, Journal Excerpt, 23–27 June 1844; handwriting of ; nineteen pages; in Willard Richards, Journal, CHL. Portions of some entries were written in pencil before they were overwritten in ink.
Historical Introduction
JS’s journal, kept by , ended with the entry of 22 June 1844, just before JS left , Illinois, in company with Richards, , and . Richards, who remained with JS until the moment of JS’s death on 27 June, evidently left JS’s journal in Nauvoo when the four men departed for , Illinois. Richards, however, recorded in his own journal many of the events of the last five days of JS’s life. These events include JS’s arrival on the bank in on the morning of 23 June and his trip to Carthage, during which JS and Hyrum gave themselves up to authorities on the charge of treason. Richards’s journal also recounts JS’s activities in Carthage during the days preceding his and Hyrum’s deaths. The material Richards recorded in his own journal during this time is in the same format and style as the record he had been keeping for JS. Richards’s hasty, terse notations and precise attention to details—illustrated by his practice of recording the specific times events occurred—indicate that he continuously carried his journal with him and recorded many of the events as he witnessed them, possibly with the intention of using the record to fill in JS’s journal at a later date. Richards’s journal entries for 23–27 June 1844 provide a contemporaneous firsthand account of JS’s activities during the last five days of his life, and they are reproduced here in full. Richards first inscribed portions of these entries in pencil and then rewrote them in ink. In a few cases, while overwriting, he skipped or altered the original penciled text. The transcription here reproduces the final ink version and does not capture the slight variations in the penciled text.
For additional details on the events leading to the deaths of JS and Hyrum Smith, see Oaks and Hill, Carthage Conspiracy.
Oaks, Dallin H., and Marvin S. Hill. Carthage Conspiracy: The Trial of the Accused Assassins of Joseph Smith. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1975.
Page [31]
&. concocted a scheme for writ for — retund [returned] from — night before burni[n]g press——
1 o,clock wrote to .— by
1 1/2 past 2 oclock . constable. came with Simpson & wanted to come in, had some order but would not send up his name and guard would not let them pass.
20 to 3. Dr & went to inform the .— & counsel
20—3 returnd from the — thought the was doing all that he could.
10 mi[nutes] to 3. came.
3. & 3 minutes wrote to & to come to see us— &c— (Filed) carri[e]d by .—
20 mi[nutes] to 4. taken By from Jail. by a guard. contra[r]y to our wishes— compulso[r]y & escotd [escorted] to the cou[r]t house 4 o clock calld for case called By Robet F. Smith— J.P. [justice of the peace]— Council called for subpoena—— 4.25 took copy of order to bring prison[er]s from Jail for trial— 4½— took name of witness——
. —— — — —— council for .—
25 to 5——
writ.— was retur[n]ed as se[r]ved— June 25th. <.>— without knowledg— were th[e]y comm[i]tted—— to Jail—
—— urged a continua[n]ce till witnesse[s] could be had.— [p. [31]]
The compilers of JS’s history identified “Simpson” as “Alexander Simpson”—probably Alexander Sympson, who claimed two months earlier that JS had falsely accused him of a crime, which resulted in an indictment against JS for perjury. (JS History, vol. F-1, 169; JS, Journal, 23 and 25 May 1844.)
According to Hugh Reid, Bettisworth had an order from Justice of the Peace Robert Smith directing him to bring JS and Hyrum Smith from jail “for an examination on the charge of treason.” The jailor, George Stigall, refused to release the prisoners to Bettisworth, as he “could find no law authorizing a Justice of the Peace, to demand prisoners committed to his charge.” Bettisworth himself reported that he was refused entrance by Stigall and that overhearing their conversation, JS said that he would not go with Bettisworth—“that the Constable should have nothing to do with him—that he intended coming out on a writ of habeas corpus.” (“Statement of Facts,” Times and Seasons, 1 July 1844, 5:562; “For the Warsaw Signal,” Warsaw [IL] Signal, 24 July 1844, [1], italics in original; see also Jones, Martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum Smith; and John S. Fullmer, Preston, England, to George A. Smith, 27 Nov. 1854, Historian’s Office, JS History Documents, ca. 1839–1860, CHL.)
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
Warsaw Signal. Warsaw, IL. 1841–1853.
Jones, Dan. The Martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum Smith, 1855. CHL. MS 153.
Historian’s Office. Joseph Smith History Documents, 1839–1860. CHL. CR 100 396.
JS’s letter, written to his attorneys Hugh Reid and James Woods and inscribed by Willard Richards, described Bettisworth’s recent visit to the jail and the guard’s refusal to let him in. “We have since learnd that he [Bettisworth] wantd to take us before the Magistrate,” JS continued, “and we have since lear[ne]d there is some excitimt [excitement] because we did not go— & we wish to see you witho[u]t delay.” JS closed the letter by noting that Robert D. Foster had allegedly said that only “powder & ball” could do anything to JS and Hyrum Smith, as they had done nothing illegal. (JS, Carthage, IL, to James Woods and Hugh Reid, [Carthage, IL], 26 June 1844, JS Collection, CHL.)
James Woods later wrote that after the jailor, George Stigall, refused to release JS and Hyrum Smith to Bettisworth, the constable left and returned to the jail with the Carthage Greys and forced Stigall “by intimidation and threats . . . to give up the prisoners.” Bettisworth, on the other hand, reported that when he arrived at the jail, the guard halted outside the yard fence and Stigall delivered the Smiths to the constable without any threat or disturbance. Stigall agreed with Bettisworth, stating that when the constable and the militia arrived at the jail, there were no threats, force, or coercion and that when Bettisworth presented himself at the door of the jail the second time, the prisoners were delivered to him without question. Stigall explained that after the constable’s first appearance at the jail, he, Stigall, had asked the governor if he had authority to surrender the prisoners and was told he had. Franklin Worrell, the commander of the militia attachment sent to bring the Smiths to the courthouse, supported Bettisworth’s and Stigall’s versions of the event. (“Statement of Facts,” Times and Seasons, 1 July 1844, 5:564; “For the Warsaw Signal,” Warsaw [IL] Signal, 24 July 1844, [1].)
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
Hugh Reid and James Woods, counsel for JS and Hyrum Smith, “asked for subpoenas for witnesses on the part of the prisoners.” (“Statement of Facts,” Times and Seasons, 1 July 1844, 5:563.)
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
The order referred to here is probably Justice Smith’s 26 June 1844 order to Constable Bettisworth to bring JS and Hyrum Smith from jail “for an examination on the charge of treason.” No manuscript copy of the order in the hand of any of JS’s associates has been located. Hugh Reid included a transcript of it in his “Statement of Facts” published in the Times and Seasons. (“Statement of Facts,” Times and Seasons, 1 July 1844, 5:562.)
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
JS and Hyrum Smith were incarcerated in the jail at Carthage for treason without having appeared before a magistrate to answer the charge. (Richards, Journal, 25 June 1844; “Statement of Facts,” Times and Seasons, 1 July 1844, 5:562.)
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.