b.k. barunt wrote:The mob attacked the jail he was being held in - i don't think he was able to get his hands on a gun before they lynched him.
The people in and around the town in Missouri where the Mormons hung out had been getting progressively fed up with them. When they destroyed a the office of the local paper for printing negative things about them that was the last straw. The townfolk started killing Mormons and Smith fled the area. He was persuaded by a couple of his followers to come back and stand trial, but a mob attacked the jail he was in with no resistance from the soldiers who were "guarding" him.
I have read someone had passed a gun to Joseph and another guy when they helped him out of the jail. Thare was also reportedly several witnesses observing him calling out several Masonic cries for help that were ignored by the many masons present when the mob did get their hands on him. I don't remember the publication and the whole thing was long ago and such a mess I don't know if there is any really accurate source of information weather or not he had a gun.

