Richmond, Mo., is where Joseph Smith and other Church leaders were unjustly jailed in November 1838. In that squalid jail cell, the prophet stood in chains and rebuked the guards for their vile boasting of atrocities committed against the Latter-day Saints. Today, in front of the Ray County courthouse is a heroic-size statue of Brig. Gen. Alexander Doniphan, recogized locally as a war hero. He is beloved by Latter-day Saints for refusing to carry out an illegal order by Maj. Gen. Samuel Lucas to execute the prophet and other Church leaders.
Nearby, in a pioneer cemetery, are the graves of Oliver Cowdery and several of the Whitmers, with a monument to the Three Witnesses to the Book of Mormon. And in the city cemetery is David Whitmer's grave.To reach Richmond from Independence, go east on U.S. Highway 24, then north on State Highway 13.
