Murder in the Carthage Jail

The Carthage jail is the site where Joseph Smith and his brother, Hyrum were murdered. After a few years, the Saints were once again starting to be harassed and in June 1844 Joseph Smith, his brother Hyrum and eight friends departed Nauvoo and traveled the 21 miles to Carthage, MO to face charges of Treason that had been leveled against them. As they left, Joseph and his brother stopped on the hill overlooking Nauvoo and said "this is the loveliest place and the best people under the heavens." He loved the city he had helped build and the people that lived there. He was afraid that if he did not go, Nauvoo would be invaded and many innocent lives lost. Upon their arrival they were arrested and taken to the jail.

This is the outside of the Carthage jail. The building is as Joseph Smith would have seen it, with the exception of the summer kitchen, on the left, that was added later. The window on the left would have been the jailers house where he and his family lived. The window on the left was a debtors jail and the room upstairs was where the jailers 8 children slept. Between the upstairs room and the lower rooms was the criminals jail. You can just see a small slit to the right of the tree branch that let a little light into the cell. Another small slit is hidden by the tree branches to the left.

This image taken by the Ensign Peak Foundation, shows the criminal jail cell on the second floor of the Carthage jail. Joseph Smith and his nine companions were held in here for a short period of time after they were first arrested.

Same cell just a different angle to show one of the small slits to allow a small amount of light and air in. You can also see the original wood floors.

The jailer and his wife were kind and knew that the men that were being held were not dangerous and would not flee so he let them eat with his family and stay down stairs with the family where they would be more comfortable. There was one guard posted at the door, which was usually open, of the room where they ate and stayed. Joseph and the others would read out of the Book of Mormon and The Bible to these guards during the day and testify of the truth of what they said. A few of the guards did eventually join the Church as a result of these readings.

During the time in the jail, mobs started to form outside the jail to yell and threaten both the jailer, and the prisoners. On June 27 1844, a mob, faced blackened with gun powder and grease stormed the jail. The men were staying in the jailers bedroom which did not have bars over the window and tried to barricade the door, a pistol shot hit Hyrum in the face and killed him instantly, Joseph went to his brothers aid and as the mob broke the door down, he fired three shots from a small pistol a friend had given him on a visit, wounding three men. Joseph then jumped into the window where he was shot in the back and fell out of the window to the ground below. He was then shot several more times by an improvised firing squad before the mob dispersed. Several of his companions were wounded and made their way upstairs to the dark cell waiting for the mob to disperse.

This is the room and window where the mob attacked and Joseph Smith along with his brother Hyrum were killed.

view of the jail from the outside and the window Joseph Smith fell from. He died next to the well.

After Joseph Smith's death, mobs once again began attacking and harassing the Saints in Nauvoo. In the winter of 1845-1846 the Saints once again abandoned all they had built, including the Temple, and started west led by Brigham Young. It is interesting to note that in 2004, the Illinois House of Representatives passed a resolution of regret for the forced expulsion from Nauvoo in 1846. It is now referred to as the "Mormon War in Illinois."

We will leave this area and now head to Montreal and meet up with our group to start our much anticipated, by us at least, tour of the Eastern Canadian Provinces. We will stay in South Bend, IN for a few days to visit with good friends and our neighbor in Queen Valley, AZ. Then make a beeline to Montreal. Hope you can follow along, we are looking forward to it!