Smith Family Cemetery

The Smith Family Cemetery is the final resting place of the Prophet Joseph Smith, his wife Emma Hale Smith, his brothers Hyrum, Don Carlos, and Samuel; their parents Lucy Mack Smith and Joseph Smith Sr.; and seventeen other friends and relatives. The cemetery is a sacred space that highlights the lives and sacrifices of the Smith family, and their faith in the Lord’s eternal plan of salvation.

After Joseph and Hyrum were killed at the Carthage Jail on June 27, 1844, their bodies were brought back to Nauvoo. After they had been prepared for burial, they laid in state in dining hall of the Mansion House, where as many as 10,000 people came to pay their final respect. Fearing that enemies might desecrate the graves, friends secretly interred their bodies in the unfinished basement of the Nauvoo House. Later that fall or winter, the bodies were moved, again in secret, and buried on the Smith Family Homestead property underneath a small outbuilding.

Read about the martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum Smith in Saints, Volume 1, Chapter 44.

The Smith Family Cemetery is a private cemetery. It is open to the public 24 hours a day as a self-guided experience in partnership with the Smith family. We are grateful for the careful stewardship and continuing collaboration this partnership represents.

What to Expect

The Smith Family Cemetery is a self-guided experience. You are free to walk around the cemetery and look at the headstones. The cemetery is carefully monitored and maintained as a historic cemetery. Please do not disturb fallen or broken headstones; moving them can cause further damage.