Skip to content
  • Give me access to SECRET EPISODES
  • Episodes
  • Watch
  • Listen
  • Subscribe
  • Episodes
  • Watch
  • Listen
  • Subscribe
  • Give me access to SECRET EPISODES
PrevPrevious EpisodeKirtland Banking Crisis (Part 2): Why it Failed
Next Expisode3 New Paperbacks!Next

Kirtland Banking Crisis (Part 3): Joseph Blamed

Table of Contents: Kirtland Banking Crisis (Part 3): Joseph Blamed

Click to Support
Gospel Tangents

Here’s our final episode on the Kirtland Banking Scandal.  (Here is Part 1.)  I always blamed Joseph’s financial troubles on lack of business sense, but it seems like there were other people conspiring against him.  Given the reasons cited in our previous episode, Grandison Newell trying to create a run on the bank, as well as John Johnson selling lands that was serving as collateral for the bank, why was Joseph blamed? Are there other reasons that we need to talk about?  Dr. Mark Staker, anthropologist at the LDS Church History Library said,

Whether guilt or compassion for everybody else or whatever, he begins to take on the debts of all these individuals who have been losing money under his—people who have gotten loans to operate businesses, and probably primarily it was the church, he’s calling in all those debts to try to settle the books.

Newell took Joseph to court.

Now did that exonerate Joseph for operating the institution without a bank charter?  No because he ended up being tried and convicted for that.  But did Joseph have honorable intentions through the whole thing?  Absolutely.  He tried to make every effort to pay off all the debts that were incurred in the process and even the very last night of his life, while he was laying on the floor in Carthage Jail, he’s still dreaming about those Kirtland troubles and he’d been weeks before that sending letters out to people and warning people not to take Kirtland bank notes.  They weren’t good anymore.  It haunted him for a long time afterward.

It was a very interesting episode!  I’d like to thank Dr. Mark Staker for spending so much time telling us about the Kirtland Era of Mormonism!  Check out the video below, or a transcript at Amazon or here on our website!

YouTube player

https://gospeltangents.com/shop/transcripts/kirtland-banking-crisis-part-3-joseph-blamed/

 

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 7:50 — 7.3MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Email | RSS | More

Love this? Donate or Subscribe

Do you love the friendly, non-bashing interviews about Mormonism here on Gospel Tangents? 
Please show your support for Gospel Tangents by becoming a donor or subscriber:

Make me a Donor
Make me a Subscriber
No related products found.

More Podcasts with these Guests:

  • Surprising Kirtland History (2017 interview with Mark Staker)
  • *Staker Weighs in on First Vision (Part 5 of 5)
  • Lucy's Dreams, Joseph Sr's Rational Religion (Part 4 of 5)
  • Smith Farmers Were Spiritual Not Religious (Part 3 of 5)
  • When Joseph Met Lucy (Part 2 of 5)

Get more information on the people and things discussed in this episode:

  • Guest: Mark Staker
  • Kirtland Banking Crisis, Kirtland Ohio
  • Historical Mentions Mormon History
  • Tags: GT Podcast, iTunes, Kirtland Bank, Mark Staker

Tell me when the next episode drops!

PrevPrevious EpisodeKirtland Banking Crisis (Part 2): Why it Failed
Next Expisode3 New Paperbacks!Next
  • Date: April 1, 2017
  • Guest: Mark Staker
  • Kirtland Banking Crisis, Kirtland Ohio
  • Historical Mentions Mormon History
  • Tags: GT Podcast, iTunes, Kirtland Bank, Mark Staker
  • Posted By: RickB

Subscribe

I passed my class! Please help support Gospel Tangents and subscribe to the podcast!

Rick Bennett, Host

Rick Bennett is the friendly host of Gospel Tangents LDS Podcast: The Best Source for Mormon History, Science, and Theology. Book Rick for your fireside or conference.

More Interviews

  • Ben Spackman
  • David Ostler
  • Denver Snuffer
  • Lachlan McKay
  • Lindsay Hansen Park
  • Margaret Toscano
  • Richard Bushman
  • Sally Gordon
  • Terryl Givens
  • Ugo Perego...
View all 100+ Interviewees

Proud to be an Amazon Associate

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Subscribe

Go ad-free, get written transcripts, and talk to Rick one-on-one!
Stop Seeing Ads

Rick Bennett, Host of Gospel Tangents

Rick Bennett is the friendly, independent historian at the heart of Gospel Tangents LDS Podcast: The Best Source for Mormon History, Science, and Theology. When he isn't interviewing Mormon scholars, prophets, and others, he is teaching math and statistics at Utah Valley University. He also freelances as a research biostatistician in the fields of Dermatology and Traumatic Brian Injuries, as well as in the network television/cable T.V. industries as a sports statistician. Rick holds a Master of Statistics Degree from the University of Utah.

Contact Rick
Book Rick for your Event
Podcast Episodes
0 +
People Interviewed
0 +
  • Home
  • About
  • Episodes
  • Subscribe
  • Fan Shop
  • Book Rick
  • Contact Us
  • Home
  • About
  • Episodes
  • Subscribe
  • Fan Shop
  • Book Rick
  • Contact Us
Copyright 2025, Gospel Tangents. All Rights Reserved.