After Missouri

After being expelled from Missouri by the Extermination Order, the Mormons found refuge in Quincy, Illinois, in January of 1839. These kind people helped them until they could find a place to establish themselves. Brigham Young led the Church while Joseph remained in prison on charges of treason. Finally, on April 16, a friendly guard, realizing that Joseph and the others were being unjustly confined, allowed them to escape. [1]

The Mormons were anxious to return to Missouri or get just compensation. Joseph asked everyone to write down what had happened and to try to account for all that they had lost. In October, 1839, Joseph took these affidavits to Washington, D.C., and spoke with members of the Congress and President Martin Van Buren. They said that since Missouri was a sovereign state, only Missouri could redress their wrongs. [1]

Joseph returned to Nauvoo and with the other leaders determined that they would not let themselves be driven and harassed by mobs again. They petitioned for a charter for their own city, giving them the legal right to defend themselves against attacks both from the law and from mobs. The charter created a militia, which was very common at the time, and established a university. It also stated that no resident of Nauvoo could be arrested without a writ of habeas corpus before a city judge. This meant that no person living in Nauvoo could be dragged off by mobs or sheriffs without getting a fair chance to hear the charges against them. [1]

By 1841, the number of Mormons had grown, and they spilled over into Hancock County and across the Mississippi into Iowa. Persecution followed, and the Missouri government tried several times to extradite Joseph Smith and others back to Missouri. [1]

The years of 1842 and 1843 were not so peaceful. Joseph and other leaders were often forced into hiding. In May, John C. Bennett, who had become a close associate and friend of Joseph Smith, was excommunicated from the Church because of adultery. After he left the Church, he became very bitter and started writing attacks on Joseph and the Church. This forced Joseph to spend much of the fall in hiding. [1]

Early 1844 was a difficult time. Some people dissented from the Church because they opposed polygamy or felt that Joseph had fallen from being a prophet. Anti-Mormons and ex-Mormons like Bennett continued to stir up trouble by publishing scandalous and libelous reports about the Mormons and Joseph, whom they mockingly called Joe Smith orPeepstone Joe. Joseph decided that to respond to these critics, he needed a national forum. He therefore decided to run for President. It isn't likely that he expected to win, but he and the Church used this as a platform to express their views. Joseph promised that if elected, he would use the government to protect minorities. He also planned to end slavery by establishing a fund to buy slaves from slave owners, and then free them. The slave owners could use the money to transform their estates so that they would no longer need slaves. [1]

In June of 1844, William Law, a disaffected Mormon, published the first and only edition of the Nauvoo Expositor. It was a scandalous paper that called for Joseph Smith to be hung. It described in lurid prose all the evil things they suspected Joseph and other leaders of doing. Joseph as mayor and the city council met to decide what to do. They determined that based on their interpretation of their charter, they had the power to remove the press, since it posed an imminent threat by calling for violence. The press and most copies of the paper were destroyed. [1]

A riot ensued and the next day Joseph was sought by the sheriff on charges of inciting riot. Fearful that a mob would attack when in jail or that the trial would be unfair, Joseph hid for a few days. He sought a change of venue, but was denied. Governor Thomas Ford came from Springfield to oversee the affair and promised Joseph protection and a fair trial if he turned himself in. So on June 22, Joseph surrendered to the governor and was taken to Carthage, Illinois. The governor left Carthage on June 26, and left the Carthage militia in charge. [1]

On June 27, 1844, Joseph arose early with his brother Hyrum, and apostles John Taylor, and Willard Richards. Around 5:00 p.m. a mob with faces painted black surrounded the jail. The mob, comprised of the Carthage Greys stormed the jail. As the mob rushed the jail, Joseph and Hyrum tried to hold the door. As Hyrum tried to hold the door, he was shot in the face and fell to the floor. His last words were: "I am a dead man!" While the other men, Willard Richards and John Taylor, (Taylor would be shot four times but survive) held the door, Joseph walked to the window. At the window he was shot. He collapsed. He exclaimed, "Oh Lord, my God," as he fell out the window and landed near a well. He was shot three more times as he lay on the ground. [1]

Joseph’s murder gave the Mormons a short respite, as their enemies waited for them to disintegrate but they did not. In January of 1845, the Nauvoo charter was rescinded. Adding insult to injury, in May, the leaders of the mob who murdered Joseph and Hyrum were acquitted in a sham trial where no Mormons were allowed to testify or attend. In September, the citizens of Hancock County demanded that the Mormons leave. [1]

In February 1846, the first company of Mormon pioneers left Nauvoo, walking across the frozen Mississippi into Iowa. By September 16, 1846, the last Mormons were driven from the city and eventually made their way to the Salt Lake Valley. [1]

Having established the background of persecution, in our next post we will cover the Mountain Meadows Massacre.