Religious Education Archive: 19th Century Mormon Publications - A correct account of the murder of Generals Joseph and Hyrum Smith

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DANIELS, William M. A correct account of the murder of Generals Joseph and Hyrum Smith, at Carthage, on the 27th day of June, 1844; by Wm. M. Daniels, an eye witness. Nauvoo, Ill., Published by John Taylor, for the proprietor,1845. [1]-14, [4],15-24 pp. 23 cm.

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William M. Daniels came in contact with the anti Mormons ten days before the assassination of Joseph and Hyrum Smith and remained with them for reasons not satisfactorily explained in his pamphlet or at the trial of those accused of the murders. Seven days after the assassination he came to Nauvoo and swore out a straightforward affidavit outlining what he had seen. The following day he told his story to Governor Ford. He was the key witness before the grand jury that indicted nine men for the murders in October 1844, and he was the prosecution's star witness at the trial of Levi Williams, Thomas Sharp, Mark Aldrich, Jacob C. Davis, and William N. Grover for the murder of Joseph Smith, May 21 30, 1845. Unfortunately, A Correct Account came out three weeks before the trial, in time for the defense to use it to discredit Daniels's testimony.

A Correct Account was actually written and published by Lyman O. Littlefield, a hand in the Times and Seasons shop to whom Daniels repeatedly told his story. This Daniels admitted at the trial and Littlefield acknowledged in his books The Martyrs (Salt Lake City, 1882), p. 71, and Reminiscences of Latter day Saints (Logan, 1888), p. 172. Littlefield first approached the Quincy Whig about printing the pamphlet, even though he was employed at the Times and Seasons. A hand in the Quincy Herald shop supplied a copy of the manuscript to Thomas Sharp, who published this early version, along with suitable editorial comments, in the Warsaw Signal of December 25, 1844. One might guess that, early on, Littlefield wanted A Correct Account to appear to be a non Mormon production. The pamphlet was first advertised in the Nauvoo Neighbor of April 30 and in the Neighbor the next two weeks. On May 7 Daniels took out a copyright in the district court. Littlefield ran a notice in the Neighbor, June 4 18, repudiating two fifty dollar notes he had given to Daniels as he had "not had value received" -probably a reference to Daniels's performance at the trial which discredited the book and jeopardized its sale.

A Correct Account describes Daniel's movements with the anti-Mormons and the events surrounding the assassination, and it identifies the leading participants. It is marred, however, by a fantastic story of a flash of light from the heavens that dispersed the mob after Joseph Smith had been shot by the well-curb outside Carthage Jail. Early in his testimony at the trial Daniels stood by the story of the light; later he claimed that certain details were Littlefield's embellishments. The defense, of course, made the most of these discrepancies, and ultimately the prosecution excluded his testimony, all but guaranteeing that Sharp, Williams and the others would be acquitted.

Excerpted and edited from Peter Crawley, A Descriptive Bibliography of the Mormon Church. Volume One, 1830-1847. (Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University, Religious Studies Center, [1997]). Item 261, p. 298-301

Used by permission of the author and the Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University.