Elizabeth Brotherton Sees Joseph and Hyrum Smith in Their Coffins in a Dream — Before Word of the Carthage Martyrdom Reached Nauvoo (June 1844)
Published September 28, 2026 at 4:32 AM
Elizabeth Brotherton testifies that before any word of the Carthage martyrdom reached Nauvoo, she saw Joseph and Hyrum Smith in their coffins in a dream. When the terrible news came on June 27, 1844, and the bodies were returned to Nauvoo, "they were just as I saw them in a dream before I knew they were dead." She credited the dream with preparing her for a shock she could not otherwise have believed, "as the Lord had preserved his life so many times."
In Their Own Words
“I saw them when they were in their coffins and they were just as I saw them in a dream before I knew they were dead. This prepared me for the shock as I could not have believed it, as the Lord had preserved his life so many times.”
— Elizabeth Brotherton, Autobiography, The Woman's Exponent (1890-91)
Sources & References
Elizabeth Brotherton, Autobiography (1816-1897), The Woman's Exponent 19, no. 12 (December 1, 1890): 94-95 and following installments — full text at http://earlymormonism.com/elizabeth-brotherton-1816-1897/
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