[William Clayton Writings] The painful news reached the city the following morning, which filled the hearts of the Saints with the most intense gloom and sorrow.
On the 28th, at half past two, p.m., the bodies were brought to the city in two wagons and were taken to the mansion to be prepared for burial. (1)
[William Clayton Writings] ``The blood of those men,'' he wrote in that long entry of June 28, ``and the prayers of the widows and orphans and a suffering community will rise up to the Lord of Sabaoth for vengeance upon those murderers.'' (1)
-- 1844. June 29
(W. W. Phelps) :W. W. Phelps addressed the nearly ten thousand persons gathered to pay final respects to Joseph and Hyrum Smith two days after their murder. In his lengthy sermon at this memorial service, Phelps predicted: "Be assured, brethren and sisters, this desperate 'smite' of our foes to stop the onward cause of Mormonism, will increase its spread and prosperity an hundred fold ... The priesthood remains unharmed. … The 'Twelve' (most now absent) … when they return will turn the 'mantle' and step into the 'shoes' of the 'Prophet, priest and King' of Israel." Phelps's hymn, "Praise to the Man," is a eulogy of continuing popularity in the Church. (2)
-- Jun 29, 1844
[Apostle Wilford Woodruff Journal] 29th Boston Conference
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints met in Conference at Franklin Hall on the 29th Day of June 1844. There being present a majority of the quorum of the Twelve viz seven as follows: B. Young H. C. Kimball, O Hyde O. Pratt Wm. Smith, L. Wight & W. Woodruff, And a large number of Elders. Elder B. Young took the Chair. Conference opened by Prayer.
Conference was addressed in the fore part of the day by Elder O. Hyde, in an interesting manner. In the afternoon Elder's Young & H. C. Kimball adress the meeting and also Elder L. Wight.
Resolved that James H. Glines & Wm. Henderson be ordained Elders. They were ordained under the hands of H. C. Kimball & B. Young. Conference adjourned till Sunday morning 10 oclok. (3)
Illinois governor Thomas Ford calls for the state militia in eleven counties to "proceed by voluntary enlistment to enrol as many men as can be armed in their respective regiments. They will make arrangements for a campaign of twelve days, and will provide themselves with arms, ammunition, and provisions accordingly, and hold themselves in readiness immediately to march upon the receipt of further orders." Ford is worried that Mormons will attack Carthage in retaliation for Joseph Smith's assassination. In Nauvoo thousands pass by the bodies of Joseph and Hyrum. W. W. Phelps gives the eulogy and later pens "Praise to the man." The Nauvoo Legion "was paraded and stationed in different parts of the City apprehending an attack by the enemy." (4)
Before the public funeral, about 10000 Latter-day Saints viewed the Bodies of Joseph and Hyrum at the Mansion House in Nauvoo. Afterwards, two fake coffins were filled with sand instead of the real bodies and buried. Following this, at about Midnight, the real coffins were buried secretly in the basement of the yet to be completed Nauvoo House. (5)
[Joseph Smith] Ten thousand people view the bodies throughout the day. The bodies are then removed from the caskets in private, bags of sand are put in their places, and the caskets are closed. A public funeral is held, with W. W. Phelps preaching the sermon. The caskets are buried in a prominent place. Around midnight the coffins containing the real bodies are buried in the basement of the unfinished Nauvoo House. The ground is smoothed over to hide the actual place, and a rainstorm that night helps eradicate the footprints completely. This is all done to prevent the desecration of the bodies by enemies. (In the fall, the bodies were moved and buried side by side near the Mansion. The bodies of Joseph's and Hyrum's deceased children were soon moved to be next to them.) ___ (6)
Nauvoo, Illinois. Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum Smith were buried. (7)
-- Jun 29, 1844 (Saturday)
About ten thousand persons visited and viewed the remains of the martyred Prophet and Patriarch at Nauvoo. The funeral took place in the evening. (8)
-- Jun 29, 1844, Saturday
[William Clayton Writings] On the following day the Saints were permitted to go and see them; and at night they were secretly buried near the mansion.
The foregoing is but a mere sketch of the massacre, designed to show the date of the martyrdom and also the means by which it was brought about. (1)
Footnotes:
1 - Fillerup, Robert C., compiler; William Clayton Nauvoo Diaries and Personal Writings, A chronological compilation of the personal writings of William Clayton while he was a resident of Nauvoo, Illinois. http://www.boap.org/LDS/Early-Saints/clayton-diaries
2 - Van Wagoner, Richard and Walker, Steven C., A Book of Mormons, http://amzn.to/newmormonstudies
3 - Wilford Woodruff's Journal: 1833-1898 Typescript, Volumes 1-9, Edited by Scott G. Kenney, Signature Books 1993, http://amzn.to/newmormonstudies
4 - On This Day in Mormon History, http://onthisdayinmormonhistory.blogspot.com
5 - Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, United Kingdom, "On This Day," https://www.lds.org.uk/show_oda.php
6 - Conklin, Christopher J., Joseph Smith Chronology
7 - Joseph Smith Resource Center: Daily Events in the Life of Joseph Smith, http://josephsmith.net/josephsmith/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=e581001cfb340010VgnVCM1000001f5e340aRCRDlocale=0
8 - Jenson, Andrew, Church Chronology
LDS History Timeline
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