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Appendix: Account of the Murders of Joseph and Hyrum Smith, between Mid-July and Mid-August 1844 [D&C 135]

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Appendix: Account of the Murders of Joseph and Hyrum Smith, between Mid-July and Mid-August 1844 [D&C 135]

Source Note

Account of the murders of JS and , [, 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.
This account appears in the 1844 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants, the text block of which measures 5⅞ × 3⅝ inches (15 × 9 cm) and consists of 446 pages. The account of the murders was printed on two pages. Because this account was a late addition to this edition of the Doctrine and Covenants and because space was limited, it was printed with smaller fonts and closer spacing than the other sections in the book.
The volume is in a presentation binding of red sheepskin with gilt edges. The volume measures 6 × 3⅞ × 1 inches (15 × 10 × 3 cm). The spine contains the title, “Doctrine | and | Covenants”, and the name of the original owner, “J. Glenn.”, in gilt. The verso of the front flyleaf contains an ink inscription in the handwriting of Leonora Cannon Taylor: “Jane Glenn | from her friend | Leonora Taylor | Oct 27th | 1844”. In this copy, the first leaf of the first gathering, which is blank in other extant copies, is missing.
Leonora Taylor was married to apostle , the editor working in the church’s Times and Seasons office, where the 1844 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants was edited and published. She apparently helped him with the printing business while he was away with JS in and possibly during his subsequent convalescence. She likely acquired the featured copy of the Doctrine and Covenants from her husband or directly from the Times and Seasons printing office. As the aforementioned ink inscription indicates, Leonora Taylor presented this copy of the book to Jane Glenn the same year it was published. The chain of custody over the next fourteen decades is unknown. Around 1983, the book was acquired by the Church Historical Department (now CHL). See also the source note for Doctrine and Covenants, 1844.

Footnotes

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

    Taylor, John. Collection, 1829–1894. CHL. MS 1346.

  2. See the full bibliographic entry for Glenn’s copy of the 1844 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants in the CHL catalog.

Historical Introduction

Sometime between mid-July and mid-August 1844, a formal account of the murders of JS and was composed in , 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 —the seat of , Illinois—to answer a charge that they had committed a during the destruction of the Nauvoo Expositor’s press. The following day, JS and fourteen other men appeared at a hearing on the riot charge and were released on bail. That same day, however, JS and Hyrum Smith were arrested on charges of . 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.
Although several men voluntarily spent the nights of 25 and 26 June in the jailhouse with JS and , by the midafternoon of 27 June, only and remained with the two prisoners. 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.
Sometime after five o’clock in the afternoon on 27 June, an armed mob rushed the jail, broke through the guards, ascended the stairway, and attempted to force entry into the bedroom where JS, , , and were. 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 earlier that day, into the crowd of assailants, though it “missed fire 2 or 3 times.” 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.
That night, , who had not been shot during the attack, sent a letter from to governor and , , and . 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 had been murdered, that had been wounded, and that the mob may have then “fled towards .” 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. Taylor was so seriously injured that he remained in Carthage, convalescing for several more days.
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 . , who directed the 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 , , and others, Taylor helped stereotype much of the new edition between January 1843 and June 1844. 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.”
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 , 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. 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. Owing to the absence of any manuscript copies of this document, it is not clear who wrote this account of the murders. While 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 and . The document also seems to have drawn ideas from two poems—one composed by and the other by an anonymous writer—in the wake of the murders.
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 's convalescence, the individuals who were most likely to have authored this announcement are and . This account seems to draw upon Richards’s journal and his published eyewitness account of the murders for details about the event. 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. 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. 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.
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.
The announcement summarized the details of the 27 June assault upon the jail, including the murders of JS and and the wounding of . 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 as well as the flag and the Constitution of the 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 . , who had been in the jail with JS on 25 and 26 June, 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.”
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.

Footnotes

  1. Letter to Thomas Ford, 23 June 1844; Historical Introduction to Military Orders, 24 June 1844.

  2. Hugh T. Reid, “Statement of Facts!,” Nauvoo Neighbor, Extra, 30 June 1844, [1]; Hugh T. Reid, “Statement of Facts!,” Times and Seasons, 1 July 1844, 5:562; Willard Richards, Journal Excerpt, 23–27 June 1844.

    Nauvoo Neighbor. Nauvoo, IL. 1843–1845.

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

  3. Historical Introduction to Warrant, 24 June 1844; Letter to Thomas Ford, 26 June 1844.

  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; Letter to Orville Browning, 27 June 1844; 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.)

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

  5. Willard Richards, Journal Excerpt, 23–27 June 1844. 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; and Historical Introduction to Revelation, 27 Feb. 1833 [D&C 89].

  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; John S. Fullmer, Preston, England, to George A. Smith, 27 Nov. 1854, p. 8, Historian’s Office, JS History Documents, ca. 1839–1860; Ford, History of Illinois, 338; Jones, “Martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum Smith,” 6.)

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

    Ford, Thomas. A History of Illinois, from Its Commencement as a State in 1818 to 1847. Containing a Full Account of the Black Hawk War, the Rise, Progress, and Fall of Mormonism, the Alton and Lovejoy Riots, and Other Important and Interesting Events. Chicago: S. C. Griggs; New York: Ivison and Phinney, 1854.

    Jones, Dan. The Martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum Smith, 1855. CHL. MS 153.

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

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

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

    Nauvoo Neighbor. Nauvoo, IL. 1843–1845.

  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.)

    Richards, Willard. Journals and Papers, 1821–1854. CHL.

  10. Richards, Journal, 28 June 1844.

    Richards, Willard. Journals, 1836–1853. Willard Richards, Papers, 1821–1854. CHL. MS 1490, boxes 1–2.

  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].

    Nauvoo Neighbor. Nauvoo, IL. 1843–1845.

  12. Historical Introduction to Doctrine and Covenants, 1844.

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

    Taylor, John. Collection, 1829–1894. CHL. MS 1346.

  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.)

    Woodford, Robert J. “The Historical Development of the Doctrine and Covenants.” 3 vols. PhD diss., Brigham Young University, 1974.

    Ninety-Third Semi-annual Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, [1922].

    Smith, Hyrum M., and Janne M. Sjodahl. Doctrine and Covenants Commentary. Rev. ed. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1958.

  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.)

    Taylor, Leonora Cannon. Letter, Nauvoo, IL, to Thomas Ford, 22 July 1844. Copy. CHL.

    Taylor, John. Remarks, 25 Oct. 1845. 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].

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

    Nauvoo Neighbor. Nauvoo, IL. 1843–1845.

  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.)

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

    Bitton, Davis. The Martyrdom Remembered: A One-Hundred-Fifty-Year Perspective on the Assassination of Joseph Smith. Salt Lake City: Aspen Books, 1994.

    Smith, Joseph F. Affidavits about Celestial Marriage, 1869–1915. CHL. MS 3423.

    Deseret News. Salt Lake City. 1850–.

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

    Richards, Willard. Journals, 1836–1853. Willard Richards, Papers, 1821–1854. CHL. MS 1490, boxes 1–2.

    Nauvoo Neighbor. Nauvoo, IL. 1843–1845.

  19. Richards, Journal, 7 July 1844.

    Richards, Willard. Journals, 1836–1853. Willard Richards, Papers, 1821–1854. CHL. MS 1490, boxes 1–2.

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

    Historian’s Office. General Church Minutes, 1839–1877. CHL

  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.

    Crawley, Peter. A Descriptive Bibliography of the Mormon Church. 3 vols. Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1997–2012.

    Warsaw Signal. Warsaw, IL. 1841–1853.

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

  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.)

    Historian’s Office. General Church Minutes, 1839–1877. CHL

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

  23. Willard Richards, Journal Excerpt, 23–27 June 1844.

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

    Fullmer, John S. Letterbook, 1836–1881. John S. Fullmer Journal and Letterbook, 1836–1881. CHL.

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation. *Appendix: Account of the Murders of Joseph and Hyrum Smith, between Mid-July and Mid-August 1844 [D&C 135] Doctrine and Covenants, 1844
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Page 445

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.” The same morning, after 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 “And it came to pass that I prayed unto the Lord that he would give unto the 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.” The testators are now dead and their testament is in force.
6  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 , 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. 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 They were innocent of any crimes, as they had often been proved before, and were only confined in jail by the conspiracy of traitors and wicked men; and their innocent blood on the floor of 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 , with the broken faith of the as pledged by the , 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 , 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. [p. 445]
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Appendix: Account of the Murders of Joseph and Hyrum Smith, between Mid-July and Mid-August 1844 [D&C 135]
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Footnotes

  1. 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.)

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

    Historian’s Office. General Church Minutes, 1839–1877. CHL

    Fullmer, John S. Letterbook, 1836–1881. John S. Fullmer Journal and Letterbook, 1836–1881. CHL.

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

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

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

  4. See Hebrews 9:16–17.

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

  6. 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.)

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

  7. 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.)

    Clayton, William. Journals, 1842–1845. CHL.

  8. 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].)

    Nauvoo Neighbor. Nauvoo, IL. 1843–1845.

  9. 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; Letter to Thomas Ford, 22–23 June 1844; Letter to Thomas Ford, 23 June 1844.)

  10. 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].)

    Nauvoo Neighbor. Nauvoo, IL. 1843–1845.

  11. 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.)

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

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