Gary Dean Guthrie discusses the failure of the Kirtland Bank; notes that the blame was placed largely on Joseph by many Church leaders.
Gary Dean Guthrie, "Joseph Smith as an Administrator" (M.A. Thesis; Brigham Young University, May, 1969), 80, 81, 82, 85, 86, 88
The State legislature refused the Kirtland Safety Society its charter upon which the name of the bank was changed to Kirtland Anti-Banking Society. . . . Joseph and Sidney Rigdon were tried in court for violating the law, were found guilty and fined $1,000. They appealed on the grounds that the institution was an association and not a bank; the plea was never ruled upon as the bank suspended payments and closed its doors. Other lawsuits followed. . . . During the summer of 1837, Joseph spent much of his time away from Kirtland to avoid these lawsuits. . . . Apostles Luke S. Johnson, Lyman E. Johnson, and John F. Boynton were rejected and disfellowshipped . . . The blame of the bank failure fell heavily on Joseph. He had issued a formal invitation to his followers to take stock in the venture and the institution had been organized outside the law. Heber C. Kimball later was to comment that at this moment, “there were not twenty persons on earth that would declare that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God.” Six of the apostles came out in open rebellion. . . . Joseph first established the bank by revelation and then had to later admit that because of poor management and other internal and external conditions the project was a failure.