The families of Joseph, Hyrum and the other captive brethren gathered up to Quincy after undergoing the most appalling privations. It was Stephen Markham who escorted Emma, Joseph's wife, and their children from Far West, through all the dangers of Missouri and to a place of safety. The Saints were arriving there in large numbers during the winter and early spring, but were not decided yet where to settle.
On the 15th day of March the Prophet and the other brethren in Liberty jail made petitions to the judges of the supreme court for writs of habeas corpus, by which they hoped to have the proceedings of their imprisonment examined; but they were obstructed by the hatred against them. It was evident that the purpose of their enemies was to withhold judicial hearing until after the brethren had suffered death in prison. And their efforts from this time on during their captivity were continuous to secure such hearing.
A conference was held at Quincy on the 17th of March, 1839, over which Brigham Young presided as the head of the Twelve. Thomas B. Marsh and several other persons of some prominence were excommunicated from the Church.
A gathering place for the Saints was necessary. This the Prophet felt every hour. While he was in prison in Liberty the brethren had friendly communication with one Dr. Isaac Galland upon the subject of settlement by the Saints in Iowa Territory and at Commerce, Illinois. From his dungeon the Prophet pressed the Elders to make a close examination of this matter, as the springtime was at hand and the crops for the year must be planted.
In prison, Joseph was in constant communion with the heavens and he received revelations, without which he and his brethren must have been cast down and without hope. He also sent epistles full of instruction and hope to leading men among the Saints. And his cheerful courage under the most trying circumstances of his life was very helpful in animating the banished people to pursue their migration with energy and fortitude.
While the Prophet and companions were still in Liberty jail, and after having repeatedly and vainly sought release by law, they thought they saw an opportunity to escape. At Hyrum's instance Joseph prayed to the Lord and asked if it were His will that they should depart from prison. The answer came to the Prophet that if they were all agreed in faith and purpose they might escape that night. When this response was made known, all of the brethren except Lyman Wight coincided in the opinion that they should seize their liberty, for they relied implicitly upon the promise given. But Lyman trembled, hesitated; and, as his companions would not resolve to leave him and as the promise of the Lord was based upon their unanimity, they resolved to wait until the next night as Lyman Wight agreed to then accompany them. The delay was fatal; they broke the conditions of the promise and remained in durance. On the night for which the promise was given the jailer came in alone with their suppers and left the doors wide open, so that they might easily have escaped. The next night he brought a double guard with him and also six visiting brethren. As the jailor was leaving their dungeon some of them attempted to follow him; but they were foiled. The guards were so enraged at the effort, although it had been a vain one, that they locked up the visiting brethren and made threats against their persons and property. The attempt to escape created great excitement; and the people of the town swarmed around the jail proposing various plans to destroy Joseph and all his companions. But the Prophet told his brethren to have no fear; not a hair of their heads should be harmed, and the brethren who had come in to comfort them should not lose any of their personal belongings—not even a horse or a saddle. He told them that they had risked their lives to bring joy to himself and companions and the Lord would bless them. These promises were fulfilled to the letter.
When the visiting brethren were called for trial, Brother Erastus Snow, who was one of them, plead their cause as he had been counseled by Joseph. He did so in such a forcible and eloquent manner that orders of discharge in some cases and orders for bail in the others were immediately entered. Elder Snow's argument had been so strong and logical in its legal deductions that the lawyers who heard him supposed that he was a trained attorney.
Many enemies of the Prophet were permitted by the guard to visit and insult him in prison. It was their habit to charge him with murder. Several different men accused him of having killed their sons at the battle of Crooked River; several more, who were no kin to each other, charged him with having killed their brothers in the same battle. And this was the texture of the accusations made against him in and out of court. It had been alleged that only one man was killed at the battle of Crooked River, so it was impossible for several different men to lose sons and brothers there; and Joseph was not near the scene of that contest.
On one occasion a company under the leadership of William Bowman made solemn oath that they would never eat or drink more until they had taken the life of Joseph Smith. Bowman himself went to one of the Elders and made this boast:
After I once lay eyes on your Prophet I will never taste food or drink until I have killed him.