“We Took Our Change of Venue to the State of Illinois”: The Gallatin Hearing and the Escape of Joseph Smith and the Mormon Prisoners from Missouri, April 1839

Keywords

Gallatin Hearing, Joseph Smith, Mormon Prisoners

Abstract

On 6 April 1839, Joseph Smith, his brother Hyrum, Caleb Baldwin, Alexander McRae, and Lyman Wight were taken from the jail in Liberty, Missouri, and placed in the custody of a strong guard assigned to transport them to Gallatin in Daviess County for what was expected to be a formal hearing on the charge of treason against the state. The Smiths and Wight had been in state custody for more than five months, Baldwin and McRae slightly less. For over four months, the five men had languished in the loathsome Liberty dungeon. However, unbeknown to them at the time, in less than three weeks, they would be free men and would be reunited with their families and friends in Illinois. The Gallatin hearing, the release of Joseph Smith and his companions, and their flight across northern Missouri comprise one of the concluding chapters of the Mormon experience in Missouri.

Original Publication Citation

“‘We Took Our Change of Venue to the State of Illinois’: The Gallatin Hearing and the Escape of Joseph Smith and the Mormon Prisoners from Missouri, 1839,” Mormon Historical Studies 2, no. 1 (Spring 2001): 59–82.

Document Type

Peer-Reviewed Article

Publication Date

2001

Permanent URL

http://hdl.lib.byu.edu/1877/6530

Publisher

Mormon Historical Studies

Language

English

College

Religious Education

Department

Church History and Doctrine

University Standing at Time of Publication

Full Professor

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