The Kirtland Safety Society (KSS) was first proposed as a bank in 1836, and eventually organized on January 2, 1837, as a joint stock company, by leaders and followers of the then-named Church of the Latter Day Saints. According to KSS's 1837 "Articles of Agreement", it was intended to serve the financial needs of the growing Latter Day Saint community in Kirtland, Ohio. Its preamble stated it was:... for the promotion of our temporal interests, and for the better management of our different occupations, which consist in agriculture, mechanical arts, and merchandising.

Frederick Granger Williams was an early leader of the Latter Day Saint movement, serving in the First Presidency of the Church of the Latter Day Saints from 1833 to 1837.