, Journal Excerpt, 23–27 June 1844; handwriting of ; nineteen pages; in Willard Richards, Journal, CHL. Portions of some entries were written in pencil before they were overwritten in ink.
Historical Introduction
JS’s journal, kept by , ended with the entry of 22 June 1844, just before JS left , Illinois, in company with Richards, , and . Richards, who remained with JS until the moment of JS’s death on 27 June, evidently left JS’s journal in Nauvoo when the four men departed for , Illinois. Richards, however, recorded in his own journal many of the events of the last five days of JS’s life. These events include JS’s arrival on the bank in on the morning of 23 June and his trip to Carthage, during which JS and Hyrum gave themselves up to authorities on the charge of treason. Richards’s journal also recounts JS’s activities in Carthage during the days preceding his and Hyrum’s deaths. The material Richards recorded in his own journal during this time is in the same format and style as the record he had been keeping for JS. Richards’s hasty, terse notations and precise attention to details—illustrated by his practice of recording the specific times events occurred—indicate that he continuously carried his journal with him and recorded many of the events as he witnessed them, possibly with the intention of using the record to fill in JS’s journal at a later date. Richards’s journal entries for 23–27 June 1844 provide a contemporaneous firsthand account of JS’s activities during the last five days of his life, and they are reproduced here in full. Richards first inscribed portions of these entries in pencil and then rewrote them in ink. In a few cases, while overwriting, he skipped or altered the original penciled text. The transcription here reproduces the final ink version and does not capture the slight variations in the penciled text.
For additional details on the events leading to the deaths of JS and Hyrum Smith, see Oaks and Hill, Carthage Conspiracy.
Oaks, Dallin H., and Marvin S. Hill. Carthage Conspiracy: The Trial of the Accused Assassins of Joseph Smith. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1975.
Thursday [Wednesday] June 27 26th. 1844.— 7 A.M.— Joseph and eat with — and after . . . . & one man eat.— befor 7 Dr Southwick went to see the . — 7½ & went. and one betwe[e]n their messages— but at Eight got no retu[r]n.— Joseph sent to his counsel by messnges [messengers] that he wantd a cha[n]ge of venue.
till 8.— Joseph & had converatin [conversation] with said last week wedne[s]day th[e]y were calculating to have made an attack on & th[e]y expected expectd 9000 troops. but there was not 200— th[e]y had sent runne[r]s to and all rou[n]d the counties.—
8.10 minutes. wrote the —— by —
8½— & retur[ne]d. said the was taken by surprise last eve & was very sorry—— was afraid we wo[u]ld think he had forfitd [forfeited] his— word. abo[u]t havi[n]g an interview. that the wrath of the people was ab[o]ut to turn on the head of the mob. Jackson &c— that the was doing as fast as he can—
12 mi[nutes] before 9— answer retu[r]ned by on the same sheet.—
10 mi[nutes] to 9— — and othe[r]s arrivd at Jail and investigatd— [p. [28]]
Southwick could be the “Mr Southwick”—possibly Wall Southwick—from Louisiana who arrived in Nauvoo on 20 June. According to Markham, Southwick was “a Man from Taxes [Texas] Trying to get Joseph to go to Texas with the church.” (JS, Journal, 20 June 1844; Stephen Markham, Fort Supply, Utah Terrotory, to Wilford Woodruff, 20 June 1856, Historian’s Office, JS History Documents, ca. 1839–1860, CHL.)
Historian’s Office. Joseph Smith History Documents, 1839–1860. CHL. CR 100 396.
“I would again solicit your Excellency for an interview,” JS wrote Thomas Ford, “having been much disappointed the past evening. . . . We have been committed under a false Mittimus and consequently the proceedings are illegal & we desire the time may be hastened when all things shall be made right & we relieved from this imprison[men]t.” (JS, Carthage, IL, to Thomas Ford, Carthage, IL, 26 June 1844, copy, JS Collection, CHL.)