Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) faced persecution from their earliest days. They were denied government protection and driven from Missouri to Illinois, where rising tensions ultimately led to the assassination of their prophet Joseph Smith on June 27, 1844.
Destruction of the Nauvoo Expositor Press
Beginning in 1839, Mormons lived as a cohesive group in Nauvoo, Illinois. Dan Law, once a close associate of Joseph Smith's, left the church and began the Nauvoo Expositor, an anti-Mormon newspaper that heartily attacked Smith and the church in its first (and only) issue.
The Nauvoo City Council deliberated about the Expositor for three days, ultimately passing an ordinance about libel, after which Joseph Smith ordered that the printing press for the Expositor be destroyed.
Non-Mormons who were already uneasy about the Mormon presence were infuriated, and Joseph Smith declared martial law on June 18, 1839, to protect Nauvoo Mormons from violent retribution.
Joseph Smith's Arrest in 1844
The Illinois governor promised Joseph Smith protection if he would stand trial for treason against the state of Illinois for declaring martial law. Smith initially ran from the state, but he ultimately returned and surrendered.
He was taken to Carthage Jail about 25 southeast of Nauvoo to await trial. As he left Nauvoo, Smith gave others the impression that he wouldn't be coming back.
Joseph Smith's Final Days in Carthage Jail
Carthage Jail was a small jail of two floors, which housed a few prisoners plus the jailer and his family. While Joseph Smith was there, the only other occupants of the house were the jailer's family. Smith ate meals with them in their first floor parlor and kitchen.
Smith was initially placed in the debtor's room on the first floor. Eventually, the jailer became concerned about people who might fire at Smith through the windows and transferred him to an upstairs cell.
After just a few hours, the temperature reached almost 120 degrees, and Smith was allowed to stay in the jailer's bedroom while the jailer and his wife slept downstairs in the parlor.
Events of Joseph Smith's Assassination
On the afternoon of June 27, 1844, Joseph Smith and three other church members - John Taylor, Willard Richards, and Joseph's brother Hyrum Smith - were in the upstairs bedroom when a group of approximately 150 armed men with blackened faces burst into Carthage Jail.
The jailer was not home; the mob members fired a shot and scared the jailer's wife and daughter from the parlor. A local non-Mormon militia called the Carthage Greys was outside and had been assigned to protect Joseph Smith, but they had only been given blanks to fire.
The mob charged upstairs and tried to enter the bedroom. The men inside tried to hold the door shut and the mob fired two shots through the door, one of which hit Hyrum Smith in the face and killed him almost instantly.
Willard Richards tried to fend off the mob with his walking stick and Joseph Smith tried to defend himself by firing three shots from a pistol that had been given to him by a visitor earlier that day. John Taylor was shot four times and then rolled under the bed for safety. Willard Richards was miraculously unscathed.
Joseph Smith tried to jump out of the open window, was shot twice and fell to the ground where he was shot four more times. Someone yelled "the Mormons are coming!" and the mob fled. By nightfall Carthage was almost deserted, the citizens fearing Mormon retaliation that never came.
Today, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints owns the site and gives free guided tours of Carthage Jail.
Aftermath of Joseph Smith's Murder
Five members of the mob were tried for Joseph Smith's death in Illinois and were all found "not guilty." Some people accused the governor of knowing about the plot to kill Smith, but he denied it. He later implied that it was unreasonable to expect the state of Illinois to protect someone as controversial as Smith had been in the day.
Mormon Church Leadership after Joseph Smith's Death
Brigham Young, Joseph Smith's successor as prophet, later took the Saints to Utah (which was then part of Mexico) to avoid further persecution. Some Mormons chose not to follow Brigham Young and formed their own churches based on the teachings of Joseph Smith.
Non-Mormons often feared Mormons' political power and were intimidated by Mormon religious beliefs. Their leader Joseph Smith was killed by mob members who assumed getting rid of Smith would end the Mormon movement. Currently, there are more than 13 million members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints worldwide.
Sources:
- History of the Church, Vol. 6. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company, 1978.
- Church history course taken by the author from Dr. Alex Baugh, Brigham Young University, 2005.
- Information from tour guide, personal tour of Carthage Jail.
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