Concerning Joseph Smith’s martyrdom, I once believed that the Prophet accidentally fell out of the window at Carthage Jail. But after a personal interview with artist and researcher Andrew Knaupp, I no longer believe that Joseph Smith’s fall from the window was an accident. This video illustrates some of the things I learned from artist Andrew Knaupp.
Imagine that you’re the Prophet Joseph Smith and that you are in the upstairs bedroom at Carthage Jail on that hot and humid day in June of 1844.
Around five o’clock, an angry mob of over 100 men rush the stairs and begin firing shots of heavy, lead bullets at you and your friends. You watch your faithful, loving brother Hyrum be killed before your eyes and then you see your friend, John Taylor, run to the window and be shot multiple times. Most of the mob is still loitering outside the jail.
The bullets are coming in from only two directions: the door and the window. You’ve seen your brother killed at the door and you’ve seen your friend shot (and possibly killed) at the window. Smoke is filling the room. Shards of glass are exploding everywhere.
The question is: in that moment, what do you do?
If you want to live, you might be tempted to hide behind the door, or hide in a corner. Or, to put it another way, if you want to live you stay away from the door and the window.
But what if you want to save someone’s life (John Taylor and Willard Richards)? What then?
For Joseph Smith, there was only one option.
The Prophet used himself as a moving target to draw the fire of the mob.
In a moment of intense emotion and adrenaline, Joseph Smith went against human nature and consciously went right into the line of fire. The Prophet literally walked into a hailstorm of bullets and glass, was shot several times, managed to pull his body up on the window sill and pushed himself, headfirst, out the window and into the hands of the mob.
What he did was not erratic behavior. It was a conscious and deliberate move to save the lives of his brethren.
Andrew Knaupp, the artist of “All They Want is Hyrum and Myself” said that “In this image I tried to portray the moment of decision, where, looking back at the lone figure of Willard Richards beside the door, the Prophet decided that if he got out of the room, the mobbers would follow, and Richards and Taylor would have a chance to survive. He was correct, and as soon as he was out the window the mobbers in the jail rushed down the stairs and outside.”
It is a remarkable thing to think that the Prophet Joseph Smith, while burdened with grief and riddled with bullets, had the presence of mind to draw the fire of the mob in order to save the lives of his friends.
