• Editor’s Note: This is the fifth in a series of articles spotlighting things to see and do in and around Nauvoo, Illinois.

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On June 27, 1844, the Prophet Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum were martyred while being held in Carthage Jail. John Taylor was seriously wounded but lived to later become President of the Church. Only Willard Richards survived the ordeal without injury. Following the shootings, the grieving Saints remained in Nauvoo for almost two years before their final exodus to the Salt Lake Valley.

Today, Carthage is a small rural city located about 24 miles southeast of Nauvoo. The drive along the Mississippi River is picturesque and a visit to the room where Joseph and Hyrum were slain leaves a powerful impression. 

CARTHAGE JAIL

Joseph, Hyrum, and sixteen others hugged their families goodbye and rode to Carthage on June 24, 1844. City Council members, including the Prophet, were traveling to the county seat to face charges that had been brought against them. Some of the charges concerned the destruction of the printing press of the Nauvoo Expositor, an anti-Mormon paper that had published accusations against Church leaders. The Governor of Illinois, Thomas Ford, had promised the Prophet protection and an impartial trial. Concerned about the Saints’ welfare if he did not appear, Joseph consented. He knew he was seeing his beloved Nauvoo for the last time. As he passed the temple and looked out over the city, he called it “the loveliest place and the best people under the heavens.” He further remarked, “I am going like a lamb to the slaughter, but I am calm as a summer’s morning” (See HC 6:554 & 555).

The group spent the first night at the Hamilton House Hotel, and on the following morning they were released on bail. Soon after, Joseph and Hyrum were re-arrested and falsely charged with treason. Though they were the only two charged, others chose to stay with them that night in the Carthage Jail. The governor’s promised protection came in the form of the state troops called the “Carthage Greys,” some of whom had privately stated that Joseph would never leave Carthage alive.

On the evening of June 26, only Hyrum, Willard Richards, John Fullmer, Stephen Markham, John Taylor, and Dan Jones remained in the jail with the Prophet. After the others had fallen asleep, the Prophet asked Brother Jones if he was afraid to die, to which Dan replied that “engaged in such a cause I do not think that death would have many terrors.” To this Joseph prophesied, “You will yet see Wales, and fulfill the mission appointed you before you die.” (HC 6:601)      

The following morning, June 27, 1844, Joseph asked Dan Jones to go to Governor Ford to ask for the promised protection. John Fullmer returned to Nauvoo also on assignment by Joseph, and Stephen Markham was sent to get medicine for Willard Richard’s upset stomach. As Brother Markham was returning to the jail, the Carthage Greys forced him onto a horse and out of town at the point of a bayonet. Dan Jones was also not allowed to re-enter the jail. (His life was thus spared, and as the Prophet had promised, he later served a very successful mission in Wales and was instrumental in bringing thousands of new converts into the Church.)

During the day, Joseph wrote a letter to his wife: “Dear Emma, I am very much resigned to my lot, knowing I am justified, and have done the best that could be done. Give my love to the children and all my friends…” (HC 6:605). A few hours later, Joseph dictated an additional postscript to Emma: “I just learn(ed) that the Governor is about to disband his troops, all but a guard to protect us and the peace…” (HC 6:610). 

By mid-afternoon, the weather was hot and humid, and the four remaining prisoners confined in the jail’s upper bedroom were uncomfortable. Around 3 o’clock, John Taylor began to sing “A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief.” When he had finished singing, Joseph asked him to sing it again. 

Around 5 o’clock, a mob of over one hundred armed men with blackened faces converged on the jail. “The mob encircled the building, and some of them rushed by the guard up the flight of stairs, burst open the door, and began the work of death, while others fired in through the open windows” (HC 6:617). The four men tried to hold the door against the force of the mob. A bullet fired through the door struck Hyrum and he fell mortally wounded to the floor. As he fell to the floor he exclaimed, “I am a dead man!”  Joseph saw his beloved brother fall and exclaimed, “Oh dear, brother Hyrum!”

John Taylor tried to jump out of the window and was hit by a bullet in his left thigh. He fell onto the window sill when another bullet hit his pocket watch, stopping the time at 5:16. The force of the bullet threw him back into the room. He was hit several more times, with one of the bullets entering just below his left knee, and another hitting his left wrist. After crawling under the bed for protection, he was struck in the left hip.

“Joseph, seeing there was no safety in the room, and no doubt thinking that it would save the lives of his brethren in the room if he could get out, turned calmly from the door, dropped his pistol on the floor, and sprang into the window when two balls pierced him from the door, and one entered his right breast from without, and he fell outward into the hands of his murderers, exclaiming, “O Lord, my God!’” (HC 6:618)

Willard Richards, who was unharmed, rushed to the window, and looked down at his revered Prophet lying on the ground below. Willard’s escape without any serious injuries was truly miraculous. “His escape fulfilled literally a prophecy which Joseph made over a year previously, that the time would come that the balls would fly around him like hail, and he should see his friends fall on the right and on the left, but that there should not be a hole in his garment.” (HC 6:619)

As Brother Richards rushed to the door, he heard John Taylor call out, “Take me.” Willard took the seriously wounded John Taylor into the cell next door and hid him under bedding, fearing that the mob would come upstairs to finish their work. But hearing shouts that the Mormons were coming, the mob quickly fled.

John Taylor survived the ordeal and would later become the third President of the Church. His words recorded in D&C 135 reflect the greatness of the beloved Prophet: “Joseph Smith, the Prophet and seer of the Lord, has done more, save Jesus only, for the salvation of men in this world, than any other man that ever lived in it.”

Members of the mob also attacked Samuel Smith, the younger brother of Hyrum and Joseph, as he hurried to Carthage to help his brothers. He arrived shortly after the tragedy and helped take his brothers’ bodies back to Nauvoo on the following day. Soon after, Samuel became very ill partly because of physical exhaustion from his lengthy ride while being chased by the attackers, and partly because of the emotional stress from the martyrdom. Lucy Smith recorded that “In a short time Samuel, who continued unwell, was confined to his bed, and lingering until the thirtieth of July, his spirit forsook its earthly tabernacle and went to join his brothers, and the ancient martyrs, in the Paradise of God” (HJS p. 326). Lucy Smith had now lost three sons within a month’s time.

SITES TO SEE

• Carthage Jail Visitors’ Center and Memorial Garden – The jail was constructed of yellow limestone in 1839 and sometime after the martyrdom was converted into a private home. The Church purchased the building in 1903 and later restored it to the original 1844 condition. Notice the beautiful gardens and life-size statue of Hyrum and Joseph. Inside, you will see an eighteen-minute video giving a brief overview of the Prophet’s life. The four-minute audio presentation inside the upper bedroom in the jail is very powerful and sobering. It is easy to imagine what occurred in 1844 as you hear the presentation, see the bullet hole in the door, and look out the window at the well below. While at the visitors’ center, be sure to pick up a free copy of the statements written on the plaques that line the walkway.  The visitors’ center in located at 319 Walnut Street. Open Monday thru Saturday 8:00 a.m.–9:00 p.m. (9:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m. in winter) and Sunday 11:30 a.m.–6:00 p.m. (12:30 p.m.–5:00 p.m. in winter). 217-357-2989.

• Kibbe Museum – Directly across the street from the front door of the jail is the small Kibbe Museum which is worth visiting. See early photographs of the jail, enjoy the extensive displays, or purchase a copy of an issue of the Times and Seasons for $1.00. Admission is free. The museum is located at 306 Walnut Street.

• World Of Wonder Park and Playground – I mention this because some may have little children who, after driving and viewing the presentation, need to use up some energy before heading back to Nauvoo. This little park has picnic tables and a large wooden playground set with slides, mazes, swings, and even a small wooden pirate ship. The park is located south of Carthage Square at the intersection of Adams and Locust Streets.  

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