Mormon History
The Escape of Joseph Smith - 1839
Daily Missouri Republican – May 2, 1839
The Mormon Prisoners Escaped.
The Columbia Patriot of the 27th , a paper printed in Boone county, has the following important paragraphs:
The Mormon prisoners were taken from the gaol in Clay county, where
they have been confined since last fall, in Daviess or Caldwell, for
the purpose of having indictments found. This being done, the change of
venue to Boone county was granted and they were immediately put under
the charge of a guard to be brought to the gaol at Columbia.
Whilst passing through Linn, they stopped to spend the night, at a
cabin which is said to be elevated by means of blocks some distance
above the ground. When morning came Joe Smith and his followers were
missing, and upon examination it appeared that they had escaped by
raising a puncheon of the cabin floor and letting themselves down
through the opening thus made. They have made a successful escape.