^Lot 315 Brigham Young

Religious leader (1801–1877) who became President of the LDS Church after the death of its founder, Joseph Smith, in 1844. Young led the mass migration of Mormons to the Great Salt Lake Valley in Utah, establishing the church’s stronghold in that state. By the time of his death in 1877, the Mormon population in Utah had reached 140,000. Handsome partly-printed DS, one page, 10 x 6.5, October 1, 1871. Stock certificate, printed by Mills and Co. of Des Moines, Iowa, for 5 five shares of the Zion’s Co-Operative Mercantile Institution, issued to Lewis S. Hills. Signed at the conclusion by Young as the company’s president. In fine condition, with several vertical folds, two passing through single letters of signature, light show-through from docketing on reverse, and some mild toning.

In 1868, Young founded the Zions Cooperative Mercantile Institution (ZCMI) in an attempt to create a fairer business atmosphere for Mormons in Utah. By banding together and pooling their resources, Morman businesses were able to place orders large enough to deter non-Mormon wholesalers from price gouging, a problem that had plagued the Mormon business community until that point. As this church-promoted wholesale and retail house grew in strength, all the independent businesses melded into what would become ‘America’s First Department Store.’ This ZCMI Stock Certificate, issued to Lewis S. Hill, bookkeeper for the Zion’s Cooperative Banking Institution, is one of only a handful known to exist outside the Mormon Church’s archives, and is by far the finest of those.