The Story of the Mormons, from the Date of Their Origin to the Year 1901Linn, William Alexander
History
The Story of the Mormons, from the Date of Their Origin to the Year 1901
Linn, William Alexander
Latter Day Saints -- History; Utah -- History
*A detailed account of the murder of the Smiths, and events
connected with it, was contributed to the Atlantic Monthly for December,
1869, by John Hay. This is accepted by Kennedy as written by "one whose
opportunities for information were excellent, whose fairness cannot be
questioned, and whose ability to distinguish the true from the false is
of the highest order." H. H. Bancroft, whose tone is always pro-Mormon,
alludes to this article as "simply a tissue of falsehoods." In reply
to a note of inquiry Secretary Hay wrote to the author, under date
of November 17, 1900: "I relied more upon my memory and contemporary
newspapers for my facts than on certified documents. I will not take my
oath to everything the article contains, but I think in the main it
is correct." This article says that Joseph Smith was severely wounded
before he ran to the window, "and half leaped, half fell into the jail
yard below. With his last dying energies he gathered himself up, and
leaned in a sitting posture against the rude stone well curb. His
stricken condition, his vague wandering glances, excited no pity in the
mob thirsting for his life. A squad of Missourians, who were standing by
the fence, leveled their pieces at him, and, before they could see
him again for the smoke they made, Joe Smith was dead:" This is not an
account of an eye-witness.
The bodies of the two brothers were removed to the hotel in Carthage,
and were taken the next day to Nauvoo, arriving there about three
o'clock in the afternoon. They were met by practically the entire
population, and a procession made up of the City Council, the generals
of the Legion with their staffs, the Legion and the citizens generally,
all under command of the city marshal, escorted them to the Nauvoo
Mansion, where addresses were made by Dr. Richards, W. W. Phelps, the
lawyers Woods and Reid, and Colonel Markham. The utmost grief was shown
by the Mormons, who seemed stunned by the blow.
The burial followed, but the bodies did not occupy the graves. Stenhouse
is authority for the statement that, fearing a grave robbery (which in
fact occurred the next night), the coffins were filled with stones,
and the bodies were buried secretly beneath the unfinished Temple.
Mistrustful that even this concealment would not be sufficient, they
were soon taken up and reburied under the brick wall back of the Mansion
House.*
* "Rocky Mountain Saints," p. 174.
Brigham Young said at the conference in the Temple on October 8, 1845,
"We will petition Sister Emma, in the name of Israel's God, to let us
deposit the remains of Joseph according as he has commanded us, and
if she will not consent to it, our garments are clear." She did not
consent. For the following statement about the future disposition of
the bodies I am indebted to the grandson of the prophet, Mr. Frederick
Madison Smith, one of the editors of the Saints' Herald (Reorganized
Church) at Lamoni, Iowa, dated December 15, 1900:--
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account