Spring has come to Carthage … well at least for a day or two as thunder storms are expected later this week … it just starting raining … no wait, its just stopped and the sun is shining. So typical for out here!
We are happy to let everyone know that we are now serving in Carthage where we have been serving for the past three weeks and where we will complete our mission on June 1.
Carthage is more than just a special place, to us, as well as for members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, this is a sacred place. This is where the Prophet Joseph Smith, like many prophets in ancient times, along with his brother Hyrum, sealed their testimonies and their works with their own blood dying as martyrs in Carthage Jail. We hope you will enjoy reading the following for some background and historical context of it all.
Following the First Vision in 1820, Joseph Smith devoted his life to the Lord, Jesus Christ, and His Church. He received new scripture, organized and led the Lord’s restored Church, and guided the Saints efforts to establish Zion. Legal proceedings, including imprisonment, trials, and mob violence were not unknown to the Prophet. But in the first six months of 1844, events came in rapid succession, firing tensions that eventually exploded across western Illinois, culminating in the martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum Smith in Carthage Jail.
CARTHAGE JAIL
Carthage Jail was Hancock county’s first jail and was built in 1839. (Ironically it was in 1839 when Joseph purchased Commerce later named Nauvoo.) The jail was made of limestone from a nearby quarry and cost the county $4,105 to build. For over twenty-five years, the county used the structure as a jail. Mostly it housed debtors and petty thieves, but occasionally it held more violent offenders.
The jail was only about five years old when Joseph and Hyrum were incarcerated and was built in a similar pattern as other jails of the time, with cells on both the main floor and the upstairs.
In 1866, a new owner converted the jail into a home.
The Church purchased the jail in 1903 under the direction of Joseph F. Smith, then president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, who was the son of Hyrum Smith and who was killed there and who was just six years old at the time of his father's martyrdom.
In 1934 the local mission president called a couple to serve at the site and provide tours of the building. Over the years, numerous renovations were made to the building. In 1989 the building was fully restored to its original 1844 appearance.
FURNISHINGS
The furnishings currently in the Carthage Jail cannot be traced to the jail during the time of the martyrdom. However, they are period pieces and were selected and situated simply to help visitors understand what the jail may have looked like in June 1844. Though none of the furniture is tied to the tragic events that occurred here, the building itself stands as a witness to the events of June 27, 1844. Much of the building’s material is original and meticulously restored to its 1844 appearance.
JAILOR GEORGE W. STIGALL
Little is known about the jailer, George W. Stigall. However, we do know that he and his wife and their seven children lived here and were responsible for housing and feeding any prisoners who were unable to provide their own meals. Because Nauvoo was about a six hour horse back ride to Carthage, Joseph and the others meals were provided by the jailer. In his journal John Taylor later wrote that Stigall, and his wife, “manifested a disposition to make us as comfortable as they could; we ate at their table, which was well provided, and, of course, paid for it.” It was common practice in the mid-nineteenth century for prisoners to provide their own food, clothing, etc., which, of course, the prisoners paid for.
Dinning area of the jail.
Family gathering area and kitchen.
1844 stove ...
Jail Grounds
Joseph and Hyrum Smith left Nauvoo at 6:00 pm and arrived in Carthage near midnight on Monday evening, June 24, 1844. So, their first night in Carthage was not at the jail, but in a rented room near the town square. The next day they appeared before a judge at the courthouse, which is just two blocks southeast of the jail. Several other men came with them. The judge set the date for a hearing on charges of riot. The judge released them on $500 bail each. Before they could leave town Joseph and Hyrum were charged with treason, which was a capital offense that prevented the men from being released on bail, which is why they were confined overnight in the Carthage jail.
Original painting by Valoy Eaton hanging in the visitors' center.
Criminal Cell
Joseph and Hyrum, along with eight of their friends who were not charged with treason, only spent a few hours in the criminal cell on the second floor on Tuesday before being moved downstairs to the debtor’s cell. The criminal cell had a larger role to play on Thursday, June 27. It was here that Willard Richards moved the wounded John Taylor, who had been shot four times during the attack. Willard had hoped to conceal him should the mob return by placing a mattress on top of him.
Willard Richards hid the wounded John Taylor under the mattress in the criminal cell to hide him after the initial attack just in case the mob returned to kill him.
Debtor’s Cell
George Stigall first imprisoned Joseph and Hyrum in the “criminal’s cell” upstairs, but then he moved them to the debtor’s cell, often referred to as the “debtor’s apartment” where there was more room for their friends to visit. Eight other men were with the Prophet and his brother on the night of June 25, 1844—John Taylor, Willard Richards, John P. Greene, Stephen Markham, Dan Jones, John S. Fullmer, Lorenzo Wasson, and a Dr. Southwick.
Throughout the night the angry mob continued to gather around the jail shouting profanities and threats against Jospeh and the others. Because of the cell’s location on the ground floor and its large windows, Stigall felt the group would be safer by moving them upstairs into his personal bedroom on Wednesday, June 26.
JAILER’S BEDROOM
On Thursday, June 27, 1844, about 5:00 P.M. the jailer suggested that the four men—Joseph Smith, Hyrum Smith, Willard Richards, and John Taylor—might be safer if they went back into the criminal cell at the back of the second floor. Joseph indicated that they would do so after supper. Moments later the jailer was sent to deliver a message and consequently he was not in the jail when the mob attacked. His family members later recalled quickly seeking safety at a neighboring home.
A few moments later, a noise was heard outside, followed by three or four gunshots.
Willard Richards looked out the window and saw a large group of men with painted faces. The mob ran up the steep stairs and began firing.
The prisoners pushed the door shut and leaning against it with all their weight tried to keep the mob out. John Taylor used Stephen Markham’s large hickory cane, called the “rascal beater”, and Willard Richards used John Taylor’s cane to beat down rifle barrels sticking between the door and door casing. A bullet fired through the door hitting Hyrum on the left side of the nose. Another ball, coming through the window, hit him in the back almost simultaneously.
John Taylor ran to the window and was then hit in the back of the left thigh. He went numb, fell into the window sill and then fell back onto the floor. In an act of desperation he rolled himself under the bed for protection and while doing so he was shot three more times.
After being shot in the back of the left thigh Apostle John Taylor rolled under bed. He was shot three more times.
Joseph ran to the window, was shot twice in the back, paused for a moment, cried out, “Oh Lord, my God,” and was then shot from outside the jail being stuck just below the heart and fell out the window head first, landing next to the well.
Joseph, the Prophet, was dead. Hyrum, the Patriarch was also dead. The Apostle John Taylor was seriously wounded. Willard Richards miraculously escaped with just a minor scratch to the left ear lobe.
Thus ended the long odyssey that had taken Joseph Smith within a period of thirty-eight and a half years from his birth on 23 December 1805, in Sharon, Vermont; first to western New York; to northern Pennsylvania; to Kirtland, Ohio; to Missouri—first to Independence and eventually to Far West—and then to Liberty Jail; from there to Quincy, Illinois; to Nauvoo; and on to Carthage.
John Taylor would later write; “Joseph Smith, the Prophet and Seer of the Lord, has done more, save Jesus only, for the salvation of men in this world, than any other man that ever lived in it. …
“[His] innocent blood … is an ambassador for the religion of Jesus Christ, that will touch the hearts of honest men among all nations” (D&C 135:3, 7).
Willard Richards and John Taylor lived to bear witness not only of the events that occurred in the jail, but also of the prophetic ministry of Joseph Smith. Their eyewitness accounts are the basis for the published tribute now known as Section 135 of the Doctrine and Covenants.
What Happened to Joseph and Hyrum’s Bodies?
The governor’s aides returned to Carthage and helped to clean the bodies of the fallen martyrs. Two roughhewn oak coffins were hastily made, and with the bodies laid in them, they were taken to Nauvoo. On Saturday, June 29, the Mansion House opened its doors to thousands of Latter-day Saints who came to pay their last respects to their Prophet and Patriarch.
Threats to steal Joseph and Hyrum’s bodies led to them being secretly buried in the basement of the unfinished Nauvoo House. Years later they were moved to their final resting place located in the Smith family cemetery near the Homestead along the banks of the Mississippi River.
God bless the memory of Joseph and Hyrum Smith who died here in Carthage. It is always with loving gratitude that we sing Praise to the Man;
Great is his glory and endless his priesthood.
Ever and ever the keys he will hold.
Faithful and true, he will enter his kingdom,
Crowned in the midst of the prophets of old.
VISITOR EXPERIENCES
Each tour of Carthage is a blessing not only to our visitors, but to us as well. Let us mention just two of the many powerful spiritual experiences we have already enjoyed here in Carthage.
First, we had only been serving in Carthage for a week or so when we gave a tour to a group of youth. It was a seminary class from El Paso, Texas. Their seminary teacher along with a few parents drove all the way from El Paso to give the class the opportunity to visit Nauvoo and Carthage Jail for the first time in their lives.
As we concluded the tour in the jailers bedroom there was not a dry eye to be found anywhere. Not only the teacher, the parents and the young sisters, but even the burley young men athletes were all in tears. It was a powerful spiritual experience for all of us!
Just a few days ago we were privileged to give an in person tour to two families from India. This was by far one of the most reverent and respectful families we have ever met. Even their very young children were both reverent and attentive - it was amazing.
Nithyakumar Sunderraj, one of the dads, is currently serving as the Stake President of the Bangalore India Stake, which, by the way, is where the first temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in India is currently under construction and scheduled to be completed in 2025. To say the least, both families are very excited about that!
President Sunderraj shared with us the tragic impact that the Covid pandemic had throughout India and especially upon his stake. One of his counselors, who was in his forties, tied from it. He also explained how he spend a lot of time searching for beds and oxygen for so many who were grasping for their last breath.
So glad we also met Alfred Victor and his family who were traveling with the Sunderraj family.
We had an unexpected surprise visit from Lynzi Barfuss whom we served with in the California Roseville Mission nearly ten years ago. She did not know we were serving in Carthage and, of course, we had no clue that she and her young family were coming. Just another Nauvoo Miracle!
We continue to give live video tours around the world. We even have a tour coming up with a family living in South Korea.
Chris above giving a live video tour from the criminal cell in Carthage.
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