David Whitmers Grave, Richmond County Cemetery, Richmond Missouri

Only a mile and a half away from the Pioneer Cemetery, where the Three Witnesses Monument is located, is the Richmond Cemetery where one of the three witnesses is buried, David Whitmer. The Richmond Cemetery is only .5 miles away from the courthouse. David Whitmers grave is in the center of the cemetery.

David Whitmer was one of the three witnesses of the Book of Mormon. He was a strong defender of the Faith and was a close friend to the prophet Joseph Smith. David Whitmer was the last of the three witnesses, and defended the Book of Mormon until the end of his life. David Whitmer did apostatize from the Church and never returned, but never denied what he saw as a special witness of The Book of Mormon.

David Whitmer died in Richmond Missouri on January 25, 1888. He was 83 years old. His grave is 21 feet from the rear boundary of the cemetery and 33 feet east of the Middle Cemetery Road.

More to see in the Richmond County Cemetery

Austin King, the judge who directed the court of inquiry to Richmond in 1838. Austin King was the judge who put Joseph, Hyrum and friends in Liberty Jail.

Joseph Smith and several other brethren were taken prisoner by the Missouri militia in Far West on October 31, 1838. The militia marched the men from Far West to Independence and then to Richmond, Missouri. In Richmond, Joseph Smith and the other brethren were brought before Judge Austin A. King, who offered to free those who would “renounce [their] religion and forsake the Prophet” Each of them refused the offer. During the preliminary hearing, Judge King decided to hold Joseph Smith and the other brethren, several of them Church leaders, as prisoners while they awaited trial on charges of treason. On December 1, 1838, the Prophet Joseph Smith, Hyrum Smith, Caleb Baldwin, Sidney Rigdon, Lyman Wight, and Alexander McRae were taken to the jail in Liberty, Missouri. (See Bray, “Within the Walls of Liberty Jail,” 256–63, or history.ChurchofJesusChrist.org.)

Also, Bob Ford, the man who shot Jesse James at St. Joseph Mo. is buried near David Whitmers grave.