Carthage Jail

Carthage — the county seat of Hancock County, Illinois — and its jail are the setting of the martyrdom that recurs across the highlights in The Life of John Taylor. The book recounts that after the destruction of the Nauvoo Expositor press, leading apostates fled to Carthage claiming their lives were in danger, and the Governor (despite Taylor warning it would be “extremely unsafe” for Joseph Smith to come) pledged the faith of the state to guarantee the prophet’s safety. Joseph Smith determined to give himself up and asked John Taylor to accompany him, uttering on the way the prophetic words “I am going like a lamb to the slaughter.” Taylor was present in the jail when Joseph Smith and Hyrum Smith were killed; he was himself badly wounded and survived. The narrative later returns to “that scene of hell and death in Carthage jail” as the measure of the violence Taylor’s faith withstood.

Context: Carthage Jail in Carthage, Illinois is the site where Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum, founders/leaders of the Latter-day Saint movement, were killed by a mob on June 27, 1844. It is now a historic site maintained by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Where this appears

• The Life of John Taylor — the martyrdom Taylor witnessed and survived; recurs across many highlights as the central event of his early ministry.