The Tomb of Joseph
from The Disciple as Witness: Essays on Latter-day Saint History and Doctrine in Honor of Richard Lloyd Anderson
by Susan Easton Black
pp. 61–86
The views expressed in this article are the views of the author and do not represent the position of the Maxwell Institute, Brigham Young University, or The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

 
Chapter 3

The Tomb of Joseph

Susan Easton Black

The writings of Richard Lloyd Anderson are an indispensable resource for scholars of church history. Although he will be remembered for authoring Understanding Paul (1983) and Joseph Smith's New England Heritage (1971), my personal favorite is Investigating the Book of Mormon Witnesses (1981). In this Latter-day Saint classic Anderson leans on his Harvard Law School background (1954) to interrogate the Three Witnesses as if he were a prosecuting attorney and their testimony were in question. He is a master sleuth in ferreting out the truth from alleged statements made by Cowdery, Whitmer, and Harris. As he cross-examines supporting documents "to get the whole story" he reminds the reader of the "courtroom oath: not only 'tell the truth,' but 'the whole truth.'"1 With dogged determination he examines "original manuscripts and then follow[s] [the Witnesses'] careers in civil records and newspapers of each county where they lived."2 It is not until he exhausts his sources and completes his interrogation that he concludes, "After years of working with their lives and their words, I am deeply convinced that their printed testimonies must be taken at face value."3

For the past twenty years Richard Lloyd Anderson has been my colleague, neighbor, and friend. Our association leads me to conclude that his interest in ascertaining the truth has not abated. I present this article of discovery as my gift. In courtroom style the gift unfolds one layer at a time, beginning with the procession of the martyrs' remains into the city of Nauvoo on 28 June 1844 and the "mock burial" one day later. The mystery unfolds as the bodies are secretly buried in the basement of the Nauvoo House and then exhumed—not once, but twice. Although reburied in different locations in Nauvoo, the bodies have never been interred in the tomb of Joseph, which was built for that purpose. The question that needs to be answered is "Where is the tomb?" Two sites have been identified and two answers tentatively reached. But the case of the tomb of Joseph is far from being solved.

The Background

Since 1844 the events following the martyrdom of the Prophet Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum have been exhaustively investigated. When the first official message reached Nauvoo, men had already gathered at the Mansion House to discuss rumors of the martyrdom stemming from Carthage. A subsequent message from Willard Richards admonished the Saints living in Nauvoo, "Be still, be patient, only let such friends as choose come here to see the bodies."4 Governor Thomas Ford, believing the Mormons would pillage Carthage, advised citizens of that small community "to disperse, as he expected the Mormons would be so exasperated that they would come and burn the town."5

Retaliation was not the issue for most Latter-day Saints on 28 June 1844; however, Allen Stout's journal entry may typify the anguish of some: "I there and then resolved in my mind that I would never let an opportunity slip unimproved of avenging their blood. . . . I knew not how to contain myself. . . . I feel like cutting [the murderers'] throats."6 The issue for the gentler Saint was lamentation and preparation for the return of the cortege to Nauvoo.

About 8:00 a.m. on Friday, 28 June, the remains of Joseph and Hyrum were placed in rough boxes, put into two wagons, and then covered with prairie hay, blankets, and bushes to protect them from the hot sun. A guard of eight soldiers led by Samuel H. Smith and accompanied by Willard Richards was detached to escort the remains to Nauvoo. Between 2:30 and 3:00 p.m. the procession had reached Nauvoo and was moving along Mulholland Street, where the assembled Nauvoo Legion, the city council, and thousands of mourners vented their sorrow. Mary Rich witnessed the scene. "The inhabitants were all out in the streets, on the house tops and every where to see if they could get just a glimpse of him. But he was in a new wagon, which had no cover other than green bushes which had been laid over the top of the box. Hence, they could not see him."7

The procession moved slowly into the city, passing by the unfinished Nauvoo Temple, where additional crowds had gathered. Sarah Leavitt observed, "Such mourning and lamentation was seldom ever heard on earth."8 George Morris penned, "Such a time of mourning I never witnessed, neither before nor since."9 Dan Jones descriptively wrote, "Oh, the sorrowful scene to be seen in Nauvoo that day! There has never been nor will there ever be anything like it; everyone sad along the streets, all the shops closed and every business forgotten."10

The procession proceeded down Main Street to the Mansion House, where the bodies were taken into the dining room and the door closed. "As they drove around to the Mansion," Mary Rich reported, "the people were almost frantic to get one little glimpse of him, but they were driven back by the marshall. The wagon was driven inside of the back gate and the gate was locked. No one was allowed in the yard except the guards and the Prophet's special friends."11

The eight to ten thousand Saints assembled near the Mansion House heard brief remarks from church leaders. Most remembered were the words of Dr. Richards, who "pledged his honor, and his life for their good conduct." The people "with one united voice resolved to trust to the law for a remedy of such a high-handed assassination, and when that failed, to call upon God to avenge them of their wrongs." Richards concluded, "O, Americans, weep, for the glory of freedom has departed!"12 Those assembled were admonished to go home quietly and promised that beginning at 8:00 in the morning of 29 June 1844 the remains of the martyrs could be viewed by all.

Meanwhile, inside the Mansion House the bodies were washed by Dimick B. Huntington, William Marks, and William D. Huntington in preparation for the private and public viewing. Camphor-soaked cotton was placed in each gunshot wound and the bodies dressed in "fine plain drawers and shirt, white neckerchiefs, white cotton stockings and white shrouds."13

After this had been accomplished, the bodies were viewed first by remaining family members. Their tears were "enough to rend the heart of an adamant," wrote Vilate Kimball.14 At 7:00 a.m. on Saturday, 29 June, the bodies were placed in white cambric-lined coffins covered with black velvet and fastened with brass nails. Over the face of each corpse was a lid, hung with brass hinges, that held a square of glass. At 8:00 a.m. the public viewing began. Sarah Rich reported, "Thousands came from all quarters to take a last look; and steamboats loaded with strangers came from Burlington, Quincy and many other places, to look upon their dead bodies."15 It was estimated that "over ten thousand persons visited the remains" from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., entering at the west door and exiting at the north door of the Mansion House.16 "[The martyrs'] heads were placed to the north. As we came in at the door," penned Mosiah Hancock, "we came to the feet of the Prophet Joseph, then passed up by his left side and around his head, then down by his right side. Next we turned to the right and came to the feet of Hyrum, then up by his left side and around his head and down by his right side, then we filed out of the other door."17

"This afternoon the Bod[i]es of the Marters arived in town," wrote Zina Jacobs, "I saw the lifeless speechless Bod[i]es of the [two] Marters for the testimony which they held. Little did my heart ever think that mine eyes should witness this awful seen [scene]."18 Dan Jones wrote, "Each in his turn the thousands made their way forward, sad and desirous of having the last look at their dear brethren whose solemn counsels and heavenly teaching had been music in their ears, lighting their paths and bringing joy to their hearts on numerous occasions."19 At 5:00 p.m. the Mansion House was cleared of the mourners and the family was invited to make their final farewells.

The coffins were then concealed in a bedroom closet in the northeast corner of the Mansion.20 Carefully placed into the awaiting hearse were rough pine boxes filled with bags of sand in place of the martyrs' remains. When the mock funeral procession began, the cortege moved down Main Street, passed by the temple, and stopped at the burial vault. A "mock burial" was conducted inside the vault located just south of the temple. William W. Phelps preached the public funeral sermon near the temple.21

About midnight on 29 June, long after the mourners had retired, the coffins containing the bodies were taken from the Mansion House by Dimick B. Huntington, Edward Hunter, William D. Huntington, William Marks, Jonathan H. Homes, Gilbert Goldsmith, Alpheus Cutler, Lorenzo D. Wasson, and Philip B. Lewis. These men were guarded by James Emmet. They carried the coffins through the Mansion House garden, around the pump, and to the Nauvoo House.22 The bodies were interred in the basement story of the uncompleted structure. After the burial the ground was flattened and covered with chips of wood, stone, and other rubbish to camouflage the site. That evening a violent rainstorm removed any trace of the burial.

Exhumation of the Bodies

The bodies remained in the basement of the north wing of the Nauvoo House until fall 1844, when they were removed by Dimick B. Huntington, William D. Huntington, Jonathan H. Homes, and Gilbert Goldsmith at the request of Joseph's wife Emma Smith. They were next interred near the Mississippi River, where they were "buried side by side."23 The location of this reburial was thirty-eight feet south and twenty feet west of the southwest corner of the Homestead, under the floor of a small shed called a "bee house" or "spring house."24 According to Samuel O. Bennion, they were buried deep in unmarked graves.25

After the death of Emma Smith in 1879 and the demolition of the bee house that had once sheltered the graves, conjecture arose over the exact location of the martyrs' burial site.26 Family members could not point with confidence to where the bodies were laid. Joseph Smith III reported, "I didn't see the bodies buried. I saw them dig them up. I saw them take a knife and cut a lock of hair off of Joseph and give to Emma, but I didn't follow over and watch them bury them."27 David Hyrum Smith, youngest son of Joseph Smith Jr., composed "The Unknown Grave":

There's an unknown grave in a green lowly spot,
The form that it covers will ne'er be forgot.
Where haven trees spread and the wild locusts wave
Their fragrant white blooms over the unknown grave,
Over the unknown grave.

* * *

The prophet whose life was destroyed by his foes
Sleeps now where no hand may disturb his repose,
Till trumpets of God drown the notes of the wave
And we see him arise from his unknown grave,
God bless that unknown grave.28

When the waters of Lake Cooper threatened to flood the area where the graves were thought to be, leaders of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints decided to locate the bodies and remove them to higher ground and to place an appropriate monument over their graves. W. O. Hands was appointed to direct a small group of surveyors and engineers to search for the missing graves. They began digging on 9 January 1928, and on 16 January they found them. The remains of Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum, as well as those of Emma, were exhumed from their resting place. The remains were arranged in silk-lined wood boxes that were placed side-by-side seventeen feet north of where the bodies of Joseph and Hyrum had been exhumed. Then the bodies were reburied on Friday, 20 January 1928, and the graves were marked.

On 21 January 1928 Samuel O. Bennion, president of the Central States Mission, wrote to President Heber J. Grant and his counselors about the "exhuming of the bodies of the Prophet and his brother Hyrum." In his letter he reported asking Frederick M. Smith, president of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, "Why didn't you let the bodies of these men rest where they were?" In response, he was told, "[i] wanted to find out if the graves of these men were down by what was once called the Spring House." President Bennion wrote, "It is my impression brethren that he had heard reports that Brigham Young took the bodies of Joseph and Hyrum to Utah and that he wanted to prove it untrue." Bennion stated, "I could hardly keep the tears back."29

In 1991, under the joint direction of leaders from the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, new tombstones marking their remains became the focus of a gardenlike cemetery near the Homestead in Nauvoo. On 4 August 1991 the newly renovated cemetery was dedicated by Wallace B. Smith, great-grandson of Joseph Smith and president of the RLDS Church. Elder M. Russell Ballard, a great-great-grandson of Hyrum Smith, represented the LDS Church.

Joseph's Tomb

The tomb of Joseph is not an untold story, but it is one that has been obscured by time. A few years before his tragic death, the Prophet built a limestone burial vault on the south side of the temple block and called it the "tomb of Joseph." The first reference to the tomb in the Personal Writings of Joseph Smith appears on 23 August 1842, in reference to Joseph Smith Sr. The Prophet said of his deceased father, "Sacred to me is his dust and the spot where he is laid. Sacred to me is the tomb I have made to encircle o'er his head. Let the memory of my father eternally live."30

Joseph Smith Sr. hadn't been buried in the tomb, but it is apparent his son wanted him to be. "I will tell you what I want," said the Prophet, "if tomorrow I shall be called to lie in yonder tomb. In the morning of the resurrection let me strike hands with my father, and cry, 'My father,' and he will say, 'My son, my son,' as soon as the rock rends and before we come out of our graves."31 Joseph Smith also said, "Let my father, Don Carlos, and Alvin, and children that I have buried be brought and laid in the tomb I have built. Let my mother, and my brethren, and my sisters be laid there also; and let it be called the tomb of Joseph, a descendant of Jacob; and when I die, let me be gathered to the tomb of my father."32

John Taylor spoke of the tomb of Joseph in the Salt Lake Tabernacle in 1870:

I knew a man, whom many of you knew, who built a tomb for himself in the city of Nauvoo. His name was Joseph Smith, and many of you heard him say what I shall now relate. Said he, "I expect when the time of the resurrection comes to rise up in my tomb there, and strike hands with my brethren, with my father and with my mother, and hail the day when we shall burst from the barriers of the tomb and awake to immortal life." Have you never heard him talk thus? I have.33

Brigham Young added his confirmation that Joseph Smith wanted to be buried in the tomb he had built south of the temple. "While Joseph was alive he said, 'If I am slain in battle or fall by the hands of my enemies I want my body brought to Nauvoo and laid in the tomb I have prepared.'"34 It was Brigham's desire to carry out the Prophet's wish. He planned to place the remains of the martyrs in the tomb of Joseph before the Mormon exodus from Nauvoo. At general conference in October 1845, Brigham Young remarked, "Joseph once said, with outstretched arms, 'If I fall in battle in Missouri, I want you to bring my bones back, and deposit them in that sepulchre—I command you to do it in the name of the Lord.'"35 Knowing that the Prophet's wishes to be buried in the tomb of Joseph had not been fulfilled, Young declared,

We are determined also to use every means in our power to do all that Joseph told us. And we will petition Sister Emma in the name of Israel's God, to let us deposit the remains of Joseph according as he commanded us. And if she will not consent to it, our garments are clear. Then when he awakes in the morning of the resurrection, he shall talk with [her], not with me; the sin shall be upon her head, not ours.36

The remains of the Prophet and Patriarch were never laid in the tomb. "The sepulchre was prepared for them but as yet they are not interred in there," penned Joseph Hovey.37 The only known remains to be buried in the tomb were those of Caroline, wife of William Smith, on 24 May 1845. Orson Pratt preached a sermon at her funeral to a large assembly; the History of the Church tells us "her remains were deposited in the tomb of Joseph: she has left two children to mourn her loss."38

Where Is the Tomb of Joseph?

The question is not whether there was a tomb, but where the tomb was located. In 1875 the Deseret News reported, "When the Mormons began to rear their gorgeous temple, two tombs of hewn stone were built on the west side of the edifice, one for Joseph Smith and the other for Sidney Rigdon. These vaults were both completed."39 Ten years later, on 27 June 1885, church historian Franklin D. Richards wrote a letter to Eliza R. Snow reporting his visit to one tomb. "It was within my recollection that the Prophet Joseph had caused the building of a stone burial vault at the south side of the Temple block where were to be interred the bodies of his family. We sought out the spot and found the vault included within a building, where it is used for a wine cellar."40

The newspaper account reported two tombs on the west side of the temple, and Elder Richards reported one tomb south of the temple, which is consistent with early historical records (see fig. 1). However, the theory of a west tomb was revisited in the summer of 1973. Arlene Robinson of Provo, Utah, visited Nauvoo and contends that the tomb was on the west end of the temple block about six feet from the southwest corner of the temple foundation. She observed the demolition of a house on the southwest corner of the temple site and watched a bulldozer open up a large old wine cellar at the temple foundation. She climbed down into "the cellar, which had been cemented up for many years, and picked up some bits of pottery (post Mormon), until ordered out by NRI [Nauvoo Restoration, Inc.] officials." Within minutes the bulldozer broke into the cellar and covered it with dirt. "I didn't quite know what to think of the find, and its sudden end," wrote Arlene Robinson.

It was not until Robinson returned to Utah and read Nauvoo the Beautiful41 that she learned that Brigham Young was upset with Emma Smith for refusing to let church authorities bury Joseph Smith in his tomb. She then mused,

I began to wonder if this might have been part of the tomb. The walls that I saw were obviously built of temple rubble, which would have made them post Mormon period, and not a possible tomb. However, there was such an accumulation of dirt on the floor, probably two to three feet deep, plus another two to three feet of rusty tin cans, that it was impossible to see what the lower levels of stone or the floor looked like, to see if they were polished stone, or more temple rubble.

Robinson concludes with a hope "that someday in the future the exact location of the tomb might by located. Until that time we can but wonder. Did [i] really enter the tomb of Joseph?"