Orrin Porter Rockwell's Deliverance from Missouri Dungeon

While traveling from New Jersey to Nauvoo, Orrin Porter Rockwell was arrested in St. Louis on March 4, 1843, on a false charge brought by Elias Parker, who claimed Rockwell had attempted to assassinate former Governor Lilburn W. Boggs. Rockwell was shackled in iron hobbles and transported to Jefferson City and then to Independence, Missouri. During the journey, he was subjected to mistreatment by passengers and hampered by a drunken stage driver, yet he assisted in repairing the coach and driving it when the driver became incapacitated. Upon arriving in Independence, he faced a hostile mob and a sham trial where witnesses, including his arresting officer Fox, swore falsely for reward money. Despite a magistrate acknowledging no evidence of a crime, Rockwell was committed to the Independence jail for 'safekeeping' to appease the mob. For months, he endured brutal conditions, held in a dungeon with only a bed of dirty straw and no heat during the freezing winter. He suffered from severe cold for weeks until he was able to purchase a small amount of charcoal. During this imprisonment, a young boy, the son of a poor widow, was prompted to bring him fire and chips to stay warm at the grate. General Alexander Doniphan attempted to interfere, but the boy defiantly persisted, ultimately succeeding in his mission to provide Rockwell with fire. Rockwell was finally released in December 1843 after a grand jury refused to indict him for attempted murder, though he was convicted for jailbreak. He survived a harrowing journey back, finally reuniting with Joseph Smith and the Saints in Nauvoo on Christmas Day, 1843.

Fuller account of this event (in the witness’s own words):

While I was in the dungeon at Independence, I suffered much from the cold. The weather was very severe, and I had no fire. I had been there some time, and was nearly perished with cold, when a little boy, the son of a poor widow, who had previously been to see me, finding I had no fire, had run home and brought some fire and chips to the grate. Mr. Doniphan said—‘You little devil you, what are you doing here with this fire?’ He replied, ‘I am going to give it to Mr. Rockwell, so that he can warm him.’ Doniphan then said—‘You little devil you, take this fire and leave;’ when the little urchin replied (looking him in the face)—‘Mr. Doniphan, you go to hell: I am going to give Mr. Rockwell this fire, so that he can warm him;’ and he pushed it through the grate, gave me the chips, and continued to supply my daily wants of chips and fire while I continued in the dungeon. I was kept in this dungeon for several months, and was treated with great cruelty. I was finally released in December, 1843, after a grand jury had refused to find a bill against me for the attempted murder of ex-Governor Boggs, though I was convicted for breaking jail. I then started for Nauvoo, and arrived there on Christmas day, 1843, where I was joyfully received by my family and friends, and by the Prophet Joseph Smith, who had prophesied that I should return, and that I should not be harmed by my enemies.