Of the death of his friend, President Wilford Woodruff writes:
"Thus fell the noble David W. Patten as a martyr for the cause of God and he will receive a martyr's crown. He was valiant in the testimony of Jesus Christ while he lived upon the earth. He was a man of great faith and the power of God was with him. He was brave to a fault, even too brave to be preserved. He apparently had no fear of man about him.
"Many of the sick were healed and devils cast out under his administration."
In closing his account of the tragedy, the Prophet Joseph says:
"Brother David W. Patten was a very worthy man, beloved by all good men who knew him. He was one of the Twelve Apostles, and died as he lived, a man of God, and strong in the faith of a glorious resurrection, in a world where mobs will have no power or place."
With David's wish, formerly expressed to him, to die as a martyr, no doubt in mind, the Prophet Joseph, at the funeral on October 27, 1838, pointing to his lifeless body, testified:
"There lies a man that has done just as he said he would—he has laid down his life for his friends."
And one mightier has said:
"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friend."
A fit ending of a glorious career!