As soon as Mary opened the door, she knew something was wrong.
Standing there was Brother George Grant. His face was pale and he was staring at the ground beneath him. She remained silent.
Brother Grant struggled to look up, but finally met her gaze.
They locked eyes and he uttered the words she had been terrified would one day come.
“I’m so sorry, Mrs. Smith,” he started, “Joseph and Hyrum have been murdered.”
Mary felt like the wind had been knocked out of her. She stumbled back and fell against the bureau. Brother Grant hastily came into the house and gently guided her to a chair.
The children came close to their mother and joined in her weeping.
When they arrived at Mansion House, Mary’s stomach lurched. Her footsteps were shaky and unsure as she made her way to her husband's lifeless body. When she reached him, the pain became too much to bear. She knelt by his body, embraced his head. She opened her mouth to speak, but what came out was a guttural wail of a broken heart.
“O, Hyrum, Hyrum! Have they shot you, my dear Hyrum—are you dead? Oh, speak to me, my dear husband. I cannot think you are dead, my dear Hyrum.”
She drew him even closer. She placed her lips on his, kissing him all over his head. Her hands brushed back his hair.
For the rest of the day she did not speak a word.
The pain consumed her.
She wasn’t sure she would ever smile again.
TRUE STORY:
On June 27, 1844 Joseph Smith and Hyrum Smith were murdered in cold blood at Carthage Jail. The women most affected by this were Joseph’s wife Emma, Hryum’s wife Mary and Joseph & Hyrum’s mother Lucy.
Most of what I wrote above is true, I just added in a few details of how she must have felt, but Mary’s quote and actions are factual.
For her part, Mary was heartbroken. Something which lasted the rest of her life. Her daughter, Martha Ann said “If we could get her to laugh, we thought we had accomplished quite a feat.”
Despite her heartbreak, she remained faithful to the gospel all her life.
She married Heber C Kimball in the fall of 1844 as a plural wife. They never lived together, but he looked out for her.
Mary crossed the plains as the head of her household (which you can read my story about here).
After she arrived in Salt Lake City, she and her family made their home near East Millcreek. They built a home, a dugout barn and 40 acres of farm ground.
In July of 1852, Mary took ill. She then lived with the Kimball’s who took care of her until her death on September 21, 1852.
My friend Justina wrote an amazing article about how the martyrdom of Joseph Smith affected his wife Emma here.
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