Alexander and Eunice McRae, 4th installment

Eunice McRae said: “I visited my husband several times while he was in Liberty Jail. I carried letters to and from the Prophet, that were sent by his family. . . .I took him (their second child, Joseph, born March, 1838, at Far West) [Eleventh Ward Record, Book C; 32nd Quorum of Seventies Record.] to the jail to have him blessed. The Prophet blessed him and gave him the name of Joseph.” [Joseph A. McRae, letter of Mar. 7, 1939, N.B. Lundwall, The Fate of the Persecutors of the Prophet Joseph Smith. pp. 109-110.] Once the guards searched her before admitting her [Deseret Evening News, Dec. 11, 1906.] but usually they failed to take this precaution. Once she took a pistol in without being detected. [Joseph A. and Eunice H. McRae, Historical Facts Regarding the Liberty and Carthage Jails, page 54.] On another of her visits she fastened a butcher knife to the inside of her leg and carried that in with her. Joseph told her that that was just the kind of excuse the Missourians wanted to kill them, so she took the knife home with her. [Statement of Zina McRae Irving, March 15, 1966.] When she carried letters in or out, she put them inside her stockings. Eunice also told this of her experiences in the Liberty Jail: “Several times when I visited, I sat down at the table and ate with them. The food was brought in and we all sat down together. The Prophet always deferred to his brother, Hyrum, and, as he was the eldest, he had Hyrum sit at the head of the table and serve. Any meat that was to be carved was carved by Hyrum. One day a piece of roast meat was brought in that looked very dark, as though it had been burned. Brother Hyrum took the carving knife and fork, put the fork into the meat, and the carving tools fell from his hands. He picked up the tools again and attempted to carve the meat and they fell from his hands again. After the second attempt, the Prophet said: “Do not touch it, for it is human flesh!” It was afterwards told that the guards boasted they had cut a piece of flesh from the thigh of an old negro and had fed it to the Mormons.” [Letter of Joseph A. McRae, March 7, 1939, in N.B. Lundwall, The Fate of the Persecutors of the Prophet Joseph Smith. pp. 109-110.]

Hyrum Smith also stated that poison was given to them, as well as the human flesh Eunice mentioned. “Poison was administered to us three or four times. The effect it had upon our systems was that it vomited us almost to death, and then we would lay some two or three days in a torpid state, not even caring or wishing for life.

“‘The poison would inevitably have proved fatal had not the power of Jehovah interposed in our behalf. . . .We were also subjected to the necessity of eating human flesh for the space of five days, or go without food, except a little coffee or a little corn bread. I chose the latter alternative. None of us partook of the flesh except Lyman Wight. We also heard the guard who was placed over us making sport by saying that they had fed us on ‘Mormon beef.’

“I have described the appearance of the flesh to several physicians, and they have decided it was human flesh.” [Letter of Hyrum Smith, 1843, quoted in history written by Regina McRae.]

Alexander himself wrote in the Deseret News: “Sometimes during our stay in Liberty jail an attempt was made to destroy us by poison. I supposed it was administered in either tea or coffee, but as I did not use either, I escaped unhurt, while all who did were sorely afflicted, some being blind two or three days, and it was only by much faith and prayer that the effect was overcome.” [Letter of Nov. 1, 1854, in Joseph Smith, History of the Church, 3:256-259.]

The prisoners had twice petitioned the Missouri Supreme Court for a writ of habeas corpus, but had been refused both times. In early 1839 they petitioned one of the Clay County judges for a writ, which was granted. They were taken out of jail for a few hours, and then were remanded back again. Three or four days later the judge, Judge Turnham, came to the jail and said that he had permitted Sidney Rigdon to get bail (February, 1839), but that Rigdon would have to leave in the night or the people would kill him. As to the other five men, “....he dare not let us go for fear of his own life, as well as ours.” [Letter of Hyrum Smith, 1843.]

By this time, the prisoners had decided that they could not have a fair trial, nor would they be released. On the evening of February 7, 1839, they planned to escape, and probably could have done so, but they had some disagreement among themselves and postponed it until the next evening. The attempt to escape at that time failed. [Letter of Alexander McRae to Deseret News, Oct. 9, 1854, in Joseph Smith, History of the Church, 3:256-259.]

In March, Edward Partridge wrote to the men in Liberty Jail and mentioned that Sister McRae was at Quincy, staying with a Brother Henderson, and was well. [Joseph Smith, History of the Church, 3:272-273.]

On March 15, 1839, the prisoners sent a petition to the Missouri Supreme Court declaring they were unlawfully confined and were being deprived of their rights to be tried as the law provided. About a week later, Heber C. Kimball and Theodore Turley went to see the governor, and not finding him in town, spoke to the Secretary of State. “He could hardly believe those were all the documents by which the prisoners were held in custody; for they were all illegal.” [Joseph Smith, History of the Church, 3:285-305. Entry for March 25.]

About this time the five men were informed that Judge King had said that “there was nothing against Hyrum, only he was a friend to the Prophet. He also said there was nothing against Caleb Baldwin or Alexander McRae.” [Joseph Smith, History of the Church, 3:285-305. Entry for March 25.] He repeated this when Kimball and Turley called on him April 4th. ‘I could have done all the business for you properly, if you had come to me; and I would have signed the petition for all but Joe, and he is not fit to live.” [Joseph Smith, History of the Church, 3:306. Entry for April 4.]

In a letter written to the Church on March 25th, Joseph told of another unsuccessful attempt they had made to escape. They had been drilling through the timbers of the walls with augers, but the handles had given out and slowed them down considerably. They could have escaped except for the imprudent behavior of a friend, which led to the discovery of the hole they had made in the wall. [Joseph Smith, History of the Church, 3:305.]

On April 6th, Alexander and the other four men were started from Liberty Jail to Gallatin, Daviess County, where they arrived on the 8th, and were tried before the grand jury of Daviess County, under a change of venue from Judge King. On the 9th, Stephen Markham arrived with a bill by the legislature giving them permission for a change of venue on their affidavit. They applied for a change of venue to Marion County, which was denied, but they were given one to Boone County. On the 10th the grand jury brought in a bill for murder, treason, burglary, arson, larceny, theft, and stealing against the five of them. Judge Birch of the Daviess County Court made out a mittimus without date, name or place on it, and on the 15th the prisoners set out for Boone County under a guard of five men.

Hyrum states that that evening all the guards but one got drunk, and the other one helped two of them mount the two horses they had sold them earlier in the day. The other three set out on foot, “and thus we took our change of venue for the State of Illinois.” [Letter of Hyrum Smith, 1843.] Joseph said they would not have escaped, which was taken by some as an admission of guilt, but they feared being killed by murderers and assassins. [Joseph Smith, History of the Church, 3:308-320. Entry for April 15.] Alexander McRae, Hyrum Smith, and Lyman Wight, in an affidavit signed July 7, 1843, said they had been delivered to the guards to be conducted out of the state, by order of the county authorities and the governor, and had been set at large, with directions to leave the state without delay. [Joseph Smith, History of the Church, 5:496-497.]

Needless to say, they had no desire to remain in Missouri any longer than necessary. The body of the Church had moved to Quincy, Illinois during the time they were in prison, so they set off for Quincy, and arrived there on April 22, 1839. [Joseph Smith, History of the Church, 3:327.]