Church History
Joseph Smith’s Revelations, Doctrine and Covenants 135

“Doctrine and Covenants 135,” Joseph Smith’s Revelations: A Doctrine and Covenants Study Companion from the Joseph Smith Papers (2024)

“Doctrine and Covenants 135,” Joseph Smith’s Revelations: A Doctrine and Covenants Study Companion from the Joseph Smith Papers

Doctrine and Covenants 135

Account of Murders of Joseph and Hyrum Smith, between Mid-July and Mid-August 1844

Source Note

Account of the murders of JS and Hyrum Smith, [Nauvoo, Hancock Co., IL, between mid-July and mid-Aug. 1844]. Featured version published [ca. Aug. 1844] in “Martyrdom of Joseph Smith and His Brother Hyrum,” in The Doctrine and Covenants of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints; Carefully Selected from the Revelations of God. By Joseph Smith, President of Said Church, 2nd ed. (Nauvoo, IL: John Taylor, 1844), 444–445. The copy used for transcription is held at CHL; includes marginalia and archival markings. For more information, see the source note for Doctrine and Covenants, 1844 edition, on the Joseph Smith Papers website.

Historical Introduction

Sometime between mid-July and mid-August 1844, a formal account of the murders of JS and Hyrum Smith was composed in Nauvoo, Illinois, and printed in the Times and Seasons printing office as section CXI (111) in the 1844 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants. On 24 June, JS and others had journeyed from Nauvoo to Carthage—the seat of Hancock County, Illinois—to answer a charge that they had committed a riot during the destruction of the Nauvoo Expositor’s press.1 The following day, JS and fourteen other men appeared at a hearing on the riot charge and were released on bail.2 That same day, however, JS and Hyrum Smith were arrested on charges of treason. As treason was an unbailable offense, they were committed to the Hancock County jail, in Carthage, where they were to remain in custody until a formal hearing on the charge could be held.3

Although several men voluntarily spent the nights of 25 and 26 June in the Hancock County jailhouse with JS and Hyrum Smith, by the midafternoon of 27 June, only apostles John Taylor and Willard Richards remained with the two prisoners.4 By a quarter past three o’clock in the afternoon, Richards noted in his diary that the guards had become “more severe in their ope[r]ations,” brazenly stating what they intended to do when the hostilities in the county had ceased. To calm the spirits of JS and his companions, Taylor sang a favored hymn, “A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief,” and Hyrum Smith read aloud from his copy of the works of the Romano-Jewish historian Flavius Josephus. Later, JS and his friends shared part of a bottle of wine.5

Sometime after five o’clock in the afternoon on 27 June, an armed mob rushed the Hancock County jail, broke through the guards, ascended the stairway, and attempted to force entry into the bedroom where JS, Hyrum Smith, Taylor, and Richards were.6 The four men quickly barricaded themselves in the room, bracing themselves against the door. Richards reported that Hyrum was shot first, hit almost simultaneously by a ball fired from the upstairs landing through the door and another fired from outside through the window. The former struck Hyrum in the face “on the side of his nose,” causing him to fall backward and die. Responding to Hyrum’s death, JS opened the door slightly and repeatedly fired a revolver, which he had received from Cyrus Wheelock earlier that day, into the crowd of assailants, though it “missed fire 2 or 3 times.”7 As the room filled with gunfire, Taylor attempted to escape through a window but was immediately struck by balls fired from both the doorway and outside. He fell back into the room and rolled under the bed, seeking shelter. Sometime during Taylor’s scrape with death, his pocket watch broke, causing it to stop and thus mark the time of the events at 5:16. After Taylor rolled under the bed, JS attempted to escape through the same window and, like Taylor, was shot. Richards related that JS was hit by two balls fired from the doorway and another fired from outside, whereupon he fell from the window to the ground below, landing close to a well.8

That night, Willard Richards, who had not been shot during the attack, sent a letter from Carthage to Illinois governor Thomas Ford and Latter-day Saints Jonathan Dunham, Stephen Markham, and Emma Smith. Richards informed them that he and the others in Carthage had been attacked by a mob of “from 1— to 200” men, whom he identified as Missourians, that JS and Hyrum Smith had been murdered, that Taylor had been wounded, and that the mob may have then “fled towards Nauvoo.”9 The following day, Richards returned to Nauvoo in company with a group of Saints who transported the bodies of JS and Hyrum Smith back to Nauvoo for burial.10 Taylor was so seriously injured that he remained in Carthage, convalescing for several more days.11

Sometime in July, church leaders evidently determined that the nearly completed 1844 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants should include a formal announcement of the murders of JS and Hyrum Smith. Taylor, who directed the Nauvoo printing office, had already prepared the edition for printing. While work on the volume had begun in 1841, Taylor became involved in 1843. Together with Wilford Woodruff, William W. Phelps, and others, Taylor helped stereotype much of the new edition between January 1843 and June 1844.12 Just two days before the murders, he directed his wife Leonora Cannon Taylor to ensure that a thousand copies were “printed [and bound] as quick as possible.”13

The text of the announcement itself is unattributed. During the twentieth century, it became commonplace for Latter-day Saints to attribute the document’s authorship to John Taylor, presumably because he was listed as the publisher and printer of the 1844 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants and was in the jail with JS at the time of his murder.14 But while Taylor likely provided input on the document, evidence suggests it is unlikely he was the sole or even the principal author. Taylor was still convalescing from the wounds he had sustained in the jail when the announcement was written.15 Owing to the absence of any manuscript copies of this document, it is not clear who wrote this account of the murders. While Willard Richards and John Taylor were witnesses, the text speaks of both men in third person. The wording of the document, however, closely matches phrases and ideas that were previously included in editorials and other accounts of the murders written during late June and early July 1844, including material by Richards and Taylor. Other contributors to these accounts were William W. Phelps and Parley P. Pratt.16 The document also seems to have drawn ideas from two poems—one composed by Eliza R. Snow and the other by an anonymous writer—in the wake of the murders.17

These textual similarities suggest that the announcement was either authored by a single person who incorporated the ideas of these other authors into the document or composed by multiple individuals. Due to Taylor’s convalescence, the individuals who were most likely to have authored this announcement are Willard Richards and William W. Phelps. This account seems to draw upon Richards’s journal and his published eyewitness account of the murders for details about the event.18 Furthermore, on 7 July, Richards evidently told Taylor that he “would assist in the times & seasons offices,” which suggests that he was at least somewhat involved in the church’s publishing efforts while Taylor was healing.19 Accordingly, even if Richards did not write the account, he was almost certainly consulted about its contents. Similarly, Phelps was heavily engaged in the day-to-day work of the printer’s office during this period. Records seem to indicate that he took on much of the responsibility for the 1844 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants in Taylor’s absence.20 Additionally, Phelps helped prepare the issues of the Nauvoo Neighbor and the Times and Seasons that directly addressed the murders and was a signatory on two published letters to the Saints on the subject.21

The similarities to other published works also seem to suggest that the announcement was most likely composed sometime during or after the middle of July, following the publication of most of the compositions with similar passages. Furthermore, evidence indicates that the new edition of the Doctrine and Covenants had become publicly available by early September. Because the announcement was typeset, printed, and bound with the volumes of the Doctrine and Covenants by early September, it seems likely that its authors had composed the document by mid-August.22

The announcement summarized the details of the 27 June assault upon the Hancock County jail, including the murders of JS and Hyrum Smith and the wounding of Taylor. It then eulogized the two brothers, giving special attention to JS’s prophetic accomplishments. The final analysis proclaimed that the Smith brothers were trapped in the jail “by the conspiracy of traitors and wicked men” and that the “innocent blood” of the “martyrs” had stained not only the floorboards of the Hancock County jailhouse but also the escutcheon of Illinois as well as the flag and the Constitution of the United States of America. The account concluded by asserting that “the Lord of Hosts” would avenge their murders “on the earth.”

The announcement was added to the end of the 1844 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants as the 111th section. Because space was limited in that edition, the printers used smaller fonts and closer spacing to fit the announcement onto the final two pages of the book.

As early as September 1844, at least one Latter-day Saint drew upon the announcement to describe the murders and express his feelings about JS and Hyrum Smith. John S. Fullmer, who had been in the jail with JS on 25 and 26 June,23 wrote a letter that is emblematic of the way that this announcement shaped the feelings of the Saints. Writing to his uncle on 27 September, Fullmer quoted the final words of both JS and Hyrum Smith as they appear in the document. Drawing upon the eulogistic language of the announcement, Fullmer explained that 27 June would live on in the memory of the Saints as “a day on which was shed the best blood of the nineteenth century.” Then, further expanding his feelings, Fullmer wrote, “Thus fell two men who had no supperior, I will venture the assertion, since the days of Adam. … I will venture another assertion, & that is that the earth never produced two as great men at the same time.” For Fullmer, JS and Hyrum Smith had been greater than “Peter, James, & John or Paul.”24

Because the original manuscript of this document is not extant, the version printed in the 1844 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants is featured here. Although the account does not constitute a JS document on its own, it provides important details about the final moments of JS’s life and is thus featured here as an appendix item. Similarities in phraseology and ideas from items published during late June and July 1844 are noted.

SECTION CXI

Martyrdom of Joseph Smith and his Brother Hyrum [Smith].

[1]1 To seal the testimony of this book and the Book of Mormon, we close with the martyrdom of Joseph Smith the prophet and Hyrum Smith the patriarch. They were shot in Carthage jail on the 27th of June, 1844, about 5 o’clock P. M.,25 by an armed mob, painted black—of from 150 to 200 persons.26 Hyrum was shot first and fell calmly exclaiming “I am a dead man!”27 Joseph leaped from the window, and was shot dead in the attempt, exclaiming “O Lord my God!”—28 They were both shot after they were dead in a brutal manner, and both received four balls.29

[2]2 John Taylor and Williard [Willard] Richards, two of the Twelve, were the only persons in the room at the time; the former was wounded in a savage manner with four balls, but has since recovered:30 the latter, through the promises of God escaped “without even a hole in his robe.”31

[3]3 Joseph Smith, the prophet and seer of the Lord,32 has done more, (save Jesus only,) for the salvation of men in this world, than any other man that ever lived in it.33 In the short space of twenty years,34 he has brought forth the Book of Mormon, which he translated by the gift and power of God,35 and has been the means of publishing it on two continents:36 has sent the fulness of the everlasting gospel which it contained, to the four quarters of the earth;37 has brought forth the revelations and commandments which compose this book of Doctrine and Covenants,38 and many other wise documents and instructions for the benefit of the children of men:39 gathered many thousands of the Latter-Day Saints: founded a great city:40 and left a fame and name that cannot be slain. He lived great, and he died great in the eyes of God and his people,41 and like most of the Lord’s annointed in ancient times, has sealed his mission and works with his own blood—and so has his brother Hyrum.42 In life they were not divided, and in death they were not seperated!43

[4]4 When Joseph went to Carthage to deliver himself up, to the pretended requirements of the law, two or three days previous to his assassination, he said: “I am going [p. 444] like a lamb to the slaughter; but I am calm as a summer’s morning; I have a conscience void of offence, towards God, and towards all men—I shall die innocent, and it shall yet be said of me, he was murdered in cold blood.”44 The same morning, after Hyrum had made ready to go—shall it be said to the slaugeter [slaughter]? Yes, for so it was—he read the following paragraph near the close of the fifth chapter of Ether, in the Book of Mormon, and turned down the leaf upon it:

[5]545 “And it came to pass that I prayed unto the Lord that he would give unto the Gentiles grace, that they might have charity. And it came to pass that the Lord said unto me, if they have not charity, it mattereth not unto you, thou hast been faithful; wherefore thy garments are clean. And because thou hast seen thy weakness, thou shalt be made strong, even unto the sitting down in the place which I have prepared in the mansions of my Father. And now I —— bid farewell unto the Gentiles; yea, and also unto my brethren whom I love, until we shall meet before the judgment seat of Christ, where all men shall know that my garments are not spotted with your blood.”46 The testators are now dead and their testament is in force.47

[6]6 Hyrum Smith was 44 years old last February, and Joseph Smith was 38 last December, and hence forward their names will be classed among the martyrs of religion: and the reader in every nation, will be reminded that the “Book of Mormon” and this Book of Doctrine and Covenants of the church, cost the best blood of the nineteenth century, to bring it forth for the salvation of a ruined world. And that if the fire can scathe a green tree for the glory of God, how easy it will burn up the “dry trees” to purify the vineyard of corruption.48 They lived for glory: they died for glory, and glory is their eternal reward. From age to age shall their names go down to posterity as gems for the sanctified.

[7]7 They were innocent of any crimes, as they had often been proved before,49 and were only confined in jail by the conspiracy of traitors and wicked men;50 and their innocent blood on the floor of Carthage jail, is a broad seal affixed to Mormonism, that cannot be rejected by any court on earth: and their innocent blood on the escutcheon of the State of Illinois,51 with the broken faith of the State as pledged by the Governor,52 is a witness to the truth of the everlasting gospel, that all the world cannot impeach; and their innocent blood on the banner of liberty, and on the magna charta of the United States,53 is an ambassador for the religion of Jesus Christ, that will touch the hearts of honest men among all nations; and their innocent blood, with the innocent blood of all the martyrs under the altar that John saw, will cry unto the Lord of Hosts, till he avenges that blood on the earth: Amen.54 [p. 445]

Notes

  1. Letter to Thomas Ford, 23 June 1844, in JSP, D15:413–417; Historical Introduction to Military Orders, 24 June 1844, in JSP, D15:450–453.

  2. Hugh T. Reid, “Statement of Facts!,” Times and Seasons, 1 July 1844, 5:562; Willard Richards, Journal Excerpt, 23–27 June 1844, in JSP, J3:312.

  3. Historical Introduction to Warrant, 24 June 1844, in JSP, D15:464–465; Letter to Thomas Ford, 26 June 1844, in JSP, D15:476–478.

  4. On the night of 25–26 June, Latter-day Saints John P. Greene, Stephen Markham, Dan Jones, Lorenzo D. Wasson, John S. Fullmer, and Wall Southwick stayed in the jail along with JS, Hyrum Smith, Willard Richards, and John Taylor. Fullmer, Jones, and Markham also spent the following night in the jail along with the Smith brothers, Taylor, and Richards. Fullmer returned to Nauvoo at around eight o’clock in the morning on 27 June. Jones left the jail shortly after twelve thirty in the afternoon, carrying a letter from JS to Orville Browning. Stephen Markham left the jail at about one thirty in the afternoon to procure a pipe and tobacco to settle the stomach of Willard Richards, who was ill. When Markham attempted to return to the jail, he was “surrounded— by a mob” and escorted out of Carthage at “the points of their Baynots [bayonets].” (Willard Richards, Journal Excerpt, 23–27 June 1844, in JSP, J3:313, 323, 325–326; Letter to Orville Browning, 27 June 1844, in JSP, D15:501; Stephen Markham, Fort Supply, Utah Territory, to Wilford Woodruff, Great Salt Lake City, Utah Territory, 20 June 1856, [5], Historian’s Office, JS History Documents, ca. 1839–1860, CHL.)

  5. Willard Richards, Journal Excerpt, 23–27 June 1844, in JSP, J3:326–327. For a discussion of shifting understanding and application of JS’s 27 February 1833 revelation that became known as the Word of Wisdom, see the glossary entry for Word of Wisdom, at josephsmithpapers.org; and Historical Introduction to Revelation, 27 Feb. 1833 [D&C 89], in JSP, D3:11–19.

  6. The men had been staying in a bedroom on the second floor of the jailhouse that was distinct from jailer George Stigall’s living quarters. The bedroom was furnished with a bed, a “chair or two, and some mattresses.” That afternoon, Stigall suggested that JS and his companions “would be safer” in the holding cell on the same floor, but JS indicated that they would wait until “after supper” to relocate there. (Willard Richards, Journal Excerpt, 23–27 June 1844, in JSP, J3:326–327; JSP, J3:322n98; Jones, “Martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum Smith,” 6.)

  7. Cyrus Wheelock, London, England, to George A. Smith, 29 Dec. 1854, [12], Historian’s Office, JS History Documents, ca. 1839–1860, CHL.

  8. Willard Richards, Journal Excerpt, 23–27 June 1844, in JSP, J3:327–329; Willard Richards, “Two Minutes in Jail,” Nauvoo Neighbor, 24 July 1844, [3].

  9. Taylor also signed the letter. Given Taylor’s condition at the time, however, the letter was almost assuredly composed by Richards alone. The letter stated, “Taylor wounded not very bad,” but this assessment of Taylor’s wounds was intended to downplay the severity of his condition out of fear that his family “might be seriously affected by the news.” The draft of the letter originally stated, “Taylor wounded not fatally.” (Willard Richards and John Taylor, Carthage, IL, to [Thomas Ford et al., Nauvoo, IL], 27 June 1844, fair copy, Willard Richards, Journals and Papers, CHL; John Taylor, Statement, 23 Aug. 1856, 57, Historian’s Office, JS History, Draft Notes, CHL; Willard Richards and John Taylor, Carthage, IL, to Thomas Ford et al., Nauvoo, IL, 27 June 1844, draft, Willard Richards, Journals and Papers, CHL.)

  10. Richards, Journal, 28 June 1844.

  11. John Taylor, Statement, 23 Aug. 1856, 57, 65–66, Historian’s Office, JS History, Draft Notes, CHL; “The Editor, Mr. Taylor,” Nauvoo Neighbor, 3 July 1844, [3].

  12. Historical Introduction to Doctrine and Covenants, 1844 (Sections 101–107), in JSP, R2:638–641.

  13. John Taylor, Carthage, IL, to Leonora Cannon Taylor, Nauvoo, IL, 25 June 1844, John Taylor, Collection, CHL.

  14. Woodford, “Historical Development of the Doctrine and Covenants,” 3:1794. In 1922 Heber J. Grant stated that it was his understanding that Taylor wrote the document. Perhaps drawing upon Grant’s comments, a 1958 commentary on the Doctrine and Covenants attributed the document to Taylor. (Heber J. Grant, Discourse, Salt Lake City, UT, 6 Oct. 1922, in Ninety-Third Semi-annual Conference, 7; Smith and Sjodahl, Doctrine and Covenants Commentary, 855.)

  15. On 22 July, Leonora Taylor wrote a letter to Illinois governor Thomas Ford explaining that her husband was “slowly healing” and that, despite some progress, he was “still ill and obliged to be lifted in and out of bed.” Recounting the experience in the jail a little more than a year later, John Taylor stated that he had been “shot nearly to pieces,” which left his body “mangled.” (Leonora Cannon Taylor, Nauvoo, IL, to Thomas Ford, 22 July 1844, [1], copy, CHL; Taylor, Remarks, 25 Oct. 1845, [2], CHL.)

  16. See William W. Phelps, Willard Richards, and John Taylor, “To the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints,” Times and Seasons, 1 July 1844, 5:568; “The Murder,” Times and Seasons, 15 July 1844, 5:585; Parley P. Pratt et al., “To the Saints Abroad,” Times and Seasons, 15 July 1844, 5:586; and Willard Richards, “Two Minutes in Jail,” Nauvoo Neighbor, 24 July 1844, [3].

  17. Eliza R. Snow, “The Assassination of Gen’ls Joseph Smith and Hyrum Smith, First Presidents of the Church of Latter Day Saints,” Times and Seasons, 1 July 1844, 5:575; “Lamentation of a Jew among the Afflicted and Mourning Sons and Daughters of Zion, at the Assassination of the Two Chieftains in Israel, Joseph and Hyrum Smith,” Times and Seasons, 15 July 1844, 5:591; Bitton, Martyrdom Remembered, 24–26, 30–32, 34–35. Snow was one of JS’s plural wives. (Eliza R. Snow Smith, Affidavit, Salt Lake Co., Utah Territory, 7 June 1869, in Joseph F. Smith, Affidavits about Celestial Marriage, 1:25; Lorenzo Snow, Affidavit, Box Elder Co., Utah Territory, 28 Aug. 1869, in Joseph F. Smith, Affidavits about Celestial Marriage, 2:19–20; “Joseph the Seer’s Plural Marriages,” Deseret News [Salt Lake City], 22 Oct. 1879, 604–605.)

  18. See Richards, Journal, 27 June 1844; and Willard Richards, “Two Minutes in Jail,” Nauvoo Neighbor, 24 July 1844, [3].

  19. Richards, Journal, 7 July 1844.

  20. Historian’s Office, General Church Minutes, 28 July 1844, [2]; 8 Aug. 1844, 4, draft copy.

  21. See Crawley, Descriptive Bibliography, 1:219; “For the Warsaw Signal,” Warsaw (IL) Signal, 25 [24] Apr. 1844, [4]; William W. Phelps, Willard Richards, and John Taylor, “To the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints,” Times and Seasons, 1 July 1844, 5:568; “The Murder,” Times and Seasons, 15 July 1844, 5:585; and Parley P. Pratt et al., “To the Saints Abroad,” Times and Seasons, 15 July 1844, 5:586–587.

  22. Extant sources do not indicate when the 1844 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants was printed and bound. On 28 July, William W. Phelps announced at a meeting of the church that copies of the edition would be sold for $1.25 per book and that those who were interested could pay for them the following day. A week and a half later, on 8 August, Phelps told those assembled that “the 1000 copies are not all yet taken up,” suggesting subscriptions were still being taken. During a sermon on 25 August, Brigham Young informed the Saints that the edition was “nearly ready.” Then, an editorial in the 2 September issue of the Times and Seasons cited a page number in the new edition of the Doctrine and Covenants. Although dated 2 September, that issue of the Times and Seasons included a notice of the same date, which suggests that the issue was published sometime after 2 September. Accordingly, the book most likely became available to the public between 25 August and 2 September, suggesting that the first copies were printed sometime during late August. This announcement would likely have been written at least one week in advance of the first copies of the volume becoming available to the public. (Historian’s Office, General Church Minutes, 28 July 1844, [2]; 8 Aug. 1844, 4, draft copy; 25 Aug. 1844, [2]; “Ten Virgins,” and Brigham Young, Notice, Times and Seasons, 2 Sept. 1844, 5:636, 638; Historical Introduction to Doctrine and Covenants, 1844 [Sections 101–107], in JSP, R2:640–642.)

  23. Willard Richards, Journal Excerpt, 23–27 June 1844, in JSP, J3:325.

  24. John S. Fullmer, [Carthage], IL, to “Uncle John,” 27 Sept. 1844, in Fullmer, Letterbook, 209–211, underlining in original.

  25. In his diary entry for 27 June, Willard Richards originally placed the time of the events sometime after six o’clock in the evening. On 28 June, Warsaw resident James Gregg wrote to his brother Thomas Gregg that the previous day, “about 4 Oclock the Jail was attacked by some thre[e] hundred armed men.” On 29 June the Warsaw Signal stated that the mob stormed the Hancock County jail at “about four o’clock P. M.” Writing to Brigham Young on 30 June, Willard Richards stated that the murders had occurred “a little before six PM.” That same day, an extra issue of the Nauvoo Neighbor published an account of the events, which similarly placed the time of the events around six o’clock in the evening. Writing to Reuben Hedlock on 9 July, Richards and Taylor placed the time of the events “between 5 and 6 o’clock P. M. of that day.” The following day, the Nauvoo Neighbor noted that Taylor’s shattered watch, which had been damaged during the events in the Hancock County jail, had captured the time of the events at 5:16. Accordingly, Taylor’s watch presumably became the rationale for revising the timing of the murders from around six o’clock to around five o’clock. (Willard Richards, Journal Excerpt, 23–27 June 1844, in JSP, J3:326–327; James Gregg, Warsaw, IL, to Thomas Gregg, Rock Island, IL, 28 June 1844, [1], Collection of Manuscripts about Mormons, 1832–1954, Chicago History Museum; “Events of the Week,” Warsaw [IL] Signal, Extra, 29 June 1844, [2]; Willard Richards, Nauvoo, IL, to Brigham Young, 30 June 1844, [1], copy, Willard Richards, Journals and Papers, CHL; “Awful Assassination! The Pledged Faith of the State of Illinois Stained with Innocent Blood by a Mob!,” Nauvoo Neighbor, Extra, 30 June 1844, [1]; Willard Richards and John Taylor, Nauvoo, IL, to Reuben Hedlock, England, 9 July 1844, 3, fair copy, Willard Richards, Journals and Papers, CHL; “Goodness Shall Be Rewarded,” Nauvoo Neighbor, 10 July 1844, [2].)

  26. On 28 June, Warsaw resident James Gregg estimated the number of men in the mob to be around three hundred. The Warsaw Signal placed the number at “about one hundred armed men,” while the Nauvoo Neighbor gave an initial estimate of “from 150 to 250 men.” In letters to both Brigham Young and Reuben Hedlock, Willard Richards estimated that the mob had consisted of “from 150 to 200” men. (James Gregg, Warsaw, IL, to Thomas Gregg, Rock Island, IL, 28 June 1844, [1], Collection of Manuscripts about Mormons, 1832–1954, Chicago History Museum; “Events of the Week,” Warsaw [IL] Signal, Extra, 29 June 1844, [2]; “Awful Assassination! The Pledged Faith of the State of Illinois Stained with Innocent Blood by a Mob!,” Nauvoo Neighbor, Extra, 30 June 1844, [1]; “Wilful Murder!,” Nauvoo Neighbor, 3 July 1844, [3]; Willard Richards, Nauvoo, IL, to Brigham Young, 30 June 1844, [1], copy; Willard Richards and John Taylor, Nauvoo, IL, to Reuben Hedlock, England, 9 July 1844, 3, fair copy, Willard Richards, Journals and Papers, CHL.)

  27. Willard Richards noted in his diary that as Hyrum fell back onto the floor, he said, “I am a dead man.” (Willard Richards, Journal Excerpt, 23–27 June 1844, in JSP, J3:327, underlining in original.)

  28. According to Willard Richards and John Taylor, after Taylor attempted to leap from the window, JS attempted “to leap from the same window, was shot, & fell on the out-side.” An editorial published in the 15 July issue of the Times and Seasons stated, “Joseph’s last exclamation was ‘O Lord my God!’” Richards later included that same line in his short account of the murders of JS and Hyrum Smith. Because JS had become a Mason in March 1842, some early Saints postulated that JS was issuing a Masonic cry of distress, “O Lord, my God, is there no help for the widow’s son,” with these words. (Willard Richards and John Taylor, Nauvoo, IL, to Reuben Hedlock, England, 9 July 1844, 3, fair copy, Willard Richards, Journals and Papers, CHL; “The Murder,” Times and Seasons, 15 July 1844, 5:585, italics in original; Willard Richards, “Two Minutes in Jail,” Nauvoo Neighbor, 24 July 1844, [3]; Minutes, 15–16 Mar. 1842, in JSP, D9:274–275; Woodruff, Journal, 19 Aug. 1860; “Woman’s Mass Meeting,” Woman’s Exponent, 1 Dec. 1878, 7:98; Whitney, “History of the Church from Journal of H. C. Kimball Written for Womans Ex,” [1]; Whitney, Life of Heber C. Kimball, 27; Lucis, National Mirror of Masonry, 18.)

  29. Writing to Reuben Hedlock on 9 July, Willard Richards and John Taylor stated, “Joseph & Hyrum received each four balls & were killed instantly.” (Willard Richards and John Taylor, Nauvoo, IL, to Reuben Hedlock, England, 9 July 1844, 3, fair copy, Willard Richards, Journals and Papers, CHL.)

  30. Taylor remained at Carthage for several days to recover from his wounds, returning to Nauvoo on 3 July on a bed attached to James Allred’s wagon to minimize the pain of the trip. That same day, the Nauvoo Neighbor reported that Taylor was “slowly recovering from his wounds.” On 4 July, William Clayton recorded in his journal that he had visited Taylor at the home of William Marks and “saw some of his wounds which are bad but he is recovering.” On 10 July the Nauvoo Neighbor briefly reported that Taylor was “recovering as fast as can be expected” and that “his wounds do very well.” (John Taylor, Statement, 23 Aug. 1856, 57, 65–66, Historian’s Office, JS History, Draft Notes, CHL; “The Editor, Mr. Taylor,” Nauvoo Neighbor, 3 July 1844, [3]; Clayton, Journal, 4 July 1844; “Mr. Taylor,” Nauvoo Neighbor, 10 July 1844, [2].)

  31. This alludes to an earlier prophecy of JS about Willard Richards that evidently was not recorded contemporaneously. In their account of the murders of JS and Hyrum Smith, written in the 1850s, the Church Historian’s Office staff recorded, “Dr. Richards’s escape was miraculous, he being a very large man and in the midst of a shower of balls, yet he stood unscathed with the exception of a ball taking away the lip end of the lower part of his left ear, which fulfulled literally a prophecy which Joseph made about four months previous, that the time wd. come that the balls wd fly around him like hail, and he sh[oul]d. see his friends fall on the right and on the left, but that there shd. not be a hole in his robe if he wd. continue to wear it.” In 1861 Brigham Young recalled a promise that JS evidently made to Richards in reference to special clothing Richards had been given as part of a temple-related ordinance called the endowment. According to Young, JS said, “Willard, never go without this Garment on your body, for you will stand where the balls will fly around you like hail, and men will fall dead by your side and if you will never part with this Garment, there never shall a ball injure you.” (George A. Smith, Martyrdom Account, 24–28 June 1844, [22], draft, Historian’s Office, JS History, Draft Notes, CHL; Brigham Young, Discourse, [Salt Lake City, Utah Territory], 14 July 1861–A, 6, Historian’s Office, Reports of Speeches, 1845–1885, CHL.)

  32. In a letter to the church printed in the 1 July 1844 issue of the Times and Seasons, William W. Phelps, Richards, and Taylor used similar language, stating that they were “deeply impressed for the welfare of all, while mourning the great loss of President Joseph Smith, our ‘prophet and seer,’ and President Hyrum Smith, our ‘patriarch.’” (William W. Phelps, Willard Richards, and John Taylor, “To the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints,” Times and Seasons, 1 July 1844, 5:568, italics in original.)

  33. Writing to Brigham Young on 30 June 1844, Richards called the murders of JS and Hyrum Smith “the great Event of 1844” and a moment “without a perallul [parallel] sin[c]e the birth of Adem.” (Willard Richards, Nauvoo, IL, to Brigham Young, 30 June 1844, [3], copy, Willard Richards, Journals and Papers, CHL.)

  34. An editorial in the 15 July 1844 issue of the Times and Seasons stated, “The work he has thus far performed, towards establishing pure religion, and preparing the way for the great gathering of Israel, in the short space of twenty years since the time when the angel of the Lord made known his mission and gave him power to move the cause of Zion, exceed any thing of the kind on record.” (“The Murder,” Times and Seasons, 15 July 1844, 5:584.)

  35. The title page of the Book of Mormon explained that the book had been prepared “to come forth by the gift and power of God unto the interpretation thereof.” JS reiterated that the translation came “by the gift and power of God” in the preface to the 1830 edition of the Book of Mormon, as did the Three Witnesses—David Whitmer, Oliver Cowdery, and Martin Harris—in their published testimony of the Book of Mormon. JS continued to use this phrase to describe the book’s translation throughout his life. (Title Page of Book of Mormon, ca. Early June 1829, in JSP, D1:65; Preface to Book of Mormon, ca. Aug. 1829, in JSP, D1:93; Testimony of Three Witnesses, Late June 1829, in JSP, D1:381–382; see also, for example, Letter to Noah C. Saxton, 4 Jan. 1833, in JSP, D2:354; Conversations with Robert Matthews, 9–11 Nov. 1835, in JSP, D5:44; and “Church History,” 1 Mar. 1842, in JSP, D9:183.)

  36. Three editions of the Book of Mormon had been published in the United States by 1844, and a single edition had been published in England in 1841. (The Book of Mormon [Palmyra, NY: E. B. Grandin, 1830]; The Book of Mormon, 2nd ed. [Kirtland, OH: P. P. Pratt and J. Goodson, 1837]; The Book of Mormon, 3rd ed. [Nauvoo, IL: Robinson and Smith, 1840]; The Book of Mormon, 1st European ed. [Liverpool: Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, and Parley P. Pratt, 1841].)

  37. In 1837 the first Latter-day Saint missionaries were sent to the British Isles. Five years later, JS explained that missionaries were “in Germany, Palestine, New Holland, the East Indies, and other places.” In May 1843 Addison Pratt was assigned to lead a group of missionaries to the Sandwich Islands. They eventually made their way to the Society Islands instead. (Recommendation for Heber C. Kimball, between 2 and 13 June 1837, in JSP, D5:397–401; “Church History,” 1 Mar. 1842, in JSP, D9:188; Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Minutes, 11 May 1843; Cannon, “Tahiti and the Society Island Mission,” 334.)

  38. While the Saints had made earlier efforts to publish JS’s revelations, including in the 1833 Book of Commandments, the Doctrine and Covenants was first published in Kirtland, Ohio, in 1835. In late 1840 church leaders discussed plans to print new editions of the Doctrine and Covenants in both Nauvoo and England. Despite these discussions, however, no additional editions of the Doctrine and Covenants were printed until the 1844 edition in which this account appeared. (Book of Commandments, in JSP, R2:3–13; Doctrine and Covenants, 1835, in JSP, R2:301–311; Letter from Brigham Young and Willard Richards, 5 Sept. 1840, in JSP, D7:393; Minutes and Discourse, 3–5 Oct. 1840, in JSP, D7:426; Report of the First Presidency, 4 Oct. 1840, in JSP, D7:432; Letter to Quorum of the Twelve, 15 Dec. 1840, in JSP, D7:464–465.)

  39. For example, at the time of the murders, JS’s missionary force had spread throughout the eastern and southern United States, electioneering for his presidential campaign and distributing copies of a pamphlet outlining his political positions. (General Smith’s Views of the Powers and Policy of the Government of the United States, ca. 26 Jan.–7 Feb. 1844, in JSP, D14:135–157; see also McBride, Joseph Smith for President, chap. 9; and Sainsbury, Unknown Contributions of Joseph Smith’s Political Missionaries, 48–52, 57–68, 93–96.)

  40. Nauvoo. (See JSP, D15:33n165.)

  41. The language in an editorial in the 15 July 1844 issue of the Times and Seasons is similar to this statement, declaring of Hyrum, “He lived so far beyond the ordinary walk of man, that even the tongue of the vilest slanderer could not touch his reputation. He lived godly and he died godly.” (“The Murder,” Times and Seasons, 15 July 1844, 5:585.)

  42. An editorial in the 15 July 1844 issue of the Times and Seasons stated, “Prophets have been sent, according to the sacred history, which all enlightened nations use as a guide of morality here, or for a rule to obtain heaven hereafter, to instruct and lead the people according to the pure purposes of God, and yet from Cain, down to two or three hundred Americans, Illinoians, Missourians, Christians even freemen, the lives of mostly all these good men, the servants of God, not omitting his own Son, have been taken from them by those who professed to be the most wise, enlightened, intelligent, and religious, (that is nationally) that were on the earth when the hellish deeds were done.” (“The Murder,” Times and Seasons, 15 July 1844, 5:585, italics in original.)

  43. In a poem published in the 1 July 1844 issue of the Times and Seasons, Eliza R. Snow wrote, “The blackest deed that men or devils know / Since Calv’ry’s scene, has laid the brothers low! / One in their life, and one in death—they prov’d / How strong their friendship—how they truly lov’d: / True to their mission, until death, they stood, / Then seal’d their testimony with their blood.” (Eliza R. Snow, “The Assassination of Gen’ls Joseph Smith and Hyrum Smith, First Presidents of the Church of Latter Day Saints,” Times and Seasons, 1 July 1844, 5:575.)

  44. See Isaiah 53:7. An editorial in the 15 July 1844 issue of the Times and Seasons stated, “When Gen. Smith went to Carthage just as the cavalry met him for the purpose of obtaining the ‘State Arms,’ he said to a friend, I am going like a lamb to the slaughter: but I am calm as a summer’s morning: I have a conscience void of offence toward God, and toward all men: I shall die innocent.” On 28 July, William W. Phelps referenced this statement in a meeting of the Saints, stating that JS had said, “I am going like a lamb to the slaughter but I am as calm as a summer’s morning and if I die I will die innocent.” Two months later, John S. Fullmer, who had made the trip to Carthage with JS, detailed the moment in a letter to an uncle, explaining that JS had “told the few of his friends who accompanied him that he went as a Sheep to the slaughter, but that he should die innocent.” John M. Bernhisel later provided additional details about the statement. He wrote, “On the morning of the 24th of June, 1844, on our arrival at Mr Fellows’s, en route for Carthage, I leaped from a buggy in which I had been riding in company with Dr Richards; Joseph being still seated on his favorite horse, and the solemnities of eternity seemed to be resting upon his mind, and looking me full in the face, he said: ‘I am going as a lamb to the slaughter, but I am as calm as a summer’s morning; I have a conscience void of offence towards God and man, and I am not afraid to die.’” John Taylor later confirmed that the statement had been directed toward Bernhisel. (“The Murder,” Times and Seasons, 15 July 1844, 5:585, italics in original; Historian’s Office, General Church Minutes, 28 July 1844, [2]; John S. Fullmer, [Carthage], IL, to “Uncle John,” 27 Sept. 1844, in Fullmer, Letterbook, 204, underlining in original; John M. Bernhisel, Tuscarora Mountain, PA, to George A. Smith, Great Salt Lake City, Utah Territory, 11 Sept. 1854, Historian’s Office, JS History Documents, ca. 1839–1860, CHL, underlining in original; John Taylor, Statement, 23 Aug. 1856, 69, Historian’s Office, JS History, Draft Notes, CHL.)

  45. TEXT: This verse was printed in a smaller font than the rest of the announcement.

  46. Book of Mormon, 1841 ed., 610 [Ether 12:36–38].

  47. See Hebrews 9:16–17.

  48. See Luke 23:31; and Book of Mormon, 1841 ed., 138, 142 [Jacob 5:7, 9, 47].

  49. An editorial in the 15 July 1844 issue of the Times and Seasons stated, “The pages of Gen. Smith’s history, though his enemies never ceased to persecute him and hunt for offences against him, are as unsullied as virgin snow; on about fifty prosecutions for supposed criminal offences, he came out of the legal fire, heated like Nebuchadnezzar’s furnace, seven times hotter than it was wont to be, without the smell of fire, or a thread of his garments scorched.” (“The Murder,” Times and Seasons, 15 July 1844, 5:584, italics in original.)

  50. William Clayton compiled a list of those whom he viewed as responsible for the murders of JS and Hyrum Smith in his diary on 28 June 1844: William Law, Wilson Law, Robert D. Foster, Charles A. Foster, Francis M. Higbee, Chauncey L. Higbee, Austin Cowles, Joseph H. Jackson, John Finch, William Rollosson, William Marr, Sylvester Emmons, Alexander Sympson, Samuel Marr, John Eagle, Henry Norton, Augustine Spencer, Charles Ivins, P. T. Rolfe, N. J. Higbee, James Blakeslee, William Cook, Sarah Cook, Thomas Sharp, Levi Williams, Walter Bagby, and Onias Skinner. (Clayton, Journal, 28 June 1844.)

  51. The 10 July 1844 issue of the Nauvoo Neighbor contained an excerpt from the Quincy Herald that decried the murders of JS and Hyrum Smith. The excerpt read, in part: “The people of Illinois will condemn it and fix the stigma upon those only who had a hand in it. But the pubilc [public] opinion of the civilized world has been outraged by it, and throughout the United States, and in Europe the opprob[r]ium of the transaction will be cast upon our people and State at large. It is a deed that will not soon be forgotten. Such transactions outlive their actors—they go down to posterity on the page of history—they never die. And whenever in future times the Lovejoy affair in this State—the burning of the Negro alive in Missouri—the destruction of the Ursaline Convent in Massachusets, shall be brought up as stains upon the escutcheon of these States, the assassination of the Smiths will also come up as the deepest and darkest of them all.” (“From the Quincy Herald,” Nauvoo Neighbor, 10 July 1844, [3].)

  52. In a 22 June letter to JS and the other members of the Nauvoo City Council, Governor Thomas Ford insisted that those named in an 11 June warrant on the charge of riot appear at Carthage for a hearing. He then stated that he would “guarantee the safety of all such persons as may thus be braught to this place from Nauvoo either for trial or as witnesses for the accused.” JS was initially dubious of Ford’s promise but received additional assurances of protection on 23 June, before his decision to make the trip to Carthage. (Letter from Thomas Ford, 22 June 1844, in JSP, D15:389–392; Letter to Thomas Ford, 22–23 June 1844, in JSP, D15:399–409; Letter to Thomas Ford, 23 June 1844, in JSP, D15:415–417.)

  53. An editorial in the 26 June 1844 issue of the Nauvoo Neighbor proclaimed the Constitution of the United States to be the nation’s Magna Carta. (“The Rights of Man,” Nauvoo Neighbor, 16 [26] June 1844, [2].)

  54. See Revelation 6:9–11. In the 1 July 1844 issue of the Times and Seasons, Eliza R. Snow introduced a poem regarding the deaths of JS and Hyrum Smith by citing Revelation 6:9–11, which spoke of the blood of “them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held” and proclaimed that the souls of those who had died would plead for God to “avenge [their] blood on them that dwell on the earth.” In a letter to the Saints printed in the 15 July issue of the Times and Seasons, Parley P. Pratt, Willard Richards, John Taylor, and William W. Phelps stated, “As to our country and nation, we have more reason to weep for them, than for those they have murdered; for they are destroying themselves and their institutions and there is no remedy: and as to feelings of revenge, let them not have place for one moment in our bosoms, for God’s vengeance will speedily consume to that degree that we would fain be hid away and not endure the sight.” A poem by an anonymous writer, published in the 15 July issue of the Times and Seasons, also spoke of the theme of vengeance. The poem called upon God, stating, “Cover and conceal not their blood. / Give ear unto their cries until thou lookest / And shewest down from heaven—taking vengeance / And avenging their blood—avenging thy people and thy law, / According to thy promises made.” (Eliza R. Snow, “The Assassination of Gen’ls Joseph Smith and Hyrum Smith, First Presidents of the Church of Latter Day Saints,” Times and Seasons, 1 July 1844, 5:575; Parley P. Pratt et al., “To the Saints Abroad,” Times and Seasons, 15 July 1844, 5:586; “Lamentation of a Jew among the Afflicted and Mourning Sons and Daughters of Zion, at the Assassination of the Two Chieftains in Israel, Joseph and Hyrum Smith,” Times and Seasons, 15 July 1844, 5:591.)