The newly renovated $1 million Carthage Jail complex of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was dedicated Tuesday - exactly 145 years after the Prophet Joseph Smith was martyred here.
President Ezra Taft Benson attended the ceremony and spoke briefly. President Gordon B. Hinckley, first counselor in the First Presidency, gave the dedicatory address and prayer.Dedication of the complex is the first in a series of events to be held this year commemorating the 150th anniversary of the arrival of the Latter-day Saints in Illinois.
Some 5,000 people attended the outdoor dedicatory services of the complex, which includes the old Carthage Jail, an expanded visitor's center and commemorative monuments. A new statue depicting Joseph Smith and his brother, Hyrum, who was martyred with Joseph, standing together was unveiled. The statue was designed by Dee J. Bawden, West Valley City.
"The shadow of the events of June 1844 have lengthened," said President Hinckley. "They have reached across the world. The history is clear, and it is wonderful to behold. It is a poignant and tremendous story, an epic without parallel."