Joseph & Hyrum Smith's Martyrdom

Were Joseph and Hyrum martyred or were they just killed?

They were martyred. The 1828 Merriam-Webster dictionary defines the transitive verb "martyr" as “to put to death for adhering to what one believes to be the truth; to sacrifice one on account of his faith or profession.”^[1]

Since Joseph and Hyrum were killed because of their religious beliefs and practices,^[2] they are considered martyrs.

But weren’t they killed because they burned down the Nauvoo Expositor?

No. The destruction of the Nauvoo Expositor^[3] made the tensions between Latter-day Saints and non-Latter-day Saints worse,^[4] but Joseph and Hyrum were killed for their religious beliefs and practices rather than as a punishment for destroying a printing press.^[5]

Okay, but didn’t Joseph and Hyrum die in a gunfight?

Sort of. There was a fight and there were guns, but calling it a gunfight isn't quite an accurate description.^[6] Between one and two hundred armed men with their faces painted black stormed Carthage Jail to kill Joseph.^[7] They fired into the cell where Smith was held.^[8] Smith fired back with a six-barreled pistol.^[9] The mob shot and killed Hyrum,^[10] then Joseph,^[11] and wounded John Taylor.^[12]

Doesn’t a true martyr have to willingly go to their death?

No, not historically. For example, Stephen in the Bible is often referred to as the first martyr.^[13] He didn’t volunteer to die. He was stoned to death because he said he saw God and Jesus on his right hand, which was considered blasphemy.

Foxe’s Book of Martyrs, first published in 1563, includes many Christian martyrs who tried to escape, fought back, and even killed those trying to kill them.^[14]

Has the Church tried to control the martyrdom narrative and exclude the part about him firing a gun at the mob?

Yes and no. The Church has published many narratives describing the martyrdom of Joseph Smith,^[15] and many of them have excluded the fact that he was armed^[16] or have implied that he was unarmed.^[17] However, many of them have also included this detail.^[18]

Joseph said, and the story goes, that he was "going as a lamb to the slaughter." Is that a misrepresentation?

Not really. Joseph willingly returned to Carthage to stand trial and probably knew he would be killed,^[19] even though Governor Thomas Ford pledged to protect him.^[20]

Some People Say . . .

"Joseph Smith and Hyrum Smith went willingly to die, like lambs to the slaughter."

— overheard in Sunday School

The Facts

Joseph and Hyrum Smith were killed because of their religious beliefs and practices.
Joseph and Hyrum were armed with pistols at Carthage.
Joseph fired into the mob after they killed Hyrum, wounding three people.
Religious martyrs have historically included people who have tried to flee and defend themselves.

Our Take

Joseph is often painted as this poor man who died for his beliefs. We call it "the martyrdom." But when we think of a martyr, we might imagine a pacifist who voluntarily gives their life for their beliefs.

With that in mind, it can be surprising or uncomfortable learning Joseph was armed and fought back at Carthage. Does that make him any less of a martyr? Did the Church shift the narrative so it would be more favorable toward Joseph?

Though modern usages of "martyr" can connote a range of things, historically—and in Joseph's day—martyr denotes anyone who died for their religion. Church narratives on the martyrdom approximate the way the historical record sits—some accounts describe an armed Joseph, others don't. The most detailed accounts include Joseph armed.

Debating over the semantics of "martyr" might feel weird or unnecessary, but the narrative is important to get right. One core part of this is that Joseph stuck to what he taught until he was killed, and he was killed for what he taught. Understanding the history of Joseph Smith's life and death is a useful companion to a testimony of the Restoration.

What's Your Take?

Mitch N.
“Sam Weston presented his research on this. He argues that Hyrum wasn't shot through the door, but from outside, since his death mask doesn't reveal any wood shards in his face, which would have left marks if shot at point blank range. He was in the middle of the room when shot.”
Adam J
“Of course Joseph and Hyrum's count as martyrs. Calling the attack of four guys stuck in a jail cell with a pistol by like two hundred mobsters a gunfight is just ridiculous.”

Read More Difficult Questions

47 Primary Sources

Footnotes

[1]↩︎
This was the most likely contemporary dictionary for their time. The full entry reads:
M'ARTYR, noun [Gr. a witness.] One who, by his death, bears witness to the truth of the gospel. Stephen was the first christian martyr To be a martyr signifies only to witness the truth of Christ. 1. One who suffers death in defense of any cause. We say, a man dies a martyr to his political principles or to the cause of liberty. M'ARTYR, verb transitive To put to death for adhering to what one believes to be the truth; to sacrifice one on account of his faith or profession. 1. To murder; to destroy. M'ARTYRDOM, noun The death of a martyr; the suffering of death on account of one's adherence to the faith of the gospel. He intends to crown their innocence with the glory of martyrdom
- W's dictionary defition of "Martyr" when JS died
[2]↩︎
The newspapers of the time had various reactions to the martyrdom news.
The Nauvoo Neighbor called Joseph and Hyrum martyrs, while other papers reprinted its report or referred to the killing as an "assassination" or "massacre."
The Public Ledger of Philadelphia reported:
A grosser act of treachery than the murder of the Smiths was never committed.
The New York Daily Herald also lamented that such an act could take place and observed,
Joe and his brother will be regarded as martyrs to their faith.
[3]↩︎
The Nauvoo Expositor printed only one paper before it was destroyed. It was inflammatory against Joseph Smith and incited mob violence.
The Nauvoo City Council ordered it to be destroyed after declaring it a "nuisance" for fear of the mob violence the paper would incite.
[4]↩︎
Thomas C. Sharp, the editor of the Warsaw Signal, used his paper to call for armed insurrection after the destruction of the Nauvoo Expositor:
War and extermination is inevitable! Citizens ARISE, ONE and ALL!!!—Can you stand by, and suffer such INFERNAL DEVILS! to ROB men of their property and RIGHTS, without avenging them. We have no time for comment, every man will make his own. LET IT BE MADE WITH POWDER AND BALL!!!
- TS calls for violent vengeance on "Infernal Devils" of Nauvoo.
[5]↩︎
The Nauvoo Neighbor Extra explained that Joseph and Hyrum were killed by a mob for their religion, while they were voluntarily being held to stand trial. They had been explicitly put under the protection of the governor.
Thomas C. Sharp wrote in the Warsaw Signal:
We hold ourselves at all times in readyness to co-operate with our fellow citizens . . . to exterminate, utterly exterminate, the wicked and abominable Mormon leaders.
He pulled on sentiments of anger toward Latter-day Saints specifically and called to exterminate them because they were "wicked and abominable."
- Thomas C. Sharp talks about exterminating the "wicked and abominable Mormon leaders."
- The NNE asserts JS and HS killed by a mob for their religion.
[6]↩︎
An armed mob stormed the prison where Joseph and Hyrum were being held to stand trial.
The mob shot into the jail cell, pushing to get through the cell door. Hyrum Smith and Willard Richards tried to hold the door shut, but Hyrum was shot through the door.
Joseph had a six-barreled pistol and fired back through the door. John Taylor used a cane to knock aside the guns of the mob. Willard Richards also had a cane, and Hyrum Smith had a pistol that he likely never fired.
[7]↩︎
The mob presumably painted their faces so that they couldn't be identified.
- John Taylor recounts the martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum Smith on June 27, 1844.
- TAL records that JS was attacked by a mob of 200 and fired at them
[8]↩︎
The Nauvoo Neighbor, which was reprinted by several other papers, explained:
About 6 o’clock in the afternoon the guard was surprised by an armed mob of from 150 to 250 painted red and black and yellow, which surrounded the jail, forced in—poured a shower of bullets into the room where these unfortunate men were held.
Another account detailed that "the troops formed at the other end of the landing and fired against the door, which they easily riddled."
- JMG reports JS fired on the mob after seeing HS die.
- PL reprints portions of the NN extra's report of the Martyrdom of JS and HS.
[9]↩︎
Elder Cyrus Wheelock left the six-barreled pistol (sometimes referred to as a "pepperbox pistol") with Joseph.
Joseph reportedly "snapped" the pistol six times, with it firing successfully three times. This type of pistol was notorious for misfiring.
[10]↩︎
The mob killed Hyrum first. They shot him through the door, and his last words were "I'm a dead man." They continued shooting him after his death.
- WR recalls that JS witnessed HS death, then fired into the hallway at martyrdom
[11]↩︎
The mob shot Joseph at the window. His last words were "O Lord my God," according to Willard Richards.
- John Taylor recounts the martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum Smith on June 27, 1844.
[12]↩︎
The mob shot John Taylor four times, leaving him for dead after he rolled under a bed.
- TF says Joseph had a six-barrelled pistol.
[13]↩︎
Noah Webster's 1828 dictionary uses Stephen as an example of the definition of "martyr." His stoning is recorded in Acts 7:54-60. Stephen gave his testimony before the council in Jerusalem and was put to death by stoning.
- W's dictionary defition of "Martyr" when JS died
[14]↩︎
For example, Foxe's Book of Martyrs tells of a martyr who fled before begging for death when caught and another martyr who drowned one of her attackers with her. It also lists a group of martyrs who armed themselves and fought in the woods for a long period of time before getting flayed or burned to death when captured.
[15]↩︎
For example, the first official Church record in the Doctrine and Covenants leaves out the gun, simply announcing the martyrdom.
This record was added to the 1844 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants.
- John Taylor recounts the martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum Smith on June 27, 1844.
[16]↩︎
The sources that leave out Joseph being armed tend to be summaries.
[17]↩︎
George A. Smith, who was Church Historian in 1856, recorded:
These two innocent men were confined in jail for a supposed crime, deprived of any weapons to defend themselves: had the pledged faith of the State of Illinois, by Gov. [Thomas] Ford, for their protection, and were then shot to death. . .
Earlier in the same document, the account also reprinted that Joseph and Hyrum were armed later in prison.
- GAS records JS speaking of going like a lamb to the slaughter, under the protection of TF.
[18]↩︎
Many accounts published by the Church or Church leaders reference the six-barreled pistol Joseph Smith had and used at Carthage.
[19]↩︎
According to John Taylor, John Bernhisel told him that Joseph Smith said, “I am going as a lamb to the slaughter; but I am as calm as a summer’s morning. I have a conscience void of offence towards God & Man.”
- JT reports that JB was told by JS that he went "as a lamb to the slaughter."
[20]↩︎
Governor Thomas Ford said:
The Smiths, Joseph and Hyrum, have been assassinated in jail, by whom it is not known, but will be ascertained. I pledged myself for their safety, and upon the assurance of that pledge, they surrendered as prisoners.
- TF says JS and HS were under his sworn protection and surrendered as prisoners.