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Spencer McBride: On June 27, 1844, in the American town of Carthage, Illinois, an armed mob stormed the county jail. There, they murdered the prophet Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum.
“The job was done in an instant,” eyewitness Willard Richards would write not long after the smoke cleared. His letter was intended for several different recipients, including Emma Smith, the prophet’s wife. Upon Richards fell the duty to inform Emma that she was now a widow and that her children had lost their father.
The news would also inspire mourning among the thousands of men and women who, as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, followed Joseph Smith as a prophet of God. They would weep for their fallen church president.
Since that day in 1844, Latter-day Saints have commemorated the tragic event. They have memorialized Joseph and Hyrum Smith as martyrs. They refer to this moment as “the martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum Smith,” or, sometimes, simply as “the martyrdom.”
What brought about this assassination? What motivated a mob to take such illegal actions? How, in a country that celebrated itself as a bastion of freedom, did the assailants justify murdering two religious leaders? Like most historical events, the murder of Joseph and Hyrum Smith is a long and complex story. It’s a story of faith and valiance, and of fear and violence. It’s a story about politics and the law, and about intolerance and mobs. It’s a historical event that we are exploring over the next eight episodes. This is Road to Carthage: A Joseph Smith Papers Podcast, and I’m your host, Spencer McBride.