Chapter V
The Prophet Joseph and others Sentenced to be Shot on the Public Square at Far West, in the Presence of their Friends.—The Execution Deferred, and the Prisoners afterwards sent to Liberty Jail.
The Liberty Jail, which is fast going into ruins, is situated in the city of Liberty, Clay County, Missouri. It is inland three miles from the Missouri River and about ten miles from Independence in Jackson County, and Independence is eleven miles from Kansas City of the same state.
There are many reasons why this jail should become conspicuous and be preserved in history, but the principal one is that there Joseph Smith, the Prophet, in the fall of 1838 and spring of 1839, at the time of Governor L. W. Boggs’ exterminating war against the Mormons, was most unjustly and wickedly imprisoned. In 1838, the Prophet and others were betrayed into the hands of the Missouri mob by Colonel George M. Hinkle, the mob being headed by General Samuel D. Lucas. The prisoners were tried under martial law and sentenced to be shot on the following day on the public square in Far West, in the presence of a multitude of the followers of “Joe” Smith, as they chose to call him. This was intended, no doubt, as a sample of Missouri charity, sympathy and humanity, and as a [p.35] lesson for Mormons for daring to believe as conscience dictated, and for exercising as American freemen the privileges guaranteed by a Constitution believed to be inspired. The writer speaks for himself, as one for whom he had deep sentiments of regard, as a true Prophet, who was sent of God to re-establish the fullness of the everlasting gospel.
The Liberty Jail [p.36]
But God overruled the horrible edict that the Prophet and his companions should be shot on the public square on the following day at 8 o'clock a.m. This was on the 31st of October, 1838. General Doniphan denounced the proposed act as “cold-blooded murder,” threatening to withdraw his brigade from the scene of the intended massacre.
This turned the tide of events and Lucas and his murderous colleagues began to hesitate and finally to reconsider their action. That General Lucas was acting under Governor Lilburn W. Boggs’ orders is evident by the utterances made unto us who were compelled to assemble together on the public square at Far West, where we were harangued by General Clark at considerable length. The speech was very abusive, as can be learned by reading it farther on in this pamphlet. Before introducing the speech we will state a number of interesting facts which occurred about that time. There was in existence the Fifty-third Regiment of Missouri Militia, under the command of Col. George M. Hinkle, who held a commission signed by the Governor of the state.
There was times of trouble when it became necessary for Colonel Hinkle to call out the militia, consequently our movements were in accordance with the laws of Missouri. On the 30th of October, 1838, Neil Gillam was at the head of a mob who were disguised as wild Indians. They were painted, and Gillam himself was arrayed as an Indian chief. The mob had been burning houses and driving the Mormons’ stock away from their owners, taking prisoners, etc. Colonel Hinkle ordered out a company of militia, about 150 in number, to endeavor to learn the intentions of Gillam and others, who were camping on Log Creek, near Far West. I was one of those under Col. Hinkle, and we all were on horseback. We soon learned that their intentions were hostile. A flag of truce in the hands of Charles C. Rich was shot at during the day, and our company was cut off from Far West by a line of battle being formed between us and our homes. Colonel Hinkle returned from the front of our line with his military coat off, saying that there were hardly enough of us to allow a mouthful apiece for the numerous hosts before us. He seemed excited and fearfully frightened, and for this and other reasons I have always believed this accounted for his conduct on that occasion. We retreated fifteen miles (instead of five miles, from where we were), to Far West, arriving about the time the troops were nearing the city. They were marching with red flags, which were interspersed and mixed up with Gillam’s command of painted faces. Our company coming into Far West on the gallop, created quite a sensation, as we were mistaken for the enemy coming in from two different points. We, however, soon proved ourselves to be friends, and were just in time to extend the line already formed in defense of the [p.37] city. Our adversaries were in the ratio of about ten to one of us, which looked rather serious for a little handful of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The Prophet came along after our arrival and said:
“Fear them not; God is for us, and there are more for us than there are against us [meaning the hosts of heaven were on our side.] God and liberty is the watchword,” said Joseph. “Fear them not, for their hearts are cold as cucumbers.”
Night was fast approaching, and flags of truce were passing between the two lines, by which we learned that this formidable army was sent out by Governor Boggs with orders to exterminate us. It was finally concluded not to murder us that night, so the army withdrew until the next morning, when they intended to make a final end of Mormonism. They camped for the night on Goose Creek, one mile away from the city. Thus ended one of the most eventful days of our lives. It fell to my lot to stand guard that night, and the worst confusion and disorder ever witnessed by human beings existed in the enemy’s camp. This, with unearthly yelling and howling, produced a real pandemonium very much resembling my idea of hell. A sort of breast-work was constructed during the night, made principally of wagons, house logs, etc. A dark and dreary night was that. On the following day, October 31st, we were preparing to meet death, if necessary, rather than surrender our religion to a mob. We trusted in the Lord, however, and a better way was prepared. Colonel Hinkle had been communicating with the enemy during the day, and in the afternoon Joseph Smith and others passed over the breast-works near where I and others were on duty. Colonel Hinkle lead the party to meet the enemy, where he betrayed them into their hands. This treachery on his part turned out for the best, for God suffers offences to come, as in the case of Judas, “but woe to him by whom they come.”
On the following day, November 1st, 1838, we were marched into a hollow square just outside of the city, where we delivered up about 630 guns, grounded our arms, and advanced to the center of the square, where the small arms and swords were left in a pile. The late Bishop McRae gave six cuts with his sword and a pointer in the ground and left his sword sticking there. We were left without the means of self-defense and at the mercy of a conscienceless set of ignorant, prejudiced people, many of whom, like St. Paul before his conversion, acted as if they were doing God’s service in destroying property and abusing the Mormons. My widowed mother’s house was plundered and my sister, now living here in Utah, had her clothes taken from her in open day, leaving her destitute of her necessary apparel.
General Wilson, who was one of the mobbers in Jackson County, was in company with Joseph Smith soon after he was condemned to be shot. Joseph asked General Wilson what he had done that he should be treated with such indignity, stating that he had always been a supporter of the Constitution and of good government. Wilson’s reply was:
“I know it, and that is the reason I want to kill you, or have you killed.”
Subsequently this same Wilson said to P. P. Pratt and others:
“We Jackson County boys know how it is, [p.38] and therefore have not the extreme hatred and prejudice which characterizes the rest of the troops. We know perfectly well from the beginning that the Mormons have not been the aggressors at all. As it began in 1833 in Jackson County, Mo., so it has been ever since.… We mob you without law; the authorities refuse to protect you according to law, you then are compelled to protect yourselves, and we act upon the prejudices of the public, who join our forces and the whole is legalized for your destruction and our gain … When we drove you from Jackson County we burned 203 of your houses, plundered your goods, destroyed your press, type and paper, books, office and all—tarred and feathered old Bishop Partridge—as exemplary an old man as you can find anywhere. We shot down some of your men, and if any of you returned the fire, we imprisoned you and had you on trial for murder. D—d shrewdly done, gentlemen; and I came d—d near kicking the bucket myself; for on one occasion while we were tearing down houses, driving families and destroying and plundering goods, some of you good folks put a ball through my son’s body, and another through the arm of my clerk, and a third pierced my shirt collar and marked my neck. No blame, gentlemen; we deserved it, and let a set of men serve me as your community have been served, and I’ll be d—d if I would not fight till I died.”
Most certainly this was an honest confession, and I can certify to nearly all of his acknowledgments, for I have been driven from my home and robbed of my hard-earned property more than once. There are many others besides General Wilson who have acknowledged to the same things, for I have personally heard them.
When the brethren were being hurried away, as prisoners, from their homes, P. P. Pratt says:
“I went to General Moses Wilson in tears, and stated the circumstances of my sick, heart-broken, destitute family, in terms which would have moved any heart that had a latent spark of humanity yet remaining, but I was only answered with an exultant laugh and a taunt of reproach by this hardened murderer. Halting at the door of Hyrum Smith, I heard the sobs and groans of his wife at Hyrum’s parting. She was then near confinement and needed more than ever the comfort and consolation of a husband’s presence. As we returned to the wagon we witnessed the sad, parting of Sidney Rigdon and his family, and in the same wagon was Joseph Smith, while his aged father and mother came up overwhelmed with tears, and took each of the prisoners by the hand with a silence of grief too great for utterance.
Little encouragement was left to those grief-stricken parents, for they knew so well that they were in the hands of a mob who had snatched and dragged them away as if they were murderers. Fresh to their minds was recalled a scene that took place in earlier days, when, close to their own thresholds, a demon in human form, in the dark hour of the night, had fired at their son, just barely missing him. There were fifty-six citizens thus dragged away from their homes, without any earthly hope of deliverance, only as in God they put their trust. Judge King said to H. C. Kimball:
“Joe Smith is not fit to live.”
For further light concerning the good or evil wishes of this great mob of Missourians, we will now return to the public square to hear the abusive words of General Clark. Addressing the Mormons he said:
“It now devolves upon you to fulfill a treaty that you have entered into.
“1st.—Your leading men be given up to be tried according to the law. This you have already complied with.
“2nd.—That you deliver up your arms. This has been attended to [which we did, surrounded by the mob, some of whom I heard say, ‘Now we have got their arms, it is as good as death to them.']
“3rd.—That you sign over your properties to defray the expenses of the war. This you have also done.
“4th.—That you leave the state forthwith. And whatever may be your feelings concerning this, or whatever your innocence, it is nothing to me. General Lucas (whose [p.39] military rank is equal to mine) has made this treaty with you, and I approve of it. I should have done the same. I am determined to see it executed. The character of this state has suffered almost beyond redemption. And we deem it as an act of justice to restore her character to its former standing among the states by every proper means. The orders of the Governor to me were, that you should be exterminated, and not allowed to remain in the state. And had not your leaders been given up, and the terms of the treaty complied with, before this time you and your families would have been destroyed and your houses in ashes.
“There is a discretionary power vested in my hands, which, considering your circumstances, I shall exercise for a season. You are indebted to me for this clemency. I do not say you shall go now, but you must not think if staying here another season or of putting in crops; for, if you do, the citizens will be upon you. If I am called here again in case of non-compliance of a treaty made, do not think that I shall do as I have done now. You need not expect any mercy, but extermination. For I am determined the Governor’s orders shall be executed.
“As for your leaders, do not think, do not imagine for a moment, do not let it enter into your minds, that they shall be delivered and restored to you again for their fate is fixed, their die is cast. Their doom is sealed. I am sorry, very sorry, gentlemen, to see so many intelligent men found in this situation. Oh! if I could invoke the Great Spirit, the unknown God—[I suppose without body, parts or passions]—to rest upon and deliver you from that awful chain of superstition, and liberate you from those fetters of fanaticism with which you are bound, that you no longer do homage to a man! My advice is that you become as other citizens, let by a recurrence of these events you bring upon yourselves irretrievable ruin.”
It vividly recurs to my mind that at the closing of General Clark’s hard talk, G. M. Hinkle also spoke to the large body of Saints, saying:
“I would advise you all to do as I have done, for I have got my hand out of the lion’s mouth, and I intend to keep it out hereafter.”
It may not be out of place to relate a statement made to me by E. B. Tripp, who authorizes me to use his name, regarding George M. Hinkle, whose hand he said was out of the lion’s mouth (taking his own word for it.) Elder. E. B. Tripp says:
“In 1852, I lived in Wapelo, Louisa Co., Iowa G. M. Hinkle, a stranger to me, came into my drug store. He introduced himself to me, saying: ‘This is Mr. Tripp, I understand. I hear that you are going to Utah, and I would like to have a private talk with you. I am the man who betrayed Joseph Smith and others into the hands of the mob in Missouri. I am a miserable man, and scarce know what to do with myself. I would be willing to lay down my life if this would atone for the sin I committed. What can I do, Mr. Tripp, for I know Mormonism is true?”
This is the substance of the conversation as reported by Brother Tripp, who save him some good advice before he parted with him. Thomas B. Marsh, one of the Twelve Apostles, apostatized during this dark hour of Missouri persecution. I saw him and heard him speak then, and also when he came to Utah and was rebaptized. I heard him confess with deep regret, saying:
“Look at my trembling limbs and see the fate of an apostate, for I am a wreck, but Mormonism is true, and I advise you not to do as I have done, in my apostasy.”
Gen. John C. Bennett, who once flourished in Nauvoo, apostatized because of his iniquities. He died in Polk City, Iowa, a miserable wreck, debased and degraded. When I was in Iowa on a mission I learned of a party who once had a rope around his neck and over a limb. At that time he barely escaped being hung up like a dog.
Prior to Joseph and Hyrum Smith, and others, being marched to Liberty jail, General Lucas allowed the prisoners to see for a few moments, in the presence of their guards, their weeping [p.40] wives and children. Most of them were not permitted to speak, being merely allowed to look at them before being hurried away.
Mary Fielding Smith, wife of Hyrum Smith, a few days after his painful parting from her husband, became a mother. The favored child thus born amidst those warlike scenes is today known as Joseph Fielding Smith, Counselor to the First Presidency.
The brethren were taken to Independence, Jackson County, Missouri, to be murdered by those who only a few years before drove the Saints from the country, murdering some, tarring and feathering others, and expelling the remainder without color of law. Notwithstanding this, on Sunday, November 4th, 1838, the Prophet preached to many who gathered around them. The officers, finding that the people’s feelings were softened into tears of sympathy, had them removed to Richmond, where they were chained down as felons and then removed to Liberty jail.
In September, 1888, in company with Elder Andrew Jenson and Bishop Black, of Deseret, I visited this place, also Far West and Adam-Ondi-Ahman. This trip brought vividly before me many sayings of the Prophet, more particularly of his speaking of the Garden of Eden, which he said was situated at Independence, which is only about ten miles to the northwest of Liberty jai. The Prophet said it had been manifested unto him that here was where our Father Adam was placed, and where his home was until his fall, when he was driven out into the dreary world, and from thence he took his departure northeast about seventy miles, to where a stake of Zion was located, and it was named Adam-Ondi-Ahman by revelation. This knowledge makes this land, which is good and greatly blessed, all the more attractive to the Saints, and creates a desire to cherish not only the memory of the land, but this loathsome jail as well, which is now going to ruins.
The Bible tells us about the Garden of Eden, and why not locate it here in this goodly land as well as any other part of the earth? Many changes have taken place since Adam’s time, as, for instance, the great deluge and the division of the earth in the days of Peleg. Again, at the crucifixion, when the solid rocks were rent, mountains cast up, and great convulsions took place on the face of the whole earth. All of these events would naturally tend to make it difficult to locate the Garden without revelation, and this is how I became informed on this subject. I was with the Prophet Joseph Smith sixty miles northeast of Liberty jail in 1838, less than one year before he was imprisoned there. We were standing with others on the hill Adam-Ondi-Ahman. The Prophet said, pointing to a mound of stones:
“There is where Father Adam built an altar when he was driven from the Garden of Eden and offered up sacrifice unto the Lord.”
He further said that the Garden of Eden was in or near Independence, the center stake of Zion. I thought it a great privilege to be at that time with the Prophet, and to hear his words regarding the mound and pile of rocks laid up at so early a period of the world’s history.
Three years ago I visited the same altar with deep interest, and also the spot of ground where the Prophet received the revelation, wherein Adam-Ondi-Ahman is named as the place where Adam shall come to visit his [p.41] people, or the Ancient of Days shall sit, as spoken of by Daniel the Prophet. Doc. and Cov., Sec. 115, page 415. The Prophet said that this Michael is Adam.
I quote the following from the revelation:
“Is there not room enough upon the mountains of Adam-Ondi-Ahman … the land where Adam dwelt? … Therefore come up hither to the land of my people, even Zion.’—Doc. and Cov., sec. 117, v. 8
Having lived and worked at the tin business in sight of this dungeon where the Prophet was so unjustly imprisoned and suffered so much, this knowledge of the country was welcome news to me. On one occasion, as I was informed by the late Bishop Alexander McRae, who was imprisoned in this same jail, and as he substantially related to me, five of the prisoners, viz: Joseph Smith, Hyrum, his brother, Caleb Baldwin, Lyman Wight, Sidney Rigdon and Bishop McRae were taking supper together. All but Brother McRae partook of tea, as they were glad to get anything to sustain life. Soon afterwards five of the inmates were taken sick and some of them were blind for three days, after which they were afflicted with sore eyes for a long time. Bishop McRae escaped this affliction as he did not partake of the tea. All of the six prisoners agreed that poison had been put in the tea, but how and by whom was unknown to them.
While the prisoners were confined in this jail, young Joseph Smith and Emma, his mother, visited their husband and father. It was at this time that Joseph’s son, now the leader of the Reorganized church, claims to have received a blessing under the hands of his father. Joseph F. Smith, with his mother, visited his father in this same jail, and although but an infant, received a blessing under his hands. Owing to the delicate state of her health, Joseph F.’s mother had to be taken on a bed in a carriage, to see, perhaps for the last time, her husband as a prisoner for the gospel’s sake. The meeting and parting on that occasion must have been heartrending under the circumstances. Very few can now realize such days as those of the imprisonment at Liberty jail.
From the day that Joseph Smith received the plates at the hands of Moroni, the angel, until his incarceration in Liberty jail, his life was one of persecution, trial and imprisonment, so much so that on one occasion Joseph was led to pray:
“O God! where art thou? And where is the pavilion that covereth thy hiding place? How long shall thy hand be stayed, and thine eye—yea, thy pure eye—behold from the eternal heavens the wrongs of thy people, and of thy servants, and thine ear be penetrated with their cries? Yea O Lord, how long shall they suffer these wrongs and unlawful oppressions, before thine heart shall be softened towards them, and they bowels be moved with compassion towards them? O Lord God Almighty, maker of the heaven and earth, and seas, and all things that in them are, and who controlleth and subjecteth the devil and the dark and benighted dominion of Sheol! Stretched forth thy hand; let think eye pierce; let thy pavilion be taken up; let thy hiding place no longer be covered; let thine ear be inclined; let thine heart be softened, and thy bowels moved with compassion towards us. * * * Remember thy suffering Saints, O our God.”
The Prophet loved the Saints, and he knew of their extreme suffering, and their moving through mud and rain, in poverty, leaving their homes and all behind them, while he, with his brethren, was in a dungeon liable to be poisoned at any time. They knew their lives were not safe in such [p.42] a mobocratic state as was Missouri then. However, Joseph had consolation, dark as it appeared, for he promised his brethren that not one of their lives should be lost. In the midst of their cries unto the Lord, he was answered thus:
“My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversary and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment; and then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes. Thou art not yet as Job; thy friends do not contend against thee, neither charge thee with transgression, as they did Job. * * * Wo unto all those that discomfort my people, and drive, and murder, and testify against them, saith the Lord of Hosts. A generation of vipers shall not escape the damnation of hell. * * * Let thy bowels also be full of charity towards all men and to the household of faith, and let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly. Then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God, and the doctrine of the Priesthood shall distill upon thy soul as the dews from heaven. The Holy Ghost shall be thy constant companion, and thy scepter an unchanging scepter of righteousness and truth, and they dominion shall be an everlasting dominion, and without compulsory means it shall flow unto thee for ever and ever.”
When I looked upon the Liberty jail in 1834, again in 1838-39, and for the last time in 1888, in the last stages of decay (it being 54 years from the time I first saw it), my soul was moved upon with deep emotion, for thoughts of the past crowded upon my mind. Indeed, I felt almost bewildered, and as if in a dream. It was only four years and nine months after the Prophet left this dungeon that he was murdered, dying as a martyr in Carthage jail, Hancock County, Illinois, on the memorable 27th of June, 1844.
Elder Jenson, Bishop Black and myself obtained a photograph of the jail as a relic, from which the engraving illustrating this article has been taken. The jail was built about 1830, of hewn oak logs, and was only 14 by 14-1/2 feet in the clear. Soon after a stone wall two feet thick was added, leaving a space of twelve inches between the logs and the stone wall, which was filled in with loose stones, thus making a wall four feet thick.
In order to show how particular the Prophet was regarding revelations which he received from the Lord, I will relate an incident which occurred in Liberty jail. While the Prophet was receiving a revelation, the late Bishop Alexander McRae was writing as Joseph received it. Upon this occasion Brother McRae suggested a slight change in the wording of the revelation, when Joseph sternly asked:
“Do you know who you are writing for?”
Brother McRae, who at once discovered his mistake, begged the Prophet’s pardon for undertaking to correct the word of the Lord.
In March, 1839, and less than one month before leaving the jail, Joseph received the word of the Lord, as follows:
“The ends of the earth shall inquire after thy name, and fools shall have thee in derision, and hell shall rage against thee, while the pure in heart, and the wise, and the noble, and the virtuous, shall seek council, and authority, and blessings constantly from under thy hand. And thy people shall never be turned against thee by the testimony of traitors. And although their influence shall cast thee into trouble, into bars and walls, thou shalt be had in honor, and but for a small moment and thy voice shall be more terrible in the midst of thy enemies than the fierce lion, because of thy righteousness; and thy God shall stand by thee forever and ever. If thou art called to pass through tribulation; if thou art in perils among robbers; if thou art in perils by land or by sea; if thou are accused of all manner of false accusations; if thy enemies fall upon thee; if they tear thee from the society of thy father and mother, and brethren and sisters; and if, with a drawn sword, thine enemies tear thee from the [p.43] bosom of thy wife and of thine offspring, and thine elder son (Joseph), although but 6 years of age, … and thou be dragged to prison, and thine enemies prowl around thee like wolves for the blood of the lamb; and if thou should be cast into the pit, or into the hands of murderers, and the sentence of death passed upon thee; if thou be cast into the deep; if the billowing surge conspire against thee; if fierce winds become thine enemy; if the heavens gather blackness, and all the elements combine to hedge up the way; and above all, if the very jaws of hell gape open the mouth wide after thee, know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good. The Son of Man hath descended below them all; art thou greater than he? Therefore hold on thy way, and the Priesthood shall remain with thee, for their bounds are set and they cannot pass. Thy days are known, and thy years shall not be numbered less; therefore, fear not what man can do, for God shall be with you for ever and every.”