The next morning, we stopped by Carthage Jail in Illinois.  We weren't sure if it was going to be worth backtracking a bit into Illinois to see the jail, but in the end we decided to go, and we so glad we did.

Here is a transcript of the video that you watch before you walk through the jail:

I am going like a lamb to the slaughter but I am calm as a summer’s morning. I have a conscious void of offence toward God and towards all men. I shall die innocent and it shall yet be said of me he was murdered in cold blood” (D&C 135:4).

The prophet Joseph Smith uttered these foretelling words three days before he was assassinated and died as a martyr for his testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ and the restoration of the fullness of his gospel to the earth.

On the afternoon of Thursday, June 27th, 1844, about 5 o’clock, the Prophet Joseph Smith and his brother, Hyrum, sealed their testimonies of the restoration of the gospel with their blood. When a mob of approximately a hundred-fifty to two hundred men stormed the Carthage Jail and took their lives.¹ Carthage Jail is hallowed ground and dedicated as a memorial in remembrance of the two martyrs.

The Jailor, George W. Stigall, lived with his wife and seven children inside the jail.  It wasn't a huge building for so many people.  There was a small kitchen, a separate room for those awaiting trail who weren't seen as dangerous, and a living area.  Upstairs there was a serious barred jail cell, with manacles secured into the ground, and next to that was Stigall's bedroom/office area.  In the loft he had space for more of his children to sleep.  

Stigall first sent the 10 men up to the jail cell, for their own protection.

Later he brought them back down to sleep in the debtor's prison, just a plain room with benches next to the kitchen.

The next morning, after he fed them breakfast, he led all the men up to his own bedroom/office, so they could be more comfortable.  

All the other men were staying with Jospeh and Hyrum, but they weren't ordered to.  During the day, some were coming and going in and out of the jailhouse as they pleased.  They were there for two days before the mob broke though the front door, and rushed up the stairs.  The men were able to slam the door closed, but someone shot through the door, hitting Hyrum.  John Taylor was hit next, as he lunged for the window.  He fell back into the room.  The mob then burst through, and having no where to go, Joseph went to the window as well, and he may have been hit with gun from both the inside and the outside of the jailhouse when he fell through the window to his death.

This was worth coming to see, and I'm glad we had the chance to do it.  I know I'll always remember the experience, and hopefully the boys will as well.