4/5/2011 The Carthage Conspiracy Trial: An Acco… The Carthage Conspiracy Trial: An Account by Douglas O. Linder (2010) Nauvoo, Illinois, as seen across the Mississippi River from Iowa in the 1840s One of the most consequential crimes in United States history occurred on a summer day in 1844 when a mob stormed a jail in Carthage, Illinois and murdered two of its occupants, Joseph Smith, Jr. and his brother, Hyrum. The killing of Joseph Smith, the charismatic founding prophet of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, America's most important homegrown religion, led to a schism among Mormons and the trek west to Utah of Brigham Young and his followers. The story of the 1844 murders (or "martyrdoms," as they are often called in LDS accounts) and the trial that followed is much less known than it deserves to be--largely owing to the over-sensitivity of American textbook writers on all matters religious. Events so pivotal in the history of the Mormon Church, which today boasts a worldwide membership of over 14 million and exerts an important influence on debates of moral issues ranging from same-sex marriage to gambling to euthanasia, deserve a broader understanding. The building in Nauvoo that housed the Nauvoo Expositor Smith Orders the Destruction of the Nauvoo Expositor The early 1840s were a time of growing tension between Mormon and non-Mormon settlers in Hancock County, Illinois. In April 1839, Joseph Smith, having escaped from a Missouri jail where he was being held on state treason charges, arrived in northwestern Illinois, near the banks of the Mississippi River, to join Mormons who had begun to locate there in large numbers. Soon, the new city of Nauvoo was established and became a magnet for Mormons from the eastern law2.umkc.edu/…/carthageaccount.html 1/13 4/5/2011 The Carthage Conspiracy Trial: An Acco… U.S., Canada, and Europe. By 1844, Nauvoo, with a population of 12,000, rivaled Chicago for the title of the largest city in the state of Illinois. The growing Mormon economic and political influence in Hancock County did not sit well with all county residents. In 1841, Thomas C. Sharp of Warsaw, Illinois organized an anti-Mormon political party and began publishing vitriolic editorials in his Warsaw Signal newspaper attacking Joseph Smith's concentration of power, the creation of a Mormon military force called The Nauvoo Legion, and Mormon land speculation. From within the Mormon population there was dissension too, with former church leader John C. Bennett publishing charges that Smith and other church officials were practicing polygamy. Conflict further escalated in 1843 following the arrest of Joseph Smith by Illinois deputies who sought to send Smith back to Missouri to face charges pending there. Following Smith's rescue by the Nauvoo Legion, the Mormon-dominated Nauvoo City Council adopted an ordinance authorizing review by the mayor of all legal process issuing from outside the city. The city council's action inflamed anti-Mormon sentiment, with Sharp and others complaining that Smith "was above the law." In the spring of 1844, tensions finally overflowed into violence. In May, a group of about 300 dissenting Mormons headed by former Mormon counselor William Law started holding meetings to voice their outrage over the practice of polygamy and Smith's ever-growing theocratic power in Nauvoo. Among the actions advocated by the group was repeal of the Nauvoo Charter, the state document empowering Nauvoo to exercise legal authority. On June 7, William Law and six associates published what would be the first and only issue of the Nauvoo Expositor, a newspaper created to expose the "abominations and whoredoms" of Smith and other high church officials. Publication of the Nauvoo Expositor prompted an emergency meeting of the Nauvoo City Council to consider what if any action should be taken against what most city council members considered to be a libelous and incendiary newspaper. On June 10, the Council adopted an ordinance ("Ordinance Concerning Libels") that declared the Expositor to be a public nuisance. law2.umkc.edu/…/carthageaccount.htmlImmediately following the Council's action, Nauvoo Mayor Joseph Smith issued an order 2/13 4/5/2011 The Carthage Conspiracy Trial: An Acco… Immediately following the Council's action, Nauvoo Mayor Joseph Smith issued an order authorizing the destruction of the paper's publications, press equipment, and type: "You are hereby commanded to destroy the printing press from whence issues the Nauvoo Expositor, and to pi the type of said printing establishment in the street, and burn all the Expositors and libelous handbills found within said establishment." At about eight o'clock that evening, Smith's order was carried out. The destruction of the Nauvoo Expositor whipped anti-Mormon feelings in Hancock County into a frenzy. In Carthage, citizens met and adopted a resolution expressing outrage with Smith's order and with a decision of the Nauvoo Municipal Court dismissing an arrest warrant for Smith, on the charge of inciting a riot, that had been issued the day before by a Hancock County judge. The resolution castigated "the wicked and abominable Mormon leaders" who were behind the destruction of the paper and warned that "a war of extermination" might be necessary. In response to the resolution issuing from Carthage, Smith wrote to Governor Thomas Ford inviting him to come to Nauvoo to help resolve the growing controversy and met with the Nauvoo Legion instructing them to resist if a mob of anti-Mormons attacked the town. Governor Ford declined the invitation. Rumors of an imminent assault on Nauvoo circulated in the town. The Murder of Joseph and Hyrum Smith Four days after giving a final speech to the Nauvoo Legion in which Smith declared, "I am willing to sacrifice my life for your preservation," he and his brother Hyrum and a small band of followers crossed the Mississippi River into Iowa, their first stop on a planned journey that would take them to safety in the Rocky Mountains. The next day, however, Smith aborted his journey and returned to Nauvoo after becoming convinced that his surrender to Illinois authorities was the only hope for preventing an anti-Mormon mob from attacking Nauvoo. According to the account of Willard Richards, Smith said to his companions, "I am going like a lamb to the slaughter, but I am as calm as a summer's morning. I have a conscience void of an offense toward God and toward all men. If they take my life, I shall die an innocent man." On June 25, after meeting with Governor Ford in Carthage, Joseph and Hyrum agreed to voluntarily submit to arrest on the charge of inciting a riot at the building housing the Nauvoo Expositor. Later in the day, a second charge was added--treason!--and Justice of the Peace Robert Smith ordered the two Smiths to be held without bail in the Carthage Jail until a hearing, scheduled for June 29, could be held. "The Martyrdom of Joseph Smith" law2.umkc.edu/…/carthageaccount.htmlOn the afternoon of June 27, Smith's fears were realized. One of his Mormon cell mates, John 3/13 4/5/2011 The Carthage Conspiracy Trial: An Acco… On the afternoon of June 27, Smith's fears were realized. One of his Mormon cell mates, John Taylor, provided an eyewitness account: I was sitting at one of the front windows of the jail, when I saw a number of men, with painted faces, coming around the corner of the jail, and aiming towards the stairs. The other brethren had seen the same, for, as I went to the door, I found Brother Hyrum Smith and Dr. Richards already leaning against it. They both pressed against the door with their shoulders to prevent its being opened, as the lock and latch were comparatively useless. While in this position, the mob, who had come upstairs and tried to open the door, probably thought it was locked and fired a ball through the keyhole. At this Dr. Richards and Brother Hyrum leaped back from the door, with their faces towards it. Almost instantly another ball passed through the panel of the door, and struck Brother Hyrum on the left side of the nose, entering his face and head. At the same instant, another ball from outside entered his back, passing through his body and striking his watch....Immediately, when the ball struck him, he fell flat on his back, crying as he fell, "I am a dead man!" He never moved afterwards. Brother Joseph as he drew nigh to Hyrum, and, leaning over him, exclaimed, "Oh! my poor, dear brother Hyrum!" He, however, instantly arose, and with a firm, quick step, and a determined expression of countenance, approached the door, and pulling the six-shooter left by Brother Wheelock from his pocket, opened the door slightly, and snapped the pistol six successive times. Only three of the barrels, however, were discharged. I afterwards understood that two or three were wounded by these discharges, two of whom, I am informed, died...The firing of Brother Joseph made our assailants pause for a moment. Very soon after, however, they pushed the door some distance open, and protruded and discharged their guns into the room, when I parried them off with my stick, giving another direction to the balls. It certainly was a terrible scene. Streams of fire as thick as my arm passed by me as these men fired, and, unarmed as we were, it looked like certain death. I remember feeling as though my time had come, but I do not know when, in any critical position, I was more calm, unruffled, energetic, and acted with more promptness and decision.