For as much as the Lord has revealed unto me that my enemies, both in Missouri and in this state,

were again in the pursuit of me. I have thought it expedient and wisdom in me to leave the place

for a short season. When I learn that the storm is fully blown over, then I will return to you again.

Doctrine and Covenants, Section 127, verse 1.

Hey listeners, this is Nick from Book of Mormon Central, and today's podcast addresses

the question. Did Joseph Smith attempt to assassinate Missouri Governor Lilburn Boggs?

When an unknown assailant unsuccessfully attempted to kill former Governor Lilburn Boggs in 1842,

suspicion of many in Missouri turned towards Joseph Smith and the Latter-day Saints.

After all, they had been victims of Boggs' 1838 order of extermination.

This assassination attempt and the subsequent accusations resulted in

Joseph Smith going voluntarily into hiding for the rest of 1842, until prevailing in a Federal

Circuit Court in Springfield, Illinois, in January of 1843. Despite suggestions that Joseph Smith was involved in the Boggs' assassination attempt,

no evidence has ever surfaced to implicate Joseph Smith or his associates in the crime.

The assassination attempt of Lilburn Boggs.

On May 6, 1842, former Governor Lilburn Boggs was sitting in his parlor reading the evening newspaper

when an unidentified shooter fired several rounds through the window and hit Boggs in the head and neck.

Amazingly, this incident did not kill Boggs, and he eventually made a full recovery.

The discharged pistol was left at the scene of the crime, as well as some footprints outside the window.

But police investigators were unable to identify the assailant based on this limited evidence.

It wasn't long before accusations and rumors started swirling around the Latter-day Saints,

whom Boggs had violently expelled

from Missouri years earlier, with the 1838 Order of Extermination.

...