Question: Did Joseph and others with him remove their garments in order to avoid being identified as polygamists?

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Did Joseph and others with him remove their garments in order to avoid being identified as polygamists?

Criticism

• Critics claim that prior to leaving for Carthage, that Joseph Smith removed his garments, and advised others to remove theirs, in order to avoid identification as polygamists.

To see citations to the critical sources for these claims, [[../CriticalSources|click here]]

Response

Did Joseph and others remove their temple garments prior to leaving for Carthage?

Of the four men who were in Carthage Jail at the time that Joseph and Hyrum Smith were killed, three of them had removed their garments. Only Willard Richards was wearing his garments at the time of the martyrdom.

What were the reasons for removing their garments?

The commonly believed reason for the removal of the garments was to keep them from falling into the hands of their enemies. Heber C. Kimball reported in his journal that Joseph instructed those of the Quorum who were going to accompany him to Carthage to remove their temple garments prior to leaving. ^[1] Sarah G. Richards noted the following in a letter to Zina Huntington,

"[T]he order came that in every habitation where any of the endowment clothes were found, [it] would [mean] death to the inmates -- Olive Frost...came to tear to pieces the garments &c of...Doctor Levi....Miss [Rhoda] Richards separated the parts and placed them among the articles of linen." ^[2]

Later, however, John Taylor responded to this by declaring that garments were sometimes removed because of the hot weather.

Elder John Taylor confirmed the saying that Joseph and Hyrum and himiself were without their robes in the jail at Carthage, while Doctor Richards had his on, but corrected the idea that some had, that they had taken them off through fear. W. W. Phelps said Joseph told him one day about that time, that he had laid aside his garment on account of the hot weather. ^[3]

The fact that Willard Richards was the only one who escaped the martyrdom unscathed led to the belief that he had been protected because he was the only one of the four wearing his garments at the time.

Elder Kimball...[s]poke of Elder Richards being protected at Carthage Jail--having on the robe, while Joseph & Hyrum were shot to pieces...

Was the wearing of garments connected with the practice of polygamy?

Did Joseph and the others remove their sacred garments in order to avoid being identified as polygamists? There is no documentation that ties the wearing of garments to the practice of polygamy. It was not required that one practice polygamy in order to receive the endowment. In the case of Joseph Smith, he was easily identifiable whether or not he was wearing his garments. Removal of his garments would certainly have made no different in his being identified and taken to Carthage.

Were garments used as a means to identify people as "Mormons?"

In the autobiography of B.H. Roberts, he relates the story of how "Elder Robinson" removed his garments while in hostile territory in order to avoid being identified as a Mormon.  ^{[needs work]}

Conclusion

 ^{[needs work]}

Endnotes

1. [note] Heber C. Kimball, Journal, 21 December 1845, and Oliver B. Huntington, Journal, 22 April 1897.
2. [note] Sarah G. Richards to Zina Huntington, 20 September 1890, Church Archives.
3. [note] George D. Smith (ed), An Intimate Chronicle The Journals of William Clayton, 222-24.

Further reading

FAIR web site

• FairMormon Topical Guide: Martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum Smith FairMormon link
  
• Lance Starr, "Was Joseph Smith a Martyr or a Murderer?," (Mesa, Arizona: FAIR, May 2003) PDF link

External links

• Joseph I. Bentley, "Martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum Smith," in Encyclopedia of Mormonism, 4 vols., edited by Daniel H. Ludlow, (New York, Macmillan Publishing, 1992), 2:860–862. FAIR link
• Reed Blake, "Martyrdom at Carthage," Ensign (June 1994): 30.off-site
• Stephen R. Gibson, "Was Joseph Smith Really a Martyr?," in One-Minute Answers to Anti-Mormon Questions (Bountiful, Utah: Horizon Publishers, 2005) ISBN 0882907840. off-site
• W. John Walsh, "Was Joseph Smith a Martyr?" off-site

Printed material

• Dallin H. Oaks and Marvin S. Hill, Carthage Conspiracy, the Trial of the Accused Assassins of Joseph Smith (Urbana, Illinois: University of Illinois Press, 1979), 1. ISBN 025200762X. (Key source)