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Appendix 3: Willard Richards, Journal Excerpt, 23–27 June 1844

23 June 1844 • Sunday Page 19 24 June 1844 • Monday Page 20 25 June 1844 • Tuesday Page 21 26 June 1844 • Wednesday Page 28 27 June 1844 • Thursday Page 35

Source Note

Willard Richards

24 June 1804–11 Mar. 1854. Teacher, lecturer, doctor, clerk, printer, editor, postmaster. Born at Hopkinton, Middlesex Co., Massachusetts. Son of Joseph Richards and Rhoda Howe. Moved to Richmond, Berkshire Co., Massachusetts, 1813; to Chatham, Columbia Co...

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, Journal Excerpt, 23–27 June 1844; handwriting of
Willard Richards

24 June 1804–11 Mar. 1854. Teacher, lecturer, doctor, clerk, printer, editor, postmaster. Born at Hopkinton, Middlesex Co., Massachusetts. Son of Joseph Richards and Rhoda Howe. Moved to Richmond, Berkshire Co., Massachusetts, 1813; to Chatham, Columbia Co...

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; nineteen pages; in Willard Richards, Journal, CHL. Portions of some entries were written in pencil before they were overwritten in ink.

Historical Introduction

JS’s journal, kept by
Willard Richards

24 June 1804–11 Mar. 1854. Teacher, lecturer, doctor, clerk, printer, editor, postmaster. Born at Hopkinton, Middlesex Co., Massachusetts. Son of Joseph Richards and Rhoda Howe. Moved to Richmond, Berkshire Co., Massachusetts, 1813; to Chatham, Columbia Co...

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, ended with the entry of 22 June 1844, just before JS left
Nauvoo

Principal gathering place for Saints following expulsion from Missouri. Beginning in 1839, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints purchased lands in earlier settlement of Commerce and planned settlement of Commerce City, as well as surrounding areas....

More Info
, Illinois, in company with Richards,
Hyrum Smith

9 Feb. 1800–27 June 1844. Farmer, cooper. Born at Tunbridge, Orange Co., Vermont. Son of Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack. Moved to Randolph, Orange Co., 1802; back to Tunbridge, before May 1803; to Royalton, Windsor Co., Vermont, 1804; to Sharon, Windsor Co...

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, and
Orrin Porter Rockwell

June 1814–9 June 1878. Ferry operator, herdsman, farmer. Born in Belchertown, Hampshire Co., Massachusetts. Son of Orin Rockwell and Sarah Witt. Moved to Farmington (later in Manchester), Ontario Co., New York, 1817. Neighbor to JS. Baptized into Church of...

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. Richards, who remained with JS until the moment of JS’s death on 27 June, evidently left JS’s journal in Nauvoo when the four men departed for
Carthage

Located eighteen miles southeast of Nauvoo. Settled 1831. Designated Hancock Co. seat, Mar. 1833. Incorporated as town, 27 Feb. 1837. Population in 1839 about 300. Population in 1844 about 400. Site of acute opposition to Latter-day Saints, early 1840s. Site...

More Info
, Illinois. Richards, however, recorded in his own journal many of the events of the last five days of JS’s life. These events include JS’s arrival on the
Mississippi River

Principal U.S. river running southward from Itasca Lake, Minnesota, to Gulf of Mexico. Covered 3,160-mile course, 1839 (now about 2,350 miles). Drains about 1,100,000 square miles. Steamboat travel on Mississippi very important in 1830s and 1840s for shipping...

More Info
bank in
Iowa Territory

Area acquired by U.S. in Louisiana Purchase, 1803. First permanent white settlements established, ca. 1833. Organized as territory, 1838, containing all of present-day Iowa, much of present-day Minnesota, and parts of North and South Dakota. Population in...

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on the morning of 23 June and his trip to Carthage, during which JS and Hyrum gave themselves up to authorities on the charge of treason. Richards’s journal also recounts JS’s activities in Carthage during the days preceding his and Hyrum’s deaths. The material Richards recorded in his own journal during this time is in the same format and style as the record he had been keeping for JS. Richards’s hasty, terse notations and precise attention to details—illustrated by his practice of recording the specific times events occurred—indicate that he continuously carried his journal with him and recorded many of the events as he witnessed them, possibly with the intention of using the record to fill in JS’s journal at a later date. Richards’s journal entries for 23–27 June 1844 provide a contemporaneous firsthand account of JS’s activities during the last five days of his life, and they are reproduced here in full.
1

For additional details on the events leading to the deaths of JS and Hyrum Smith, see Oaks and Hill, Carthage Conspiracy.


Comprehensive Works Cited

Oaks, Dallin H., and Marvin S. Hill. Carthage Conspiracy: The Trial of the Accused Assassins of Joseph Smith. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1975.

Richards first inscribed portions of these entries in pencil and then rewrote them in ink. In a few cases, while overwriting, he skipped or altered the original penciled text. The transcription here reproduces the final ink version and does not capture the slight variations in the penciled text.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    For additional details on the events leading to the deaths of JS and Hyrum Smith, see Oaks and Hill, Carthage Conspiracy.

    Oaks, Dallin H., and Marvin S. Hill. Carthage Conspiracy: The Trial of the Accused Assassins of Joseph Smith. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1975.

Page [37]

& said the gua[r]d wanted some wine Joseph gave
Dr Richads

24 June 1804–11 Mar. 1854. Teacher, lecturer, doctor, clerk, printer, editor, postmaster. Born at Hopkinton, Middlesex Co., Massachusetts. Son of Joseph Richards and Rhoda Howe. Moved to Richmond, Berkshire Co., Massachusetts, 1813; to Chatham, Columbia Co...

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2,½ dollars— to give the guard— but the guard said one was enough & would take no more.— Guard immediately sent for a bottle of wine. pipe & 2 small papers of tobacco.— & one brought them in soon after the Jailer went out.
Dr

24 June 1804–11 Mar. 1854. Teacher, lecturer, doctor, clerk, printer, editor, postmaster. Born at Hopkinton, Middlesex Co., Massachusetts. Son of Joseph Richards and Rhoda Howe. Moved to Richmond, Berkshire Co., Massachusetts, 1813; to Chatham, Columbia Co...

View Full Bio
topped the bottle presented a glass to them Joseph. he tastd
bro Taylor

1 Nov. 1808–25 July 1887. Preacher, editor, publisher, politician. Born at Milnthorpe, Westmoreland, England. Son of James Taylor and Agnes Taylor, members of Church of England. Around age sixteen, joined Methodist church and was local preacher. Migrated ...

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. tasted the
Dr

24 June 1804–11 Mar. 1854. Teacher, lecturer, doctor, clerk, printer, editor, postmaster. Born at Hopkinton, Middlesex Co., Massachusetts. Son of Joseph Richards and Rhoda Howe. Moved to Richmond, Berkshire Co., Massachusetts, 1813; to Chatham, Columbia Co...

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Tasted.—
126

According to a later account by Taylor, JS and his companions—rather than the guard—had sent for the wine in order to “revive” their spirits, which were “generally dull and heavy.” (John Taylor, Statement, 23 Aug. 1856, p. 47, Historian’s Office, JS History, Draft Notes, ca. 1839–1856, CHL.)


gave the bottle to the gua[r]d.— who tund [turned] to go out. when at the stairs top. some one below calld him 2 or 3 times. he went down—— a little rustling at the door.— the cry sur[r]ender &— discharge of 3 or 4 arm— followd intntly [instantly].—
Dr

24 June 1804–11 Mar. 1854. Teacher, lecturer, doctor, clerk, printer, editor, postmaster. Born at Hopkinton, Middlesex Co., Massachusetts. Son of Joseph Richards and Rhoda Howe. Moved to Richmond, Berkshire Co., Massachusetts, 1813; to Chatham, Columbia Co...

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glanced an eye by the curtain— say saw a 100 ar[m]ed men arou[n]d the door.— Joseph
Hyrm

9 Feb. 1800–27 June 1844. Farmer, cooper. Born at Tunbridge, Orange Co., Vermont. Son of Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack. Moved to Randolph, Orange Co., 1802; back to Tunbridge, before May 1803; to Royalton, Windsor Co., Vermont, 1804; to Sharon, Windsor Co...

View Full Bio
&
Taylor

1 Nov. 1808–25 July 1887. Preacher, editor, publisher, politician. Born at Milnthorpe, Westmoreland, England. Son of James Taylor and Agnes Taylor, members of Church of England. Around age sixteen, joined Methodist church and was local preacher. Migrated ...

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s coat were of off—Josep spra[n]g to his coat for his 6. shooter,
Hyrm

9 Feb. 1800–27 June 1844. Farmer, cooper. Born at Tunbridge, Orange Co., Vermont. Son of Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack. Moved to Randolph, Orange Co., 1802; back to Tunbridge, before May 1803; to Royalton, Windsor Co., Vermont, 1804; to Sharon, Windsor Co...

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for his single barrel—
127

The previous day John S. Fullmer gave JS a single-barrel pistol, which Fullmer brought into the jail in his boot. JS gave the pistol to Hyrum Smith after Cyrus Wheelock gave him a six-shooter revolver, which Wheelock had carried into the jail earlier on 27 June in his overcoat. (John S. Fullmer, Preston, England, to George A. Smith, 27 Nov. 1854; Cyrus Wheelock, London, England, to George A. Smith, 29 Dec. 1854, Historian’s Office, JS History Documents, ca. 1839–1860, CHL.)


Comprehensive Works Cited

Historian’s Office. Joseph Smith History Documents, 1839–1860. CHL. CR 100 396.

Taylor

1 Nov. 1808–25 July 1887. Preacher, editor, publisher, politician. Born at Milnthorpe, Westmoreland, England. Son of James Taylor and Agnes Taylor, members of Church of England. Around age sixteen, joined Methodist church and was local preacher. Migrated ...

View Full Bio
for
Markam

9 Feb. 1800–10 Mar. 1878. Carpenter, farmer, stock raiser. Born at Rush (later Avon), Ontario Co., New York. Son of David Markham and Dinah Merry. Moved to Mentor, Geauga Co., Ohio, 1809. Moved to Unionville, Geauga Co., 1810. Married Hannah Hogaboom, before...

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s club— cane— &
Dr

24 June 1804–11 Mar. 1854. Teacher, lecturer, doctor, clerk, printer, editor, postmaster. Born at Hopkinton, Middlesex Co., Massachusetts. Son of Joseph Richards and Rhoda Howe. Moved to Richmond, Berkshire Co., Massachusetts, 1813; to Chatham, Columbia Co...

View Full Bio
for
Taylor

1 Nov. 1808–25 July 1887. Preacher, editor, publisher, politician. Born at Milnthorpe, Westmoreland, England. Son of James Taylor and Agnes Taylor, members of Church of England. Around age sixteen, joined Methodist church and was local preacher. Migrated ...

View Full Bio
s— cane—— all sp[r]ang agist [against] the door— the balls whist[l]ed up the stair way— & in an inst[a]nt. one came th[r]ough the door—— Joseph
Tylr

1 Nov. 1808–25 July 1887. Preacher, editor, publisher, politician. Born at Milnthorpe, Westmoreland, England. Son of James Taylor and Agnes Taylor, members of Church of England. Around age sixteen, joined Methodist church and was local preacher. Migrated ...

View Full Bio
&
Richads

24 June 1804–11 Mar. 1854. Teacher, lecturer, doctor, clerk, printer, editor, postmaster. Born at Hopkinton, Middlesex Co., Massachusetts. Son of Joseph Richards and Rhoda Howe. Moved to Richmond, Berkshire Co., Massachusetts, 1813; to Chatham, Columbia Co...

View Full Bio
— spra[n]g to the left.
Hyrum

9 Feb. 1800–27 June 1844. Farmer, cooper. Born at Tunbridge, Orange Co., Vermont. Son of Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack. Moved to Randolph, Orange Co., 1802; back to Tunbridge, before May 1803; to Royalton, Windsor Co., Vermont, 1804; to Sharon, Windsor Co...

View Full Bio
back in front of the door— & snapped his pistol.— when a ball struck him in the left side of his nose. fell back on floor saying— I am a dead man
128

TEXT: “man” is double underlined.


Joseph discha[r]ged his 6 shooter— in the entry reaching round— the door casing continual discha[r]ges came in the room.— 6 shooter missed fire 2 or 3 times.—
Taylor

1 Nov. 1808–25 July 1887. Preacher, editor, publisher, politician. Born at Milnthorpe, Westmoreland, England. Son of James Taylor and Agnes Taylor, members of Church of England. Around age sixteen, joined Methodist church and was local preacher. Migrated ...

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sp[r]ang to leap from the east window— was shot in the window

Editorial Note
Willard Richards

24 June 1804–11 Mar. 1854. Teacher, lecturer, doctor, clerk, printer, editor, postmaster. Born at Hopkinton, Middlesex Co., Massachusetts. Son of Joseph Richards and Rhoda Howe. Moved to Richmond, Berkshire Co., Massachusetts, 1813; to Chatham, Columbia Co...

View Full Bio
’s incomplete account of the attack on the jail was written some time after JS and
Hyrum Smith

9 Feb. 1800–27 June 1844. Farmer, cooper. Born at Tunbridge, Orange Co., Vermont. Son of Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack. Moved to Randolph, Orange Co., 1802; back to Tunbridge, before May 1803; to Royalton, Windsor Co., Vermont, 1804; to Sharon, Windsor Co...

View Full Bio
were killed. Changes in ink density and line spacing suggest that the last thing he wrote before the attack on the jail was the time “4.15—”, on page 35 of his journal featured here. Richards later completed his account of the last violent minutes in the jail and published it in
Nauvoo

Principal gathering place for Saints following expulsion from Missouri. Beginning in 1839, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints purchased lands in earlier settlement of Commerce and planned settlement of Commerce City, as well as surrounding areas....

More Info
, Illinois, as part of a detailed article he wrote on the attack. The following excerpt of that article is from the 24 July 1844 issue of the Nauvoo Neighbor:
Mr. Taylor

1 Nov. 1808–25 July 1887. Preacher, editor, publisher, politician. Born at Milnthorpe, Westmoreland, England. Son of James Taylor and Agnes Taylor, members of Church of England. Around age sixteen, joined Methodist church and was local preacher. Migrated ...

View Full Bio
rushed into the window, which is some fifteen or twenty feet from the ground. When his body was nearly on a balance, a ball from the door within entered his leg, and a ball from without struck his watch . . . and smashed it . . . leaving the hands standing at 5 o’clock, 16 minutes, and 26 seconds,—the force of which ball threw him back on the floor, and he rolled under the bed which stood by his side, where he lay motionless, the mob from the door continuing to fire upon him, cutting away a piece of flesh from his left hip as large as a man’s hand, and were hindered only by my knocking down their muzzles with a stick; while they continued to reach their guns into the room, probably left handed, and aimed their discharge so far around as almost to reach us in the corner of the room to where we retreated and dodged, and then I recommenced the attack with my stick again. Joseph attempted as the last resort, to leap the same window from whence Mr. Taylor fell, when two balls pierced him from the door, and one entered his right breast from without, and he fell outward exclaiming, “O Lord my God!” As his feet went out of the window my head went in, the balls whistling all around. He fell on his left side a dead man. At this instant the cry was raised, “He’s leaped the window,” and the mob on the stairs and in the entry ran out. I withdrew from the window, thinking it of no use to leap out on a hundred bayonets, then around Gen Smith’s body. Not satisfied with this I again reached my head out of the window and watched some seconds, to see if there were any signs of life, regardless of my own, determined to see the end of him I loved; being fully satisfied, that he was dead, with a hundred men near the body and more coming round the corner of the jail, and expecting a return to our room I rushed towards the prison door, at the head of the stairs, and through the entry from whence the firing had proceeded, to learn if the doors into the prison were open. When near the entry, Mr. Taylor called out “take me;” I pressed my way till I found all doors unbarred, returning instantly caught Mr. Taylor under my arm, and rushed by the stairs into the dungeon, or inner prison, stretched him on the floor and covered him with a bed in such a manner, as not likely to be perceived, expecting an immediate return of the mob. I said to Mr. Taylor, this is a hard case to lay you on the floor, but if your wounds are not fatal I want you to live to tell the story. I expected to be shot the next moment, and stood before the door awaiting the onset.
129

Willard Richards, “Two Minutes in Jail,” Nauvoo Neighbor, 24 July 1844, [3], italics in original; see also “Two Minutes in Jail,” Times and Seasons, 1 Aug. 1844, 5:598–599.


Comprehensive Works Cited

Nauvoo Neighbor. Nauvoo, IL. 1843–1845.

Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.


[p. [37]]
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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Appendix 3: Willard Richards, Journal Excerpt, 23–27 June 1844
ID #
7059
Total Pages
19
Print Volume Location
JSP, J3:303–330
Handwriting on This Page
  • William Clayton

Footnotes

  1. [126]

    According to a later account by Taylor, JS and his companions—rather than the guard—had sent for the wine in order to “revive” their spirits, which were “generally dull and heavy.” (John Taylor, Statement, 23 Aug. 1856, p. 47, Historian’s Office, JS History, Draft Notes, ca. 1839–1856, CHL.)

  2. [127]

    The previous day John S. Fullmer gave JS a single-barrel pistol, which Fullmer brought into the jail in his boot. JS gave the pistol to Hyrum Smith after Cyrus Wheelock gave him a six-shooter revolver, which Wheelock had carried into the jail earlier on 27 June in his overcoat. (John S. Fullmer, Preston, England, to George A. Smith, 27 Nov. 1854; Cyrus Wheelock, London, England, to George A. Smith, 29 Dec. 1854, Historian’s Office, JS History Documents, ca. 1839–1860, CHL.)

    Historian’s Office. Joseph Smith History Documents, 1839–1860. CHL. CR 100 396.

  3. [128]

    TEXT: “man” is double underlined.

  4. [129]

    Willard Richards, “Two Minutes in Jail,” Nauvoo Neighbor, 24 July 1844, [3], italics in original; see also “Two Minutes in Jail,” Times and Seasons, 1 Aug. 1844, 5:598–599.

    Nauvoo Neighbor. Nauvoo, IL. 1843–1845.

    Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.

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