[George F. Richards]
At this meeting the place of burial of Joseph & Hyrum Smith was discussed. Pres[ident]. Jos[eph]. F. Smith said they were first buried in the Nauvoo House or Mansion, I do not just know which not having been there, They were afterward at the instance of _________ moved to the old Smith Home/basement Lot. Afterward at the instance of Emma Smith they were moved to a grove some distance either up or down the river I forget the name of the grove & whether up or down the river. Hibbard grove. They were afterward moved back to the Smith Lot where there are others of the family buried. pres[ident]. Smith's mother was an eye witness to the burial moving of the bodies from the Smith Lot to the Hibbard grove mentioned which event took place in the night. Emma had told the Patriarch's wife that she intended to have it done that night and the day previous told her it would not be done but about eleven o'clock that night the Patriarch's wife, Jos[eph]. F. Smith's mother felt impressed & following those impressions went to the spot and found them in the act of removing the bodies. The following day Pres[ident]. Jos[eph]. F. Smith then a boy went to the place and found the open graves of as I remember it Don Carlos Smith. A corner of the lid was broken in and he looked into the casket and saw the face and the worms crawling. Some years ago when Jos[eph]. Smith [III] the Son of the Prophet and head of the Re-organite Church moved to Independence he wrote to John Smith the Eldest living Son of the Patriarch Hyrum stating his intention to move his father's bones to Independence [Missouri] and asking permission to move Hyrum's remains. John & Jos[eph]. F. [Smith] half brothers conferred to-gether and answered that if he Joseph wished to move his father they supposed he had a right to but that he was not to move the remains of their father but should he Joseph decide to move his father's remains they desired to be notified for the time that they might have a representative there and they would move the remains of their father Hyrum to Utah. Nothing more came of it. At the time of Emma Smith's burial a certain man, I forget his name, said he saw Joseph slip off the distances to determine where the Prophet was buried and when they came to dig the grave they dug too close the Prophet's grave and uncovered a part of the casket. All this shows the buried to be at that place in Nauvoo [Illinois]. The purpose of Emma having the bodies of the Prophet and Patriarch moved from the Home lot to the grave and of deceiving the wife of the Patriarch was to keep the knowledge of the whereabouts of their burial from the Twelve.
[Source: George F. Richards, Diary, as quoted in Minutes of the Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1835-1951, Electronic Edition, 2015]
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