The Nauvoo Expositor newspaper was newly established by anti-polygamist ex-Mormons who had recently been excommunicated from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

[3] When the brothers arrived at the county seat of Carthage to surrender to authorities, they were charged with treason against Illinois for declaring martial law.

The Smith brothers were detained at Carthage Jail awaiting trial when an armed mob of 150–200 men stormed the building, their faces painted black with wet gunpowder.

In 1830, Joseph Smith, aged 24, published the Book of Mormon, which he described as an English translation of ancient golden plates he received from an angel.

[9] Smith travelled to Washington, D.C., to meet with President Martin Van Buren, seeking intervention and compensation for lost property.

Most of his supporters switched with him to the Whig party, adding political tensions to the social suspicions in which Smith's followers were held by the local populace.

On May 23, a grand jury from the Hancock County Circuit Court issued a criminal indictment against Smith on the charges of perjury based on the statements of Joseph Jackson and Robert Foster.

They reached this decision after some discussion, including citation of William Blackstone’s legal canon, which defined a libelous press as a public nuisance.

Foster, a co-publisher of the Expositor, reported on June 12 that not only was the printing press destroyed, but that “several hundred minions ... injured the building very materially”.

On June 23, a posse under Ford's command entered Nauvoo to execute an arrest warrant, but they were unable to locate Smith.

"[19] During the trip to Carthage, Smith reportedly recounted a dream in which he and Hyrum escaped a burning ship, walked on water, and arrived at a great heavenly city.

[20] On June 25, 1844, Smith and his brother Hyrum, along with the other fifteen Council members and some friends, surrendered to Carthage constable William Bettisworth on the original charge of riot.

Upon arrival in Carthage, almost immediately the Smith brothers were charged with treason against the State of Illinois for declaring martial law in Nauvoo, by a warrant founded upon the oaths of A. O. Norton and Augustine Spencer.

[23] On Thursday morning, June 27, church leader Cyrus Wheelock, having obtained a pass from Ford, visited Smith in jail.

The day was rainy, and Wheelock used the opportunity to hide a small pepper-box pistol in his bulky overcoat,[25] which had belonged to Taylor.

Before a trial could be held, a mob of about 200 armed men, their faces painted black with wet gunpowder, stormed Carthage Jail in the late afternoon of June 27, 1844.

Allen Joseph Stout later contended that by remaining inactive, Dunham disobeyed an official order written by Smith after he was jailed in Carthage.

Taylor and Richards used a long walking stick in order to deflect the guns as they were thrust inside the room, from behind the door.

In 2010, forensic research by J. Lynn Lyon of the University of Utah and Mormon historian Glen M. Leonard suggested that Taylor's watch was not struck by a ball, but rather broke against a window ledge.

[44] Columbia University historian Richard Bushman, the author of Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling, also supports this view.

As he prepared to jump down, Richards reported that he was shot twice in the back and that a third bullet, fired from a musket on the ground outside, hit him in the chest.

Eyewitness William Daniels wrote in his 1845 account that Smith was still alive when members of the mob propped his body against a nearby well, assembled a makeshift firing squad, and shot him before fleeing.

Daniels’ account also states that one man tried to decapitate Smith for a bounty but was prevented by divine intervention an affirmation later denied.

Wills, Vorhease, and Gallaher, perhaps conscious that their wounds could prove that they were involved in the mob, fled the county after being indicted and were never brought to trial.

Hands conducted extensive digging on the Smith homestead and located the bodies, as well as the remains of Joseph's wife, Emma, who was buried in the same place.

"[55] Ultimately, five defendants—Thomas C. Sharp, Mark Aldrich, William N. Grover, Jacob C. Davis and Levi Williams—were tried for the murders of the Smith brothers.

The majority of Latter Day Saints followed Young; these adherents later emigrated to what became Utah Territory and continued as the LDS Church.

[59] Some accounts say Smith may have had sexual relations with one wife, who later in her life stated that he fathered children by one or two of his wives, however DNA evidence does not support this.

[60][61][62][63] Some Mormons, especially those belonging to splinter groups such as the Community of Christ continue to deny that Joseph ever practiced polygamy in any sense.

Mainstream Mormons on the other hand tend to accept that he practiced polygamy, but emphasize the sealings as a spiritual bonding ritual which was platonic and intended to unify the human race into one family.