John Taylor recalls Joseph fired into the mob 3 times with a pistol given to him by Cyrus Wheelock.
John Taylor's June 27, 1854, Account of the Martyrdom, as reproduced by LaJean P. Carruth and Mark L. Staker in BYU Studies Volume 50 Issue 3 (July 1, 2011): 25-62
We ad [had] various conversations on the curious spirit there. The mob had prevented all to come. The last one was sent out for a little wine. He was not allowed to come back. Bro Wd [Willard] says, bro Jos[eph] if there is any scuffing to be done let me [get it] done and let you go and I sd. [said] if you will let me go[.]86 in a few hours I will have enough men to liberate you even if we tear down the prison. He objected preferring peace. I rem[em]ber bro Hy[rum] requested me to sing a poor wa[y] faring man of grief which I done. He requested it the 2nd time. I then saw a crowd of men with disfigured faces and came up to the door up stairs. I made a rush to the door. bro H[yrum] and bro R[ichards] got there first. They leaned agsn.[against] the door. some one fired a gun thro the key hole. He then walked a little distance. a ball came thro the door and struck him in his face. another thro the windows fired by the Carthage Greys. He fell on his back and sd [said] I am a dd [dead] man. Josh [Joseph] came and sd [said] Oh my poor bro Hy.[rum.] Bro Wheelock gave the pistol to bro Jos[eph] [—] He pulled the pistol deliberately 6 times. 3 times whent [sic] of[f] and didn’t. I seized a thick hickory stick and bro Jos[eph] [was] behind me. I parried off the guns firing and the last I heard bro Jos[eph] sa[y] parry them of[f] as well as you can
See George D. Watt, “Note book June 27th 1854 Contents,” George D. Watt Papers, Church History Library,,The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City. The shorthand manuscript of John Taylor’s sermon is found in this notebook.
This transcription is taken from page 36.