Joseph Smith Arrested

June 24-25, 1844

Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum Smith leave for Carthage. They are met by Captain Dunn and a militia of 60, four miles west of Carthage. Joseph says, "Do not be alarmed. . . . They can only kill the body." Dunn brings an order from Govenor Ford of Illinois that all state arms of the Nauvoo Legion are to be turned over. Joseph sends one of his men to carry out the order. He then says, "I am going like a lamb to the slaughter, but I am calm as a summer's morning. I have a conscience void of offense toward God and toward all men. If they take my life I shall die an innocent man, and my blood shall cry from the ground for vengeance, and it shall be said of me 'He was murdered in cold blood!'"

Source: J. Christopher Conkling, A Joseph Smith Chronology, Deseret Book Company, 1979.

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