Carthage Jail - Carthage, Illinois - American Guide Series on Waymarking.com

In the old jail Joseph Smith, founder of the Mormon Church, and his brother Hyrum were killed by a mob on the afternoon of June 27, 1844. Awaiting trial on charges of destroying an opposition press in Nauvoo, Joseph and Hyrum Smith had been lodged in jail to protect them from attack. To insure Smith's safety, Governor Ford had previously disbanded several companies of militia, gathered, against his orders, at Carthage with the avowed purpose of going to Nauvoo to search for alleged apparatus for making counterfeit money, but in reality "to strike a terror into the Mormon people by an exhibition of the force of the State." The governor assigned the Carthage Grays to guard the jail while he went to Nauvoo to acquaint the Mormons with the "excitement and hatred prevailing against them" and to warn against their use of "open or secret violence."

During his absence more than a hundred members of the disbanded militia companies, faces blackened to hide their identity, returned to Carthage, overpowered the non-resisting Carthage Grays, and stormed the jail. The Mormon leaders, accompanied by their friends, Willard Richards and John Taylor, later head of the Mormon Church (1877-1887), were lodged in an upper room that bore no lock. A volley fired from the stairway killed Hyrum Smith. For a brief moment the Prophet, armed with a small "pepper box" gun, was able to hold the mob at bay. When his gun missed fire, he ran to the window to leap out, but as he was silhouetted there three musket balls struck him. With an agonized "Oh Lord, my God," he toppled from the window. The mob rushed out, ascertained that he was dead, and then hastily dispersed. Richards had not been harmed, but Taylor received several wounds.

The Old Carthage Jail, a sturdy two-story building of gray stone, has undergone several changes since that distant afternoon. The building was sold to a private family in 1870 and enlarged with a wing and a conservatory at the front. Later the Mormon Church acquired the property. The bullet holes and bloodstains in the upstairs room remain undisturbed. The building is regarded as a shrine by the many Mormons who annually visit it, and plans have recently been made for restoring it to its original state. - Illinois: A Descriptive and Historical Guide, Tour 7, pg. 477-478.

The Old Carthage Jail is now owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who restored it to the 1844 appearance.  It is operated by the church as a historic site and museum.  Tours are conducted throughout the day.

Open schedule:

9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday–Saturday
12:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Sundays