April 9, 2015 - Thursday

It was cool and cloudy today with a tornado warning in effect.  The area we are in was on the outskirts of the warning area so we were wondering what kind of an affect it would have on us.  As it turned out we just got a little rain early this afternoon and then the sun came out and created some mild humidity.  

We started off the day with our morning couples devotional and prayer together.  Then we took a nice walk in the coolness of the morning and came back for our cleaning assignment at the jail.  It was pretty dirty today with a good crowd of visitors yesterday, which was our day off.  Mom and I enjoy doing the cleaning here and feel the wonderful Spirit of this special place.  What a privilege it is to be here.

As mom and I left the house for our work today at the Visitor's Center I had to snap this picture of the promises that lie ahead for us as Spring unfolds;

Yes those are the tulip bulbs that were planted last Fall and now we are benefiting from the beauty they are creating for the Spring!  This gave us a great feeling about how great today was going to be and we were not disappointed.  Today we had the biggest group of visitors so far in our three weeks of being assigned here.  We almost hit 300 guests today.  My first group had 78 guests, all members of a ward from Fayetteville, Georgia, and I was following mom whose group was over 40.

I got to entertain them for about ten minutes before I could start them in the theater.  We have the "History" room where I gave some information about Carthage and the final ride for Joseph and Hyrum from Nauvoo on June 24, 1844.  I also had two of the youth from the group play a song on the baby grand piano that was a nice touch. 

Once we all saw the movie "Impressions of a Prophet, I divided them up into two groups and made the tour of the jail a little more manageable.  I must have had about 20 or so young people in my group and I love to teach them about the Prophet Joseph and his brother Hyrum and different facts that have emerged from my study of the Martyrdom. 

They were a great group and the youth enjoyed participating.  I had one young boy about 6 or 7 that was holding back and his father indicated he wasn't feeling well.  He was clingy to his dad through the tour into the parlor of the jailers home.  I grabbed a set of huge jail keys that are facsimiles of the original keys to the jail,  and asked him to hold them and be my helper.  He was instantly alert and attentive and had the neatest smile on his face.  That gives me so much satisfaction to successfully involve the children.  He stayed by by side the rest of the tour!

So to better illustrate the tour of the jail, I put together these pictures to show the path of our tours and the different rooms we visit;

 This is the dining area where the jailer and his wife fed the prisoners.  It was in this room, on similar furniture and place settings that Joseph and Hyrum and Elder Taylor and Elder Richards had meals.  It was interesting to note that from entries in John Taylor's journal, the prisoners were required to pay for their own meals.  The magistrates of that time charged prisoners for food, candles and clothing.  Interesting concept!

Leading from the dining area into the parlor of the jailers family, this room is decorated with period furniture and accessories.  The floor boards, the interior doors, the fireplace, the floor nails and some window panes are the originals.

 

This is a view of the fireplace and the cooking area of the parlor.  It was in this room where the keys to the jail cells are hanging and this is where I try to involve "my jailer helpers".  Sometimes I get some young boys and girls who have a hard time listening, until I ask for "helpers", and show them the keys I need them to hold for me.  There are two sets of keys hanging here, so, at any time, I can double the rapt attention of some of my young listeners!  So far it has been helpful every time...

 The jailer's cell keys - my magic attention tool!



















So from the jailer family's parlor we go to the "debtors" cell.  This is a holding cell for prisoners who are either on trial or waiting for their trials to begin.  This is the cell Joseph and Hyrum and eight other brethren occupied on the evening of June 25, 1844. 

The next picture below is the stairway leading to the private bedroom of the jailer, George Stigill, and to the "Dungeon" cell.  There is also another very narrow stairway to the third floor attic where the jailers children slept.

Now picture a group of 50 to 60 or so mob members storming this stairway with loaded single shot rifles with bullets that were somewhere between 50 and 55 caliber.  This size ball is about 5/8 of an inch in diameter,and every member of this mob wants to get at least one shot off before they have to reload.  I can only imagine the terror and the smoke and the stench that those discharges created.

Also note the right hand rail.  That is the original rail and it is a very low rail.  One of three major causes of death in women in the 1840's was falling down stairs after tripping on their skirts.  Thus, the rail was lower to allow the women to hold up their dresses while being able to reach the rail going up or down the stairs.

 At the top of this stairway is the immediate opening into the Dungeon cell.  This cell was used by only the worst of the prisoners.  However, it is noteworthy to indicate here that Joseph and Hyrum and those who came with them were the only prisoners in the jail on June 25th and 26th, 1844.  This was a political assassination being set up by evil people. 

 

Then we enter the Dungeon cell and see the darkness of the room.  It was in this room that Willard Richards helped John Taylor into, and placed him under the filthy mattress to hide him from the mob.  In the Martyrdom room, Willard Richards was the only one of the four in that room on June 27, 1844, that was not severely wounded by the flying bullets, and he was the largest target in the room.  Just a year earlier, the Prophet Joseph told Brother Richards that there would come a day when bullets would be flying by him and his friends would be falling on his left and his right, but not one bullet would "pierce his garments".  The wound  he suffered in this vile attack was a nick on his left ear lobe.

So when the Prophet fell out the window in the Martyrdom room, Brother Richards ran to that window to see the body of Joseph.  The mob had retreated back down the stairs and Brother Richards knew they would be back to finish the job.  As he was rushing to leave the room he heard a whisper pleading, "take me with you".  It was John Taylor who had received 4 or 5 wounds, one being as large as his fist, that struck him in his hip.  Elder Richards helped him into the Dungeon cell and covered him with the mattress, and then waited for the mob to come back up the stairs and finish the murders.  But as they were coming back up the stairs, there was a cry, "here come the Mormons", and they all fled the town and did not discover Elder Richards or Elder Taylor.

Here is a view of going down these stairs.  





























Then we enter the Martyrdom room.  This is the private bedroom of the jailer and his wife.  The jailer, it appears, was sympathetic to Joseph and Hyrum and thought that they would be safer and more comfortable in this upper room.
 

 The above photos are from different spots in the room.  I find a feeling of peace and gratitude in this room for the Prophet Joseph Smith.  From the time he received the 1st vision in the Spring of 1820, until his death on June 27, 1844, he spent his life in learning and teaching and testifying about the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ and was an instrument in the Lord's Hand in restoring and moving this work forward.  He took on all the hatred and abuse and persecutions for the Gospels sake and sealed that testimony in this room.

Interesting to note that there were about 26,000 members of the Church worldwide, in 1844.  The mob was supposed to end the Church once and for all.  At the end of 2014, the Church's worldwide membership exceeds 15,300,000 members.  And the numbers continue to expand, as we all work together to prepare for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.

This is the original bedroom door of the Martyrdom room.  There are two bullet holes in this door.  One that was aimed at the lock, and the other one that was shot outside and through the door that hit Hyrum and killed him almost instantly. 

This is a view of that door from the inside of the room.  There is a facsimile of the walking stick that both John Taylor and Willard Richards used to "parry off" the aim of the mob.

This is the original fireplace with a period clock on the mantle.  This clock is set at the time that John Taylor's watch was hit by one of the mob.  The time is 5:16.

This picture above shows the second story window that Joseph fell from and the original location of the well that was being used in the 1840's.  The reproduction of the working part of the well is taken from photographs and drawings near that time period.

And this is the front of the jail where the mob entered and fulfilled their evil designs on June 27, 1844.

 Now, I have mentioned before that we have had visitor's from all over the world in just the last three weeks.  Well, I got to take this group on a tour from Japan.  None of them spoke English, but one, and his English was good, but very broken.  I took this tour and in the process found out they were all members of the Church who had just come from General Conference.  They wanted to come to Carthage to connect with the Prophet Joseph Smith. 

My tours usually last no more than 45 minutes.  This one lasted for over 90 minutes, and since no one was following me with another tour, I took my time to make sure they understood.  It was a sweet experience.  When we met in the Martyrdom room, they were visibly emotional.  They listened and soaked in every translated word and then, after I shared my testimony of gratitude for the Prophet, I asked for questions.  One man in the tour raised his hand and stood up and began to speak.  After a few seconds, I knew he was bearing his testimony to me and to the group and the Spirit was very strong.  I then gave them one request that they made.  They asked to sing a song together in the room.  The song?... A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief"...

Here they are:  I could not pass up this wonderful opportunity to include them in our blog.  They made this day very special for me.

Mom and I got home just a little past 5:00pm and totally relaxed for the evening..,.  we had no place we had to go!!

Thank you for checking in with us today!  It has been a great day!