Joseph Standing Martyrdom and Vision of Death
Published October 13, 2026 at 5:24 AM
Contributed by
Millennial Star Research
While serving as a missionary in Georgia in 1879, Elder Joseph Standing had a dream that anticipated his coming death. While traveling with Elder Rudger Clawson, they were abducted by a group of men in a dense wood. The mob led them into the forest, struck Elder Clawson, and eventually surrounded Elder Standing. A ruffian shot and killed Elder Standing with a pistol, hitting him in the forehead. Elder Clawson survived the encounter, and the mob later fled.
Fuller account of this event (in the witness’s own words):
On the morning of the 21st of July, 1879, Elder Standing arose, and after attending to his morning devotions, he remarked to me, 'Brother Clawson, I had a strange dream last night. I dreamed that I was dead.' I replied, 'Is that so? Well, I hope it is not a premonition.' He said, 'I do not know, but it seemed very real.' We started on our journey... We had not proceeded far when we were accosted by a number of men... They ordered us to follow them, and we were marched into the woods... After walking for some distance, we were halted... One of the men, who appeared to be the leader, said, 'We have got you now, and we are going to kill you.'... Elder Standing, who had been standing with his hands in his pockets, suddenly took them out, and clapping them together, exclaimed, 'Surrender!'... At that instant, one of the men, who was standing a few feet to the left of Elder Standing, raised his pistol and fired. The ball entered Elder Standing's forehead, and he fell to the ground, dead.
In his biographical account, Lawrence R. Flake notes that on the morning of the encounter, the missionaries were staying at the home of a non-member who was friendly to them before being accosted by the mob of twelve. Flake also records that following the shooting of Elder Standing, Elder Clawson’s first instinct was to run, but upon being ordered to stop by the mob, he turned, folded his arms across his chest, and defied them by saying, 'Shoot.' When Clawson returned to the scene hours later, he discovered that the mob had fired additional bullets into the face and neck of his deceased companion.
In Their Own Words
“While passing a dense wood the two young Elders were met by twelve men, who with yells and oaths captured and led them from the roadway far into the forest. On the way Elder Clawson was brutally struck on the head with a club. He fell prostrate, but rose with an effort and continued his way. Finally the captors sat down and waited for something, all the time taunting the missionaries vilely. Three horsemen rode up from behind, and one of them commanded, Follow us. Elder Standing sprang to his feet and clapping his hands together shouted, Surrender. Simultaneously one of the ruffians raised his pistol and shot him, the ball piercing his forehead. He fell dead at their feet. — Millennial Star 64:29”
Sources & References
The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star (Manchester, later Liverpool, England, May 1840–1970), 17 July 1902 (Vol. 64, No. 29). https://archive.org/details/per_utah-and-the-mormons_the-latter-day-saints-millennial-star_1902-07-17_64_29 (account extracted verbatim from the issue's Internet Archive OCR text; research confidence: high) Fuller account: The martyrdom of Joseph Standing : or, the murder of a "Mormon" missionary, a true story (John Nicholson, 1886) https://www.familysearch.org/library/books/records/item/48555-the-martyrdom-of-joseph-standing-or-the-murder-of-a-mormon-missionary-a-true-story?offset=2 Additional sources (periodical research): Lawrence R. Flake, Prophets and Apostles of the Last Dispensation (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 2001), 259–63. https://rsc.byu.edu/prophets-apostles-last-dispensation/rudger-judd-clawson
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