Townsend died having literal ly rotted alive be fore dy ing tow nsend c onfes sed he knew joseph smith was a prophet10 p65 such deaths were not meted exclusively to those who murdered joseph smith many men who either persecuted the mormons in the east and midwest or who tormented mormon missionaries m et similar fates. When we speak of the mob that killed joseph and hyrum smith in carthage jail we sometimes forget that each of these men had names and lives one of these men from the militia in the neighboring town of warsaw illinois commemorated his participation in the killings on this horn which carried his gunpowder warsaw regulators the end of the polygamist joseph smith kilt at carthage jail june 27 1844 1. What became of those who persecuted the prophet joseph smith our job is not to judge their eternal welfare but how did they fare in mortality did they obt. The fate of the persecutors of the prophet joseph smith being a compilation of historical data on the personal testimony of joseph smith his greatness his persecutions and prosecutions conspiracies against his life his imprisonments his martyrdom and the attitude of his followers who also endured and passed through many of these