Announcement of the martyrdom of Joseph Smith the Prophet and his brother, Hyrum Smith the Patriarch, at Carthage, Illinois, June 27, 1844. This document was included at the end of the 1844 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants, which was nearly ready for publication when Joseph and Hyrum Smith were murdered.

1–2, Joseph and Hyrum martyred in Carthage Jail; 3, The preeminent position of the Prophet is acclaimed; 4–7, Their innocent blood testifies of the truth and divinity of the work.

1 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.
Note: Joseph Smith was not a martyr.
Joseph Smith fired a pepperbox pistol in self-defense when an armed mob stormed Carthage Jail in Carthage, Illinois, on June 27, 1844. Smith, Taylor, and Richards attempted to defend themselves. Taylor and Richards used a long walking stick in order to deflect the guns as they were thrust inside the room, from behind the door. Smith fired his pistol. Three of the six barrels misfired, but the other three shots are believed to have wounded three of the attackers.

2 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.
Note: John Taylor became the third LDS president and was a criminal.
In 1882, the United States Congress enacted the Edmunds Act, which declared polygamy to be a felony. Hundreds of Mormon men and women were arrested and imprisoned for continuing to practice plural marriage. Taylor had followed Brigham Young's teachings on polygamy and had at least seven wives. He is known to have fathered 34 children. Taylor moved into the Gardo House alone with his sister, Agnes, to avoid prosecution and to avoid showing preference to any one of his families. However, by 1885, he and his counselors were forced to withdraw from public view to live in the "underground" and were frequently on the move to avoid arrest. In 1885, during his last public sermon, Taylor remarked, "I would like to obey and place myself in subjection to every law of man. What then? Am I to disobey the law of God? Has any man a right to control my conscience, or your conscience?... No man has a right to do it."
Note: Willard Richards was a pedophile.
Richards was a close confidant of Joseph Smith, and became a practitioner of polygamy. There is indication that his first plural wife was 26-year-old Nancy Marinda Johnson Hyde, who was already married to Orson Hyde (Hyde was away on a mission at the time). Richards returned to Richmond and retrieved his wife Jennetta, arriving back in Nauvoo on November 21, 1842. On January 18, 1843, Richards married sixteen-year-old Sarah Longstroth and fourteen-year-old Nanny Longstroth, who were sisters. Joseph Smith officiated the wedding. Richards married eleven wives in total.

3 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 fulness 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!
Note: Joseph Smith never preached the Christian Gospel.
Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures. 1 Corinthians 15:1-4

4 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 twelfth chapter of Ether, in the Book of Mormon, and turned down the leaf upon it: 5 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 thee, thou hast been faithful; wherefore thy garments shall be made 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.
Note: Joseph Smith received what he had meted out.
In Ohio, financial failures (such as the collapse of the Kirtland Safety Society) led high-profile leaders and former apostles—including Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer, and Martin Harris—to break with Joseph Smith. Smith and loyalists viewed their opposition as apostasy, resulting in their excommunication or marginalization. Missouri tensions with dissenters like John Corrill and Thomas B. Marsh escalated heavily. During the 1838 Mormon War, militant groups like the Danites—a secret organization of Latter-day Saints—formed partly to intimidate, police, and drive out perceived internal dissenters and external enemies, a dynamic that Smith's critics argue he tacitly or actively encouraged. Faithful members, conversely, viewed legal suits and actions by dissenters as malicious "vexatious" harassment. In Illinois, the Nauvoo Expositor, a newspaper established by former insiders (such as the Higgby brothers and Foster brothers) to publish allegations of Smith’s exercise of power, secret plural marriage, and the merging of church and municipal government. In response, Joseph Smith and the Nauvoo City Council declared the paper a public nuisance and ordered the printing press destroyed. This act sparked the legal charges of riot and treason that led to Smith’s imprisonment and assassination at Carthage Jail.

6 Hyrum Smith was forty-four years old in February, 1844, and Joseph Smith was thirty-eight 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.
Note: The Smiths did not die for Jesus Christ.
Remember that Jesus Christ, of the seed of David, was raised from the dead according to my gospel, for which I suffer trouble as an evildoer, even to the point of chains; but the word of God is not chained. Therefore, I endure all things for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. This is a faithful saying: For if we died with Him, we shall also live with Him. If we endure, we shall also reign with Him. If we deny Him, He also will deny us. If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself. 2 Timothy 2:8-13

7 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.
Note: Joseph Smith was a criminal.
On April 28, 1844, the anti-polygamist dissenters held a meeting. William Law and Charles Ivins were reportedly to have been named to leadership. On May 1, Francis M. Higbee filed a legal complaint in the Fifth Judicial District of Illinois, suing Smith for slander and requesting damages of five thousand dollars. On May 4, William Law, his wife Jane, and Austin Cowles appeared before a Justice of the Peace and gave a sworn statement about Smith's polygamy. On May 7, Charles Ivin, in association with the Laws, Higgbees, and Fosters, set up a print shop in Nauvoo. On May 8, the Warsaw Signal reported a new church had been organized under the leadership of William Law, who preached that Joseph Smith was a fallen prophet; the Signal reported that a press had been obtained and a paper would soon be published. On May 10, a newspaper prospectus was circulated, announcing the creation of the Nauvoo Expositor. The Expositor was planned as an exposé of church practices which Law and his associates opposed. On May 15, the Signal reported Law had preached to an audience of 300, while other speakers included Francis Higbee and James Blakesley. On May 18, the church excommunicated Francis M. Higbee, Blakesley, Charles Ivins, and Austin Cowles for apostasy. On May 23, a grand jury from the Hancock County Circuit Court issued a criminal indictment against Smith on the charges of perjury based on the statements of Joseph Jackson and Robert Foster. A second indictment, for "fornication and adultery", was issued based on the statements of William and Wilson Law who swore Smith had been living with Maria Lawrence "in an open state of adultery" since the prior October 12. On May 26, Smith again denied polygamy, preaching: "What a thing it is for a man to be accused of committing adultery, and having seven wives, when I can only find one. I am the same man, and as innocent as I was fourteen years ago; and I can prove them all perjurers." The only issue of the Nauvoo Expositor, dated June 7, 1844, was a four-page publication. In addition to more mundane content such as poetry and marriage announcements, it contained a statement from the "Seceders from the Church at Nauvoo" and sworn statements from multiple individuals attesting to the teaching of "the plurality of wives". Smith called a meeting of the City Council, where "he proceeded to put the Expositor and its editors on trial, as if that body was of a judicial instead of a legislative character." The trial "lasted all of Saturday, June 8, and a part of Monday, June 10". After the city council declared the Expositor a public nuisance, Smith issued two orders for the Expositor's destruction. City Marshall John P. Greene, accompanied by a hundred-man posse, carried out the destruction. Seeking relief from the state courts, Francis M. Higbee, one of the Expositors publishers, gave a sworn statement about the events of June 10. Non-Mormons in Hancock County were infuriated when they heard of the news of the destruction of the Nauvoo Expositor, believing that it was an example of Mormon disregard for their laws. Many of them, including the neighboring newspapers Quincy Whig and Warsaw Signal, called for the arrest of the Mormon leaders. On June 12, the Hancock County Justice of the Peace issued a warrant for the arrest of Smith and 17 other named individuals under the jurisdiction of the Hancock County Court. On June 13, citizens of Hancock County gathered in the county seat for a mass-meeting in response to the destruction of the Expositor. The meeting resolved to seek help from the Governor, writing:  And WHEREAS, Hiram Smith did in presence of the City Council, and the citizens of Nauvoo, offer a reward for the destruction of the printing press and materials of the Warsaw Signal, -- a newspaper also opposed to his interest. ... And.. WHEREAS, Hiram Smith has within the last week publicly threatened the life of one of our valued citizens -- Thos. C. Sharp, the editor of the Signal... Whereas said Smith and others refuse to obey the mandate of said writ; and whereas in the opinion of this meeting, it is impossible for said officer so raise a posse of sufficient strength to execute said writ; ... it is the opinion of this meeting that the circumstances of the case require the interposition of executive power. Therefore, Resolved, that a deputation of two discreet men be sent to Springfield to solicit such interposition. Smith declared martial law on June 18 and called out the Nauvoo Legion, an organized city militia of about 5,000 men. On June 20, the Warsaw Signal reported that recent travelers had been told they could not leave the city without a pass. On June 21, Governor Ford arrived at the Hancock County seat in Carthage. On June 21, Joseph H. Jackson swore two affidavits about recent events in Nauvoo. On June 22, Ford wrote to the mayor and city council of Nauvoo: I now express to you my opinion that your conduct in the destruction of the press was a very gross outrage upon the laws and the liberties of the people. It may have been full of libels, but this did not authorize you to destroy it. There are many newspapers in this state which have been wrongfully abusing me for more than a year, and yet such is my regard for the liberty of the press and the rights of a free people in a republican government that I would shed the last drop of my blood to protect those presses from any illegal violence. The owners of the press obtained ... a warrant against the authors of this destruction for a riot; They [the Defendants] have ever since refused to be arrested or to submit to a trial at any other place or before any other court, except in the city and before the Municipal Court [of Nauvoo]. On June 25, 1844, Joseph and Hyrum Smith, along with the other fifteen co-defendants, surrendered to Bettisworth on the original charge of inciting a riot. An arraignment was held on the rioting charge and Justice Robert F. Smith granted bail of $500 for each of the defendants. After the defendants were granted bail on the riot charge, Justice R. F. Smith heard testimony from Augustine Spencer and issued a writ for the arrest of Joseph and Hyrum Smith on the charge of treason against Illinois. The Smiths were placed under arrest and transported to Carthage Jail. Early on June 27, Smith authored an order to Nauvoo Legion commander Jonathan Dunham instructing him to bring the Legion to Carthage and stage a jailbreak. Smith and the other prisoners were guarded only by six members of the Carthage Grays, led by Sgt. Frank Worrell. A division of militia began marching away from Carthage but soon received orders to disband. Learning that the Governor had dismissed the troops, a group from Warsaw set out to Carthage to see the Governor. En route, a messenger informed the group that the Governor had gone to Nauvoo and "there is nobody in Carthage [that] you can [depend on]". When the group approached the building, jailers became alarmed, but Smith, mistaking the mob for the Nauvoo Legion, told a jailer: "Don't trouble yourself ... they've come to rescue me." The mob attacked the jail and killed both Joseph and Hyrum Smith; John Taylor was wounded in the attack.