The Standard Works
Church History Photos

LIBERTY JAIL

While unjustly imprisoned here (1838-39), the Prophet Joseph Smith received the revelation now recorded in Doctrine and Covenants 121-23.

A small jail located in Liberty, Missouri. Joseph Smith and five other brethren were held prisoner within its four-foot thick walls from 1 December 1838 until 6 April 1839. (Sidney Rigdon was released at the end of February.) Confined to the lower level or dungeon portion of the building, they slept on the cold rock, straw-strewn floor with little light and scant protection from the cold winter.

Significant Events:
The Prophet Joseph, pleading for the thousands of Latter-day Saints being driven from Missouri, received an answer to his prayer, which he penned in a letter to the exiled Saints (D&C 121-123).