voluntary yielding to process—joseph and hyrum charged with treason —ford's cowardice and false-hood—in carthage jail—the first day and night—preaching to the guards—ford leaves the martyrs to their fate.
when the morning came on the 25th of june, 1844, joseph and his brethren voluntarily presented themselves to constable bettisworth, who had held the original writ against them. they sought and had an interview with the governor at his headquarters; and he then and there pledged his own faith and that of the state of illinois that joseph and hyrum and the other prisoners should be protected from personal violence and should have a fair and impartial trial.
a few moments after 8 o'clock a.m., joseph and hyrum were arrested upon warrants issued by justice robert f. smith, of carthage, charging them with treason, upon the affidavits of augustus spencer and henry o. norton.
after making an inflammable speech to the rabble army, the governor led the brothers before the troops, as the mob had requested to have a clear view of joseph and hyrum. as they passed in front of the lines, ford introduced the prophet and patriarch as generals joseph and hyrum smith. the carthage greys refused to receive them by that introduction, and some of the officers threw up their hats, drew their swords and said: "we will introduce ourselves to the damned mormons in a different style." the governor quieted them by saying:
you shall have full satisfaction.
an hour later the carthage greys revolted and were put under guard; they could not be content to wait another hour for the murder. but they were soon released.
joseph had asked a private interview with ford, but it had been refused. in declining, the governor looked down with shame.
in the afternoon several officers of the mob militia called upon joseph at the tavern. they gazed upon him with much curiosity, and he asked them if he appeared like a desperate character. they replied that his outward appearance seemed to indicate exactly the opposite, but they could not tell what was in his heart. to this joseph responded:
very true, gentlemen, you cannot see what is in my heart, and you are therefore unable to judge me or my intentions; but i can see what is in your hearts, and will tell you what i see. i can see you thirst for blood, and nothing but my blood will satisfy you. it is not for crime of any description that i and my brethren are thus continually persecuted and harassed by our enemies, but there are other motives, and some of them i have expressed, so far as relates to myself; and inasmuch as you and the people thirst for blood, i prophesy, in the name of the lord, that you shall witness scenes of blood and sorrow to your entire satisfaction. your souls shall be perfectly satiated with blood, and many of you who are now present shall have an opportunity to face the cannon's mouth from sources you think not of; and those people that desire this great evil upon me and my brethren, shall be filled with regret and sorrow because of the scenes of desolation and distress that await them. they shall seek for peace, and shall not be able to find it. gentlemen, you will find what i have told you to be true.
at 4 o'clock joseph and hyrum, and thirteen other brethren were taken before robert f. smith, justice of the peace and captain of the carthage greys, on a charge of riot in destroying the printing press of the expositor. robert smith took the place of morrison, by the direction of the mob and with the connivance of the governor, although ford had stated that the hearing must be had before the same justice who issued the original writ. but he had only made this assertion in order to justify himself in overlooking the proceedings in justice wells' court. now that he had the brethren at carthage he was willing that the mob should have them tried before the most vindictive man to be found exercising judicial functions. upon this hearing before robert f. smith, the fifteen brethren were admitted to bail in the sum of $7,500, and john s. fullmer, edward hunter, dan jones, john benbow, and others as sureties. then the court was adjourned without calling on joseph and hyrum to answer to the charge of treason, or even intimating to them or their counsel that an examination of this charge was to be made.
about dark that night the constable appeared with a mittimus from justice smith and demanded that joseph and hyrum go to jail upon the charge of treason. this mittimus falsely alleged that the trial for treason had been begun and had been postponed. joseph and his counsel, messrs. woods and reid, exposed this tyrannical proceeding, showing clearly that the law did not permit the justice to send them to jail by mittimus without having them first brought before him for examination, and appealed to the governor. he refused assistance. a little later captain and justice robert f. smith applied to him to know how he should enforce the illegal mittimus, and the governor said significantly: "you have the carthage greys at your command." the mob captain took the hint and dragged the prisoners violently to jail.
apostles john taylor and willard richards, and john p. greene, stephen markham, dan jones, john s. fullmer, dr. south wick and lorenzo d. wasson accompanied the prophet and patriarch to prison; and it is well that they did so. stephen markham and dan jones walked one on either side of joseph and hyrum, keeping off the drunken rabble which several times broke through the ranks of the file of soldiers guarding the brethren on their way to prison.
they made their dungeon seem a heaven that night by their prayers and by their faith.
after spending the night in carthage jail, joseph wrote on the morning of june 26th, 1844, soliciting an interview with ford. the governor sent back a favorable reply, and to the messengers he spoke apologetically of his failure to interfere the previous night. apostle john taylor had been to him in the meantime and had made him feel his falseness and cowardice. about 9:30 a.m. the governor came to the prison and had a lengthy interview with joseph. president taylor was present and made an extensive report of the conversation. joseph charged governor ford with absolute knowledge that the enemies of the saints had first commenced these difficulties; that joseph and his people had not transgressed the law; and that the nauvoo legion had only been ordered out in pursuance of orders received by joseph from the governor requiring him to assemble the legion for the protection of nauvoo against armed bands of marauders.
as they parted the governor reiterated his promise, pledging his faith, the honor of his officers, and the good name of the state of illinois that the brethren would be protected. he said that he might go to nauvoo that day or the next, and if so he would take joseph with him.
after ford left the prison, he went to hamilton's hotel and began to converse with a mob soldier standing there. alfred randall, a man of approved veracity, testified that he heard the mobocrat saying to ford, "the soldiers are determined to see joe smith dead before they leave here;" and heard ford reply, "if you know of any such thing keep it to yourself." it was common conversation that day on the camp ground and in the dining-room of the hotel in the presence of governor ford: "the law is too short for these men, but they must not be suffered to go at large." "no; if the law will not reach them powder and ball must."
most of the afternoon of the 26th was spent by dan jones and stephen markham in hewing the warped door of the cell in which the brethren were confined with a penknife so that it would fasten in the frame.
the brethren preached by turns to the guards, several of whom were relieved before their watch was out because they admitted that they were convinced of the innocence of the prisoners.
one of them said: "we have been imposed upon; these men are guiltless."
another said: "let us go home, boys, for i will not fight any longer against these men."
during the day hyrum vainly attempted to lead joseph into a belief that his life would be saved. to his brethren joseph said: "could my brother hyrum but be liberated it would not matter so much about me."
then he said: "poor rigdon, i am glad he has gone to pittsburg out of the way. were he to preside he would lead the church to destruction in less than five years."
at half-past two that afternoon constable bettisworth demanded the persons of the prisoners from the jailor upon an order signed by justice robert f. smith. the jailor refused, as the prisoners had been committed to his charge to be held by him until released from his custody by due course of law. the justice then inquired of the governor what he should do, and ford once more responded: "there are the carthage greys under your command, bring them out; we have plenty of troops."
again taking the significant hint, the mob captain and justice used his willing rabble of soldiers to drag joseph and hyrum illegally away. he had them brought before him, robert f. smith, captain of the carthage greys, at the court house. the grave charge against them was treason and when they asked for time in which to get witnesses, they were vehemently opposed. finally at five o'clock in the afternoon the court adjourned until noon of the next day to give the defendants opportunity to send to nauvoo, twenty miles distant, and obtain their witnesses. subsequently, without any notification to the prisoners or their counsel, the mob justice and captain postponed the trial until the 29th of june.
patriarch john smith, father of apostle george a. smith, came from macedonia to see his nephews joseph and hyrum in jail. he narrowly escaped with his life from mobbers on the way. it was with difficulty that he secured admission to the prison. after remaining an hour he left the jail to carry a message to almon w. babbitt, requesting his assistance as attorney for the prophet at the expected trial. patriarch john smith found babbitt, but learned from him that he could not comply with joseph's request.
that night in prison hyrum read from the book of mormon concerning the sufferings and deliverance of the servants of god from the hands of their enemies. joseph arose and bore a powerful testimony to the guards to the divinity of the book; he declared that the gospel had been restored and that the kingdom of god was again established on the earth for the sake of which he was then incarcerated in prison, and not because he had violated any law of god or man. they retired to rest very late. in the room with the prophet and patriarch were apostles john taylor and willard richards and elders john s. fullmer, stephen markham and dan jones.
in the night joseph whispered to dan jones, "are you afraid to die?"
brother jones answered: "has that time come, think you! engaged in such a cause i do not think that death would have many terrors."
joseph replied: "you will yet see wales and fulfill the mission appointed you, before you die."[1]
in the morning dan jones went down, at the prophet's request, to learn the cause of a disturbance of the night, and frank worrell, the officer of the guard of carthage greys, said to dan:
we have had too much trouble to bring old joe here to let him ever escape alive, and unless you want to die with him, you had better leave before sundown; and you are not a damned bit better than him for taking his part, and you'll see that i can prophesy better than old joe, for neither he nor his brother, nor anyone who will remain with them, will see the sun set today.
brother jones started to find the governor and on the way saw an assemblage of the mob, and heard one of them who was making a speech say:
our troops will be discharged this morning in obedience to order, and for a sham we will leave the town; but when the governor and the mcdonough troops have left for nauvoo this forenoon, we will return and kill these men, if we have to tear the jail down.
when dan found the governor, and related the threats, ford only sneered at him. ford was actually preparing to go to nauvoo. he had disbanded some of the troops and in his hearing they declared that they would return and kill joseph and hyrum as soon as he was far enough away from town.
ford refused permits for the prophet's friends to pass in and out of the prison. this deprived joseph and hyrum of the society of all but apostles taylor and richards who remained constantly with them.
the governor held consultation with the officers of the mob army. a dr. southwick who was there afterward declared that the purpose of the meeting was to consider the best way of stopping joseph smith's career, as his views on the government were being widely circulated and they took like wildfire. the mobocrats said that if he did not get into the presidential chair this election he would be sure to next time; and if illinois and missouri would join together and kill him, they would not be brought to justice for it.
as the governor continued his preparations to depart from carthage to nauvoo, and as it was clear that he intended to break his solemn promise by failing to take joseph with him, cyrus h. wheelock, dan jones and john p. greene went in town to him and protested with all possible solemnity against his deed. he professed to reassure them; and then he took with him captain dunn, and his company—of all the militia the least vindictive against the prophet; and left as a guard the carthage greys—of all the mob the most bloodthirsty. these carthage greys had but two days before been under arrest for insulting the commanding general; their conduct had shown them to be notoriously hostile to the prisoners; and they had often in the governor's hearing threatened the lives of joseph and hyrum. of the disbanded troops the governor permitted two or three hundred under colonel levi williams, a sectarian preacher and a sworn enemy to joseph, to remain encamped in the vicinity of carthage, awaiting the hour when they might safely descend upon the jail.
cyrus h. wheelock was permitted to enter the prison, and during his visit he slipped a small revolver, of the kind known in those days as the "pepper-box" revolver, into joseph's pocket. cyrus was going to nauvoo with messages from the brethren in prison. they were so numerous that dr. richards proposed to write them down feeling that wheelock might forget, but hyrum fastened his eye upon the messenger, and with a look of penetration, said:
brother wheelock will remember all that we tell him, and he will never forget the occurrences of this day.
