- THE PROPHET BECOMES A BANKER.
- Apostates and Capitalists bring him to Grief
- Sidney Rigdon's Interesting View of a "Circulating Medium"
- He assures Mr. Jones that the Bank-notes were never intended for Redemption
- The Kirtland Safety Society Bank repudiated
- Joseph and Sidney fly to Missouri
- Pursued by Armed Men
- Extraordinary Escapes
- "The Lord" protects them.
Some time preceding the apostacy, the Prophet had added to his responsibilities that of being the cashier of a Safety Society Bank, of which his counsellor Sidney Rigdon was President. In connection with this some very hard stories are told about Joseph and the leading men, and Joseph is in turn as severe against the "apostates " and the Gentiles who conspired to break his bank and get him into trouble. The bank was not a success; indeed, it was altogether a failure, and Joseph and Sidney were obliged, through the operations of apostates" and bankers, to leave very hurriedly for Missouri—"between two days." The evening of the 12th of January, 1838, found them on the wing; and Brigham had left precipitately three weeks before that. The necessity for flight was somewhat pressing, as the historian states that the cashier and president made about sixty miles the first night, and "their "enemies" continued the pursuit for about two hundred miles. The pursuers were often close upon the fugitives, and sometimes passed them on the road. On one occasion they stopped with them all night in the same road-side inn, with only a thin partition between the two parties, and once they even overtook and examined them without recognizing their features. For these wonderful escapes "the Lord" is duly credited. He protected His servants, and blinded their pursuers.
This banking episode in Kirtland clearly shows the confi-
