Chapter XL: The Trial of the Murderers

MEANTIME there was considerable excitement in Hancock County, since the mob party were determined to elect officers who would screen the murderers of the Prophets. The Saints were equally determined to vote for those whom they believed would sustain law and order; and the following were put forward as candidates for the county and district offices and elected: M. R. Deming, sheriff; D. H. Wells, coroner; George Coulson, commissioner; J. B. Backenstos and A. W. Babbitt, representatives.

The account of the trial of the miscreants charged with the murder of the Prophet I take from Gregg's "History of Hancock County," beginning at page 328:

TRIALS AND ACQUITTALS.

At the October [1844] term of the Hancock Circuit Court--present
Jesse B. Thomas, judge; William Elliott, prosecuting attorney;
Jacob B. Backenstos, clerk; General Minor R. Deming, sheriff.

The following is the grand jury:

Abram Lincoln, Jas. Reynolds, Th. J. Graham, Wm. M. Owens, Ebenezer
Rand, Th. Brawner, Ralph Gorrell, Brant Agnert, Martin Getter, Wm.
Smith, Th. Gilmore, Benj. Warrington, Reuben H. Loomis, Samuel
Scott, Jas. Ward, Samuel Ramsy, Th. H. Owen, David Thompson, John
J. Hickok.

Abraham Golden, E. A. Bedell and Geo. Walker excused for cause.
Samuel Marshall refused to serve, and fined $5.00.

The court began its session on Monday the 21st. There had been
rumors industriously circulated that the old citizens intended
to rally and interpose obstacles in the way of the court and
considerable anxiety was felt. The judge in his charge to the grand
jury alluded to this rumor and said he was glad to see that no such
demonstration was made. He charged them to do their duty in the
case likely to come before them and leave the consequences. His
charge gave general satisfaction.

There was a rumor that a lot of Mormons and Indians were encamped
near the town and this rumor occasioned considerable uneasiness.
Orders were issued to investigate. The facts turned out to be that
a number of Mormons had come down from Nauvoo to attend court,
and had gone into camp to save expense. As to the Indians it was
ascertained that a company of them had gone through the county on
their way to Iowa, for some purpose unknown; but the two facts had
no connection with each other.

On Tuesday the grand jury began their work, and on Saturday about
noon they brought into court two bills of indictment against nine
individuals--one for the murder of Joseph Smith and the other for
the murder of Hyrum Smith. The persons indicted were as follows:
Levi Williams, Jacob C. Davis, Mark Aldrich, Thomas C. Sharp, Wm.
Voras, John Wills, Wm. N. Grover,--Gallaher and--Allen.

Murry McConnell, Esq., of Jacksonville by special appointment of
the governor was present assisting Mr. Elliot in the prosecution.
Messrs. Bushnell and Johnson of Quincy and Calvin A. Warren, and
perhaps others appeared for the defendants.

Immediately on announcement of the indictments most of the
defendants appeared and asked for an immediate trial. This Mr.
McConnell objected to on the grounds of not being ready. His
witnesses before the grand jury had departed without being
recognized, and besides, Mr. Elliot had gone. It was finally
agreed that the causes should be postponed until next term, and
that no _capias_ should issue from the clerk in the interim if the
defendants would pledge themselves to appear at the time. Agreed
on--a compact which was afterwards violated by the prosecution.

Subpoenas were asked for by the prosecution for between thirty
and forty witnesses, among whom were William M. Daniels and
Brackenberry, the two miracle men, and John Taylor, Mrs. Emma Smith
and Governor Ford.

On May 19, 1845, court again met in special term at Carthage.
Present, Richard M. Young, judge; James H. Ralston, prosecuting
attorney; David E. Head, clerk; and R. H. Deming, sheriff. The
cause of the people _vs_. Williams _et al_ coming up, Messrs.
Williams, Davis, Aldrich, Sharp and Grover appeared and were
admitted to bail on personal recognizance in the sums of $5,000.00
jointly and severally. Josiah Lamborn of Jacksonville as assistant
prosecuting attorney and William A. Richardson, O. H. Browning,
Calvin A. Warren, Archibald Williams, O. C. Skinner and Tho.
Morrison for defendants. Motion of defendants to quash the array of
jurors for first week, on account of supposed prejudice of county
commissioners who selected them and of the sheriff and deputies was
sustained. Also motion for the appointment of elisors for the same
cause, and absence of corner from county. The array was set aside,
and Tho. H. Owen and Wm. D. Arbenethy appointed elisors for the
case. These gentlemen had a thankless and arduous duty to perform.
Usually it is not difficult to find men willing to sit on juries;
in this case few were willing to try the experiment of going into
court, with the almost certainty of being rejected by one or the
other party, and the position was not an enviable one, if taken.
Ninety-six men were brought into court before the requisite panel
of 12 was full. The following are names of the jurors chosen:

Jesse Griffiths, Joseph Jones, Wm. Robertson, William Smith, Joseph
Massey, Silas Griffiths, Jonathan Foy, Solomon J. Hill, James
Gittings, F. M. Walton, Jabez A. Beebe, Gilmore Callison.

The trial lasted till the 30th when the jury was instructed by the
court and after a deliberation of several hours returned a verdict
of _not guilty_.

Instructions to the jury had been asked by both parties, the
following among a list of nine asked by defendants' counsel, were
given, and probably had most influence on the verdict.

"That where the evidence is circumstantial admitting all to be
proven that the evidence tends to prove, if then the jury can make
any supposition consistent with the facts, by which the murder
might have been committed without the agency of the defendants, it
will be their duty to make that supposition, and find defendants
not guilty.

"That in making up their verdict, they will exclude from their
consideration all that was said by Daniels, Brackenberry and Miss
Graham. [Witnesses, see note, p. 319.]

"That whenever the probability is of a definite and limited nature
whether in proportion of 100 to 1 or 1,000 to 1 or any rate is
immaterial, it cannot be made the ground of conviction, for to
act upon it in any case would be to decide that for the sake of
convicting many criminals, the life of one innocent man might be
sacrificed [Starkie 508.]"

Same defendants, for murder of Hyrum Smith were requested to
enter into recognizance of $5,000 each (with fourteen sureties)
to the June term, 1845. At said term case was called, and Elliot
and Lamborn not answering, the cause was dismissed for want of
prosecution and defendants discharged.

Colonel John Hay, in the _Atlantic Monthly_ for December, 1869,
published an article on this subject. Although but a mere boy at
the time of this trial he had within his reach sources of correct
information. (He was a member of the State department subsequently.)

He says: "The case was closed. There was not a man on the jury, in
the court, in the county, that did not know the defendants had done
the murder. But it was not proven, and the verdict of not guilty
was right in law. * * * The elisors presented 99 men before 12 were
found ignorant enough and indifferent enough to act as jurors."

The fact is, the trial amounted to nothing more than a farce. The law had been outraged, the honor of the State betrayed, her plighted faith was shamefully broken, and there was not virtue enough in the people to demand its vindication. Nor is this at all an exaggerated statement of the matter. The governor of Illinois himself--Thomas Ford--admits all that is here said. Of the atrocious deed itself and his determination to bring the murderers to justice he says:

_I had determined from the first that some of the ringleaders in the foul murder of the Smiths should be brought to trial. If these men had been the incarnation of Satan himself, as was believed by many, their murder was a foul and treacherous action, alike disgraceful to those who perpetrated the crime, to the State, and to the governor, whose word had been pledged for the protection of the prisoners in jail, and which had been so shamefully violated; and required that the most vigorous means should be used to bring the assassins to punishment_. [1]

Speaking of the trial, Governor Ford says:

Accordingly, I employed able lawyers to hunt up the testimony,
procure indictments, and prosecute the offenders. A trial was had
before Judge Young in the summer of 1845. The sheriff and panel of
jurors, selected by the Mormon court, were set aside for prejudice,
and elisors were appointed to select a new jury. One friend of the
Mormons and one anti-Mormon were appointed for this purpose; but as
more than a thousand men had assembled under arms at the court, to
keep away the Mormons and their friends, the jury was made up of
these military followers of the court, who all swore that they had
never formed or expressed any opinion as to the guilt or innocence
of the accused. The Mormons had one principal [1] witness who
was with the troops at Warsaw, had marched with them until they
disbanded heard their consultations, went before them to Carthage,
and saw them murder the Smiths. But before the trial came on, they
induced him to become a Mormon; and being much more anxious for the
glorification of the Prophet than to avenge his death, the Mormons
made him publish a pamphlet giving an account of the murder; in
which he professed to have seen a bright and shining light descend
upon the head of Joe Smith to strike some of the conspirators
with blindness; and that he heard supernatural voices in the air
confirming his mission as a Prophet! Having published this in a
book, he was compelled to swear to it in court, which of course
destroyed the credit of his evidence. This witness was afterwards
expelled by the Mormons, but no doubt they will cling to his
evidence in favor of the divine mission of the Prophet. [2] Many
other witnesses were examined who knew the facts, but under the
influence of the demoralization of faction, denied all knowledge of
them. It has been said, that faction may find men honest, but it
scarcely ever leaves them so. This was verified to the letter in
the history of the Mormon quarrel. The accused were all acquitted.

During the progress of these trials, the judge was compelled to
permit the courthouse to be filled and surrounded by armed bands
who attended court to browbeat and overawe the administration
of justice. The judge himself was in a duress, and informed me
that he did not consider his life secure any part of the time.
The consequence was that the crowd had everything their own way;
the lawyers for the defense defended their clients by a long and
elaborate attack upon the governor; the armed mob stamped with
their feet and yelled their approbation at every sarcastic and
smart thing that was said, and the judge was not only forced to
hear it, but to lend it a kind of approval. [3]

And now in conclusion, as promised in the footnote on this page, I quote the statement of the martyrdom as vouched for by The Church, and published in the book of Doctrine and Covenants:

To seal the testimony of this book and the Book of Mormon, we
announce the martyrdom of Joseph Smith the Prophet, and Hyrum
Smith the Patriarch. They were shot in Carthage jail, on the 27th
of June, 1844, about five o'clock p. m., by an armed mob, painted
black--of from 150 to 200 persons. Hyrum was shot first and fell
calmly, exclaiming, "I am a dead man!" Joseph leaped from the
window, and was shot dead in the attempt, exclaiming, "O Lord, my
God!" They were both shot after they were dead in a brutal manner
and both received four balls.

John Taylor and Willard Richards, two of the Twelve, were the
only persons in the room at the time; the former was wounded in a
savage manner with four balls, but has since recovered; the latter,
through the providence of God, escaped, "without even a hole in his
robe."

Joseph Smith, the Prophet and Seer of the Lord, has done more (save
Jesus only,) for the salvation of men in this world, than any other
man that ever lived in it. In the short space of twenty years,
he has brought forth the Book of Mormon, which he translated by
the gift and power of God, and has been the means of publishing
it on two continents; has sent the fullness of the everlasting
gospel which it contained to the four quarters of the earth; has
brought forth the revelations and commandments which compose this
Book of Doctrine and Covenants, and many other wise documents and
instructions for the benefit of the children of men; gathered many
thousands of the Latter-day Saints, founded a great city; and left
a fame and name that cannot be slain. He lived great, and he died
great in the eyes of God and his people, and like most of the
Lord's anointed in ancient times, has sealed his mission and his
works with his own blood--and so has his brother Hyrum. In life
they were not divided, and in death they were not separated!

When Joseph went to Carthage to deliver himself up to the pretended
requirements of the law, two or three days previous to his
assassination, he said, "I am going like a lamb to the slaughter;
but I am calm as a summer's morning; I have a conscience void of
offense towards God, and towards all men. I SHALL DIE INNOCENT,
AND IT SHALL YET BE SAID OF ME--HE WAS MURDERED IN COLD BLOOD."
The same morning, after Hyrum had made ready to go--shall it be
said to the slaughter? Yes, for so it was,--he read the following
paragraph, near the close of the fifth chapter of Ether, in the
Book of Mormon, and turned down the leaf upon it:--

"And it came to pass that I prayed unto the Lord that he would
give unto the Gentiles grace, that they might have charity. And it
came to pass that the Lord said unto me, if they have not charity,
it mattereth not unto you, thou hast been faithful; wherefore thy
garments are clean. And because thou hast seen thy weakness, thou
shalt be made strong, even unto the sitting down in the place which
I have prepared in the mansions of my Father. And now I * * * bid
farewell unto the Gentiles; yea and also unto my brethren whom
I love, until we shall meet before the judgment-seat of Christ,
where all men shall know that my garments are not spotted with your
blood." The testators are now dead, and their testament is in force.

Hyrum Smith was 44 years old; February, 1844, and Joseph Smith was
38 in December, 1843; and henceforward their names will be classed
among the martyrs of religion; and the reader in every nation will
be reminded that the "Book of Mormon," and this book of Doctrine
and Covenants of the Church, cost the best blood of the nineteenth
century to bring them forth for the salvation of a ruined world:
and that if the fire can scathe a _green tree_ for the glory
of God, how easy it will burn up the "dry trees" to purify the
vineyard of corruption. They lived for glory; they died for glory;
and glory is their eternal reward. From age to age shall their
names go down to posterity as gems for the sanctified.

They were innocent of any crime, as they had often been proved
before, and were only confined in jail by the conspiracy of
traitors and wicked men; and their _innocent blood_ on the floor of
Carthage jail, is a broad seal affixed to "Mormonism" that cannot
be rejected by any court on earth; and their _innocent blood_ on
the escutcheon of the State of Illinois, with the broken faith of
the State as pledged by the governor, is a witness to the truth
of the everlasting Gospel, that all the world cannot impeach; and
their _innocent blood_ on the banner of liberty, and on the _magna
charta_ of the United States, is an ambassador for the religion of
Jesus Christ, that will touch the hearts of honest men among all
nations; and their _innocent blood_, with the innocent blood of all
the martyrs under the altar that John saw, will cry unto the Lord
of hosts, till He avenges that blood on the earth. Amen.

Footnotes

1. Ford's History of Illinois, page 367.

2. This the "Mormons," however, have not done; and no well informed "Mormon," regards the story as being vouched for in any authoritative way by The Church. The only authoritative account of the sad martyrdom of the Prophets for which The Church stands responsible is that published in the Doctrine and Covenants, section cxxxv (and which is published at the close of this chapter); and in that account the element of the miraculous enters not at all.

3. Ford's History of Illinois, pages 367, 368.