Death of Joseph Smith - Attack By The Mob

Attack By The Mob

Before a trial could be held, a mob of about 200 armed men, their faces painted black with wet gunpowder, stormed the jail in the late afternoon of June 27, 1844. As the mob was approaching, the jailer became nervous, and informed Smith of the group. In a letter dated July 10, 1844, one of the jailers wrote that Smith, expecting the Nauvoo Legion, said "Don't trouble yourself ... they've come to rescue me." Smith was unaware that Jonathan Dunham, major general of the Nauvoo Legion, did not dispatch the unit to Carthage to protect him. Allen Joseph Stout contended that by remaining inactive, Dunham violated an official order written by Smith after he was jailed in Carthage.

The Carthage Greys reportedly feigned defense of the jail by firing shots or blanks over the attackers' heads, and some of the Greys reportedly joined the mob, who rushed up the stairs.

The mob fired shots through the door and attempted to push the door open to fire into the room. Hyrum Smith was shot in the face, just to the left of his nose, throwing him to the floor. He cried out, "I am a dead man!" and collapsed. He was killed instantly.

Joseph Smith, Taylor, and Richards attempted to defend themselves. Taylor and Richards attempted to use walking sticks in order to deflect the guns as they were thrust inside the cell, from behind the door. Smith used a small pepper-box pistol that Cyrus Wheelock gave him when Wheelock visited the jail earlier that day. Three of the six barrels misfired, but the other three shots injured at least three of the attackers.

John Taylor was shot four or five times and was severely injured, but survived. One shot was long believed to have been stopped by his pocket watch, which is on display in the LDS Church History Museum in Salt Lake City. Forensic research by J. Lynn Lyon, M.D., of the University of Utah and LDS historian Glen M. Leonard in 2010 suggests that Taylor's watch was not struck by a ball, but rather broke against the window ledge. Columbia University professor and historian Richard Bushman, the author of the Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling, also supports this view. Richards escaped unscathed as he was pushed behind the door when it was forced open.

After using all of the shots in his pistol, Joseph Smith made his way towards the window. As Smith prepared to jump down, Richards reported that he was shot twice in the back and a third bullet, fired from a musket on the ground outside, hit him in the chest.

Taylor and Richards' accounts both report that as Smith fell from the window, he called out "Oh Lord, my God!". Some have alleged that the context of this statement was an attempt by Joseph Smith to use a Masonic distress signal.

There are varying accounts of what happened next. Taylor and Richards' accounts state that Smith was dead when he landed after his fall. One eyewitness, William Daniels, wrote in his 1845 account that Smith was alive when mob members propped his body against a nearby well, assembled a makeshift firing squad, and shot him before fleeing. Daniels' account also states that one man tried to decapitate Smith for a bounty, but was prevented by divine intervention. There were additional reports that thunder and lightning frightened the mob off. Mob members fled, shouting, "The Mormons are coming," although there was no such force nearby.