The main point of interest we wanted to see in Independence was the Liberty Jail.
Nothing remains of the original jail in which Joseph Smith Jr. and others were imprisoned during the winter of 1838-39 except the floor of the Jail. However, the LDS Church has created an exact cutaway replica of the Jail within the walls of this Visitors Center on that original floor. The replica is located in the octagonal shaped building in the upper right.
Photo of the original jail. In time, this property was sold, the jail torn down and a house built on the location using the basement of the jail where the prisoners were housed as the basement of the house.
Photo of the interior of the basement.
Front and only door into the jail. There are two doors which lead to the jailers floor or first floor of the jail. The outer door had to be closed and locked before the inner door was unlocked and opened to keep anyone from leaving unless authorized; including the jailer, who was locked inside with the prisoners.
Jailers room. The ceiling was covered with large rocks to keep prisoners from trying to create an escape route through the ceiling and roof. No escape could be made through the thick walls either. The hole with trap door in the approximate center of the room leads, by means of a rope, to the jail cell in the cellar.
This is a view of the jail cell. There were only two small windows in this cell. One is located on the left just above the replica of Joseph Smith Jr., while the other window is exactly opposite in the right wall. The trap door and rope are open for display purpose, but were normally closed.
The ceiling of the jail cell (less than 6 feet high) was not high enough for a tall man to stand up straight.
Following is a short explanation of the reason for the imprisonment of Joseph Smith Jr. and the others. At the time this took place, Missouri was the western frontier of the United States. Also, before admission of Missouri as a state (in 1821) the Congress of the United States passed the Missouri Compromise which allowed Missouri to become a slave state making the number of slave and free states evenly divided. The Mormons could upset that as they do not believe in slavery.
Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormon) were among the first settlers in the Kansas City metropolitan area, locating about 15 miles southeast of the jail site in Independence Jackson County, Missouri in 1831. Settlers in the area feared that they would lose political control of the county to the growing numbers of immigrating Mormons. Tensions led to violence when a battle between the two groups broke out on the banks of the Blue River (Missouri). In November 1833, the Mormons were violently driven from Independence and compelled to resettle temporarily in Clay County.
In 1836, the Mormon settlers moved northeast of Liberty to establish Far West, Missouri in Caldwell County, Missouri, which had been established by the state especially for them. A few settlers moved about 15 miles further north to Daviess County. Within three months, the population of Daviess County exploded to 1,500.
Settlers in Daviess County, fearing that they would lose control of the county, attempted to prevent Mormons from voting during the Gallatin Election Day Battle on August 6, 1838. This was the first skirmish in what became known as the 1838 Mormon War, in which men would be killed and property destroyed by both sides. Increasing vigilantism on both sides led to the burning of several farms and homes, and also of the towns of Gallatin and Millport. The climax of the conflict came in October 1838, when Mormon militia forces engaged a state militia unit on the banks of Crooked River, in what became known as "The Battle of Crooked River". Following this Battle, On October 27, 1838, Lilburn W. Boggs, governor of the state of Missouri, issued Missouri Executive Order 44:
- "The Mormons must be treated as enemies, and must be exterminated or driven from the State if necessary for the public peace... their outrages are beyond all description."
General Samuel D. Lucas, leading a militia of 2500 men] informed the Mormons at Far West that "...they would massacre every man, woman and child..." if Joseph Smith and several others were not given up. Joseph Smith, Sidney Rigdon, Parley P. Prat, Lyman Wright, and George W Robinson surrendered on November 1.
A secret (and illegal) court martial was held following Smith's surrender. Joseph Smith and his companions were not even aware of the proceeding until after it was over. At about midnight on November 1, General Lucas issued the following order to General Alexander Willam Doniphan:
- "Sir:-- You will take Joseph Smith and the other prisoners into the public square at Far West, and shoot them at 9 o-clock tomorrow morning."
General Doniphan refused to obey the order.
- "It is cold-blooded murder. I will not obey your order. My brigade shall march for Liberty [township] tomorrow morning at 8 0'clock; and if you execute these men, I will hold you responsible before an earthly tribunal, so help me God."
General John Bullock Clark had been appointed by Governor Boggs to enforce the extermination order. He arrived and took command of the combined force on November 4. On November 5, he had an additional 56 men arrested and gave a speech in the public square at Far West. He outlined the terms of the treaty that General Lucas had previously negotiated which stripped the Saints of all their arms and property, and required them to leave the state immediately.
On November 9 Colonel Sterling Price and a force of seventy men took Joseph Smith and his companions to Richmond, Missouri for a preliminary hearing before Austin Augustus King. The hearing began on November 13 and continued for approximately two weeks.
During the hearing, Joseph Smith and his companions were not allowed to call any witnesses for their defense.and were abused in various ways. On or about November 30, 1838, the Richmond court committed Joseph Smith, and his companions, Hyrum Smith, Lyman Wight, Alexander McRae, Caleb Baldwin, and Sidney Rigdon to Liberty Jail, to await trial.
Many residents of Liberty and the surrounding area turned out to watch their arrival and some expressed their disappointment in their ordinary appearance. As the prisoners climbed the stairs and entered the jail, Joseph Smith paused on the platform at the top of the stairs, turned to face the crowd, raised his hat and said "Good afternoon, gentlemen" before entering the jail.
On January 25, 1839, Sidney Rigdon was released from jail following an eloquent self-defense in the Clay County Courthouse. Because of threats, however, he stayed at the jail until February 5, 1839.
On April 6, 1839, Smith and the prisoners were transferred to the Daviess County Jail in Gallatin where a Grand Jury was investigating. The Grand Jury was to indict them on charges of murder, treason, burglary, arson, larceny, theft, and stealing. Smith and the followers were to appeal for a change of venue to Marion County, Missouri in the northeast corner of the state near the village of Commerce, Illinois. However, the venue was changed to Boone County, Missouri.
On April 15, 1839, en route to Boone County, Joseph Smith, Hyrum Smith, Lyman Wight, Alexander McRae, and Caleb Baldwin were allowed to escape as those escorting them thought Joseph and the others had been mistreated under the law. They arrived in Quincy, Illinois on April 22 and from there were to regroup at Nauvoo.
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