On the same day we visited Nauvoo, we also visited Carthage Jail, the site where, on June 27, 1844, Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum were shot and killed. The tour was conducted by a young sister missionary who had little taste for history and difficulty remembering the historical facts. She was obviously new to this assignment and very nervous which led to a lot of rambling nonsense. I really don't mean to be harsh on this sister, I really don't. I understand how difficult public speaking is and how tough it can be to lead and command a large group of people. This kind of thing takes time and practice. I just don't have a lot of my patience for mediocre tours, but again, that's my thing. Other people seemed to get a lot out of the tour and it's certainly worth the visit.
The jail has been restored to its appearance as it would have looked during Joseph Smith's incarceration and death.
In the basement is the tiny jail cell where Joseph and three other men were kept. It was dank, dark, and cramped in there. I could barely stand up in the room.
When the jailers heard that a mob was preparing to storm the jail on the 27th of June, they moved Joseph, Hyrum and the two other incarcerated men, John Taylor and Willard Richards, into an upstairs bedroom.
A mob of 150-200 men stormed the jail and shot through the door of the bedroom (you can see the bullet holes in the door above). Hyrum was shot in the face and died almost instantly. Joseph and the other two men tried to defend themselves against the attackers.
Joseph, who had moved near the window, was shot twice in the back and once in the chest and fell through the window to the pavement below. John Taylor was shot several times, but survived. Willard Richards was unhurt in the attack.Carthage Jail, obviously, holds a great amount of significance and garners a great deal of reverence among members of the Church. Given the events that occurred there, many people understandably become quite emotional. David and I were quite amused, though, by the great number of tissues boxes that were scattered throughout the jail itself and the visitor's center. At David's insistence, here's only a few of the many, many boxes of tissue we passed on our tour.
