***After Joseph Smith was lynched along with his brother Hyrum... ***
They died in a gunfight at the jail. Both were armed to the teeth.
He did go out the good old American way, shooting, just as any conservative FReeper would. Though one six shooter (3 shots of which misfired)and a few walking sticks to smack the rifle barrells away vs. an armed mob of 200 would probably pass the definition of martyr.
mar·tyr (märtr) n. 1. One who chooses to suffer death rather than renounce religious principles. 2. One who makes great sacrifices or suffers much in order to further a belief, cause, or principle.
From Wiki
Before a trial could be held, a mob of about 200 armed men, their faces painted black with wet gunpowder, stormed the jail in the late afternoon of 27 June 1844.
The mob fired shots through the door and attempted to push the door open to fire into the room. Hyrum Smith was shot in the face, just to the left of his nose. He cried out, "I am a dead man!" and collapsed. His body received five additional gunshot wounds.
Smith, Taylor, and Richards attempted to defend themselves. Taylor and Richards attempted to use walking sticks in order to deflect the guns as they were thrust inside the cell, from behind the door. Smith used a small pepper-box pistol that Cyrus Wheelock had given him when Wheelock had visited the jail earlier that day. Three of the six barrels misfired. Taylor later stated he had been informed that two assailants had died[7] of wounds received from the pistol; however, witnesses identified three injured men who survived and were later indicted for the murder of Joseph Smith.[8]