In addition to this loss of property, the Prophet Joseph paid in lawyers’ fees, for the defense of the people and himself, against the unhallowed persecutions of their enemies, about fifty thousand dollars; with very little benefit in return. And for all this, the generous state of Missouri, for a show before the world of their charity and kindness toward the people they had robbed, could afford to appropriate the magnificent sum of two thousand dollars! And what of the blood of men, women and children which had been shed by these human fiends?
In Liberty Prison
After the mock trial in Richmond, Joseph Smith and his five companions were imprisoned in Liberty, Clay County, for a period of six months. Here they suffered, during that time, many untold hardships. Much of the time they were bound in chains. Their food was often not fit to eat, and never wholesome or prepared with the thought of proper nourishment. Several times poison was administered to them in their food, which made them sick nigh unto death, and only the promised blessings of the Lord saved them. Their bed was on the floor, or on the flat side of a hewn white oak log, and in this manner they were forced to suffer. Is it any wonder that they cried in the anguish of their souls unto the Lord, for relief from such inhuman treatment?
Epistles From Prison
The Lord did not forsake them. While they were confined, the brethren wrote a number of communications to the Saints. Occasionally their friends were privileged to visit them, but always in the presence of a strong and heavily armed guard. Letters with words of comfort were occasionally received, and in this way their spirits were buoyed up, which enabled them to stand their trials. On March 25, 1839, an epistle of special import was written from the prison to the Saints scattered abroad, and to the bishop, Edward Partridge, in particular. This epistle portrayed many of their grievances and expressed their love and fellowship for the Saints. Above all this, however, they poured out their souls to the Lord asking for relief, and wondering why they were so severely punished. The Lord gave them answer which comforted them and built them up in hope. They also received encouragement, and assurance of their delivery from bonds, which was soon to come to pass.[1]
Release of Sidney Rigdon
The Prophet wrote in his Journal that January 1, 1839, “dawned upon us as prisoners of hope, but not as sons of liberty. O Columbia, Columbia! How thou art fallen! ‘The land of the free, the home of the brave!’ ‘The asylum of the oppressed’—oppressing thy noblest sons, in a loathsome dungeon, without any provocation, only that they have claimed to worship the God of their fathers according to his own word, and the dictates of their own consciences.” Elder Parley P. Pratt and his companions in tribulation were still held in bondage in their doleful prison in Richmond. The brethren appealed to the supreme court in Missouri for a writ of habeas corpus. Twice their petition was denied. They also petitioned the judges of the county for like privileges, and sent a memorial to the legislature asking that they be granted a fair and impartial trial before an unprejudiced judge in some other circuit, where they might have hope of justice, which could not be obtained from Judge King. Finally, in the latter part of February, 1839, they prevailed on Judge Turnham, one of the county judges, who granted their request after some reluctance. The judge was afraid of the mob, for the threats were made by the members of the banditti, that if any judge, jury or court of any kind, should free the prisoners they would be killed. Great threatenings were made at the time of this trial, and the brethren would have been liberated, only for the blundering, wilfully or ignorantly, of their lawyers. Sidney Rigdon, who had suffered terribly because of exposure and the ill-treatment he had received, he being much older and less able to endure than the other brethren, was released by the action of the judge, at this time. Through a kindness on the part of the sheriff, Samuel Hadley, and the jailer, Samuel Tillery, he was let out of prison in the night, for fear of the mob, and told to make his way out of the state as soon as he could. Even as it was, he was pursued by a body of armed men; but having a good start made his way to Quincy, Illinois.
Departure for Daviess
The refusal on the part of the courts and officials to grant a final trial—for it should be remembered the brethren were being held on a preliminary hearing all these months—and the threatenings of numerous enemies caused the brethren to determine on making their escape if possible. Once they tried and failed. Again the opportunity presented itself, and the Lord indicated to them that if they were united they could gain their freedom, but the stubbornness of Lyman Wight defeated their purpose. The latter part of March, Elders Heber C. Kimball and Theodore Turley went to Jefferson City with necessary papers, to see the governor, but he was absent. However, they saw the secretary of state, who appeared astonished at the action of Judge King, and who wrote the judge a letter. They also saw the supreme court judges, but due to the blundering of their attorney, Doniphan, they were unable to obtain a writ of habeas corpus. They returned to Liberty on the 30th of March. April 4, they had an interview with Judge Austin A. King, who was angry to think they had been to see the governor. King said he could have done all that they desired, and would have signed their petition if he had been approached, for all the prisoners, but Joseph Smith, “and he was not fit to live.” Fearing that the brethren might obtain a change of venue, Judge King hurried off with them, April 6, 1839, to Daviess County, where he hoped to continue his persecution. Perhaps he hoped they would be murdered, for a band of fifty men in Daviess County, on learning that the prisoners were coming, took an oath that they would neither eat nor drink until they had murdered the Prophet. The prisoners arrived at Gallatin, April 8, and the following day the examination of witnesses commenced before the grand jury, over which Judge King acted as the presiding judge. Judge Birch, the county judge, who previously assisted in the prosecution of the brethren, was associated with him. Both judges and jury were drunk while the case proceeded, and the men of the jury were members of the raiding party of Haun’s Mill. They served on the jury during the day and as guards at night, and in their drunken debauchery boasted of their many crimes. On the 11th of April, they brought in a “true bill” against the prisoners for “murder, treason, burglary, arson, larceny, theft and stealing.”