The “Historian’s Office, Martyrdom Account, Draft,” and the “Historian’s Office, Martyrdom Account” are the two complete, extant iterations of efforts by later church historians to record the murder of JS and , including the events leading up to their deaths and the immediate aftermath. As stated at the beginning of both accounts, the information was compiled from a number of different sources, including other journals, letters, and various other documents. It was put into a cohesive narrative during the 1850s by Church Historian’s Office clerks , Jonathan Grimshaw, and , presumably under the direction of the church historian, .
was the initial scribe for approximately the first half of “Historian’s Office, Martyrdom Account, Draft,” and Grimshaw was the primary scribe for the remainder. Sometimes slips of paper were attached to pages of the draft with additional or alternative text to be included with a specific page. Page 12 of the draft has a notation by Grimshaw indicating that previously drafted text was to be added to the draft; instead of copying the text, he simply inserted a whole leaf into the draft. This leaf, in ’s handwriting, contains various numbered vignettes. It appears to be part of a larger collection of vignettes, as it is paginated “5” and “6,” and is likely the surviving portion of an earlier iteration of the martyrdom account by Thomas Bullock. The remainder of Bullock’s effort is not extant.
“Historian’s Office, Martyrdom Account,” which is a more final copy written primarily by Grimshaw in the mid-1850s, similarly has slips of papers attached. It also includes several leaves that were physically removed from “Martyrdom Account, Draft”; these leaves were renumbered to match the pagination of the copy: pages 7–10 in the draft became pages 11–14 in the more final copy; pages 13–14 became 19–20; most extensively, pages 19–52 became 27–60; and finally, page 57, the last page of the draft, became page 73 in the new version. Although these leaves are cataloged with the more final copy, this website presents the pages both in the draft, as originally paginated, and in the more final copy, with the new pagination. Two additional items were added at the end of the more final copy. A bifolium paginated as “75” and “2” and written on the back of a printed Utah Territory legal form gives an account of the arrival of the bodies of JS and Hyrum Smith in Nauvoo as well as the funeral and burial. It was written by Grimshaw and edited by from information given by . On the final leaf, which is torn and is paginated “76,” Bullock drafted an introduction to a passage from ’s History of Illinois, with instructions to include the passage from Ford’s history in the martyrdom account.
Both the draft and the more final copy were edited by , Grimshaw, and . It is not clear when the edits were made. The more final copy of the account appears to be what was used in 1856 when the final version was copied into the last volume of the Joseph Smith’s multivolume manuscript history (JS History, vol. F-1, 147, 151–204).
Page 54
for ’s cane; all sprang against the door:— the balls whistled up the stair way <-[see T. and S. 598.]-> and in an instant one came through the door, Joseph, and sprung to the left <of the door and tried to knock aside the guns of the ruffians>, <was retreating> back in front of the door, and snapped his pistol, when a ball struck him in the left side of his nose <and he> fell <on his> back on the floor <with his head one or two feet from the north east corner of the room> saying “I am a dead man.” <<(tr)> As he fell <on the floor> another ball <grazed his breast and> entered his head through <by> the throat another ball <from the outside> entered the left side and passed through his body with such force that it completely broke to pieces his watch which he wore in his vest pocket; the <a> fourth ball entered his left leg. A shower of balls were poured through all parts of the room, many of which lodged in the ceiling just above the head of .> Joseph discharged his sixshooter in the entry, reaching round the door casing[.] Continual dicharges of musketry came in<to> the room <Joseph>’s six shooter missed fire two or three times <(54a)> sprang to leap from the East window and was shot in the window
<The following is copied from the Times & Seasons “Two minutes (T & S 598) .” (above *)> <* While & were in the cell a company of the mob again rushed up stairs, but finding only the dead body of they were again descending the stairs when a loud cry was heard “The Mormon’s are coming!,” which caused the whole band of murderers to flee <precipitately> to the woods.>
<It was found that had recd four balls, two passing into his head,> <+ one of which entered the left side of his nose, and as he fell><one entering the left side and passing through the right and the last thru the left leg. recd. 5 balls principally in his legs, one passing through his hand.>
“Carthage Jail 8 o’clock 5 min P.M.
June 27. 1844
Joseph and are dead. wounded, not very badly. I am well. Our guard was forced, as we believe, by a band of Missourians from 1 to 200. The job was done in an instant and the party fled towards [p. 54]