We don’t know if John Taylor’s pocket watch helped preserve his life during the martyrdom of Joseph Smith. Taylor remembered falling out of a Carthage Jail window only to feel a force push him back inside, later determining a bullet must have hit his watch. However, modern science has been unable to precisely replicate the damage seen in the watch displayed at the Church History Museum. As part of its commitment to telling the Latter-day Saint story as accurately as possible, the Church History Department commissioned an exhaustive analysis of Taylor’s watch in 2020. In this interview, Brian Warburton shares the research findings, explaining what we do and don’t know about the watch’s role in preserving Taylor’s life.
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The Broken Watch That Sparked the Investigation
What is the traditional story of how John Taylor’s pocket watch helped him survive the martyrdom at Carthage Jail?
The story written and told for several generations is that during the attack at Carthage, John Taylor ran from the door toward the window in the upstairs room of the jail and was shot in the thigh, causing him to pitch forward and begin to fall out of the window.
Taylor stated that, as he began to fall out of the window, he felt a force push him back inside, and he then dropped onto the windowsill. After a stunned moment on the windowsill, he crawled over to a nearby bed and slid under it for protection.
The first published account of the martyrdom was printed about two weeks after the events, on July 10, 1844, in the Nauvoo Neighbor.
It stated that John Taylor:
received three wounds in his left thigh and knee and one in his left wrist; besides which, a fifth ball, spent its force against his Watch in his left vest pocket. This ball, but for the timely interference of this valuable watch, must have caused instant death…
“Goodness Shall Be Rewarded,” Nauvoo Neighbor, July 10, 1844.
The story remained quite consistent from this point in 1844 until the late 1990s and early 2000s: John Taylor had a pocket watch in his vest pocket that deflected a projectile in Carthage Jail, which, it was assumed, would have killed him with a hit near his heart.
Did John Taylor believe the watch saved his life?
Yes, he did. However, he did not come to that conclusion until several days after the attack at Carthage.
John Taylor was severely injured by several gunshot wounds and spent several days recuperating at a hotel in Carthage before he was well enough to return to his home in Nauvoo.
It was then that Taylor was reunited with the purse and watch he had entrusted to Willard Richards, who had left him at the hotel in Carthage.
Upon examining the watch, John Taylor and his family concluded that it must have been hit by a ball.
Taylor later wrote:
My family however were not a little startled to find that my watch had been struck with a ball. I sent for my vest and upon examination found that there was a cut, as if with a knife, in the vest pocket, which had contained my watch. In the pocket the fragments of the glass were found literally ground to powder.
It then occurred to me that a ball had struck me, at that time I felt myself falling out of the window, and that it was this force that threw me inside.
John Taylor
Taylor continued that he hadn’t been able to account for the feeling he had of falling out the window, but then finding himself still inside the room.
After seeing the watch and concluding that it had been struck by a bullet, he stated:
here the thing was fully accounted for elucidated & was rendered plain to my mind. I was indeed, falling out when some villain aimed at my heart. The ball struck my watch and forced me back, if I had fallen out I should assuredly have been killed, if not by the fall, by those around, and this ball, intended to dispatch me, was turned by an overruling providence into a messenger of mercy, and saved my life.
I shall never forget the feeling of gratitude that I then experienced toward my heavenly Father, the whole scene was vividly pourtrayed before me, and my heart melted before the Lord. I felt the Lord had preserved me by a special act of mercy, that my time had not yet come, and that I had still a work to perform upon the earth.
John Taylor, “Martyrdom Account,” pp. 68-69, The Joseph Smith Papers, accessed May 19, 2025.
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What questions have historians raised about the watch’s damage over the years?
To my knowledge, the story of John Taylor’s pocket watch was not questioned—at least not publicly—until the publication of Glen M. Leonard’s 2002 book Nauvoo: A Place of Peace, A People of Promise.
Leonard was the first to publish the theory that the watch had not been damaged by a bullet, but rather by hitting the windowsill. This theory was proposed by Neil Ord and Charles Pitt after examining the watch in 1998.
After Leonard’s book, several prominent historians picked up the new narrative about the watch and incorporated it into their works. It was even included in Church publications such as Saints Vol. 1 and in signage at the Church History Museum.
A Forensic Reexamination of the Evidence
Why did the Church History Department decide to re-examine John Taylor’s pocket watch?
In the 1990s, museum staff began reporting that patrons were asking questions and leaving comments about the watch.
Several guests who had experience with firearms questioned whether Taylor’s watch had been hit by a bullet because the damage on the watch does not look as significant as one would expect from a firearm projectile.
When compared with other watches that have been hit with bullets—including Hyrum Smith’s watch—Taylor’s watch just doesn’t look like it was hit by a bullet.
What happened when the watch was analyzed in 1998?
Glen Leonard, the museum director at the time, approved a request from museum docent Neil Ord to examine the watch in 1998.
Ord was a retired physics professor and doubted that John Taylor’s watch had been hit by a bullet. He invited a friend, Charles Pitt, who was a retired metallurgy professor, to assist him.
“Windowsill Theory”
They examined the watch together and concluded it had not been struck by a bullet. Instead, they believed it had been damaged when John Taylor fell against the windowsill. Ord and Pitt surmised that the watch had taken the brunt of the impact when it hit the hardwood sill.
A few days later, James Gaskill, a ballistics expert, examined the watch and issued a much less conclusive finding. Gaskill’s report seems to have been overshadowed by the Ord/Pitt report and largely forgotten.
Why did the Church conduct another evaluation of John Taylor’s pocket watch in 2020?
As the windowsill theory gained traction over the next 15 years, some museum staff became uncomfortable presenting it as the only possibility.
In 2020, the leadership of the Church History Department decided that we should conduct a full examination of the evidence to determine how the watch was damaged.
What methods did you and your team use to investigate the damage?
Literature review
We reviewed all the historical accounts of the martyrdom and what they recorded about the watch being hit by a ball.
Scientific analyses
- Forensic ballistics. We hired two teams of forensic ballistic experts to re-examine the watch.
- Antique watch. Additionally, we hired an antique watch expert to examine the watch and completely disassemble it for forensic teams to examine in more detail.
Forensic experiments
Our antique watch expert also helped us purchase about 20 watches that could approximate John Taylor’s original timepiece. These comparison watches were of the same type and made in the same period in Britain.
We conducted forensic experiments with these watches to see if we could replicate the type of damage that Taylor’s watch exhibits.
Virtual models
Some of our forensics experts later suggested that we should also consider Finite Element Analysis (FEA). This allowed us to virtually model all of the watch’s properties and components to see how they would respond to multiple types of force.
For example, we modelled impacts from:
- Blunt force against hardwood
- A direct hit with a .69-caliber musket ball
- Being struck by a fragment of a ball
- Multiple other possible scenarios
Microscopic examination
We also used Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) to analyze the watch and its chemical and elemental composition at a microscopic level.
What were the most important findings from the forensic and ballistic testing?
1. We don’t know how John Taylor’s watch was damaged
First and foremost, we just don’t know for sure exactly how John Taylor’s watch was damaged.
So much time has passed, and the watch has been handled by so many people over the years.
There are also so many possible scenarios that could have led to or contributed to the damage we see on the watch.
2. We know the damage was sustained in Carthage
We do know it was damaged during the attack at Carthage Jail, and we know that John Taylor’s life was spared that day.
Could it still have been damaged by a bullet—just one moving more slowly than expected?
Yes, it absolutely could have been. In fact, one of our forensics teams concluded that the most likely scenario causing damage to John Taylor’s pocket watch was that it was struck by a ball fragment, a ball significantly slowed by a ricochet, a ball passing through an object, or even a very small powder charge.
However, it’s important to note that the other forensic team was more skeptical of this scenario, given their skepticism of the FEA and SEM testing.
How does the damage to John Taylor’s watch compare to Hyrum Smith’s watch from the same attack?
Hyrum’s watch sustained much more significant damage than John Taylor’s did. This comparison leads some to doubt that Taylor’s watch was struck by a ball.
We know that Hyrum Smith’s watch was hit by a ball during the attack at Carthage. In this case, the ball passed through Hyrum’s body from the back, before hitting his watch in his front vest pocket.
This leads many to say there is no way Taylor’s watch could have taken a direct frontal hit from a musket or pistol ball. They conclude that the much more significant damage Hyrum’s watch sustained—even after the ball passed through his body before hitting it—leads to the conclusion that Taylor’s watch couldn’t have experienced the same fate.
Does this mean that John Taylor’s watch wasn’t hit by a bullet?
We should note a few words of caution about this conclusion:
- The watches were uniquely different. John Taylor’s watch was quite different than Hyrum’s. In fact, our antique watch expert quickly told us that Taylor’s watch was of much better quality and would have been more expensive than Hyrum’s. He told us that Hyrum’s watch was of significantly cheaper quality.
- Bullets can behave unpredictably. Additionally, our forensic experts frequently reminded us that bullets can behave unpredictably for unknown reasons.
- The scenarios were different. We also must remember that the scenarios were different. We don’t know for sure exactly which gun fired each ball that hit the watches, whether they had the same powder loads, whether they travelled a similar distance, and so many other variables.
Interpreting Faith, Memory, and Meaning
If someone deeply believes the traditional story, how might they thoughtfully approach the new findings without feeling their faith is diminished?
I think it is important to remember that, based on our research, we don’t yet know exactly how the watch was damaged. It may have been hit by a ball fragment or slowed significantly by a ricochet or by passing through another object. It could also have been fired from a firearm at a great distance, or the powder load could have been very small if the individual loading the firearm was trying to conserve powder or was in a hurry, etc.
I would also say that while it seems unlikely that John Taylor’s watch took a direct hit from a ball, it is still a physical and tangible witness to the terrible events that happened at Carthage on June 27, 1844.
We know that John Taylor had the watch with him in the jail that day, and we know that Taylor was severely wounded—yet his life was preserved.
Do you personally believe God preserved John Taylor’s life in Carthage—regardless of how the watch was damaged?
Yes. I believe that John Taylor’s life was preserved that day in Carthage Jail. He said he felt himself falling out the window and then some force pushed him back inside.
I think it is extremely unlikely that a musket ball hit his watch, and that force pushed him back inside the jail (the physics don’t work in this scenario), but I also believe John Taylor when he said that he felt a force push him back inside the jail.
I believe John Taylor when he said that he felt a force push him back inside the jail.
Additionally, Taylor’s wounds —especially the one to his hip —were quite severe and could have killed him. We know that the Lord can and does preserve life when it is part of His plan. He allowed Joseph and Hyrum Smith to finish their earthly work that day, but preserved John Taylor and Willard Richards for work He still needed them to accomplish.
It is also incredible to think that Willard Richards came out unscathed from a room where bullets were flying from both directions.
For me, the watch is still a very important physical and tangible reminder and witness of the violence that happened that day.
How has the watch story been used in Church art, teaching, and devotional memory over the years?
The watch has served as a physical witness of God’s providence in preserving one of His servants and as a reminder of the sacrifices of Joseph and Hyrum Smith, who were killed that day:
- First accounts. The devotional narrative of the watch saving John Taylor’s life was published in official Church publications within weeks of the attack at Carthage.
- Published photographs. By the late 19th century, photographs of the watch began appearing in many publications.
- Manuals and meetings. Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, the story was published regularly in lesson manuals and Church magazines and was doubtless told verbally in many Church meetings and seminary classes.
How can we responsibly balance reverence for sacred narratives with rigorous historical inquiry?
Those two things aren’t mutually exclusive. The history of the Church is the history of Heavenly Father’s and Jesus Christ’s dealings in restoring the fullness of the Gospel to the earth and of their dealings with those who have gone before us.
It is also important that we strive to follow rigorous standards of historical research, doing all in our power to tell the stories as accurately as possible.
The past is gone, and we can’t tell the entire story. We don’t have the recorded experiences of everyone who witnessed or participated in any historical event, but we must do our best to use all available sources to add as much as possible to our knowledge bank.
Sometimes this means that a well-known narrative may need to be altered if new sources of information are found.
That does not mean that the Church isn’t true or that certain narratives are necessarily false. It just means that we now have a bit more information to add to the narrative.
We need to do all we can to tell the Church’s history accurately.
That information might change the narrative, and occasionally we might find that some stories are not entirely true, but we need to do all we can to record and tell the Church’s history accurately.
In this case, it appears unlikely that John Taylor’s pocket watch stopped the full force of a bullet from hitting him in the chest—though it may have been damaged in some way by a bullet and certainly was damaged in some way in Carthage Jail.
To me, this information does not take away from the narrative that the Lord preserved John Taylor. It simply indicates that the story might not have happened precisely as we thought.
The Legacy of John Taylor’s Pocketwatch
What do we know about the physical journey of the watch after the martyrdom?
John Taylor kept the watch in his possession throughout his life. In fact, he would sometimes carry it with him and pull it out to show it to people.
After his death, his daughter, Annie Taylor Hyde, had the watch in her possession, and we know she displayed it at a Relief Society meeting in 1906.
From Annie, the watch passed to her son, A.E. Hyde Jr., the grandson of John Taylor, who later gifted it to the Church in 1934.
It has been on near-continuous display at the museum since at least 1990.
After the watch was given to the Church by A.E. Hyde Jr., it was stored and, at times, likely displayed at the Bureau of Information on Temple Square. It remained there until the Bureau of Information was demolished in 1976.
Museum objects and artifacts from the Bureau of Information then became the foundation of the museum collections for the Museum of Church History and Art (later renamed the Church History Museum) where it resides today.
The Taylor watch has been on near-continuous display at the museum since at least 1990.
What do you hope readers take away from this investigation of John Taylor’s pocket watch?
I hope people will recognize that John Taylor’s pocket watch illustrates the Church History Department’s deep commitment to telling our history faithfully and truthfully.
The department was willing to invest resources and extensive time to ensure we tell the story as accurately as possible. The watch has been—and is—a very significant object in the history of the Church.
We want to make sure we get the interpretation right.
Though the research efforts didn’t provide us with a conclusive answer, it still allows us to tell the story—inconclusive as it is—as accurately as we can at this time and with the information we have.
What lessons can this teach about our approach to sacred history in general?
We should all want to understand these stories as accurately and truthfully as possible. Sometimes stories become lore, and they get embellished. Other times, someone adds inaccurate details to make the story more exciting or to serve as a spiritual or moral lesson.
Look for sources that are trustworthy with provenance that is known and understood.
I hope that readers will remember that the Gospel of Jesus Christ and our commitment to staying on the covenant path are what really matter in this life.
History is important, and sacred narrative can be inspiring and can help us understand and draw closer to Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father.
But ultimately, the Gospel and our covenants matter most.
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About the Scholar
Brian Warburton is a historian at the Church History Library, working in the Research and Outreach Division. He is the author of “A Forensic and Historical Look at John Taylor’s Watch: Evidence of Divine Mercy”, a BYU Studies article highly relevant to Latter-day Saints learning about sacred historic artifacts. Warburton was also directly involved in the 2024–2025 review of the Temple Square bell, confirming its identity as the Hummer Bell and verifying the link to the First Presbyterian Church in Iowa City.
Further Reading
These From the Desk articles are helpful resources for readers interested in learning more about Carthage Jail and related historical events:
- What Led to Joseph Smith’s Death at Carthage?
- Who Was John Milton Bernhisel?
- What Revelations Did John Taylor Receive?
- Do Forensics Think This Is a Joseph Smith Photo?
- What’s Really in the Journal of Discourses?
John Taylor’s Carthage Pocket Watch
See what top scholars and publishers say about John Taylor’s pocketwatch from the martyrdom of Joseph Smith:
- A Forensic and Historical Look at John Taylor’s Watch: Evidence of Divine Mercy (BYU Studies)
- John Taylor’s Pocket Watch (Church History Library)
- John Taylor’s June 27, 1854, Account of the Martyrdom (BYU Studies)
- Witness to the Martyrdom of the Prophet Joseph Smith (BYU Religious Studies Center)
- John Taylor’s Watch: Holy Relic, Cultural Artifact (Juvenile Instructor)
One reply on “Did John Taylor’s Pocket Watch Save His Life at Carthage Jail?”
“I think it is extremely unlikely that a musket ball hit his watch, and that force pushed him back inside the jail (the physics don’t work in this scenario)”
Please elaborate!