Misplaced Pages

Revision as of 22:08, 31 December 2015

This article is part of a series on
Joseph Smith
1805 to 1827 1827 to 1830 1831 to 1837 1838 to 1839 1839 to 1844
Death Legal Polygamy Wives Children Teachings Miracles Prophecies Bibliography Chronology
Outline Category Latter Day Saints portal
v t e

The death of Joseph Smith on June 27, 1844, marked a turning point for the Latter Day Saint movement, of which Smith was the founder and leader. When he was attacked and killed by a mob, Smith was the mayor of Nauvoo, Illinois, and running for President of the United States. He was killed while jailed in Carthage, Illinois, on charges relating to his ordering the destruction of facilities producing the Nauvoo Expositor, a newspaper whose first and only edition revealed Smith was practicing polygamy and claimed that he intended to set himself up as a theocratic king. Smith voluntarily surrendered to the authorities at the county seat at Carthage to face the charges against him. While he was in jail awaiting trial, an armed mob of men with painted faces stormed the jail and shot him and his brother Hyrum to death. Latter Day Saints generally view Joseph and Hyrum as martyrs.

Incarceration at Carthage Jail

Illinois Governor Thomas Ford proposed a trial by a non-Mormon jury in Carthage, the county seat, and guaranteed Smith's safety. Smith originally planned on leaving rather than surrendering but when criticized by some followers was reported to have said, "If my life is of no value to my friends it is of none to myself." Smith reluctantly agreed and submitted to arrest, and was further quoted as saying, "I am going like a lamb to the slaughter; but I am calm as a summer’s morning; I have a conscience void of offense towards God, and towards all men. I shall die innocent, and it shall yet be said of me—he was murdered in cold blood."

On June 25, 1844, Joseph and Hyrum Smith, along with the other fifteen city council members and some friends, surrendered to Carthage constable William Bettisworth on the original charge of riot. During the trip to Carthage, Smith reportedly recounted a dream in which he and his brother Hyrum escaped a burning ship, walked on water, and arrived at a great heavenly city. Upon arrival at Carthage, almost immediately Joseph and Hyrum were charged with treason against the state of Illinois for declaring martial law in Nauvoo, by a warrant founded upon the oaths of A. O. Norton and Augustine Spencer. At a preliminary hearing that afternoon, the city council members were released on $500 bonds, pending later trial. The judge ordered the Smith brothers to be held in jail until they could be tried for treason, which was a capital offense.

The Smith brothers were held at the Carthage Jail and were joined there by Willard Richards, John Taylor, and John Solomon Fullmer. Governor Ford left for Nauvoo not long after Smith went to stay at the jail. The anti-Mormon "Carthage Greys", a local militia, were assigned to protect Smith.

Dan Jones, who was present, relayed to Governor Ford several threats against Joseph Smith made by members of the Carthage Greys, all of which were dismissed by Ford.

Attack

Before a trial could be held, a mob of about 200 armed men, their faces painted black with wet gunpowder, stormed the jail in the late afternoon of June 27, 1844. As the mob was approaching, the jailer became nervous, and informed Smith of the group. In a letter dated July 10, 1844, one of the jailers wrote that Smith, expecting the Nauvoo Legion, said, "Don't trouble yourself ... they've come to rescue me." Smith was unaware that Jonathan Dunham, major general of the Nauvoo Legion, did not dispatch the unit to Carthage to protect him. Allen Joseph Stout later contended that by remaining inactive, Dunham violated an official order written by Smith after he was jailed in Carthage.

The Carthage Greys reportedly feigned defense of the jail by firing shots or blanks over the attackers' heads, and some of the Greys reportedly joined the mob, who rushed up the stairs.

The mob first attempted to push the door open to fire into the room, though Joseph Smith and the other prisoners pushed back and prevented the door from opening. Then a member of the mob fired a shot through the door. Hyrum Smith was shot in the face, just to the left of his nose, which threw him to the floor. He cried out, "I am a dead man!" and collapsed. He died almost immediately, cradled in his brother's arms.

Joseph Smith, Taylor, and Richards attempted to defend themselves. Taylor and Richards used a long walking stick in order to deflect the guns as they were thrust inside the cell, from behind the door. Smith used a small pepper-box pistol that Cyrus Wheelock gave him when Wheelock visited the jail earlier that day. Three of the six barrels misfired, but the other three shots injured at least three of the attackers.

Taylor was shot four or five times and was severely injured, but survived. It has been popularly believed that one shot was stopped by his pocket watch, which is on display in the LDS Church History Museum in Salt Lake City; the watch was broken and was used to help identify the time of the attack. In 2010, forensic research by J. Lynn Lyon of the University of Utah and Mormon historian Glen M. Leonard suggested that Taylor's watch was not struck by a ball, but rather broke against the window ledge. Columbia University historian Richard Bushman, the author of Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling, also supports this view. Richards, physically the largest, escaped unscathed as he was pushed behind the door when it was forced open.

After using all of the shots in his pistol, Joseph Smith made his way towards the window. As Smith prepared to jump down, Richards reported that he was shot twice in the back and a third bullet, fired from a musket on the ground outside, hit him in the chest.

Taylor and Richards's accounts both report that as Smith fell from the window, he called out, "Oh Lord, my God!". Some have alleged that the context of this statement was an attempt by Smith to use a Masonic distress signal.

There are varying accounts of what happened next. Taylor and Richards's accounts state that Smith was dead when he landed after his fall. One eyewitness, William Daniels, wrote in his 1845 account that Smith was alive when mob members propped his body against a nearby well, assembled a makeshift firing squad, and shot him before fleeing. Daniels's account also states that one man tried to decapitate Smith for a bounty, but was prevented by divine intervention. There were additional reports that thunder and lightning frightened the mob off. Mob members fled, shouting, "The Mormons are coming," although there was no such force nearby.

After the attack was over, Richards, who was trained as a medical doctor, went back to see if anyone besides himself had survived, and he found Taylor lying on the floor. Richards dragged Taylor into the prison cell (they had not been held in the cell, but in the guard's room across the hallway). Richards dragged Taylor under some of the straw mattress to put pressure on his wounds and slow the bleeding and then went to get help. Both Richards and Taylor survived, and Taylor eventually became the third president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). Richards had escaped all harm except for a bullet grazing his ear.

Injuries to mob members

There have been conflicting reports about to what extent members of the mob were injured during the attack, and whether any of them were killed. Shortly after the events occurred, Taylor wrote that he heard that two of the attackers died when Joseph Smith shot them with his pistol.

Most accounts seem to agree that at least three mob members were wounded by Smith's gunfire, but there is no other evidence that any of them died as a result of the attack. John Wills was shot in the arm, William Voras was shot in the shoulder, and William Gallaher was shot in the face. Others claimed that a fourth unnamed man was also wounded. Wills, Voras, Gallaher, and a Mr. Allen (possibly the fourth man) were all indicted for the murder of the Smiths. Wills, Voras, and Gallaher, perhaps conscious that their wounds could prove that they were involved in the mob, fled the county after being indicted and were never brought to trial. Apart from Taylor's report of what he had heard, there is no evidence that Wills, Voras, Gallaher, or Allen died from their wounds.

Interment

Joseph and Hyrum Smith's bodies were returned to Nauvoo the next day. The bodies were cleaned and examined, and death masks were made, preserving their facial features and structures.

A public viewing was held on June 29, 1844, after which empty coffins weighted with sandbags were used at the public burial. (This was done to prevent theft or mutilation of the bodies.) The coffins bearing the bodies of the Smith brothers were initially buried under the unfinished Nauvoo House, then disinterred and deeply reburied under an out-building on the Smith homestead.

In 1928, Frederick M. Smith, president of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (RLDS Church) and grandson of Joseph Smith, fearing that rising water from the Mississippi River would destroy the grave site, authorized civil engineer William O. Hands to conduct an excavation to find the Smiths' bodies. Hands conducted extensive digging on the Smith homestead, and located the bodies, as well as finding the remains of Joseph's wife, Emma, who was buried in the same place. The remains—which were badly decomposed—were examined and photographed, and the bodies were reinterred close by in Nauvoo.

Responsibility and trial

After the deaths, much speculation was made about who was responsible. Governor Ford was accused of knowing about the plot to kill Smith, and some said he even approved of it. Ford denied this, but he later wrote that it was good for the Mormons to have been driven out of the state and said that their beliefs and actions were too different to have survived in Illinois. He said Smith was "the most successful impostor in modern times," and that some people "expect more protection from the laws than the laws are able to furnish in the face of popular excitement."

Ultimately, five defendants—Thomas C. Sharp, Mark Aldrich, William N. Grover, Jacob C. Davis and Levi Williams—were tried for the murder of the Smiths. All five defendants were found not guilty by a jury. The trial jury was composed exclusively of non-Mormons after the defense counsel convinced the judge to dismiss the initial jury, which included Mormons. The defense was led by Orville Hickman Browning, later a United States Senator and cabinet member.

Consequences in the Latter Day Saint movement

After the death of the Smiths, a succession crisis occurred in the Latter Day Saint movement. Hyrum Smith, the Assistant President of the Church, was intended to succeed Joseph as President of the Church, but because he was killed with his brother, the proper succession procedure became unclear.

Initially, the primary contenders to succeed Joseph Smith were Sidney Rigdon, Brigham Young, and James Strang. Rigdon was the senior surviving member of the First Presidency, a body that had led the church since 1832. At the time of the Smiths' deaths, Rigdon was estranged from Smith due to differences in doctrinal beliefs. Young, president of the Quorum of the Twelve, claimed authority was handed by Smith to the Quorum of the Twelve. Strang claimed that Smith designated him as the successor in a letter that was received by Strang a week before Smith's death. Later, others came to believe that Smith's son, Joseph Smith III, was the rightful successor under the doctrine of lineal succession.

A schism resulted, with each claimant attracting followers. The majority of Latter Day Saints followed Young; these adherents later emigrated to Utah Territory and continued as the LDS Church. Rigdon's followers were known as Rigdonites, some of which later established The Church of Jesus Christ. Strang's followers established the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Strangite). In the 1860s, those who felt that Smith should have been succeeded by Joseph Smith III established the RLDS Church, which later changed its name to Community of Christ.

See also

• Latter Day Saint martyrs
• A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief
• Praise to the Man

Notes

1. Quinn (1994, p. 119)
2. ^ Cite error: The named reference HoLDS was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
3. Doctrine and Covenants 135:4 (LDS Church ed.).
4. Phelps, William Wines (1862). "Almanac for the year 1863". Great Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret News: 27–28. Retrieved 13 July 2011. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
5. Six other associates accompanied the Smiths: John P. Greene, Stephen Markham, Dan Jones, John S. Fullmer, Dr. Southwick, and Lorenzo D. Wasson
6. Hill, Marvin S. "Carthage Conspiracy Reconsidered: A Second Look at the Murder of Joseph and Hyrum Smith" (PDF). Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society (Summer 2005). Illinois State Historical Society. Retrieved 2012-02-07.
7. B. H. Roberts, A Comprehensive History of the Church, chapter 56.
8. ^ Dr. Quinn, D. Michael (1992). "On Being a Mormon Historian (And Its Aftermath)". In Smith, George D. (ed.). Faithful History: Essays on Writing Mormon History. Salt Lake City: Signature Books. p. 141.
9. "Journal of Allen Joseph Stout," Journal for Period 1815–1848, Published by the Book of Abraham Project at Brigham Young University, retrieved December 15, 2007.
10. Doctrine and Covenants 135:1 (LDS Church ed.).
11. Oaks and Hill, 20.
12. Oaks and Hill, 21.
13. ^ Oaks and Hill, 52.
14. Lyon, "Physical Evidence at Carthage Jail and What It Reveals about the Assassinations of the Prophet Joseph Smith and Hyrum Smith," BYU Education Week, 16 August 2010.
15. This connection was first made by Reed C. Durham in his presidential address, "Is There No Hope for the Widow's Son," delivered at the Mormon History Association convention in Nauvoo, Illinois, 20 April 1974. (University of Utah Marriott Library, Manuscripts Division, Reed C. Durham Papers, Accn 444.) See also "Why was Joseph Smith a Mason?", from Sunday Sermons, by Cordell and Janice Vail, http://www.vcaa.com/epistles/sss/ss-masons.htm, dated 23 Nov 2003, retrieved December 15, 2007.
16. William M. Daniels (1845). A Correct Account of the Murder of Generals Joseph and Hyrum Smith, at Carthage on the 27th Day of June, 1844 (Nauvoo, Ill.: John Taylor).
17. Oaks and Hill, 89, 127, 132–33, 136, 144, 165–66.
18. Richards, 1844; D&C 135; Oaks and Hill, 1979; Quinn, 1994.
19. CHC 2:285 n.19
20. CHC 2:285 n.19.
21. Oaks and Hill, 52, 79.
22. Starr, Lance (2003), Was Joseph Smith a Martyr or a Murderer (PDF), Foundation for Apologetic Information & Research (FAIR)
23. Stevenson, Adlai Ewing (17 December 1909). Something of men I have known (2nd ed.). CHICAGO: R. R. DONNELLEY & SONS COMPANY. pp. 211–212.
24. Flanders, Robert Bruce (1975). Nauvoo: KINGDOM ON THE MISSISSIPPI (illustrated ed.). University of Illinois: University of Illinois Press. p. 306. ISBN 0-252-00561-9.
25. See Dallin H. Oaks and Marvin S. Hill (1975). Carthage Conspiracy: The Trial of the Accused Assassins of Joseph Smith. (Urbana: University of Illinois Press); Marvin S. Hill. "Carthage Conspiracy Reconsidered: A Second Look at the Murder of Joseph and Hyrum Smith", Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society, Summer 2004.
26. Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine (2d ed., 1966, Salt Lake City: Bookcraft) s.v. "Assistant President of the Church".

References

• Burton, Richard F. (1862). The City of the Saints, and Across the Rocky Mountains to California. New York: Harper & Brothers..
• Ford, Thomas (1854). A History of Illinois, from its Commencement as a State in 1818 to 1847. Chicago: S.C. Griggs & Co. ISBN 0-252-02140-1..
• John S. Fullmer (1855). The Assassination of Joseph and Hyrum Smith, The Prophet and the Patriarch of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. London: Latter-day Saints' Book Depot. (The Winmill Family Home Page). Archived from the original on 2009-10-28.
• Godfrey, Kenneth W. (1999). "Correspondence between William R. Hamilton and Samuel H. B. Smith Regarding the Martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum Smith" (PDF). Nauvoo Journal. 11 (2): 83–92.
• Hill, Marvin S. "Carthage Conspiracy Reconsidered: A Second Look at the Murder of Joseph and Hyrum Smith", Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society, Summer 2004.
• Jessee, Dean C. (1981). "Return to Carthage: Writing the History of Joseph Smith's Martyrdom". Journal of Mormon History. 8: 3–20..
• Littlefield, Lyman O. (1882). The martyrs: a sketch of the lives and a full account of the martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum Smith, together with a concise review of the most prominent incidents connected with the persecution of saints, from the time the Church was organized up to the year 1846. Salt Lake City: Juvenile Instructor Office..
• Oaks, Dallin H. and Hill, Marvin S. (1979). Carthage Conspiracy: The Trial of the Accused Assassins of Joseph Smith. Urbana, Illinois: University of Illinois Press. ISBN 0-252-00762-X.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• Richards, Willard (August 1, 1844). "Two Minutes in Jail". Times and Seasons. Richards's account of Smith's death. PDF scan of original 1844 newspaper entry.
• Smith, Lucy Mack (1901). History of Joseph Smith. Salt Lake City, Utah: Bookcraft. ISBN 0-88494-033-0.
• Starr, Lance. "Was Joseph Smith a Martyr or a Murderer?" (PDF). The Foundation for Apologetic Information & Research. Retrieved August 22, 2005.
• Tanner, Jerald and Sandra (1981). The Changing World of Mormonism (chapter 17). Moody Press. ISBN 0-8024-1234-3.
• Taylor, John (1845). "An Eyewitness Account". History of the Church (7 vols.). Taylor's account of Smith's death.
• Tracy, Shannon M. (1995). In Search of Joseph. Orem, Utah: KenningHouse. ISBN 1-57636-005-9.
• Wicks, Robert S., Fred R. Foister (2005). Junius And Joseph: Presidential Politics And The Assassination Of The First Mormon Prophet. Logan, Utah: Utah State University Press. ISBN 0-87421-608-7.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link).

Further reading

• Beam, Alex (2014), American Crucifixion: The Murder of Joseph Smith and the fate of the Mormon Church, New York: PublicAffairs, ISBN 9781610393133, OCLC 871820658

External links

• A Virtual Tour of Carthage Jail
• Doctrine and Covenants Section 135 - John Taylor's 1844 eulogy to Joseph and Hyrum Smith; now canonized by the LDS Church
• Freeman Nickeron, Death of the Prophets Joseph and Hyram (sic) Smith, (Boston: John Gooch, 1844).
• Nauvoo Expositor: First and only issue: June 7, 1844, Published by William Law
• R. Thompson, Nauvoo Expositor
• Wm. M. Daniels, Correct Account of the Murders of Generals Joseph and Hyrum Smith, (Nauvoo: John Taylor, 1845).

• 1844 crimes
• Deaths by person
• History of the Latter Day Saint movement
• Lynching deaths in Illinois
• Mormonism and violence
• Latter Day Saint movement in Illinois
• Nauvoo Legion
• Deaths by firearm in Illinois
• 1844 in religion
• Church of Christ (Latter Day Saints)
• 1844 in Illinois