The Whitmer family sold their farm in Fayette, NY, and moved to Kirtland, OH where they donated their funds to Joe’s church, though he and Sidney Rigdon had no prior business experience.
In early 1834 Smith wrote Literary Firm members that ‘we have run into debt for the press’ and ‘have received but a very few dollars for the [Evening and Morning] Star and printing.’ The prophet’s younger brother, Samuel H. Smith, and David Whitmer were appointed agents to sell newspaper subscriptions and collect money. Their efforts saved the enterprise until the partners terminated their stewardships in 1836 and the Literary Firm dissolved (Van Wagoner, Sidney Rigdon, 1994, p. 178).