| Killing of Joseph Smith | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Part of anti-Mormon violence in the U.S. | |||
 | |||
| Date | June 27, 1844 | ||
| Location | |||
| Caused by | (see below) | ||
| Resulted in | Deaths of Joseph and Hyrum Smith | ||
| Parties | |||
| |||
Joseph Smith, the founder and leader of the Latter Day Saint movement, and his brother, Hyrum Smith, were killed by a mob in Carthage, Illinois, United States, on June 27, 1844, while awaiting trial in the town jail on charges of treason.
The Nauvoo Expositor was a newly-established newspaper published by anti-polygamist ex-Mormons who had recently been excommunicated from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The newspaper's first (and only) issue criticized Smith and other church leaders, reporting that Smith was practicing polygamy, marrying the wives of other men, teaching a “plurality of Gods”, and intended to set himself up as a theocratic king. After a vote of the Nauvoo City Council, mayor Joseph Smith ordered the Expositor's press destroyed.[1]
The destruction of the press led to broader public outrage in the surroundings of the city, and the Smith brothers and other members of the Nauvoo City Council were charged by the State of Illinois with inciting a riot. Joseph Smith was apprehended, but freed by the Nauvoo municipal court. Smith declared martial law and called out the Nauvoo Legion. After briefly fleeing Illinois, Smith received a personal statement from Governor Ford, who “pledged his faith and the faith of the state (Illinois) to protect him while he underwent a legal and fair trial”,[2] convincing Joseph Smith along with Hyrum to return voluntarily.[3] When the brothers arrived at the county seat of Carthage to surrender to authorities, they were charged with treason against Illinois for declaring martial law.
The Smith brothers were detained at Carthage Jail awaiting trial when an armed mob of 150–200 men stormed the building, their faces painted black with wet gunpowder. Hyrum was killed almost immediately when he was shot in the face, shouting as he fell, “I am a dead man!”[4] After emptying his pistol towards the attackers, Joseph tried to escape from a second-story window, but was shot several times and fell to the ground, where he was again shot by the mob.
Five men were indicted for the killings, but were acquitted at a jury trial. At the time of his death, Smith was also running for president of the United States,[5] making him the first U.S. presidential candidate to be assassinated. Smith’s death marked a turning point for the religion he founded.
| This article is part of a series on |
| Joseph Smith |
|---|
 |
- ^ History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints volume VI (1912), pp. 430–432. The council met on June 8 and June 10 to discuss the matter.
- ^ Jensen, Andrew, ed. (1888–1889). The Historical Record, Volumes 7-8. p. 558.
- ^ "The Carthage Conspiracy (Joseph Smith Murder) Trial of 1845: A Chronology of Events". law2.umkc.edu. Retrieved July 18, 2024.
- ^ Kenneth W. Godfrey, “Remembering the Deaths of Joseph and Hyrum Smith,” in Joseph Smith: The Prophet, The Man, ed. Susan Easton Black and Charles D. Tate Jr. (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1993), 301–315.
- ^ Quinn (1994, p. 119)