Isaac Morley — Divine Preservation from Execution

During the period of intense persecution in Missouri, Isaac Morley was captured by a mob, imprisoned, and subjected to a trial for treason. He was sentenced to be executed by firing squad on the public square in Independence, Missouri, at eight o'clock the following morning. Despite the imminent threat and the formal sentence, he was miraculously spared, his case was eventually dismissed, and he was permitted to return to his family in Far West.

Fuller account of this event (as retold in Cordelia Morley Cox, Biography of Isaac Morley Holograph, HBLL (as cited in Doctrine and Covenants Central)):

A branch of the Church was organized there, meetings held there, and many of the people were baptized. A frame house was built on Father Morley’s lot for Joseph Smith’s family to live in. In 1831, he was called to go to Jackson County, Missouri to find a location for the Mormon people to settle. A nice place was found near the town of Independence, Missouri. They sent back to Ohio for their family and in a short time a settlement was made. The people of the county began to threaten the settlers and to warn them to leave. They continued building and soon had a flourishing town commenced. This enraged the inhabitants of that county and they began to threaten to drive them out. They said they would kill men, women and children if they did not leave the county. Father Morley with others were taken prisoners and put into jail. He was kept there overnight. In the morning he had a trial and was sentenced to be shot on the public square at eight o’clock for treason. God willed it otherwise and his life was spared.