enough to support a modest bank. The presupposition of this claim is, as I noted

• Population size is a good predictor for bank success.

In this post I want to break down the claim that is wrapped in this statement into its constituent parts. The current formulation, though not an inappropriate assumption based on the data that Hill et al had used to make their case, sounds too statistical in nature, while the argument that Hill et al had in mind was in all likelihood more qualitative.

The basic observation is that banks require specie to operate. Specifically, they have to have specie to have their bank notes accepted and to make loans to customers (where the interest charged is part of the income that the bank produces). The way banks obtain specie, other than by accepting deposits, is to take down payments for subscribed stock that they issue. In my dissertation I detail some of the rules of how subscriptions worked and how much of the stock value had to be paid in as specie by what point during the subscription period by the subscribers [RCK15, 230-238] and I replicate the information from Coovers' research in the appendix [RCK15, 425f]. 

Since there is no residency requirement for subscription, subscribers can come either from 

• within the community wishing to have a bank; 
• or can be American financiers, usually at that point in time from the East Coast, 
• or Europeans engaged in trade with the US who wish to park their profits from their trade within the Americas within the US of A. 

Europeans here means wealthy non-Americans and in the majority, British traders. Though the world economy was rapidly moving toward integration---Joseph Smith Sr had been exporting East Coast Ginseng root to China in the years before Joseph Smith Jr had been born [RCK15, 79]---the wealthy traders from Africa, India or the Far East were not involved in American frontier banking.

As Charles Clifford Huntington showed in his 1915 thesis, A History of Banking and Currency in Ohio before the Civil War (available at the Internet Archive), there was much concern about capital flight in Ohio in the 1830s, due to the large number of financiers from the East Coast and even from outside the country proper that were involved in buying Ohio banking stock (Hunt15, 137f). In fact they owned over 70%, US$3.35 million of the US$4.73 million in capital stock in the state, before March of 1834 [RCK15, 233], as researched by the Cincinnati Republican.

There were examples of banks completely supported by the community, such as the infamous Owl Creek bank; or the Bank of Wooster that failed in spite of $150,000 paid-in stock and a leverage of 1.29 [RCK15, 245]; but the more typical case was the Ohio Life Insurance & Trust Company, who had only three residents of Ohio among its twenty board members and was held, in the words of the Ohio Monitor of March 14, 1836, "by the Wall Street gentry of New York" [RCK15, 234]. The company had given loans totalling almost US$2 million in 67 counties of Ohio, which were secured with some US$4.34 million worth of real estate---a very different league from the banks of Wooster mentioned above or of West Union, which had $20,000 of species at 2.42 leverage when it failed.

With this information at our fingertips, we can now note two things:

• For the successful banks, the majority of the capital stock was held by out-of-state financiers.
• Banks that were predominantly funded from within the community failed during the banking crisis of 1837.

Again, the Bank of Wooster is the most interesting example. Its was chartered in February of 1834 with US$100,000 and immediately oversubscribed by its population by 25% [Hunt15, 141]. In 1837, with a leverage of 1.29, it was almost stellar, $150,221 paid in for a circulation of $194,289 notes. Perhaps the easiest way to explain this is the lack of expertise? 

Population and Bank Support

In their 1977 paper, Hill et al. The Kirtland Economy Revisited (BYU Studies Vol 17, 4, Article 2) argued that the idea of founding a bank such as the Kirtland Safety Society was an appropriate idea based on the size of Kirtland and the number of other banks in existence in other communities.

Kirtland at this time was one of the larger communities in northern Ohio---a number of smaller communities already possessed banks. Judging from the successful experience of other banks in Ohio, one with as little as $20,000.-- in paid-up capital, Kirtland probably could have supported a modest bank. (433)

In a footnote they go on to enumerate some of the locales with banks that Hill et al had in mind.

... smaller banks in northern Ohio included Warren (3), Ravenna (2), Canton (2), Salem, Youngtown, Elysia, Ashtabula, and Cuyahoga Falls. Cleveland, which had perhaps twice as many people [as Kirtland, RCK] had eleven [sic RCK] banks. (433 Fn 61)

In my dissertation,  where I discuss this argument (246), I argued that this exposition was misleading on multiple grounds. But in order to fully counter the claim by Hill et al, one needs to first explicate the argument structure. And in order to explicate the argument structure, we need to make clear that this argument is trying to support the larger notion that the creation of a bank, as endeavored by the Church leadership in 1836 was a reasonable thing to undertake and had all of the appearances of success on its side. 

So the argument structure goes something like this:

• Warren had a smaller population than Kirtland.
• Warren had three banks.
• Raven had a smaller population than Kirtland.
• Warren had two banks.
• Canton had a smaller population than Kirtland.
• Canton had two banks.
• Salem (Ohio) had a smaller population than Kirtland.
• Salem had one bank.
• Elysia had a smaller population than Kirtland.
• Elysia had one bank.
• Ashtabula had a smaller population than Kirtland.
• Ashtabula had one bank.
• Cuyahoga Falls had a smaller population than Kirtland.
• Cuyahoga Falls had one bank.

The inductive leap of this assumption then is that towns with smaller populations than Kirtland had between one and three successful banks in 1836. We will call this argument Min1-3

(Note: The bank of West Union, which is the one of $20,000 capitalization, is not in this list. Perhaps it was not possible to arrive at population data for West Union?)

The argument in the case of Cleveland goes in the other direction.

• Cleveland had double the population of Kirtland.
• Cleveland had twelve banks.

The inductive leap here is that Kirtland should be able to support six successful banks. We will call this argument Max6.

Combining these two inductive leaps Min1-3 and Max6, we can now create another inductive leap, to wit:

• Kirtland's population sized should have supported at least one to three banks (Min1-3) and possible as many as six banks (Max6).

We will call this argument Kirtland-1-3-6. 

Hill et al are arguing that the Church leadership made this same sequence of inductive leaps. They have no documentary proof for this, but it is a reasonable imposition: the members of the Church leadership were well connected with political leaders and the legislature; furthermore, they had taken out loans before and engaged in real estate speculation, a task that required banking connections during the boom times of the federal land sales [RCK15, 248f]. Assuming Kirtland-1-3-6 and the absence of any banks in Kirtland in 1836, at all, it was a reasonable idea to found one and to expect it to succeed.

The first problem is that the argument is prefixed by the assumption that Hill et al interpreted the data given in Coover correctly. Unfortunately, as I argued in my dissertation [RCK15, 247], that is not the case. Coover's list gives all the banks known for Ohio between 1803 and 1866, not just the banks operating in 1836 time. In fact, since Coover was a collector of banknotes, all that can be said is that at some point someone issued a note with the name of a bank located in one of these cities (and some people made notes for non-existent banks, as Coover pointed out). 

As I pointed out in my dissertation [RCK15, 247], the following banks have to be removed from the list, because we know nothing about when and how successfully they operated:

• Two of the three banks in Warren.
• Both banks in Ravenna.
• One of the banks in Canton.
• The bank in Salem.
• The bank in Youngstown.
• The bank in Elysia.
• The bank in Ashtabula.
• The bank in Cuyahoga Falls.
• Ten of the twelve banks in Cleveland.

In terms of inductive evidence that is a slaughter. 

But there are further problems. There are two key unstated assumptions in this argument:

1. Population size is a good predictor for bank success.
2. Past success is a good predictor for future success.

The first is wrong on the observation, as spelled out in my dissertation, that a lot of the money in Ohio banking was from out-of-state, both financiers of the East Coast [RCK15, 244] as well as Europeans doing import/export business with the United States. In the 1830s, the United States was effectively a third-world country, running a huge trade deficit on its import of goods and export of raw and somewhat processed materials. Because these problems were common to all of the frontier states, the situation was the same in Michigan for example.

The second one seems like a reasonable slogan, but one could only have agreed to that assumption with respect to a bank if one was ignorant of the then-brewing storm regarding small bills in general (New Jersey and Maine in 1835 forbidding small bills, Virginia & Maryland & Pennsylvania purging small bills from their monetary system at the same time). Furthermore, the no-bank Democrats had just won dominance in the legislature of Ohio, they had been cool on charters for bank for a while now, and they had passed no charters in 1836 by the summer, pointing to the unused potential for capitalization in the existing charters [RCK15,234f]. Ohio was also pressuring its bank during the spring of 1836 with threats of taxation should they not strive to remove the small bills from circulation, with all $3 bills phased out by July 4, 1836. 

Perhaps even more importantly, President Andrew Jackson on July 11, 1836 had issued his famous specie circular via the Treasury, which eliminated local banknotes as method of payment for purchasing federal lands and insisted on hard specie. Professional cashiers left the frontier banks after this circular, unless their fianciers promised additional monetary support, as Henry Dwight of Massachusetts did to H.K. Sanger, who was cashier at the Bank of Michigan [RCK15,244].

Post Scriptum

It is not entirely clear when the Church leadership decided to go ahead with the plan for the Kirtland Safety Society. Oliver Cowdery was already traveling to New York to inquire into credit for printing plates in August of 1836. The revelation promising resolution to the financial plights (v5) that is now Doctrines & Covenants 111 was given in Salem, Massachusetts, August 6th, 1836. The letter that reports the decision was printed in the Messenger & Advocate in September 1836.  

Points that I did not make clear with reference to this argument in my dissertation include that the Kirtland Safety Society was anything but modest [RCK15, 250], and the number of Cleveland banks in the research by Coover on Ohio Banking Institutions from 1913, on which the observations were based, is twelve not eleven.

Argument Structures around the Kirtland Safety Society

While historians want to be both educated and corrected by their sources, it is often difficult to pin down that that exactly means. In the following, I want to look at a few examples of how this plays out in the case of the economic history of the Kirtland Safety Society (this is Chapter 10 in my dissertation).

The backbone of course is the chronology. Many narratives already fall apart due to not aligning with the basic chronology of the matter. Of course the selection of what elements to include in the chronology brings us back to the problem of enplotment.

It is important to realize that a chronology is not a sequence of dates, but a sequence of dated events. The distinction is crucial, because dates are just chronometric units, while events have actors and properties and are enmeshed in a event sequence, as well as a geometric positioning. The chronometric units have a canonical order, but it is independent of all semantic contents---which is precisely what makes them units.

Perhaps it is best to first to tease apart the pieces that can go into a historical argument. For an intentional action, we have to presuppose some kind of script, that is, a codification of the "usual" way to do this. This would be the usual way from the point of view of the contemporaries, of course, not from the point of view of the historian. 

The "usual way" is typically distilled in some form from another event that has a similar structure. As Eduard Meyer pointed out (1912) [cited in the dissertation], it is this compare-and-contrast operation that is at the root of the historical research effort for distinguishing the common from the unusual. In the Kirtland case, I used the Owl Creek Bank, which did occur in Ohio about two decades before the Mormon arrival, as well as the Old Bank of Michigan, in which Joseph Smith~Jr's uncle Stephen Mack had participated. In the end it was the cross-comparison between these three instances that provided the fodder for the historical reconstruction.

These three elements were underpinned on the one hand by a history of banking in Ohio, mainly a sequence of state legislature actions and bank foundations (which had to be chartered by the legislature), and a history of the more global economic settings both in Ohio proper and in the US. This was the place for wealthy East Coast magnates and European importers, mainly from England, that had a strong influence on the money supply. This was also the place for Jacksonian interventionism at the national level and the ins and outs of the federal land sale that had such an impact on the monetary supply. All of these lines had their own event sequence with its own "arc" so to speak, mostly expressed as supporting or blocking specific aspirations on the legislative side and injecting or removing money on the financiers' side. 

The final element was the chronology of the creation and dissolution of the Kirtland safety (anti-)banking society itself. The comparison with the other banking charters in Ohio as well as with the Owl Creek Bank highlighted the inversion of the order of steps (charter last) as well as the enormous leverage that had been prototypical of other bank failures in the past and would eventually be outlawed in 1839 by the legislature, requiring 1:3 at the most.

For all of these elements, the observation of the overdetermined asymmetry of causation was in effect. For example, only a small fraction of the notes issued by the Kirtland society survived, supporting reconstructive efforts such as simulations how many bills of which type might have been issued. Also, the stock subscription book survived, allowing to determine which families of the Mormon elite had taken out the most stock and subscribed how much of their money. Some newspaper editorials and similar statements survived, but many other actions and their direct and indirect effects remain inaccessible, lost to time.

May 1837 complaint against Frederick G. Williams

In the First Minute Book, p.226, there is an interesting complaint against Frederick G. Williams and several other members of the church leadership from May of 1837, when the banking crisis was hitting the US hard.

Trial for Lack of Benevolence

In the First Minute Book, p.212ff, there are several trials against church members for not paying their due. The trial seems to date from the Kirtland period, June 1836.

Interactions between Alexander Campbell and Sidney Rigdon (Part 2)

(continued from Part 1)

Chapter 11: Churches in Mantua, Hiram and Garrettsville (pp.237-266)

After establishing itself in January of 1827 (p.237), the Church in Mantua grew to just about thirty members by its first year (p.238) and had Sidney Rigdon as its occasional minister. February 1828 Walter Scott visited and converted many in Nelson, Hiram and Mantua. In May, Thomas Campbell visited, which not only stabilized the community but brought Symonds Ryder into the fold.

In April 1829, the church in Hiram formed, and a group from Mantua went to Shalersville. By 1830, led by ministers with youth but little experience (p.239), and assisted by a seasoned Baptist, Oliver Snow, who found much fault with the young men, the young community in Mantua, was sorely tried by the incursion of the Mormons. Atwater, with whom Hayden corresponded here in 1873, felt that Sidney Rigdon's popularity helped the Mormons. Atwater also believed that Sidney Rigdon knew ahead of time that the book of Mormon was coming (p.239), having talked at Atwater's fathers' house about the Indian mounds and other American antiquities (p.239), and was looking forward to a book to be published on these accounts (p.240). Under the influence of Rigdon Oliver Snow, Symonds Ryder, Ezra Booth, and others joined the new dispensation, with Eliza Snow leading the way.

Then Symonds Ryder returned to the disciples, "and exposed Mormonism in its true light",  working with the community to restore it. Marcus Bosworth continued to preach for Mantua. From 1840-1841 (p.241), A.S. Hayden worked in Mantua. Hayden then sketches Atwater's life (p.242), who had prepared for the ministry in the academy at Warren (p.242) and then married into the Judge Clapp family (p.243). When his first wife died, he married the daughter of Marcus Bosworth (p.244). 

Symond Ryder was the key elder for the church at Hiram (p.244), drawing upon the funeral oration of him preached by President B.A. Hinsdale of Hiram College (p.244) on August 3rd, 1870. A Mayflower descendant from Vermont (p.246). After serving his apprenticeship he went west, "missing" the British burning of Buffalo on December 28, 1813, arriving in Hiram, a Vermont colony, on January 6, 1814. Here he bought land and developed his property. In the Winter of 1814/5, Symond returned to Vermont to bring his family. In terms of his religion, he had brought the "severe puritanical sort" of "teachings and impressions of religion" "which prevailed in New England during the last [i.e. 18th, RCK] century" (p.247). When the Church of Bethesda, in Nelson, an 1808 member of the Mahoning Association, evicted over a dozen members on heresy, these remnants organized under Darwin Atwater and "adopted the advanced views of Campbell and Scott".

In 1828, Marcus Bosworth preached in Hiram, and Symonds Ryder was pleased with the sermon (p.248). After poring all week over the NT to understand Bosworth's discourse, Ryder managed to catch Thomas Campbell in Mantua (p.248) and was converted (p.249) (p.238). Ryder was first overseer of the Hiram Nelson church until 1835. Ryder was content as a disciple in all things save one.

He [i.e. Symond Ryder, RCK] read in the New Testament of the gift of the Holy Spirit; and, in his mind, it was in some way associated with the laying on of hands, and with some special spiritual illumination. These words, "the signs shall follow them that believe." seemed to him not yet to have been comprehended or realized. (p.249)

Then, in late 1830, Sidney Rigdon joined the Mormon movement in northern Ohio. Ezra Booth, a Methodist preacher of Mantua (p.250) and his wife, joined after an interview with Joseph Smith Jr in Kirtland, where Mr and Mrs Johnson were present and where Joseph Smith Jr healed her rheumatic lame arm, so that "on her return home the next day she was able to do her washing without difficulty or pain" (p.250). President Hinsdale emphasized the cognitive relief that the supposed resolution of the twin problem of the lost tribes and the origins of the red men gave (p.251) to "students of sacred and profane history".

When Ezra Booth addressed the Hiram community after a Ryder sermon (p.251), Ryder himself became unsure, eventually converting when an earthquake hit Peking, as predicted by a young Mormon girl.

Shortly after this, he openly professed his adhesion to the Mormon faith; but he and Ezra Booth, who were most intimate friends, promised that they would faithfully aid each other in discerning the truth or the falsity of the new doctrine. (p.251)

Famously, Ryder was turned off by a commission to be an elder in the Mormon church that misspelled his name (p.252).

His commission came, and he found his name misspelled. Was the Holy Spirit so fallible as to fail even in orthography? (p.252)

Since Ezra Booth had been similarly buffeted by the journey to Missouri to help set up Zion [cf. (Howe 1834, Chapter XV, pp.175ff), which letters were partially addressed to Edward Partridge, another friend, RCK], they both left the Mormons in September of 1831, and focused on stemming the tide, a difficult task, given the "large number of the citizens of Hiram [htat] had given in their adhesion to the doctrines of Smith and Rigdon" (p.252).

Hinsdale then reminds the listeners that Mormonism of 1870 in Utah was quite a separate matter from Mormonism in 1831, and correctly points to the intellectual climate of that age.

... it was a formative period in religious history; new ideas were fermenting in the minds of men; and, considering the facts before stated, it is not inexplicable that so strong a nature [as Symonds Ryder, RCK] should have given way to the fanaticism. (p.252)

Hinsdale then points out the succession problem the church of Hiram had faced (p.254) when Ryder could no longer be there: "no suitable provision was made for a new and different age" (p.254).

Hinsdale then speculates that, given the size and constitution of Symonds Ryder, it was the size of the pioneer tasks that he undertook that robbed him of the few years.

He was one of the most laborious men of that generation which bore off upon its broad shoulders, as Sampson did the gates of Gaza, the heavy forest which covered this land---the generation which performed the most wonderful work of the kind that history has witnessed; for in no age, and in no country, has the face of nature been so suddenly transformed as in the Northern States of the American Union. (p.255)

After the conclusion of the funerary oration reprint, A.S. Hayden returns as the host of the reader. It turns out that A.S. Hayden was co-elder with Ryder for the Eclectic Institute in Hiram (p.259), an institution that had been dear to Hayden's brother William as well--cf. pp.260ff.

Chapter 13: Great Meeting in Austintown 1830 (pp.295-310)

Hayden finally turns to the Great Meeting in Austintown of 1830 (p.295), which axed the association in place of an annual meeting (p.296). It was only on recollection that the loss of the evangelical preachers, which had been tied to the association but could not be to a meeting, was observed (p.297), and eloquently expressed in the Millennial Harbinger of 1849 by Alexander Campbell (p.297), who cautioned against reformation and annihilation as synonymous terms (p.298). 

Hayden now comes to the showdown between Rigdon and Campbell. Rigdon argued that the model of the church at Jerusalem of a community of goods required those who wished to imitate the apostles of the New Testament to imitate that example as well (pp.298f). Campbell "saw at once the confusion and ruin that would result from such doctrines", and rejoined, to which Rigdon replied however in zeal (p.299). Campbell then destroyed the argument in three points by observing that the early Church had ended the community system after Ananias and Sapphira, as the passages in the Pauline letters show, thus indicating that the "community system" in Acts was "formed not to make property, but to consume it, under the special circumstances attending that case" (p.299). 

This put an end to it. Rigdon finding himself foiled in his cherished purpose of ingrafting on the reformation his new community scheme, went away from the meeting at its close, chafed and chagrined, and never met with the Disciples in a general meeting afterward. (p.299)

Venting to Brother Austin afterwards in Warren, Rigdon observed

I have done as much in this reformation as Campbell or Scott, and yet they get all the honor of it. (p.299)

Hayden then turns to the community of Farmington, which was inspired by the great reformatory movement in Kirtland under Bentley and Rigdon in 1828 (p,306).

The Church in Shalersville received discourses preached in 1828 by Thomas Campbell and Sidney Rigdon (p.334). Ebenezer Williams, former Universalist, had preached there as well, as recounted previously (pp.155-157). Shalersville is a good example of a community that needed no full time minister.

... the church, like most of the congregations, had learned to "edify one another in love." This reliance on the talent of the church quickens the zeal and develops the abilities of the members; and if it is not depended on to the exclusion of preaching, it is a direct and powerful means of imparting strength and permanency to the churches. (p.336)

Chapter 15: Awakening in Perry (pp.346ff)

In August of 1829, Sidney Rigdon organized the church in Perry (p.346). The precipitating event had been the exclusion of David Parmly from the Baptist fellowship for communing with "Campbellites" (p.347). The new church mopped up those Baptists "who saw too clearly the spirit of the inquisition" (p.347).

Painesville [home of Eber D. Howe, RCK] received impulses from Mentor in 1828 (p.349), and had Clapp, Collins, William Hayden and Moss preaching there.

Chapter 16: Gospel in Ravenna, Aurora, etc (pp.369ff)

The church in Ravenna had been started by Marcus Bosworth and expanded by Ebenezer Williams (p.369). William Hayden sustained them through 1830 (p.370). In the summer, Walter Scott preached there, comparing the creed to a small coin that, if held close enough to the eye, can block out the sun (p.370). In 1831, Campbell came to Western Reserve, to help check Mormonism, and preached at Ravenna against it (p.371). 

A.G. Riddle, in his romance The Portrait: A Romance of the Cuyahoga Valley, contrasted Campbell and Rigdon, in allusion to a 1831 meeting in a grove in Aurora, Ohio (p.377).

At a glance he [i.e. Alexander Campbell, RCK] took the measure and level of the average mind before him---a Scotchman's estimate of the Yankee---and began at that level; and as he rose from it, he took the assembled host with him. In nothing was he like Rigdon; calm, clear, strong, logical, yet perfectly sim- || ple. Men felt themselves lifted and carried, and wondered at the ease and apparent want of effort with which it was done. (pp.377f)

Chapter 20: Euclid (pp.408ff)

In 1820, a Baptist Church had been established in Euclid, and Luther Dille was its deacon (p.408). His wife was a Disciple from Mentor and frustrated by her inability to commune with her husband. Requesting Sidney Rigdon's support during a visit to Mentor (p.409), Rigdon came to Euclid in the fall of 1829, and converted a rump church. Then Rigdon asked Luther to be the caretaker of the young converts, and Luther converted as well (p.409). Later (p.410) the church was visited by Thomas Campbell and J.J. Moss. 

Rigdon's fall staggered many, but Mormonism never made a convert in Euclid. This is much owing to the presence of Moss. (p.410) 

Chapter 24: Abbreviated Account (pp.465ff)

Rigdon, together with Clapp, founded the church in Birmingham, Erie County, in 1829 (p.465). During the same tour, the church of Elyria, in Lorain County, was established by Rigdon and Clapp (p.467).

Other Interests

Chapter 23: Lessons (pp.454ff)

Lesson II (p.455) The evangelical work cannot be the only one (p.455); "thoughtful men predicted" "the absence of a system for holding and training the converts" (p.456). As a result of this discrepancy between the evangelical and the pastoral, both members and congregations fell away (p.457). 

If the due adjustment of these two agencies had been suitably disposed at the beginning, it would have resulted in far greater strength and prosperity. (p.457)

Lesson III (p.457) recognized that it "was a mistake to start so many churches. This error was a result of the exuberance of evangelical zeal already noticed" (p.457).

Is it surprising that intelligent, discerning citizens, casting about for a "home", turn from a people where they see evidences of looseness in plan, and weakness in system, and yield themselves up in membership to organized bodies who conduct their enterprises systematically and successfully? (p.458)

Lesson IV (p.459) bemoans the lack of records that were kept, especially after 1828, when both the authority and the restriction of freedom to maintain even member lists was missing (p.459). And Hayden blames scriptural over-interpretation for it.

So, as the Scriptures gave no instructions about church records the whole matter was ruled out of order, and out of the church. (p.459)

What would we not give now for a continuance of the records of the Mahoning Association, which met two years under that name after the records ceased? Why were there no records of our yearly meetings? What rich and abundant materials for future history and instruction? (p.459)

Oh that Scott had kept a diary! that our earlier men had written as well as talk! (p.460)  

 [[RCK this really underscores the insights of Joseph Smith Jr, especially given the fact that the Millennium was considered to be coming.]]

Lesson V (p.461) says that it is not optional for the associations to combine their efforts to advance the gospel. Because the delegates had selected the evangelists, the "churches felt bound by the action of their delegates" (p.461). The field of labor had been determined, the compensation arranged. Consequently, the churches provided material support (p.462).

Bro. Campbell was the prime mover and the active leader in this scheme of associational effort to bring an evangelist into the field. (p.462)

The replacement of the association system by the annual meeting system wreaked havoc on the evangelist work, for the meetings were no substitute (p.462). Retroactively re-instituting cooperation was blasted by the suspicion of priest craft or sectarianism (p.462). Substituting for this cooperation was in fact one of the tasks of the Eclectic Institute, in whose formation Hayden was crucially involved.

Lesson VI (p.464) is that all the success that was achieved stems from preaching the word.

We must "preach the word," not something about the gospel, but the gospel itself. (p.464)

Bibliographic Record

A.S. Hayden, Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve, Ohio, Cincinnati (Chase & Hall) 1875 (Internet Archive copy here).

Interactions between Alexander Campbell and Sidney Rigdon (Part 1)

Rigdon Chapters

Chapter 1: Preliminary Agencies (pp.18ff)

The initial claim to fame within the Baptist denomination for Alexander Campbell, founder and principal of the Buffalo Academy, Kentucky, was Alexander Campbell's debate with Rev. Walker of the Seceders, held in Mt. Pleasant, Ohio, in 1820, and subsequently published (p.18). Adamson Bentson, pastor of the Warren, Ohio, Baptist Church, read the debate, and used the opportunity of a trip to Kentucky to swing by Campbell’s residency (p.19) [in the summer of 1821, cf. (Richardson 1870, 2:44) RCK]. With him was Sidney Rigdon, a Baptist preacher and orator of the Mahoning Association [which Campbell's West Virginia congregation in Wellsburg would joined in 1823, RCK], though second to Bentson in authority with the people. They talked all night with Campbell:

Beginning with the baptism that John preached, we went back to Adam, and forward to the judgement. The dispensations or covenants—Adamic, Abrahamic, Jewish and Christian—passed and reposed before us. Mount Sinai in Arabia, Mount Zion, Mount Calvary, Mount Tabor, the Red Sea and the Jordan, the Passovers and the Pentecosts, the Law and the Gospel—but especially the ancient order of things and the modern—occasionally commanded and engaged our attention.” (p.19)

Hayden notes that the Mahoning Association was based on the Philadelphia Confession of Faith (p.20), and that the investigations into the Bible led to many discussions between the ministry and the members.

Hayden wishes not to overplay singular causes (p.20), but stresses the importance of Campbell’s debates (p.21), not only with Walker (published in 1821), but also with McCalla (published in 1824), praising their “freedom from conventional forms of belief” and their “boldness and clearness of exposition of Scripture” (p.21). Since 1823, the publication The Christian Baptist had been a key organ in these efforts (p.21).

[The Christian Baptist, RCK] ... went forth monthly to advocate definitely and distinctively the restoration of the apostolic teaching and practice in all things; in faith, conversion, baptism, the office of the Holy Spirit, church order, and, summarily, every thing authorized by Jesus Christ, the Author and Finisher of the Christian religion. (p.21)

In this discourse, Bentley and Rigdon had their part.

Sidney Rigdon added the persuasions of a very commanding and popular eloquence. (p.21)

William Hayden (cf. p.39, probably A.S. Hayden's father) as a young man was swept up in these changes (p.22).

The disallegiance to creeds and confessions, and confidence in the sufficiency of the Holy Scriptures, gained steady advancement. (p.22)

In August 24, 1824, the Baptist church of Nelson abolished unanimously the Philadelphia Confession of Faith and the Church Articles, replacing them with the Word of God "for our Rule || of Faith and Practice" (pp.23f). The fight between the reforming and the pro-"Articles" parties was taken to the 1825 Palmyra meeting of the Mahoning Association (p.24), which Alexander Campbell attended. His contribution is certain in the hedged "Not exactly." response to the question submitted from Randolph, "Can associations in their present modifications find their model in the New Testament." (p.24), interpreted then "as evidence of his prudence in counsel" (p.25).

Hayden points out that the very constitution of the Mahoning Baptist Association (p.26) as a voluntary association of independent churches, who saw their authority coming from Christ, kept it from being a "court of appeal" (p.26). Hayden takes the opportunity to bemoan clerical overreach, mentioning the "tortuous and vindictive policy of the Redstone Association" [which Alexander Campbell had left in the 1820s, RCK], before giving the creed of the Mahoning Association (p.27). The creed starts with a trinitarian assertion based on I John 5,7 (KJV "For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.") and ended in good Reformation style with the Holy Scriptures as the "only certain rule of faith and practice" (p.29). The faith statement was in fact a copy of the one from the Beaver Association.

In spite of this faith statement, the member churches were allowed to author compatible creeds, and the creed mania that resulted Hayden likens to some alchemical chase.

They [i.e. the member churches of the association, RCK] aimed to form a compound of belief so pure, doctrinally, and so translucent, that it should resist the action of the elements and never more be subject to corrosion or decay! (p.29)

Hayden pities the new converts who had to sit through these creeds.

It is cheering to know that ever since the great || Saxon [??? RCK] sounded the note of liberty of conscience, every new body is more and more liberal, approaching gradually to the primitive order of the gospel of Christ. (p.31)

This was how the Wellsburg, Virginia,  church was admitted in 1824, whose statement of belief contained "not one hint of the `doctrine of grace` commonly known as Calvinism" (p.31), but was represented by Alexander Campbell, together with John Brown and George Young. Campbell actually was at the Redstone Association that year, though he had written their statement of belief. The statement was rather clear on the closing of the canon, however (p.32).

We believe that the whole Christian Religion is fully and explicitly developed in [i.e. the New Testament], and that nothing is ever to be added thereto, either by any new revelations of the Spirit, or by any doctrines or commandments of men; .... (p.32)

Though the statement characterized the Old Testament as "of divine inspiration and authority" (p.32), it considered it primarily "as containing the Jew's religion as fully as the New contains the Christian['s, RCK]", and gave it a clear second-class status when noting that, though "we avail ourselves of both as containing every thing profitable", "we adhere to the New, as containing the whole Christian religion" (p.32). After a summary of the deeds of Jesus Christ, the creed turned to the views of the "Church of God" (p.33):

... such a society has a right to appoint its own bishops and deacons, and to do all and every thing belonging to a church of Christ, independent of any authority under heaven. (p.33)

Hayden praises this statement not only on its approachable language, but also for expressing just what such a statement needs to express theologically.

In 1826, the Mahoning Association was holding its meeting in Canfield, Trumbull County (p.34), in the barn of a supportive farmer, "David Hays, who was a pillar in the church", with Bentley moderating, and both Campbells, Walter Scott as well as Sidney Rigdon in attendance (p.34). For Sunday, they had borrowed the Congregational meeting-house in the town center (p.35), and after Walter Scott and Sidney Rigdon had preached in the morning, the expected Alexander Campbell preached in the afternoon. Campbell closed with words that Hayden quotes in full:

The Papacy arose and darkened the heavens for a long period, obscuring the brightness of the risen glory of the Sun of righteousness so that men groped in darkness. By the reformation of the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments; and though the || heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds---the sects of various names---the promise is that 'at evening time it shall be light'. The primitive gospel, in its effulgence and power, is yet to shine out in its original splendor to generate the world. (p.37)

Hayden then resumes discussing the Christian Baptist, praising its rationality and scriptural foundation (p.37) and its unsparing "denunciations of the clergy, who, ... , had usurped the thrones of the Holy Twelve" (p.38). The continued meetings, both of the association as well as of the ministers, which Bentley had spearheaded (p.38), assisted in the dissemination of this line of thought. Bentley was better educated and read than the average clergyman, connected with ["the celebrated author and preacher, Dr. William", Wrather 2005, p. 246] Stoughton of Philadelphia (p.38), and thus a champion for steady mutual improvement (p.39).

Hayden uses a description of the first time Campbell attended an association meeting, in 1821, to depict Campbell's stance on Calvinistic double predestination.

The subject of election [i.e. double predestination, RCK], held by all the Baptist ministry, came up .... Mr. Campbell affirmed ``that preaching the doctrine of election never converted a single sinner to God.`` ``Astonishing!`` retorted Elder Freeman, ``Astonishing!`` ``Where are they?`` inquired Mr. Campbell. Mr. Freeman replied, ``all around you!`` ``I very much || doubt it,`` responded Mr Campbell; adding, ``you have preached election, foreordination, effectual calling and perseverance; and along with it you have held up the love of God to lost sinners, the death of Christ for their salvation, his resurrection for their justification, the final judgement and eternal glory; sinners were converted, and you have attributed it to the Calvinistic `doctrines of grace`.`` (pp.39f)

At the same time, Hayden summarizes Campbell's stance on the interpretation of Scripture.

The right interpretation of the Scriptures; that they were to be understood; that the same rules of interpretation were to be applied to them, as to other writings;  that no new rules were to be coined for their benefit; that they were not to be applied to the building up of any sect;that the word of God, rightly interpreted and applied, would put an end to religious controversy, and restore the primitive union of the church; .... (p.40)

In his sketch of Alexander Campbell's biography, Hayden gives another summary of Campbell's religious stance, (pp.49f):

Christ, the only Master: involving a rejection of all human names and leaderships in religion. The Bible, the only authoritative book : necessitating a denial of the authority of all human creeds. The Church of Christ; as founded by him, and built by the apostles, for a habitation of the Spirit, the only divine institution for spiritual ends : logically leading to the repudiation of all sects in religion as unscriptural and dishonoring to the head of the church. Faith in Jesus, as the Christ, the Son of God, and repentance toward God, the only scriptural prerequisites to baptism arid consequent church-membership : thus dismissing all doctrinal speculation and all theological dogmata, whether true or false, as unworthy to be urged as tests of fitness for membership in the church of Christ. Obedience to the divine commandments, and not correctness of opinion, the test of Christian standing. The gospel the essential channel of spiritual influence in conversion ; thus ignoring all reliance on abstract and immediate influence of the Holy Spirit, and calling the attention of inquirers away from dreams, visions, arid impressions, which are so liable to deceive, to the living and powerful truths of the gospel, which are reliable, immutable, and eternal. The truth of the gospel, to enlighten ; the love of God in the gospel, to persuade; the ordinances of the gospel, as tests of submission to the divine will : promises of the gospel, as the evidence of pardon and acceptance ; and the Holy Spirit, in and through all these, accomplishing his work of enlightening, convincing of sin, guiding the penitent soul to pardon, and bearing witness to the obedient believer, of his adoption into the family of God. (pp.49f)

He [i.e. Alexander Campbell, RCK] was intensely  Protestant .... A Trinitarian in sentiment, he repudiated the unscriptural technicalities of Trinitarian theology, as involving a mischievous strife of words. (p.50)

Campbell abhorred speculative theology, but saw the "divided and distracted state" of "evangelical Protestantism" as an indication of a partial respite (p.50) from the great "apostasy" [i.e. the Roman position, RCK] (p.51) in the Protestants only. Campbell saw parties, leaders, symbols, creeds and speculative doctrines as divisive, and the union of all believers in one body as both a core necessity and the precondition for the conversion of the remainder of the world (p.51).

Chapter 2: Walter Scott

Scott had been recruited from the Academy in Steubenville by Alexander Campbell (p.55) and brought along as an evangelist of the Mahoning Association to its 1827 session in New Lisbon, Columbiana County, on August 23, 1827 (p.55). [[RCK: Palmyra was represented by Noah Davis, William Bacon, and Jesse Hall. (p.56)]] Sidney Rigdon was present and invited to the counsel (pp.56f). Rigdon participated on the committee that nominated an "evangelical preacher" and determine how to fund him (p.57); selecting Walter Scott (p.58) to be funded by "voluntary and liberal contributions" (p.58). Thus the association resumed its God-given task of preaching the Gospel to every creature (p.60).

Hayden emphasizes the non-denominational task of the evangelist Walter Scott, without "doctrinal restrictions or limitations": "No creed basis, no confession of doctrines, no articles of belief: he was simply to ``preach the word.``" (p.61)

Hayden focuses on how unprecedented this approach was in that time and age.

This was a bold and untried step. It was a long step toward Mount Zion. But it was a safe step, as the Scriptures can lead no one astray; and, also, it was the only method of bringing about restoration of the original Christianity in fact, in faith, and in form, in letter, in spirit, and in practice. (p.61)

Scott had come from Scotland to New York,  upon the invitation of his uncle, who worked at the New York customs office (pp.61f). He went to Pittsburgh, where he befriended a student of Robert and James Alexander Haldane's Scottish institution, Mr George Forrester, who convinced him of the lack of scriptural basis for pedobaptism (p.62). Scott ran a classical and English high school to finance his scriptural research (p.63) in Pittsburgh, when he met Alexander Campbell. Seeing themselves united in their interest to restore the "unity of the ``faith once delivered to the saints``",  they became

... mutual co-operants in the common cause of re-proclaiming to the world the gospel as it began in Jerusalem on the first Pentecost after the Lord's ascension. (p.63)

Scott helped choose the Christian Baptist as the name for Campbell's journal (p.63), to which the Campbells and Scott contributed (p.64). While in Pittsburgh,  Scott met Sidney Rigdon and their congregations merged (p.64).

By 1827, Scott was at the Steubenville academy, much interested in the Millenium and about to begin the publication of the Millennial Herald, for which a prospectus had been issues (p.64). In his preaching, Scott assumed a stance that through its "plea for the union of Christians on apostolic ground" (p.66) rejected "[c]reeds, confessions of faith as terms of membership and communion, articles of church government separate from the New Testament, and distinctive of the sect" (p.66). Furthermore, Scott (p.67) insisted on the understanding reception of the word of God, received through the preaching of the Gospel, which eliminates any chances of infant church-membership (and its hanger-ons, such as confirmation or sponsorship) (p.67). And the certainty of salvation came with baptism (p.68).

... no one had a right to expect the Holy Spirit till after baptism. (p.70)

Thus Scott designed a multi-phased protocol, a "classification" for describing the conversion process of the sinner, to wit:

(1) Faith; (2) Repentance; (3) Baptism; (4) Remission of sins; (5) the Holy Spirit; (6) Eternal life, through a patient continuance in well doing. (p.71)

Chapter 4: The Church in Warren (pp.91ff)

The Church in Warren, Ohio, had received Adamson Bentley as their minister in May of 1810 (p.91). in 1815 (p.91), Thomas Rigdon (p.92), cousin to Sidney Rigdon was received into the Youngtown Church, which had sprung from the Warren congregation. December of 1819, the Warren church spun out the Bazetta congregation, into which Sidney Rigdon was received in March of 1820 and licensed for preaching on April 1, 1820 (p.92).

He [i.e. Sidney Rigdon, RCK] married Miss Phebe Brooks, and after two years moved to Pittsburgh. (p.92)

Chapter 5: The Church in Windham (pp.116ff)

Sidney Rigdon and Adamson Bentley were on the committee for the church in Newton that gave license for preaching to Marcus Bosworth in October 1827 (p.137).

Chapter 6:

Hayden has Ebenezer Williams relate his story in Shalersville in his own words (p.155). He was employed at 25% time, at one hundred dollars [a year, cf. p.157, RCK], as a Universalist preacher (p.155). Coming from Ravenna one day in the May of 1828, Williams (p.156) found that Father Campbell and Sidney Rigdon had been holding a meeting there for several days. Williams was asked to preach Acts 2:38, like the Baptists had done [where the Holy Ghost is promised after baptism, as a consequence for the remission of sins, RCK]. Williams answered with Acts 10 [vv44f, where the house of Cornelius receives the Holy Spirit before their baptism, vv47f, RCK]. Afterwards, Williams was unhappy with himself, thinking also of the Disciples of Emmaus (Lk 24:46f) story [connection unclear to me, RCK]. Williams continued his farm work [no surprise, with that salary, RCK], mulling these matters over, when he received the visit of brother Raines one day while plowing (p.156), who had heard preaching of Walter Scott and was beginning to doubt. While discussing the matter, Raines and Williams (p.157) convinced each other of the need for immersion and baptized each other in Sandy Lake. Williams was expelled from his congregation for this act:

[Williams explained, RCK] "Some [of the Universalists, RCK] were angry; many said they would not pay their subscription for such preaching. I told them I did not expect it---the Lord would take care of me. Thus I have turned my back on the four hundred a year. I have never since received over half that amount, but having obtained help of God, I continue until this day." (p.157)

Chapter 7: Association in Warren, 1828

Hayden personally attended the association meeting in Warren in 1828 (p.161), and praises its non-denominational, creed-ignoring spirit.

This great occasion was a grand demonstration of the possibility of the union of Christians on original Bible ground. It was no longer a theory. It was then an actual, accomplished fact. (p.162)

Here were Methodists, no longer Methodists, but still Christians; Baptists surrendering the title, yet holding the Head, even Christ; Restorationists, giving up their fruitless and faulty speculations, now obedient to the faith once delivered to the saints; Bible Christians, recovered from their negative gospel to the apostle's method of preaching, together with very || many from other forms of religious belief---all rejoicing together, ``perfectly united in the same mind and the same judgement.`` (pp.162f)

The seniors were the usual suspects: two Campbells, Bentley, Rigdon, Scott (p.163). In order to cement that union, Alexander Campbell preached on Rom 14,1 (p.163), showing that the faith of all Christians, based on the same fact as testified to by the Apostles, is a unit (p.165) and can thus not divide the believers. Opinion however was "a fruitful source of all the schism".

When the association was listening to the report of their evangelist Walter Scott, they started to debate about whether he should restrict himself to associational limits (p.174), but Rigdon grew tired of the debate, pointing out that an old Jerusalem preacher would have converted half the world in the time it took to discuss the issue (p.174) and forced a vote to let Scott take William Hayden and convert the world.

A.S. Hayden then give the biography (pp.176ff) of William Hayden, his brother (p.179), noting especially the amazing geographical range of his trips, including:

... most of the Western counties in the Empire State, and in Canada, ... in western Pennsylvania, Virginia, and in all the region of North-east Ohio, ... into Michigan and Wisconsin; .... (p.181)

Hayden reports that this traveler for the gospel clocked up ninety thousand miles, of which sixty thousand on horseback, i.e. about twice around the world (p.181), preaching nine thousand sermons, or 261 discourses per year in his 35 years of service.

Hayden then looks to the expectation of the Millennium (p.183).

 The ardor of religious awakening resulting from the new discoveries in the gospel was very much increased about the year 1830, by the hope that the millennium had now dawned, and that the long expected day of gospel glory would very soon be ushered in. The restoration of the ancient gospel was looked up as the initiatory movement, which, it was thought, would spread so rapidly that existing denominations would almost immediately be deorganized; .... (p.183)

Scott, who always had an interest in the millennium, proved contagious for Sidney Rigdon (p.186).

Rigdon, who always caught and proclaimed the last word that fell from the lips of Scott or Campbell, seized these views, and with the wildness of his extravagant nature, heralded them every-where. (p.186)

In spite of the title of his newest periodical, The Millennial Harbinger, A.S. Hayden doubts that Alexander Campbell was a millennialist (p.188). Rather under the  pseudonym Reformed Clergyman, Campbell wrote against millennialism in his periodical, even though he permitted pro-millenial pieces to be published (pp.188f).

In the end, Hayden blames the mess on people not using Christ as the only "interpreter of type, shadows, and prophecy in the Old Testament" (p.190).

Chapter 8: The Church in Mentor (pp.191-208)

Sidney Rigdon moved from Bainbridge to Mentor in the aftermath for delivering the funerary oration for the old pastor in the summer of 1826 (p.191). As a considerable orator, he was nevertheless unstable and insufficiently lasting with his impression (p.192).

He [i.e. Sidney Rigdon, RCK] was just the man for an awakening. (p.192)

Sidney's brother-in-law was Adamson Bentley (p.192) and he accompanied Rigdon to Mentor.

After great missionary success in Mentor (p.193), Rigdon and Bentley went on to Kirtland (p.194). The success here equalled the one in Mentor, and when Bentley went to Painesville, his fame preceded him (p.194). The Mentor church is considered strong by Hayden, and withstood the "tempest under the outbreak of Mormonism" (p.195), while the church under Rigdon in Kirtland "became engulphed" (p.195) (cf. also p.207). 

In 1829, after preparatory work by Father Campbell, Sidney Rigdon stabilized the conversion at Waite Hill (p.204). Among those in support of Waite Hill was Samuel Miller (p.207), a wealthy man and a stalwart supporter of the gospel, in Hayden's view.

When the overflowing scourge of Mormonism burst forth, these three men [i.e. Samuel Miller, John Violl, and Noah Wirt, RCK], with [Dexter, RCK] Otis and [Alvan, RCK] Waite withstood the shock, though Rigdon himself, their leader to Christ, had reeled and fallen under its blow. (p.207)

Samuel Miller represented the ideal of the successful supporter of the disciples.

Bro. Miller was distinguished for superior business capacity, great probity, and for his consistent and liberal benefactions. Hiram College and the Ohio Christian Missionary Society received liberal donations from his hand. (p.207)

Chapter 9: Advent of Mormonism (pp.209-222)

Unfortunately, Hayden tells the story somewhat out of order, putting the advent of Mormonism to Ohio in late 1830 before the Austintown meeting (see Chapter 13) that triggered the break between Rigdon and Campbell. In his quotations, he is also dependant on Eber D. Howe's Mormonism Unvailed from 1834, esp. Chapter VIII.  The main thing that Howe and Hayden differ on is whether Rigdon was in the know prior  to the Lamanite missionary arrivals at Kirtland or not.

Rigdon and Campbell had their Austintown showdown two-and-a-half months before Rigdon converted, and the meeting had left Rigdon "mortified, chagrined and alienated" when his common property scheme had been publicly rejected (p.209). Hayden even speculates that the four Lamanite emissaries "had Rigdon in their eye before leaving Palmyra, N.Y." (p.209). Rigdon had been expecting "some great event soon to be revealed to the surprise and astonishment of mankind" (p.209).

The targeted attack vector for Rigdon was Parley P. Pratt, "a disciple under Rigdon's influence", who had visited Palmyra in the fall of 1830 to see the Mormon prophet (p.210); cf. (Howe 1834, p.102). By middle of November two bags full of Book of Mormon copies were brought into Mentor and Rigdon talked most of the night with the deliverers (p.210), before discussing this apparent "open[ing] of the way for the introduction of the Millennium" with stalwarts of the congregation, such as Judge Clapp (p.210). 

Hayden assumes that Parley P. Pratt and Oliver Cowdery were the two men who had brought Book of Mormon copies to Mentor (p.211). Hayden notes that the two men stayed with Rigdon for a week. At Kirtland, the plans for community principles that Rigdon espoused had led to Isaac Morley opening his farm to seventeen members, who were the primary target for the preaching of this new dispensation. (Howe 1834, p.102) calls it a "common stock society".

The new doctrines of having "all things in common" and of restoring miracles to the world a s fruit and proof of true faith, found a ready welcome by this incipient "community." (p.211)

Hayden is unsure whether Rigdon at that point had already been swayed or was merely going through the motions now, though the phrase is Howe's (Howe 1834, p.102):

At this, Rigdon seemed much displeased. (p.211) 

The disagreement between the Mormon missionaries and Rigdon devolved to the problem of whether it was appropriate to pray for a sign or not (p.212), upon which the validity of this new faith rested.  Rigdon's argument, that the devil could transform into an angel, was countered by Cowdery's insistence that this was not possible, if one had asked the Heavenly Father in the name of Jesus Christ. Hayden shares the reply that Rigdon then gave (according to Eber D. Howe, and upbraids him for not sticking with his guns.

"If the Heavenly Father has ever promised to show you an angel to confirm any thing, he would not suffer you to be deceived; for John says: 'If we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us.' But," he continued, "if you should ask the Heavenly Father to show you an angel, when he has never promised such a thing---if the devil never had an opportunity before of deceiving you, you give him one now." (p.212) [= (Howe 1834, p.104), RCK]

And Hayden continues.

This was a word in season, fitly spoken; yet, strange enough! "two days afterward he was persuaded to tempt God by asking this sign. The sign appeared, and he was convinced that Mormonism was of God! ...." (p.212) [the quote is from (Howe 1834, p.104), RCK]

Hayden relates that Rigdon, "the faithless watchman, covered with the shame of his fall," let Cowdery and Pratt preach next Sunday, and afterwards being baptized into the new faith (p.213). Three weeks later he traveled to Palmyra, where Joseph Smith "had a revelation all ready for him, just suited to his own purpose and Rigdon's vanity" (p.214). And Hayden returns to Howe to see the economic incentives for the Smith family.

Thus, from almost a state of beggary, the family of Smiths were immediately well furnished with the 'fat of the land' by their fanatical followers, many of whom were wealthy. (p.214) [= (Howe 1834, p.112), RCK]

Hayden insists that only those with supernatural pretensions were duped (p.215) and that---excepting Rigdon and Pratt and Orson Hyde, the latter glossed as "two young but little known ... preachers"---the work of the Disciples stood firm (p.215). Hayden describes it almost battle-like, giving names and locations that were thus inaccessible to the Mormon incursion: Judge Clapp's family prevented inroads in Mentor; Collins held Chardon---cf (pp.223ff).

Hayden then argues the theological point that the rational reconstruction of Alexander Campbell, which had based faith on testimony (p.216), short-circuited the claim to pray for faith, which all the other pulpits seemed to preach at that time (p.216).

They [i.e. the Disciples of Christ, RCK] never "pray for faith," since "faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." having obtained faith by the appropriate testimony, they pray, in the exercise of that faith, for all the rightful objects of petition. (p.216)

The inoculation played out  as a rejoinder of advice.

No marvel, then, that when the Mormon preacher approached a disciple with the proposition to pray for a sign, or evidence of the truth of his system, he was met with an intelligent refusal so to "tempt the Lord his God." (p.216)

[[One might have suspected that the closedness of the canon that Campbell espoused would have prevented any reasons to pray for the faith in the first place; see also T. Campbell's letter (p.218). RCK]]

[[That this faith from testimony setup is part of the basic stance of Alexander Campbell is illustrated by his use of the argument in the debate with Owen. Cf. Debate on Evidences of Christianity, Bethany, Virginia (Alexander Campbell) 1829, Vol I, p.147.]]

Nevertheless, Thomas Campbell swooped in (p.216) and wintered in Mentor to stabilize the situation (p.217). When Rigdon challenged the world to disprove the new Bible, Campbell on February 4th, 1831, took him up on the challenge (p.217) [= (Howe 1834, pp.116-123), a longer version, RCK]. Campbell's basic argument was, as one might have expected,

... the all-sufficiency and the alone-sufficiency of the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, vulgarly called the Bible, to make every intelligent believer wise to salvation, thoroughly furnished for any good work. (p.218)

Given that launching point, all sects, per the usual Campbell program, were superfluous.

... we have no more need for Quakerism, Shakerism, Wilkinsonianism, Buchanism, Mormonism, or any other ism, that we have for three eyes .... (p.218)

Because the Gospel was exhaustive with respect to possible human privileges, to the permission or forbidding of human behaviors, and to the motives for encouraging obedience and discouraging disobedience, "every thing is proved that can effect our happiness here or hereafter." (p.219)

Campbell then outlined his challenges, including testing the "gifts of tongues" with three or four foreign languages; challenging the notion of "common property" as anti-scriptural [which was too early, as Smith Jr had not begun the description of consecration, which dated from February 9th, 1831, RCK]; that the loss of authority for administering baptism for fourteen hundred years contradicted Mt 16:18 (Peter as the Rock of the Church);  grouping Mormonism in terms of its "pretentious visions, humility and spiritual perfection" with "the first Shakers, Jemima Wilkinson, the French Prophets, etc"; equally rejecting the need for rebaptism or the possibility of the prerogative of the primary apostles on conveying the Holy Spirit by laying on of hands (p.219).

Thomas Campbell then pronounced one of the famous, often cited damnations of the Book of Mormon.

In the last place we shall examine the internal evidence of the book of Mormon itself, pointing out its evident contradictions, foolish absurdities, shameless pretensions to antiquity, restore it to its rightful claimant as a production beneath contempt, and utterly unworthy the reception of a school boy. (p.219)

Hayden then turns to the problem of Hiram (p.220), a region where Sidney Rigdon was very popular, and where Symonds Ryder lived, who communicated with A.S. Hayden on the events (albeit in hindsight, February 1868). Ryder describes how after initial success, the Mormons in Hiram only fell out of favor after reports surfaced that the Mormons were trying to swindle everyone out of their property (p.221), prompting the nightly attack on Joseph Smith Jr and Rigdon (cf. Bushman, Rough Stone Rolling, 2005, for a similar argument) in March of 1832.

[Symonds Ryder wrote: RCK] All who continued with the Mormons, and had any property, lost all; among whom was John Johnson, one of our most worthy men; also, Esq. Snow, of Mantua, who lost two or three thousand dollars. (p.221)  

Hayden closes the chapter (p.222) with pointing to the work of Jules Remy and Julius Brenchley, A Journey to Great Salt Lake city, London 1861, volume 1 and volume 2, which gives more analysis of the Mormons, especially their existence in Utah.

[[The recommendation is good; for example, in Vol 2, Remy and Brenchley point out (v.2, p.7f) that Mormonism sees itself as equally creed-surpassing and universal as the Campbellite attempt. RCK]]

(Continued in Part 2)

Bibliographic Record

A.S. Hayden, Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve, Ohio, Cincinnati (Chase & Hall) 1875 (Internet archive copy here).

Joseph Smith Jr the Kirtland Bully?

While in Kirtland, Joseph Smith Jr sued Doctor Philastus Hurlbut for publicly threatening to kill Joseph Smith Jr; cf. (Grua 2014, pp.141-154; Madsen 2014, p.228). However, at the same time, Joseph Smith Jr was arrayed before the court for assault and battery of his brother-in-law Calvin Stoddard (Madsen 2014, p.228) and for publicly threatening to kill Grandison Newell (Madsen 2014, p.229). What was going on?

The context of the trial with Calvin Stoddard is related in a summary of the evidence presented in the Painesville Telegraph, to which Joseph Smith Jr had written about the matter. Stoddard and Smith Jr got into a physical fight over some problem with a piece of property, and the witnesses made it out more like self-defense than assault and battery, as Stoddard had claimed. Of course, the witnesses were a brother of Joseph Smith Jr, William; his mother; and a disciple, Burgesse, that the Painesville Telegraph considered "faithful".

More serious is the matter of Grandison Newell, because it was basically the same claim that Joseph Smith Jr had just sustained against Doctor Philastus Hurlbut.

Bibliographic Record

• JS, Letter, Kirtland, OH, to editor of the Painesville Telegraph, Painesville, OH;Painesville Telegraph, 26 June 1835, p. 3.
• Gordon A. Madsen, Jeffrey Walker, John W. Welch (ed), Sustaining the law: Joseph Smith's Legal Encounters, Provo, UT (2014).
• David W. Grua, Winning against Hurlbut's Assault in 1834, pp.141-154.
• Gordon A. Madsen, Tabulating the Impact of Litigation on the Kirtland Economy, pp.227-246.

M´Chesney and the Antidote to Mormonism

In the pamphlet Antidote to Mormonism, M´Chesney for 1838 gave the same sequence of arguments that we had earlier reconstructed from John Corrill´s reminiscences.

We will relate a circumstance, that will show their presumption, and the plans they introduce to throw into disrepute, and trample under foot the word of God. We attended one of their meetings, when, by appointment, they were to prove by the scriptures that the book of Mormon was of divine authority; or, if not, there must be such a book found. The speaker, after labouring with the 28th chapter Genesis, where Jacob blessed both the sons of Joseph [actually. Gen 48, RCK]; then proceeded to the 29th of Isaiah.—Here he strove to make his hearers believe that the prophet had this book in view. He next went to the 37th chapter of Ezekiel, where he made a great handle of the prophet’s “Sticks,” and, indeed he strove hard to cause the scriptures to speak to his advantage. Truly we were much disappointed with the weakness of his arguments. (p.21)

M´Chesney also mentions the pamphlet by Parley Pratt from 1838, Mormonism Unveiled, in which the anti-Mormon pamphlet of LaRoy Sunderland is refuted (which is unfortunately not available online in any significant portion).

M´Chesney claimed to have bills from the Kirtland [anti-]banking Society in his possession (p.22).

M´Chesney cites (p.50) a professor Roy of Oriental languages who claims Mormons comes from the Hebrew and means with "the rebels" (e.g. Numbers 20:10), but the Hebrew text has hamorim.

In the appendix, M´Chesney makes his dependence on Eber D. Howe and LaRoy Sunderland explicit, and closes with a riff against Martin Harris´ claim of doom regarding the US:

Martin Harris’ Prophecy.—“Within four years from September, 1832, there will not be one wicked person in the United States; the righteous will be gathered to Zion, [Missouri;] there will be no President of the United States after that time; every sectarian and religious denomination in the United States shall be broken down; every Christian shall be gathered unto the Mormonites; and the rest of the human race shall perish.” (p.59) 

See also the discussion in Max H Perkin´s master thesis at BYU from 1960 on the nature and causes of conflict, both internally and externally, in Ohio, esp. p.54.

John Corrill on the first Eight Years of Mormon History and his Departure

John Corrill, who was nominated to be Third Bishop in Missouri in Joseph Smith Jr's,
Letter to Church Leaders in Jackson County, Missouri, 25 June 1833, wrote A brief History of the Church of Christ of Latter-day Saints, Richmond, MS, 1839. In this pamphlet, Corrill detailed his own conversion process. Corrill was struck by the continuous calling of prophets within the Biblical narratives, which made him wonder why that charisma had ceased (p.10). Corrill met the eleven witnesses personally, and felt there was no reason to demand more of them then he had of the Bible, whose authors he trusted though he had never met them (p.11). Corrill also discovered the same books as missing and thus felt that the canon was not as closed as he had assumed (p.13). Corrill also noted that in the prophetic and apocalyptic literature, the act of shutting a book indicated that new books would be a sign of the coming fulness of time (p.13); so if he was waiting for the fulness of time, the unveiling of such a book would be expected. Habakkuk 2,2 even predicted the use of tables in the KJV (ibid).

Hab 2,2: And the Lord answered me and said, write the vision, and make it plaine vpon tables, that he may runne that readeth it. 

Corrill also pointed to Ezekiel 37,15-21, which prophesied that there would be two records [though the text speaks just of sticks, RCK], one for the house of Judah, and one for the house of Jacob, and that the gathering of the records would gather Israel back together (p.13).

Ezek 37,15-21: The word of the Lord came againe vnto me, saying; Moreouer thou sonne of man, take thee one sticke, and write vpon it, For Iudah and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another sticke, and write vpon it; For Ioseph the sticke of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions. And ioyne them one to another into one sticke, and they shall become one in thine hand. And when the children of thy people shall speake vnto thee, saying, Wilt thou not shew vs what thou meanest by these? Say vnto them, Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I will take the sticke of Ioseph which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellowes, and will put them with him, euen with the sticke of Iudah, and make them one sticke, and they shall be one in mine hand. And the stickes whereon thou writest, shalbe in thine hand before their eyes. And say vnto them, Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen whither they be gone, and will gather them on euery side, and bring them into their owne land. 

Corrill can rightly say that, under these presuppositions, the Book of Mormon hardly struck one as a strange idea.

This [i.e. the Book of Mormon, RCK] looked to me very much like the record of Joseph in the hand of Ephadins (kept by his seed) that should be joined to the record of Judah (our Bible) for the restoration of the house of Israel, according to the prophecy of Ezekiel [cf. Ezekiel 37,15-21, RCK], as quoted above. ( p.13) 

Corrill also points to some of the stranger places of the Patriarchal blessing of Jacob for his sons in Genesis, esp. the bough that reaches across the wall (Gen 49,22;26) and the promise to Ephraim and Manasseh (Gen 8,11;20) [probably Gen 48,16 & 19 RCK] that they should be a plurality of nations in the middle of the Earth (p.14). (For a near-contemporary rebuttal of this interpretation, see Prof. Turner's Mormonism in all ages, New York 1842, pp.185-190.)

On this subject [i.e. the doctrines of the Gospel, RCK] the Mormons believe in the same Go, and in the same Saviour, and the same Gospel that other professors do; and they believe as firmly in the Scripture of the Old and New Testaments as any other people. They look upon their new revelations only as bringing about the fulfillment of the Bible. (p.14) 

The main difference between them [i.e. the Mormons, RCK] and other professors on the Gospel is, that they believe rather more firmly in the promises of God, especially those that require great faith for their fulfillment, than others do. Where the Scriptures hold out fair promises to the believers, they believe those promises will be fulfilled, just in proportion to their faith. (p.14) 

These promises [e.g. Mark 16,15-18; John 14,12-14; James 5,13f; RCK], the Mormons believe, are plain and sure, and the only reason why Christians do not enjoy them is, because they are wanting in faith. (p.15) 

Corrill then turns to an enumeration of the scriptural references of a gathering in the last days, such as in Ezekiel 37; Isaiah 2 and 11; Micha 4; Jeremiah 16; or Ephesians 1 (p.15), and found the expectation convincing.

In terms of the morality of it, Corrill was struck by the condemnation of the whoredoms of David and Solomon [though this sounds suspiciously like a retro-projection given the polygamy of later times, but the book was published in 1839, RCK] (p.16).

Corrill claims that the old inhabitants of Jackson County were willing to sell when the number of the Mormons increased, but that the Mormons were poor and had no ability to buy the offered lands (p.19).

The people of Clay [county, RCK] gave the Mormons employment, and paid them good wages; and by their industry they made themselves comfortable, with the exception of some families that found it difficult to get shelter. The number driven out was about twelve hundred. (p.20)

Corrill gives a detailed description of the cost of effort and the size of the temple in Kirtland, and descriptions of the interior, before admitting that he was in charge of finishing the construction during the summer of 1835 (pp.21-22).

After sketching the various organizing bodies of the church (p.24) and hoping that they would check and balance each other (p.25), Corrill notes that the New Testament was somewhat unclear on the priesthood other than the one of Melchizedek and Jesus in the letter to the Hebrews, and that thus ``every man is left to judge for himself'' (p.25).

Corrill gives an indication of the desperate economic situation in Kirtland after the temple had been completed.

Notwithstanding they [i.e. the church, RCK] was deeply in debt, they had so managed to keep up their credit, so they concluded to try mercantile business. [This is puzzling, because the United Firm was doing mercantile business back in 1834 already. RCK] Accordingly, they ran in debt in New York and elsewhere, some thirty thousand dollars, for || goods, and shortly after, some fifty or sixty thousand more, as I was informed; but they did not fully understand the mercantile business, and withal, they suffered pride to arise in their hearts, and became desirous of fine houses, and fine clothes, and indulged too mcuh in these things, supposing for a few months that they were very rich. They also spent some thousands of dollars in building a steam mill [never heard that before, RCK], which never profited them anything. They also bought many farms at extravagant prices, and made part payments, which they afterwards lost, by not being able to meet the remaining payments. They also got up a bank, for which they could get no charter, so they issued their paper without a charter, and, of course, they could not collect their pay on notes received for loans, and, after struggling with it awhile, they broke down. (Corrill 1834, pp.26-27) 

Eventually, Smith and Rigdon had to escape their obligations to Missouri, and moved to Far West in March or April of 1838.

Corrill then gives a rough overview of the Missouri War, and the eventual expulsion of the Mormons. Corrill puts some of the blame for the escalation on the arrival of Smith and Rigdon from Kirtland (p.29), who now began to move against dissenters directly or indirectly, on the one hand through claiming God's support against their enemies (p.29), and through Rigdon's ``salt sermon'' (p.30), and indirectly through supporting the formation of what would eventually become known as the Danites (pp.30-32), a situation Corrill compared to a monarchy (p.32).

By July 4th, Rigdon was preaching a war of extermination as the response to vexations (p.32), and by election time, the Danites and their gentile neighbors were at each others' throats (p.33). In the context of the lack of support from the governor regarding the expulsion of the Mormons from Dewitt (p.35) and Carroll county (p.36), the Mormons were ready to turn against the internal dissenters as well.

Now they meant to do it [i.e. take care of themselves, RCK], for they found that they could get help from no other quarter. Moreover, they said, that they had out that several members of the church had dissented in feeling, and were operating against them by carrying evil reports to their enemies, thereby increasing the excitement, and endangering their lives; and now, they were determined to clear them out or spill their blood in the streets; moreover they meant to make clean work now, and expel the mob from Davies and then from Caldwell county. (p.34) 

After a public meeting on Monday, following a Sunday sermon by Joseph Smith Jr on sentiments as quoted above, on Tuesday armed Mormons went into Gallatin and Grindstone Fork, among other places, to carry of property, burn a store and plunder (p.37).

I heard nothing from the leaders, but in the camp it was said that they meant not only to scatter the mob, but also to destroy those places that harbored them; that Gallatin and Millport were of that number; that the time had arrived for the riches of the gentiles to be consecrated to the house of Israel, but they mean to confine themselves to the mob characters in their plundering. They conjectured that mob after mob, as they termed it, would arise against them, which they would have to subdue, one after another, even till they should reach St Louis, where Wight said he meant to winter. (p.38) 

By Friday of the same week, the Mormons were plundering and cabin burning in Davies county (p.38).

It appeared to me also that the love of pillage grew upon them very fast, for they plundered every kind of property they could get hold of, and burnt many cabins in Davies, some say eighty, and some say one hundred and fifty. (p.38) 

A group of arsons called the ``Destructionists'', under the leader, the ``Destroying Angel'', were gathered, to set Buncum on fire when the militias left it behind (p.38).

After briefly sketching how Far West was surrounded (40), where the extermination order from Boggs (p.41) was ignored and the leaders thrown in jail (p.42), Corrill mentions a few more religious details (pp.45-48), before closing his pamphlet and taking his leave from the church.

I have left you, not because I disbelieve the bible, for I believe in God, the Saviour, and religion the same as ever; but when I retrace our track, and view the doings of the church for six years past, I can see nothing that convinces me that God has been our leader; calculation after calculation has failed, and plan after plan has been overthrown, and our prophet, seemed not to know the event till too late. If he said go up and prosper, still we did not prosper; but have labored and toiled, and waded through trials, difficulties, and temptations, of various kinds, in hope of deliverance. But no deliverance came. The promises failed, and time after time we have been disappointed; and still were commanded, in the most rigid manner, to follow him, which the church did, until many were led into the commission of crime; have been apprehended and broken down by their opponents, and many have been obliged to abandon their country, their families, and all they possessed, and great affliction has been brought upon the whole church. What shall we say to these things? Did not your prophet proclaim in your ears that the day was your own, and you should overcome; when in less than a week you were all made prisoners of war, and you would have been exterminated, had it not been for the exertions and influence of a few dissenters, and the humane and manly spirit of a certain officer [i.e. General Lucas, cf. p.42, RCK]? (p.48) 

Atwater on Ohio's Antiquities

Caleb Atwater's 1819 memoire in the Archaeologia Americana (Vol I, 1820), entitled Description of the Antiquities discovered in the State of Ohio and other Western States (Uncle Dale Broadhurst has excerpts of Atwater's memoire, too, of course), works with a tri-partition of the antiquities, based on who produced them (p.111).

• Indians of the Present Days
• Europeans
• the Mound Builders 

Atwater is familiar (p.113) with the theory that the Indians came via the Bering Strait and does not reject it at least. 

Atwater knows that the French were operating a colony in Indian country from a book by a French Jesuit, published in Paris in 1655 (p.115). It is this almost 300 years of intercourse with the Europeans that explains the intermingling of European artifacts in the finds at Indian antiquities (p.115), specifically medals which the French explorers placed (p.117), several inches across and made out of metal, when the French claimed a fort, tumulus or river mouth for the French crown. Atwater is of course aware that not all medals need to have been placed where they were retrieved, and cites some Spanish examples (p.119).

Finds of European antiquities were not limited to medals.

Swords, gun barrels, knives, pickaxes, and implements of war, are often found along the banks of the Ohio, which had been left there by the French, when they had forts at Pittsburgh, Ligonier, St. Vincents, &c. (p.119)

From a condemnation of the various forms in which such finds are placed---e.g. Roman coins---(pp.119f),  Atwater then points out that anything with alphabetical writing on it found so far was European in origin.

 In one word, I will venture to assert, that there never has been found a medal, coin, or monument, in all North America, which had on it one or more letters, belonging to any alphabet, now or ever in use among men of any age or country, that did not belong to Europeans or their descendants, and had been brought or made here since the discovery of America by Christopher Columbus. (p.120)

In terms of civilization, Atwater considers the Mound Builders to be between the present-day Indians and the Europeans (p.120)

a people far more civilized than our Indians, but far less so than Europeans (p.120)

As a result, their material culture is of general interest,

to the Antiquarian, the Philosopher, and the Divine (p.120)

Atwater considers the

total absence of all historical records, or even traditionary accounts respecting them (p.121)

an interesting feature, before noting that they are found all over the habited world.

They [i.e. these Antiquities, RCK] were once forts, cemeteries, temples, altars, camps, towns, villages, race grounds, and other places of amusement, habitations of chieftains, videttes, watch towers, monuments, etc. These ancient works, especially the mounds, both of earth and stone, are found in every quarter of the habitable world. (p.121)

Atwater believes that the mound builders came from Asia and clashed with the ancestors of the modern-day Indians somewhere on the eastern side of the Alleghanies (p.122). Moving westwards,

a few small works are occasionally found, especially in Genesee county [this is the 1820 Genesee county!]; but they are few and small, until we arrive at the mouth of the Catarangus creek (p.122)

Atwater then notes that these works increase in density and size from the Lake Erie down to the "Mexican Gulph" as one proceed southwards. (p.122) Atwater was clear about the fact that the depth of burial allowed the distinction between present-day Indians (shallow) or Mound Builders (several feet deep) for material artefacts and skeletons (p.125).

Atwater discredits the idea that a polished piece of marble [a clear sign of a civilization like the Roman or Greek, RCK] was found in Medina county, Ohio; taking it instead to be

a composition of clay and sulphate of lime or plaster of Paris (p.126)

Atwater then turns to individual notable sites, beginning with the Ancient Works near Newark, Ohio (p.126).

Important Pictures in Roger Launius' Illustrated History

The pamphlet version of Roger Launius' An Illustrated History of the Kirtland Temple from 1986 has a few images that are worth having or knowing about.

There are two images of the interior basement on (p.7), showing the foundation and support beams in the upper image and the rock masonry pillars used for support on the bottom.

There is the detail of the columns in the sanctuary of the Kirtland Temple (p.8), which shows more of the column and the context than this picture from the web.

A picture taken in 1900 of the interior of the restored Kirtland Temple, which had been taken over by the RLDS in the 1880s, shows kerosene lamps to light the sanctuary (p.9).

On (p.14), Launius shows the earliest known photograph of the Kirtland Temple from the RLDS archives, from 1875. The house on the right of the temple was a Methodist meeting house. The house on the left, Launius speculates, may have been the church's bank building in the 1830s.

There is the longitudinal section on (p.17), courtesy of the Historic American Buildings Survey of 1934, though Launius only shows the left half of that image. Launius also cites the Architectural Forum Magazine from March 1836, as assessing the quality of the work done.

The workmanship, moldings and carving show unusual skill in their execution. Many motives are used in the various parts, varying in outline, contour and design, but blended harmoniously. (p.17)

Launius tries to give a picture of the staircase on (p.18), but this picture of the staircase that I found on gives a better idea of the space.

Launius shows how the doors to the pews are arranged in the sanctuary (p.22).

Launius provides a picture of the pulpits on (p.23), but the pictures of the pulpits and their context on the web are more expressive.

Bibliographic Record

Roger D. Launius, Illustrated History of the Kirtland Temple, Independence, MS (Herald Publishing House), 1986, 216 pages.

Roger D. Launius, An Illustrated History of the Kirtland Temple: Photographs from the RLDS Archives and the Graphic Design Commission, Independence, MS (Herald Publishing House), 1986, 34 pages.