June 27, 1844: Mormon founder killed by mob

On this day in 1844, Joseph Smith, the founder of the Mormon religion and its first leader, was killed in a jail in Carthage, Illinois. He was 38.

Smith had published The Book of Mormon in 1830, smack in the middle of the Second Great Awakening in upstate New York. He headed west to find the “New Jerusalem” God had promised him.

After stints in Ohio and Missouri, he settled in Nauvoo, Illinois, where he was elected mayor. By June 1844, he was running for President when the first (and only) edition of a newspaper called the Nauvoo Expositor alleged Smith had married the wives of several men. The city council, led by Smith, deemed the newspaper a public nuisance, and had its press destroyed.

Smith and several associates later surrendered to state authorities, who jailed them in Carthage, the county seat. Most were wanted for causing a riot, although Smith and his brother, Hyrum, were to be tried for treason.

On June 27, a mob of anti-Mormon gunmen stormed the jail and killed the two Smith men, who came to be considered Mormon martyrs. Brigham Young became the new leader of the movement, and led his followers to Salt Lake City.

I can’t post about Joseph Smith without linking to this brilliant South Park clip, which lays out the basics of the religion. (Here’s the full episode.)

For more on the All-American Prophet, visit PBS.

Image: unknown artist (c. 1842), private collection of Community of Christ via Wikimedia Commons