ROADTRIPPIN - CARTHAGE JAIL

Another stop my Personal Missionaries took me to was Carthage Jail. For those of you familiar with Mormon Church History, this is the place where the Prophet Joseph Smith was murdered by an angry mob.

   I’ve heard the story my whole life, and read the account numberless times in the Doctrine & Covenants Section 135. The missionary that gave our tour did a beautiful job recounting the history and the details leading up to that fateful day. The “jail” was also a home – and the story goes that the Jailor was kind and compassionate. Instead of keeping the brothers Hyrum and Joseph in the jail cell, he gave them an upstairs bedroom to share (with the others also there) and even had them eat supper with his family at their table.

   Much of our U.S. History is dotted with mistreatment, prejudice, and unfair and immoral behavior – and that fateful night in Carthage is among the darkest. Wrongly imprisoned in the first place, an angry mob broke in with only one thing on their mind: Murder. Unarmed and defenseless, and no doubt tired from years of mistreatment, these two brothers lost their lives – all because they wanted to worship God differently. The very reason this country was established, yet denied them.

   The hole from the bullet that killed Hyrum Smith is still in the original door. I touched it as I walked through the doorway, wanting to remember that sacrifice and the sacrifice of Joseph.

   How grateful I am that these men, and so many others, stood true to their beliefs. Although their lives would have been easier if they had denied the church, denied their experiences – they could not. It was not in them to do so.

   And because they held true, the gospel and its truths are in my life – are my compass through this wearying world.