Why did Joseph go to jail?

Answer 1

As mayor of Nauvoo, Joseph Smith ordered the destruction of the Nauvoo Expositor, a newspaper which published only one issue. In that issue, the editors accused Smith of three things (1) he was a fallen prophet, (2) he held too much power and (3) he had corrupted women by coercing them into polygamy. T

he paper incited such public outcry that it seemed a mob would destroy the press. It seemed safer to order the city marshal to destroy it first. The marshall carried out the destruction of the press in an orderly fashion - no one was injured, but that action created another public outcry. Legal charges of inciting riot and treason were brought against Smith and the city council. Smith planned to flee Nauvoo, but his friends convinced him to surrender to arrest.

On June 25, 1844, Joseph and Hyrum Smith, along with the other fifteen city council members and some friends, surrendered to Carthage constable William Bettisworth on the original charge of riot. Almost immediately Joseph and Hyrum were charged with treason against the state of Illinois for declaring martial law in Nauvoo. At a preliminary hearing that afternoon the city council members were released on $500 bonds, pending later trial. The judge ordered Joseph and Hyrum Smith to be held in jail until they could be tried for treason, a capital offense.


The Smith brothers and their companions were held at the Carthage Jail, joined there by Willard Richards and John Taylor. Governor Ford left for Nauvoo not long after Smith went to stay at the jail. The anti-Mormon "Carthage Greys", a local militia, were assigned to protect Smith.

Answer 2

Joseph Smith was in jail twice, each time awaiting trials which never happened. The reasons are quite complicated, but I will do my best to simplify:

First, in 1838, Joseph Smith was put in the Liberty Jail in Missouri to await trail for treason. This was because some of the Mormons had attacked in the Missouri Militia in retaliation after a long dispute over voting rights. The Mormons were expelled from Missouri and Joseph Smith was presumeably allowed to escape custody.

Second, in 1844, Joseph Smith was put in the Carthage Jail in Illinois to await trial for inciting a riot. This is because as governor of Nauvoo, Joseph Smith had ordered the destruction of a newspaper that was publishing libel against him and the Mormons. He was shot and killed by a mob after only a few days in the jail.

Answer 3

Joseph Smith was killed by a mob of people who obviously didn't like him. Most of them just didn't like Mormons in general and thought that if they killed the leader of the Church, the Church would disapppear. As to why they didn't like Mormons, we can only speculate. Many people at that time were simply afraid of the unknown and felt that the Mormons were strange. They felt threatened when large groups of Mormons would settle in the same area because it would start to effect the culture and politics of the region.

Answer 4

Joseph Smith went to jail twice. The first time, in the winter of 1838-39, he was put in Liberty Jail in Missouri on charges of treason. This 'treason' was he and his people trying to defend themselves against mobs that had been ransacking their communities, beating and tarring men, and burning their buildings. The second time he was jailed at Carthage Jail in Illinois while awaiting to stand trial. The trial was over whether it was legal for him, as the mayor of the city of Nauvoo, to order the destruction of a printing press that was causing disorder in the city.

Answer 5

As mayor of Nauvoo, Joseph Smith ordered the destruction of the Nauvoo Expositor, a newspaper which published only one issue. In that issue, the editors accused Smith of three things (1) he was a fallen prophet, (2) he held too much power and (3) he had corrupted women by coercing them into polygamy. T

he paper incited such public outcry that it seemed a mob would destroy the press. It seemed safer to order the city marshal to destroy it first. The marshall carried out the destruction of the press in an orderly fashion - no one was injured, but that action created another public outcry. Legal charges of inciting riot and treason were brought against Smith and the city council. Smith planned to flee Nauvoo, but his friends convinced him to surrender to arrest.

On June 25, 1844, Joseph and Hyrum Smith, along with the other fifteen city council members and some friends, surrendered to Carthage constable William Bettisworth on the original charge of riot. Almost immediately Joseph and Hyrum were charged with treason against the state of Illinois for declaring martial law in Nauvoo. At a preliminary hearing that afternoon the city council members were released on $500 bonds, pending later trial. The judge ordered Joseph and Hyrum Smith to be held in jail until they could be tried for treason, a capital offense.

The Smith brothers and their companions were held at the Carthage Jail, joined there by Willard Richards and John Taylor. Governor Ford left for Nauvoo not long after Smith went to stay at the jail. The anti-Mormon "Carthage Greys", a local militia, were assigned to protect Smith.

Answer 6

Joseph Smith was jailed at Richmond Jail and Liberty Jail in Missouri, and at Carthage Jail in Illinois.

He was held in Richmond Jail after conflicts between the Latter Day Saints and original settlers in Missouri escalated into what is known as the Mormon War or the Missouri War. The Settlers and the Mormons didn't get along for several reasons. Mostly the locals were annoyed that the Latter Day Saints were beginning to outnumber them and have influence over the politics of the region, and also some Saints had been quite obnoxious claiming that God gave them the land to be their Zion and everyone else should convert or leave. Eventually the locals got fed up, formed mobs, and started attacking Mormon settlements. The Latter Day Saints banded together and defended themselves. The Governor of Missouri then issued an Extermination Order, ordering the Mormons to leave the state of Missouri. Joseph Smith and other church leaders were arrested on charges of treason, murder, arson, robbery, and perjury for the church member's actions during the conflict. They were later transferred to Liberty Jail to await further trial on the same charges. Eventually the government officials let them go if they promised to leave the state and never come back.

He was jailed later in Carthage with some church leaders from charges stemming from Joseph Smith ordering the destruction of the printing equipment of the Nauvoo Expositor. This was a newspaper begun by some who had left the church which told lies about the church and its members. Joseph Smith was the Mayor of Nauvoo, and called the city council together. They determined that the newspaper was a "public nuisance" and the city marshal was ordered to destroy the press and all copies of the paper. These charges were never brought to trial because Joseph Smith was murdered at the Carthage Jail before the trail date. For more information on the jails and the charges Joseph Smith faced, you can look up related topics in the Encyclopedia of Mormonism. A link is provided below under "Related Links".

Answer 7

The early Mormon Church splintered several times. In 1844, William Law and Robert Foster, disagreed with Smith about how to manage the economy of Nauvoo, a city founded and run by the Mormons in Illinois, as well as saying that Smith had proposed marriage to both their wives. They formed a competing church and procured indictments against Smith for perjury and polygamy. On June 7, they published the Nauvoo Expositor, in which they called for reform within the church and appealed to the county's broader community.

Fearing dissent, the Nauvoo city council ordered the press used by Law and Foster to be destroyed by the Nauvoo Legion, an autonomous militia led by Joseph Smith, with the rank of Lieutenant General. Wikipedia explains that destruction of the newspaper provoked a strident call to arms from Thomas C. Sharp, editor of the Warsaw Signal and longtime critic of Smith. Fearing an uprising, Smith mobilised the Nauvoo Legion and declared martial law. A small detachment of the state militia was mobilised and Governor Thomas Ford threatening to raise a larger militia unless Smith and the Nauvoo city council surrendered themselves. Smith and his brother were jailed on a charge of inciting a riot.

A mob stormed the jail and shot both Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum.

Answer 8

Joesph was imprisoned because his masters wife asked him to do it with her but he said no she took off his cloak and said that he dropped it on purpose.