Smith returned to Nauvoo, spent the night, and in the morning was told that he had to report to Carthage by 10 a.m. Warrants from outside Nauvoo were brought in against Smith and dismissed in Nauvoo courts on a writ of habeas corpus. [31], There are varying accounts of what happened next. On Thursday morning, June 27, Cyrus Wheelock went to visit Smith. Joseph Smith died for “what he believed in” in the same way that Jeffery Epstein did. [3], Followers of the Latter Day Saint movement, or Mormons, began to move into Hancock County, Illinois, in 1839; at the time, most supported the Democratic Party. In a letter dated July 22, 1844, Sarah Scott wrote: The brothers were in the Carthage Jail awaiting trial when an armed mob of about 200 men stormed the building, their faces painted black with wet gunpowder. Followers of the Latter Day Saint movement, or Mormons, began to move into Hancock County, Illinois, in 1839; at the time, most supported the Democratic Party. Like most stories, the truth lies somewhere in the middle. His death marked a turning point for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and since then, members of the Latter Day Saint movement have generally viewed him and his brother as religious martyrs who were "murdered in cold blood". Hyrum was killed almost immediately when he was shot in the face, shouting as he fell, "I'm a dead man, Joseph!" The course that George Miller followed after Joseph Smith's death, in contrast to that followed by Brigham Young and the Twelve, evidences that Miller probably left the Church, at least partially, over the very issue of the political Kingdom of God. T. M. Davis, An Authentic Account of the Massacre of Joseph Smith, The Mormon Prophet and Hyrum Smith, His Brother, together with a brief history of the rise and progress of Mormonism, and all the circumstances which led to their death (St. Louis: Chambers and Knapp, 1844), 7-8, emphasis retained. Heber J. Early years. February Joseph Smith Sr. visits Joseph. [23], The Carthage Greys reportedly feigned defense of the jail by firing shots or blanks over the attackers' heads, and some of the Greys even reportedly joined the mob, who rushed up the stairs. Alvin SMITH was born February 11, 1798, in Tunbridge, Vermont, and died November 19, 1823, in Manchester Township, New York, at the age of 25. The judge ordered the Smith brothers to be held in jail until they could be tried for treason, which was a capital offense. At a preliminary hearing that afternoon, the Council members were released on $500 bonds, pending later trial. However, Charles A. The bodies were cleaned and examined, and death masks were made, preserving their facial features and structures. When Roberts was commissioned by the LDS First Presidency to produce what came to be known as History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (a.k.a., History of the Church, or Documentary History of the Church), he again chose to include Taylor’s remark when this seven-volume set began being published in 1902. Some accounts say Smith may have had sexual relations with one wife, who later in her life stated that he fathered children by one or two of his wives. In an April 5, 1896 conference address, Franklin D. Richards said, “Well before the temple was completed our Prophet laid down his life, having been led like a lamb to the slaughter” (Collected Discourses 5:109). Joseph Smith, originally Joseph Smith, Jr., (born December 23, 1805, Sharon, Vermont, U.S.—died June 27, 1844, Carthage, Illinois), American prophet and founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.. Allen Joseph Stout later contended that by remaining inactive, Dunham violated an official order written by Smith after he was jailed in Carthage. CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, running for president of the United States, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Joseph Smith and the criminal justice system, Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Learn how and when to remove this template message, The Church of Jesus Christ (Bickertonite), Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Strangite), "Carthage Conspiracy Reconsidered: A Second Look at the Murder of Joseph and Hyrum Smith", "The Prophet Joseph Smith and His Plural Wives", "Chapter XXI: The Destruction of the "Nauvoo Expositor"—Proceedings of the Nauvoo City Council and Mayor", "Arrest of Joseph and Hyrum Smith on a Charge of Treason--False Imprisonment--Elder Taylor's Protest--False Imprisonment", "On Being a Mormon Historian (And Its Aftermath)", "Physical Evidence at Carthage Jail and What It Reveals about the Assassination of Joseph and Hyrum Smith", "Joseph Smith's Brothers: Nauvoo and After", Foundation for Apologetic Information & Research, Carthage Conspiracy: The Trial of the Accused Assassins of Joseph Smith, "Correspondence between William R. Hamilton and Samuel H. B. Smith Regarding the Martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum Smith", "Return to Carthage: Writing the History of Joseph Smith's Martyrdom", "Was Joseph Smith a Martyr or a Murderer? He authorized civil engineer William O. “Emily and Eliza Partridge, youthful daughters of deceased church bishop Edward Partridge, had been living in poverty after moving to Nauvoo in early 1840. ‘He was murdered in cold blood'” (D&C 135:4). According to Smith, an angel named Moroni directed him to a buried book of golden plates hidden at the Hill Cumorah and as per the instruction of the angel he translated the book and published it as the ‘Book of Mormon’. Father Smith once ran a store and also taught school, but he regularly farmed until Alvin reached his teens. After the death of the Smiths, a succession crisis occurred in the Latter Day Saint movement. Smith’s decision to use the smuggled pistol demonstrates that he did not have any intention of voluntarily laying down his life. After emptying the pistol with which he tried to defend himself, Joseph was then shot several times while trying to escape from a second-story window, and fell from the window as he died. It was a typically hot, early summer day in western Illinois when Joseph and Hyrum Smith rode into Carthage to turn themselves in to local authorities. [7], In response to public outrage generated by the Expositor, the Nauvoo City Council passed an ordinance declaring the newspaper a public nuisance which had been designed to promote violence against Smith and his followers. Was Smith wrong in trying to defend himself? Joseph and Emma's first three children died … 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. He said Smith was "the most successful impostor in modern times,"[40] and that some people "expect more protection from the laws than the laws are able to furnish in the face of popular excitement."[41]. “Elder Cyrus H. Wheelock came in to see us, and when he was about leaving, drew a small pistol, a six-shooter, from his pocket, remarking at the same time ‘Would any of you like to have this?’ Brother Joseph immediately replied, ‘Yes, give it to me,’ whereupon he took the pistol, and put it in his pantaloons pocket. Mormons have used the above statement to insist that Taylor was misinformed, and while that may be, it fails to explain why Mormon historian B.H. At the time of the Smiths' deaths, he was estranged from Smith due to differences in doctrinal beliefs. To hear Mormons tell the story, Smith did no wrong; for others, he did no right. He dragged Taylor under some of the straw mattress to put pressure on his wounds and slow the bleeding and then went to get help. Joseph Smith, Sr., and Lucy Mack were married in 1796 at Tunbridge, Vermont. From the information given above it can be seen that the death of Joseph Smith can in no way be compared to the death of Jesus. Joseph's younger brother Samuel Harrison Smith had come to visit the same day and, after evading capture from a group of attackers, is said to have been the first Mormon to arrive and helped attend the bodies back to Nauvoo. Was Smith making some kind of messianic statement and comparing his death to that of the Savior when he said he was being a lamb led to the slaughter? Moses, Paul himself saw God the Father and the Son side by side, or that might have been Timothy. Did Joseph Smith manipulate women into marrying him? War and extermination is inevitable! Three men (John Wills, William Voorhees, and William Gallagher) were wounded, but no one died, and none of these three were arrested or appeared for trial. In response, Smith (who was also Nauvoo’s mayor) and the Nauvoo city council voted to declare the paper a public nuisance and sent an order to the city marshal that stated, “You are here commanded to destroy the printing press from whence issues the Nauvoo Expositor, and pi [scatter] the type of said printing establishment in the street, and burn all the expositors and libelous handbills found in said establishment” (History of the Church 6:448). "[22] Smith did not know that Jonathan Dunham, major general of the Nauvoo Legion, had not dispatched the unit to Carthage to protect him. The newspaper's first (and only) issue was highly critical of Smith and other church leaders, reporting that Smith was practicing polygamy and claiming he intended to set himself up as a theocratic king. John Taylor also testified:“Elder Cyrus H. Wheelock came in to … We all of us felt unusually dull and languid, with a remarkable depression of spirits. Smith declared martial law on June 18[11] and called out the Nauvoo Legion, an organized city militia of about 5,000 men,[12] to protect Nauvoo from outside violence.[11]. Roberts, includes John Taylor’s account on page 443 of his 1900 book, The Rise and Fall of Nauvoo. Again they were acquitted. I think it was Captain Jones who went after it, but they would not suffer him to return. Paul states that no man can see God (the Father). LET IT BE MADE WITH POWDER AND BALL!!! Smith and some of the leading quorums of his church publicly denied he taught or practiced it.. While many Mormons might breathe a sigh of relief that Smith didn’t kill anyone at the jail, this doesn’t explain the fact that Smith apparently wanted to. Joseph fired a pistol into the mob. Twin of Julia, birth son of Julia Clapp Murdock and John Murdock who upon his wife's death in childbirth gave the infants to the Smiths for adoption. Joseph Smith Murdock* April 30, 1831 – March 29, 1832 (age 10 months) *Adopted. Citizens ARISE, ONE and ALL!! Joseph Smith boasted that he did more than Jesus to keep a church together. On the afternoon of June 27th, the Smiths, Willard Richards, and John Taylor were in this latter “cell” when, in the words of John Taylor. When the family moved to upstate New York, he made the offer to leave home to find work, where he would be paid higher wages to help the family pay their debts and build a home. I shall die innocent, and it shall yet be said of me. A member of the mob fired a shot through the door. Both Richards and Taylor survived. Is it wrong for Mormons to portray his last moments as that of an innocent lamb and willing martyr? Religious founder Joseph Smith killed by mob Joseph Smith, the founder and leader of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (more commonly known as … Rigdon was the senior surviving member of the First Presidency, a body that had led the movement since 1832. Strang claimed that Smith designated him as the successor in a letter that was received a week before Smith's death. In all these affidavits, indictments, it is all of the devil–all corruption. The citizens of Green Plains were said to have given Gallaher and Voras new suits of clothes for their parts in the killing. Absolutely. Reports are that he survived the fall and was finished off on the ground. Am I somehow condoning Smith’s death? Thank you! He was 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. Apostle Pratt wrote of hearing that a “Mr. There is no escaping the fact that he was guilty of being involved with the destruction of the Expositor, and history has shown that many of the accusations made in the paper regarding Smith’s secret involvement with polygamy were accurate. Orrin Porter Rockwell arrived with a message from his wife who urged her husband to return and give himself up because several of his followers were accusing him of cowardice. Oaks and Hill, 89, 127, 132–33, 136, 144, 165–66. Alex: He proceeded to restore the fullness of His gospel once again to us. After the Mormons' expulsion from the neighboring state of Missouri during the 1838 Mormon War, Joseph Smith went to Washington, D.C., and met with President Martin Van Buren, seeking intervention and compensation for lost property. However, no escorts were provided. Smith returned to Illinois and vowed to join the Whig Party. !—Can you stand by, and suffer such INFERNAL DEVILS! His close associates, including most of the members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, were away on missions and other assignments. After Smith was criticized by some followers, he returned and was reported to have said, "If my life is of no value to my friends it is of none to myself. When I visited the Carthage Jail again in June of 2002, “Sister Thorpe,” after speaking reverently of Joseph Smith, told the crowd that “he sacrificed his blood for us.” Two days earlier, a personal friend of mine visited the jail and was told by his tour guide that Carthage was the Mormon “Calvary.” In 1988, Ted Cannon, then director of the Mormon Visitor Centers at Carthage and Nauvoo, told reporter Doug Schorpp that Carthage “…holds the same significance…as Calvary holds for Christians all over the world” (Journal Star, Peoria, IL, Sunday, June 26, 1988 D3). "[8], Under the Council's new ordinance, Smith, as Nauvoo's mayor, in conjunction with the City Council, ordered the city marshal to destroy the Expositor and its press on June 10, 1844. Hay described Voras (Voorhees) as a “half-grown hobbledehoy from Bear Creek” whom Joseph shot in the shoulder. my poor, dear brother Hyrum!’ He, however, instantly arose, and with a firm, quick step, and a determined expression of countenance, approached the door, and pulling the six-shooter left by Brother Wheelock from his pocket, opened the door slightly, and snapped the pistol six successive times; only three of the barrels, however, were discharged. [42] The defense was led by Orville Hickman Browning, later a United States Senator and cabinet member. Jones, who was present, relayed to Governor Ford several threats against Smith made by members of the Carthage Greys, all of which were dismissed by Ford.[17]. The act was carried out as ordered on June 10th. All hell, boil over! Bereavement at the death of loved ones repeatedly touched the life of the Prophet Joseph Smith. [35], There have been conflicting reports about injuries to members of the mob during the attack, and whether any died. The anti-Mormon[4] "Carthage Greys", a local militia, were assigned to protect the Smiths. Perhaps not. Hyrum Smith, the Assistant President of the Church, was intended to succeed Joseph as President of the Church,[43] but because he was killed with his brother, the proper succession procedure became unclear. Joseph and Hyrum Smith's bodies were returned to Nauvoo the next day. But even more surprising is that George Miller's journal exists only through 1843. The watch is displayed in the LDS Church History Museum in Salt Lake City, Utah; the watch was broken and was used to help identify the time of the attack. He had a pass from the governor instructing the jailors to let him pass unmolested. Hands to conduct an excavation to find the Smiths' bodies. Typically, Christian martyrs are known for willingly and peacefully giving their lives for the cause of Christ. 1967 – Edna Budvarson, co-founder of Utah Christian Tract Society, stands next to a glass frame covering what was believed to be the blood of Joseph Smith. During the trip to Carthage, Smith reportedly recounted a dream in which he and Hyrum escaped a burning ship, walked on water, and arrived at a great heavenly city. I shall die innocent, and it shall yet be said of me—he was murdered in cold blood. Joseph Smith, the founder and leader of the Latter Day Saint movement, and his brother, Hyrum Smith, were killed by a mob in Carthage, Illinois, United States, on June 27, 1844, while awaiting trial in the town jail. Not hardly! Five men were indicted for the killings but were acquitted at a jury trial. Joseph III died at age 82 on December 10, 1914, and has a large posterity. Shortly after the events occurred, Taylor wrote that he heard that two of the attackers died when Smith shot them with his pistol. Smith declared martial law in Nauvoo and called on the Nauvoo Legion to protect the city. ldsanswers.org/how-could-joseph-smiths-polyandrous-marriages-be-explained Young, president of the Quorum of the Twelve, claimed authority was handed by Smith to the Quorum. [36][37] Others claimed that a fourth unnamed man was also wounded. The day was rainy, and Wheelock used the opportunity to hide a small pepper-box pistol in his bulky overcoat,[18] which had belonged to Taylor. [24], Smith, Taylor, and Richards attempted to defend themselves. Van Buren said he could do nothing to help. Before a trial could be held, a mob of about 200 armed men, their faces painted black with wet gunpowder, stormed the Carthage Jail in the late afternoon of June 27, 1844. [37] Wills, Vorhease, Gallaher, and a Mr. Allen (possibly the fourth man) were all indicted for the murder of the Smith brothers. It is unlikely that a bloodstain of that size would be located so far away from the window if it was indeed the blood of Joseph. Soon afterwards, Taylor “saw a number of men, with painted faces, coming around the corner of the jail, and aiming towards the stairs.” Immediately Willard Richards and Hyrum Smith leaned against the door to prevent the mob from entering the room. On page 52, Oaks and Hill include the following: Wills, Voras, and Gallaher were probably named in the indictment because their wounds, which testimony showed were received at the jail, were irrefutable evidence that they had participated in the mob. Ultimately, five defendants—Thomas C. Sharp, Mark Aldrich, William N. Grover, Jacob C. Davis and Levi Williams—were tried for the murders of the Smiths. Richards dragged Taylor into the jail cell (they had not been held in the cell, but in the guard's room across the hallway). Religious services were still banned at the time of his death [because of the pandemic], and no public funeral was held. In response, a motion to declare the newspaper a public nuisance was passed by the Nauvoo City Council, and Smith consequently ordered its press destroyed.[1]. When it was learned that the municipal court had no right to decide such a case, the defendants were then examined by Justice Daniel H. Wells. ye false swearers! As Smith prepared to jump down, Richards reported that he was shot twice in the back and that a third bullet, fired from a musket on the ground outside, hit him in the chest. Joseph Smith was shot near the window, not the door. For more, check out The “Martyrdom” of Joseph Smith. Two facts make me think that this appraisal is misleading. ye prosecutors! 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