Winslow Farr Jr.
Erastus Snow
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Winslow Farr Jr.
Erastus Snow
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Winslow Farr Jr. Erastus Snow Trowbridge coat of arma Snow Coat of ArmsWinslow Farr 1837-
1. Winslow Farr, Jr. Biography
2. by Wilma and Randall Smith
3. Back
Winslow Farr, Jr., was born May 11, 1837, at Charleston, Orleans Co., Vermont. Winslow Jr., was the youngest and smallest at birth of the six children who were born to Winslow Farr, Sr., and Olive Hovey Freeman.
Diaries - Part 1 - June 1998 The first entry in Winslow’s journal reads: “Winslow Farr Junior was born may 11, 1837. I now at the age of 18th and in my 19th year I do commence a brief sketch of my life beginning at May 1, 1856.”
Diaries - Part 2 - January 1999 On June 15th, 1850 Winslow Farr Sr., his two wives (Olive & Almena) & Winslow Farr Jr. embarked, by wagon train with Captain Gardner Snow, for their westward journey to the Great Salt Lake Valley.
Diaries - Part 3 - June 1999 The six foot four inch, 19 year old, wrote about his daily activities in his diary. Cultivating land near Cottonwood canyon at the foot of the Wasatch mountains in the Utah territory, he helped develop his fathers farm.
Diaries - Part 4 - January 2000 The following selected excerpts from Winslow Farr Jr.’s diaries reflect the early pioneer life in the years 1856-1857 on the Big Cottonwood farms cultivated south of Salt Lake City, Territory Settlement.
Diaries - Part 5 - June 2000 Salt Lake City was founded on July 24, 1847 by 148 Mormon pioneers led by Brigham Young. The group overlooked the valley from the mouth of Emigration Canyon and Brigham Young stated, "This is the place."
Diaries - Part 6 - January 2001 In 1857, twenty year old Winslow Jr. was selected as a Captain of a 10 man Mormon Militia team. The Militia was organized to resist the United States Army troops commanded by General Albert Johnson.
Diaries - Part 7 - January 2001 Winslow Farr Jr. helped his father in law, Robert D. Covington quarry sandstone and build a stone wall. In addition, Winslow drove cattle to mountain pastures, hauled seed cotton to the gin, helped bale cotton and plant trees. He also worked for others in exchange for cotton and molasses.
Diaries - Part 8 - January 2001 Pioneer communities always managed to arrange time for their entertainment. Family tradition states, Winslow had a favorite saying, “I am not a musician, I just love to fiddle around”.
Diaries - Part 9 - January 2001 There is a gap in Winslow Farr Jr’.s diaries from may 1863 to March 1869. We presume these diaries were lost because the next entry we have begin with the date March 18, 1869 and the notation second missionary diary.
Diaries - Part 10 - January 2003A continuing series of excerpts from Winslow Farr Jr. Diaries with his own words and spelling.
2. by Wilma and Randall Smith
3. Back
Winslow Farr, Jr., was born May 11, 1837, at Charleston, Orleans Co., Vermont. Winslow Jr., was the youngest and smallest at birth of the six children who were born to Winslow Farr, Sr., and Olive Hovey Freeman.
Diaries - Part 1 - June 1998 The first entry in Winslow’s journal reads: “Winslow Farr Junior was born may 11, 1837. I now at the age of 18th and in my 19th year I do commence a brief sketch of my life beginning at May 1, 1856.”
Diaries - Part 2 - January 1999 On June 15th, 1850 Winslow Farr Sr., his two wives (Olive & Almena) & Winslow Farr Jr. embarked, by wagon train with Captain Gardner Snow, for their westward journey to the Great Salt Lake Valley.
Diaries - Part 3 - June 1999 The six foot four inch, 19 year old, wrote about his daily activities in his diary. Cultivating land near Cottonwood canyon at the foot of the Wasatch mountains in the Utah territory, he helped develop his fathers farm.
Diaries - Part 4 - January 2000 The following selected excerpts from Winslow Farr Jr.’s diaries reflect the early pioneer life in the years 1856-1857 on the Big Cottonwood farms cultivated south of Salt Lake City, Territory Settlement.
Diaries - Part 5 - June 2000 Salt Lake City was founded on July 24, 1847 by 148 Mormon pioneers led by Brigham Young. The group overlooked the valley from the mouth of Emigration Canyon and Brigham Young stated, "This is the place."
Diaries - Part 6 - January 2001 In 1857, twenty year old Winslow Jr. was selected as a Captain of a 10 man Mormon Militia team. The Militia was organized to resist the United States Army troops commanded by General Albert Johnson.
Diaries - Part 7 - January 2001 Winslow Farr Jr. helped his father in law, Robert D. Covington quarry sandstone and build a stone wall. In addition, Winslow drove cattle to mountain pastures, hauled seed cotton to the gin, helped bale cotton and plant trees. He also worked for others in exchange for cotton and molasses.
Diaries - Part 8 - January 2001 Pioneer communities always managed to arrange time for their entertainment. Family tradition states, Winslow had a favorite saying, “I am not a musician, I just love to fiddle around”.
Diaries - Part 9 - January 2001 There is a gap in Winslow Farr Jr’.s diaries from may 1863 to March 1869. We presume these diaries were lost because the next entry we have begin with the date March 18, 1869 and the notation second missionary diary.
Diaries - Part 10 - January 2003A continuing series of excerpts from Winslow Farr Jr. Diaries with his own words and spelling.
James Chancy Snow 1817-1884
[Ancestral Link: Marguerite Anderson (Miller), daughter of Hannah Anderson (Anderson), daughter of Mary Margaret Edmiston (Anderson), daughter of Martha Jane Snow (Edmiston), daughter of Gardner Snow, father of James Chancy Snow.]
Notes for James Chaney SNOW
Snow, James Chaney, president of the Utah (or Provo) Stake of Zion from 1853 to 1858, was born Jan. 11, 1817, in the town of Chesterfield, Cheshire [p.795] county, New Hampshire, son of Gardner Snow and Sarah Hasting. He was reared from a child, eighteen months old, to manhood in the State of Vermont. He was baptized into the Church Oct. 19, 1833, was ordained a Teacher June 23, 1834, and ordained a Priest Nov. 23, 1834. In the year 1836 he filled a mission to the New England States, where he baptized many, among whom Elizabeth Cluff and Lucy Smith. April 20, 1837, he received a patriarchal blessing in the Kirtland Temple under the hands of Patriarch Joseph Smith, sen. In 1838 he married Eliza Ann Carter at Kirtland, Ohio, and with his wife he traveled to Missouri in the Kirtland camp; thence went to Illinois and settled in Nauvoo, where he became a member of the Nauvoo Legion. May 17, 1844, he left his home in Illinois to go on a special mission, on which he was instructed also to electioneer for Joseph Smith, who was a candidate for the presidency of the United States. A response to this call required a great sacrifice on Elder Snow's part as his family, consisting of a wife and four children, were in poor circumstances; they had not even flour in the house at the time, but his wife told him to go and do his duty, and God would provide; and so he did. Elder Snow arrived at Maddison, Ind., June 24, 1844, after walking 52 miles. At that place he was joined by Dominicus Carter; and the two Elders started out together without purse or scrip, and God blessed them. On the 27th of June, the very day on which Joseph and Hyrum Smith were martyred, Elder Snow was preaching at Milroy, Rush county, Ind. After the martyrdom the Elders went forth to comfort the Saints in the freshness of their grief over their martyred Prophets. Bro. Snow, together with other missionaries, was called home shortly after the martyrdom, and he was present at the meeting when the mantle of Joseph fell upon Brigham Young—an event of which he often testified afterwards. Together with his family he left Nauvoo in 1846, to go to the Valleys of the Mountains. They remained at Council Bluffs until 1852, when they started across the plains with Brother Snow as captain of the company. After enduring the hardships and privations of a long and toilsome journey they arrived in Salt Lake City Oct. 9, 1852. Later in the fall Brother Snow and family moved to Provo, Utah county, and in 1853 he was appointed president of the Utah Stake of Zion, which position he held until 1858, when he resigned. In the spring of 1857 he accompanied the First Presidency on a mountain trip through northern Utah and into Oregon. Elder Snow held many responsible civil positions in the community. Thus he served as a member of the Utah legislature in 1856, and was appointed United States deputy marshal in 1853. In 1858 he was elected surveyor of Utah county; and he was re-elected to that position in 1860. In the fall of 1868 he moved to southern Utah, where he remained till 1880, when he located at Pettyville, where he died April 30, 1884, aged 67 years, 3 months and 19 days. His body was taken to Manti for interment. Elder Snow was loved and respected by all who knew him and remained firm and faithful in the Church till the last. He was the father of twenty children.
Snow, James Chaney, president of the Utah (or Provo) Stake of Zion from 1853 to 1858, was born Jan. 11, 1817, in the town of Chesterfield, Cheshire [p.795] county, New Hampshire, son of Gardner Snow and Sarah Hasting. He was reared from a child, eighteen months old, to manhood in the State of Vermont. He was baptized into the Church Oct. 19, 1833, was ordained a Teacher June 23, 1834, and ordained a Priest Nov. 23, 1834. In the year 1836 he filled a mission to the New England States, where he baptized many, among whom Elizabeth Cluff and Lucy Smith. April 20, 1837, he received a patriarchal blessing in the Kirtland Temple under the hands of Patriarch Joseph Smith, sen. In 1838 he married Eliza Ann Carter at Kirtland, Ohio, and with his wife he traveled to Missouri in the Kirtland camp; thence went to Illinois and settled in Nauvoo, where he became a member of the Nauvoo Legion. May 17, 1844, he left his home in Illinois to go on a special mission, on which he was instructed also to electioneer for Joseph Smith, who was a candidate for the presidency of the United States. A response to this call required a great sacrifice on Elder Snow's part as his family, consisting of a wife and four children, were in poor circumstances; they had not even flour in the house at the time, but his wife told him to go and do his duty, and God would provide; and so he did. Elder Snow arrived at Maddison, Ind., June 24, 1844, after walking 52 miles. At that place he was joined by Dominicus Carter; and the two Elders started out together without purse or scrip, and God blessed them. On the 27th of June, the very day on which Joseph and Hyrum Smith were martyred, Elder Snow was preaching at Milroy, Rush county, Ind. After the martyrdom the Elders went forth to comfort the Saints in the freshness of their grief over their martyred Prophets. Bro. Snow, together with other missionaries, was called home shortly after the martyrdom, and he was present at the meeting when the mantle of Joseph fell upon Brigham Young—an event of which he often testified afterwards. Together with his family he left Nauvoo in 1846, to go to the Valleys of the Mountains. They remained at Council Bluffs until 1852, when they started across the plains with Brother Snow as captain of the company. After enduring the hardships and privations of a long and toilsome journey they arrived in Salt Lake City Oct. 9, 1852. Later in the fall Brother Snow and family moved to Provo, Utah county, and in 1853 he was appointed president of the Utah Stake of Zion, which position he held until 1858, when he resigned. In the spring of 1857 he accompanied the First Presidency on a mountain trip through northern Utah and into Oregon. Elder Snow held many responsible civil positions in the community. Thus he served as a member of the Utah legislature in 1856, and was appointed United States deputy marshal in 1853. In 1858 he was elected surveyor of Utah county; and he was re-elected to that position in 1860. In the fall of 1868 he moved to southern Utah, where he remained till 1880, when he located at Pettyville, where he died April 30, 1884, aged 67 years, 3 months and 19 days. His body was taken to Manti for interment. Elder Snow was loved and respected by all who knew him and remained firm and faithful in the Church till the last. He was the father of twenty children.
Source:
Latter-day Saint Biographical EncyclopediaVolume 1
Biographies
Snow, James Chaney
Lorin Farr History
1. Lorin Farr History - Part 8by David J. Farr
2. Back
While the rest of Winslow and Olive Farr's family were enroute to Salt Lake, Winslow, his wife Olive, and Diantha Farr Clayton had been left in Winter Quarters and Kanesville, Iowa. From there Winslow served a two-year mission in the Eastern States from 1847-49. In his book on Lorin Farr, T. Earl Pardoe mentions that Winslow returned from his successful mission in the East. Pardoe says that the heroic struggle made by Winslow's wife and children at Winter Quarters and Kanesville in his absence would make a book in itself. The last time the Winslow Farr's had seen Brigham Young was on March 27, 1848.
In 1850 they met again in Winter Quarters: "At 10:40 o'clock p.m. the meeting was called to order in the Log Tabernacle when Brigham Young was elected chairman and Evan M. Green, secretary. The following prominent citizens were present by invitation, Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, Phineas H. Young ... Winslow Farr."
At this meeting Brigham Young outlined what must be done to get all the people out to Utah. It was with joy that Winslow and his family looked forward to the journey West and reunion with the rest of the family.
"Captain Garner Snow's company of emigrating Saints ... left the Missouri River for G.S.L. Valley."
From a letter written August 28, 1850 signed by Joseph Young and Gardner Snow and addressed to the First Presidency in the Valley we cull the following: "We are the second fifty of Captain Snow's hundred; Gardner Snow is captain, Joseph Young, president; Winslow Farr, counsellor."
Brigham Young gave good instruction to the Saints upon first entering the valley. They were to be unselfish, live humbly and keep the commandments of God that they might prosper in the valley. He also instructed them not to hunt or fish on the Sabbath or work thereon. Those that wished to do otherwise could go live somewhere else. Brigham also instructed that there was to be no land sold, but everyone would have land measured off to them. They were to receive no more than they could use in cultivation.
Lorin entered the Salt lake Valley in the second company to enter the valley after the original band headed by Brigham Young. (LF, p. 106) Two days after arriving in the valley, Lorin and Nancy along with their toddling baby went to conference, voting with hundreds present to accept the name, "Great Salt Lake City." Some two dozen log cabins were already built and Lorin was given space for his cabin north and west of the Temple Block on First West and North Temple Street. He was next to his brother Aaron and brother-in-law, William Clayton. The survey work was led by Orson Pratt using the most modern equipment then available. When rechecked by government officials it did not require changing.
Not much is recorded of Lorin's activities in Salt Lake on his arrival. We know on February 25, 1849 Lorin Farr and William Clayton were selected in a meeting and appointed to assign representatives of lots in the Seventeenth Ward their quota of fencing and to decide where each fence should be built. A road, two rods wide, was to be around each block. The First Presidency recommended that gardens and fruit orchards be planted. (An Enduring Legacy p. 134, 5 Daughters of the Utah Pioneers)
After staying a while in the "Old Fort," Lorin moved onto a lot northwest of the Temple block. His first domicile in the valley was his wagon box, taken off the running gears and made into a temporary abode. He and his brother, Aaron, soon hauled logs from the canyon and built homes of a more comfortable character. Their houses in the fort had whip sawed lumber floors and were among the best constructed there.
From Winter Quarters, Lorin had brought with him all kinds of seeds, and these he planted in the spring of 1848. Most of his crop was devoured by crickets before they were destroyed by seagulls, but Lorin raised enough to support his family until another harvest time. Then he had considerable to spare. Some of his neighbors were forced to eat thistle roots, raw hides and even wolf meat. Many put their families upon rations. He was not reduced to this necessity, owing to the fact, he says, that he had an economical wife who managed so well that the family had enough to eat and some to give away. (NADB, p. 35)
In March of 1849 Lorin was present at the convention for forming a constitution for the State of Deseret and to submit a resolution to Congress asking for admission as a state.
During the summer many groups of gold seekers came through Salt Lake on their way to California. Lorin did some trading to his advantage, giving horses for furniture and household goods. The Saints had great advantage in trading as the gold seekers were desperate for means of travel and food. The travelers were selling their goods at a great discount to get themselves to California. This fulfilled a prophecy by Heber C. Kimball a year earlier that goods in Salt Lake would sell for much less than in the East. Brother Kimball couldn't believe what he said, thinking he had "missed one" as it seemed so unlikely. Lorin was to play an active part in the fulfilment of President Kimball's prophecy.
Lorin participated on the committee to organize a celebration in July 1848 to commemorate the pioneers' coming into the valley. It was a combination of thanksgiving and celebration. Lorin was present in several meetings where school organization and entertainment were discussed. Lorin was trying to determine whether he would return to his profession of teaching. Out of these meetings and planning came the Deseret Dramatic Association. Lorin said he was no actor and would leave acting to his wife, Nancy. Lorin wondered whether he should go into merchandising, the lumber business, or to build and run a flour mill.
Joy came to the home of Lorin and Nancy that year when their second girl, Sarah, was born on October 30, 1849. She would become the mother of George Albert Smith, the eighth president of the church. (LF, p. 103)
Please bring any history you have on Lorin or his family to our reunion to share in the class on Lorin and his family. Also bring any pictures you might have of Lorin, his wives, children, and spouses that should go in the biography on him. If you can't make it to the reunion, please send pictures to me and I will reimburse you for any duplicating and postage costs.
In the next newsletter I will be writing about Ogden, Utah and the Farr family's influence there. This will result in quite a long running series as I have much information gathered.
David J. Farr
2. Back
While the rest of Winslow and Olive Farr's family were enroute to Salt Lake, Winslow, his wife Olive, and Diantha Farr Clayton had been left in Winter Quarters and Kanesville, Iowa. From there Winslow served a two-year mission in the Eastern States from 1847-49. In his book on Lorin Farr, T. Earl Pardoe mentions that Winslow returned from his successful mission in the East. Pardoe says that the heroic struggle made by Winslow's wife and children at Winter Quarters and Kanesville in his absence would make a book in itself. The last time the Winslow Farr's had seen Brigham Young was on March 27, 1848.
In 1850 they met again in Winter Quarters: "At 10:40 o'clock p.m. the meeting was called to order in the Log Tabernacle when Brigham Young was elected chairman and Evan M. Green, secretary. The following prominent citizens were present by invitation, Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, Phineas H. Young ... Winslow Farr."
At this meeting Brigham Young outlined what must be done to get all the people out to Utah. It was with joy that Winslow and his family looked forward to the journey West and reunion with the rest of the family.
"Captain Garner Snow's company of emigrating Saints ... left the Missouri River for G.S.L. Valley."
From a letter written August 28, 1850 signed by Joseph Young and Gardner Snow and addressed to the First Presidency in the Valley we cull the following: "We are the second fifty of Captain Snow's hundred; Gardner Snow is captain, Joseph Young, president; Winslow Farr, counsellor."
Brigham Young gave good instruction to the Saints upon first entering the valley. They were to be unselfish, live humbly and keep the commandments of God that they might prosper in the valley. He also instructed them not to hunt or fish on the Sabbath or work thereon. Those that wished to do otherwise could go live somewhere else. Brigham also instructed that there was to be no land sold, but everyone would have land measured off to them. They were to receive no more than they could use in cultivation.
Lorin entered the Salt lake Valley in the second company to enter the valley after the original band headed by Brigham Young. (LF, p. 106) Two days after arriving in the valley, Lorin and Nancy along with their toddling baby went to conference, voting with hundreds present to accept the name, "Great Salt Lake City." Some two dozen log cabins were already built and Lorin was given space for his cabin north and west of the Temple Block on First West and North Temple Street. He was next to his brother Aaron and brother-in-law, William Clayton. The survey work was led by Orson Pratt using the most modern equipment then available. When rechecked by government officials it did not require changing.
Not much is recorded of Lorin's activities in Salt Lake on his arrival. We know on February 25, 1849 Lorin Farr and William Clayton were selected in a meeting and appointed to assign representatives of lots in the Seventeenth Ward their quota of fencing and to decide where each fence should be built. A road, two rods wide, was to be around each block. The First Presidency recommended that gardens and fruit orchards be planted. (An Enduring Legacy p. 134, 5 Daughters of the Utah Pioneers)
After staying a while in the "Old Fort," Lorin moved onto a lot northwest of the Temple block. His first domicile in the valley was his wagon box, taken off the running gears and made into a temporary abode. He and his brother, Aaron, soon hauled logs from the canyon and built homes of a more comfortable character. Their houses in the fort had whip sawed lumber floors and were among the best constructed there.
From Winter Quarters, Lorin had brought with him all kinds of seeds, and these he planted in the spring of 1848. Most of his crop was devoured by crickets before they were destroyed by seagulls, but Lorin raised enough to support his family until another harvest time. Then he had considerable to spare. Some of his neighbors were forced to eat thistle roots, raw hides and even wolf meat. Many put their families upon rations. He was not reduced to this necessity, owing to the fact, he says, that he had an economical wife who managed so well that the family had enough to eat and some to give away. (NADB, p. 35)
In March of 1849 Lorin was present at the convention for forming a constitution for the State of Deseret and to submit a resolution to Congress asking for admission as a state.
During the summer many groups of gold seekers came through Salt Lake on their way to California. Lorin did some trading to his advantage, giving horses for furniture and household goods. The Saints had great advantage in trading as the gold seekers were desperate for means of travel and food. The travelers were selling their goods at a great discount to get themselves to California. This fulfilled a prophecy by Heber C. Kimball a year earlier that goods in Salt Lake would sell for much less than in the East. Brother Kimball couldn't believe what he said, thinking he had "missed one" as it seemed so unlikely. Lorin was to play an active part in the fulfilment of President Kimball's prophecy.
Lorin participated on the committee to organize a celebration in July 1848 to commemorate the pioneers' coming into the valley. It was a combination of thanksgiving and celebration. Lorin was present in several meetings where school organization and entertainment were discussed. Lorin was trying to determine whether he would return to his profession of teaching. Out of these meetings and planning came the Deseret Dramatic Association. Lorin said he was no actor and would leave acting to his wife, Nancy. Lorin wondered whether he should go into merchandising, the lumber business, or to build and run a flour mill.
Joy came to the home of Lorin and Nancy that year when their second girl, Sarah, was born on October 30, 1849. She would become the mother of George Albert Smith, the eighth president of the church. (LF, p. 103)
Please bring any history you have on Lorin or his family to our reunion to share in the class on Lorin and his family. Also bring any pictures you might have of Lorin, his wives, children, and spouses that should go in the biography on him. If you can't make it to the reunion, please send pictures to me and I will reimburse you for any duplicating and postage costs.
In the next newsletter I will be writing about Ogden, Utah and the Farr family's influence there. This will result in quite a long running series as I have much information gathered.
David J. Farr
Erastus Snow 1818-1888
Born 1818 St. Jonesbury, Vermont
Baptized 1833
Ordained Teacher 1834
Ordained Priest 1834
Ordained Elder 1835
Mission to New Hampshire and Vermont 1835
Mission to Pennsylvania 1836
Ordained Seventy (Second Quorum) 1836
Married Artemesia Beman 1838; later practiced plural marriage
Ordained Apostle and sustained to Quorum of Twelve 1849
Numerous Missions to the East, to Europe and to Southern Utah
Died 1888 Salt Lake City, Utah
The following biographical sketch is excerpted from the LDS Biographical Encyclopedia.
=============================================
Erastus Snow was a member of the Council of Twelve Apostles from 1849 to 1888. He was the son of Levi and Lucina Snow, and was born at St. Johnsbury, Caledonia county, Vermont, Nov. 9, 1818. His father's family was among the early settlers of the Massachusetts colony.
At an early age Erastus Snow was much impressed with religion, his mother being a member of the Wesleyan-Methodist church. In the spring of 1832 Elders Orson Pratt and Luke S. Johnson visited Vermont and commenced to preach the fulness of the gospel. William and Zerubbabel, two elder brothers of Erastus, were the first of the Snow family who were baptized. Erastus, who was only fourteen years of age, believed the testimony of the Elders when he first heard it, and was baptized by his elder brother. William, Feb. 3, 1833.
Immediately after his baptism, he commenced to search the scriptures diligently and soon became very desirous to preach. Consequently, he was ordained to the office of a teacher, June 28, 1834, by Elder John F. Boynton. At that time he worked on his father's farm at St. Johnsbury, where a branch of the Church had been organized. Erastus met regularly with the Saints on Sundays and visited them in their houses. He also made several short missionary trips to the neighboring villages, in company with his cousin Gardner Snow and others. He was ordained by his brother William to the office of a Priest, Nov. 13, 1834, after which he extended his missionary labors into the States of New York and New Hampshire, holding meetings and baptizing quite a number. After being ordained an Elder by Elder Luke S. Johnson, Aug. 16, 1835, he continued his mission with increased zeal in New Hampshire and Vermont, in company with William E. M'Lellin, his brother Willard and others. Nov. 8, 1835, he left St. Johnsbury together with Elder Hazen Aldrich and traveled to Kirtland, Ohio.
After a hard journey, during which they came near being shipwrecked on Lake Erie, they reached their destination Dec. 3rd. In Kirtland Elder Snow met the Prophet Joseph Smith for the first time and lived with him several weeks.
The next spring he was ordained a Seventy, called into the Second Quorum of Seventy, and received his patriarchal blessings under the hands of Joseph Smith, Sen. After the endowments in Kirtland, the Elders went out preaching with greater diligence than ever, and Elder Snow started on a mission to Pennsylvania April 16, 1836. He was absent over eight months, during which time he traveled 1,600 miles, preached 220 sermons, baptized 50 persons, organized several branches of the Church in western Pennsylvania, and returned to Kirtland, Dec. 29th.
With Elder Bosley as a missionary companion, he started on another mission to the East, May 9, 1837. After seven months' absence, he returned to Kirtland, Dec. 5, 1837, having labored faithfully in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland, preached 147 sermons and baptized about forty people.
Jan. 2, 1838, he started from Kirtland on yet another missionary tour. A couple of days later he attended a conference of Elders at Milton, fifty miles south. There he was challenged for a debate by a Mr. Hubbard, a Campbellite preacher, who denounced the Book of Mormon as false. Elder Snow suggested to the congregation that he would produce as much proof for the divinity of the Book of Mormon as his opponent could for the Bible. With this the people seemed to be entirely satisfied, and a meeting was appointed for the following day. But when the hour of meeting arrived, none of the six Campbellite preachers, who were present, would abide by Elder Snow's proposition. Being anxious to use every opportunity that presented itself to lay the truth before the people, Elder Snow finally consented to other arrangements, and the debate was continued until 11 o'clock at night. As usual, the truth was triumphant, although Elder Snow was abused in various ways.
In the latter part of May he received a message from Kirtland, notifying him to return to Ohio, for the purpose of going to Missouri. With joy he complied with this call and arrived in Kirtland June 3, 1838, after five months' absence. In Kirtland he met Elders Heber C. Kimball and Orson Hyde, who had just returned from their missions to England, and were now preparing for a journey to Missouri. Most of the Kirtland Saints were also preparing to remove to Missouri because of apostasy and persecutions in Ohio. Together with forty or fifty others, Elder Snow started from Kirtland June 25th and traveled by land to Wellsville, on the Ohio river, thence with steamboats down that river, 950 miles, and up the Mississippi and Missouri rivers, 550 miles further, to the Richmond landing in Missouri. From this place the company traveled forty miles northward to Far West, in Caldwell county, where they arrived July 18th.
Elder Snow married Artemesia Beman Dec. 3, 1838, and taught school the following winter in Far West. In the following February (1839), together with other brethren, he was sent by the Church at Far West as a messenger to Liberty, Clay county, where Joseph, the Prophet, and fellow-prisoners at that time were incarcerated. When the jailor on the evening of Feb. 8th brought supper to the prisoners, the visiting brethren were permitted to enter the cell. That same evening the prisoners, agreeable to an arrangement made the day previous, made an attempt to escape, but failed. When the jailor went out, Hyrum Smith took hold of the door, and the others followed; but before they could render the assistance needed, the jailor and guard succeeded in closing the door, shutting in the visiting brethren as well as the prisoners.
The jailor immediately gave the alarm, and the greatest excitement followed. Not only the citizens of the town, but a great number from the surrounding country, gathered around the jail. Every mode of torture and death that their imagination could fancy, was proposed for the prisoners, such as blowing up the jail, taking the prisoners out and whipping them to death, shooting them and burning them to death, tearing them to pieces with horses, etc. The brethren inside listened to all these threats, but believing that the Lord would deliver them, laid down to rest for the night. The mob finally became so divided among themselves that they were unable to carry out any of their numerous plans. That night, while some of the visiting brethren spoke about their being in great danger, the prophet Joseph told them "not to fear, that not a hair of their heads should be hurt, and that they should not lose any of their things, even to a bridle, saddle, or blanket; that everything should be restored to them; they had offered their lives for their friends and the gospel; that it was necessary the Church should offer a sacrifice and the Lord accepted the offering."
In the beginning of May, Elder Snow visited Commerce, in Hancock county, which had been selected as a gathering place for the Saints. Here he commenced a new home, and in the following June removed his family to Montrose, on the opposite, side of the river, where he had secured a small hut for a temporary dwelling. July 4, 1839, he started on a mission, to which he had been called at the conference held in Quincy two months previous. He traveled through several counties in Illinois, held a number of meetings and administered to the sick, until it was revealed to him in a dream that his family was sick and needed his presence.
When President Joseph Smith returned from Washington in March, 1840, he told Elder Snow that his labors were much needed in Pennsylvania. Wishing to act upon this suggestion, he at once prepared for a mission to that State. But as the protracted illness to which he and his family had been subjected had reduced him to the depths of poverty, he had no means wherewith to defray traveling expenses, and he was too weak to undertake the journey on foot. After preaching several times in Quincy and attending the April conference at Commerce, where he received some means from kindhearted Saints, he finally took leave of his family April 28, 1840, and started on his mission with Elder S. James as a companion. They traveled down the Mississippi and up the Ohio rivers, a distance of about fourteen hundred miles, to Wellsburgh, in Virginia, where they landed May 7th and commenced their missionary labors. After having held a two days discussion with a Campbellite preacher (Matthew Clapp), Elder Snow continued to Philadelphia and afterwards visited New York and Brooklyn.
He continued to preach and baptize in Philadelphia and vicinity, and also in New Jersey, until towards the close of September, when he received a letter from Nauvoo to the effect that his mother-in-law, with whom his wife resided, was dead. Concluding under these circumstances to bring his wife to Pennsylvania, he left Philadelphia Sept. 30th and arrived at Nauvoo Oct. 21st, having been absent about six months and traveled 5,650 miles. After a stay of seventeen days in Nauvoo, he started for Pennsylvania Nov. 7, 1840, taking his wife with him.
Finally he happened to meet Elder George A. Smith, who was returning from his mission to England, and also Elders John E. Page, Dr. Galland, William B. Smith, Hyrum Smith, William Law and others from Nauvoo. The two last named brethren had visited the New England States, and meeting Elder Snow on their return they desired that he should go to Salem, in Massachusetts, to open the gospel door. In a revelation given in 1836 the Lord had said that He had much people in that city. Although Elder Snow had expected to return to Nauvoo in the fall, and he also knew that his long absence would affect his temporal affairs considerably, he made up his mind to go to Salem, after making the subject a matter of sincere prayer.
He reaped the first fruits of his work in Salem Nov. 8, 1841, by initiating the first five persons into the Church by baptism, and before the close of February, 1842, the number of baptized had increased to 35. March 5, 1842, he held a conference meeting in the Masonic Hall, and organized a branch of the Church, consisting of 53 members. He also ordained an Elder and a Priest. Subsequently he extended his field of labor to Boston, where he assisted Elder Nickerson in organizing a branch of the Church, and to Marblehead, Bradford, Lynn, Petersboro (in New Hampshire) and other places. In April, 1842, he visited Philadelphia, Penn., where he attended a five days' conference. After his return to Salem, his first son was born, May 1, 1842.
Having set the branch in order and appointed a brother to preside, Elder Snow left Salem March 9, 1843 and arrived in Nauvoo April 11th.
At the general conference held at Nauvoo in April, 1844, Elder Snow was again called to go on a mission to the Eastern States. Consequently, about three weeks later (April 30th), he took a memorable leave of his family and the Prophet, whom he never saw again in this life, and commenced his journey. After having visited the branches in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont, he, in company with four of the Twelve, held a conference in Salem, Mass., in July. About this time the sad news of the martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum Smith reached him, and he concluded to return home. When he arrived at Nauvoo July 25th he found the Saints bowed down with grief over the loss of their beloved leaders. Elder Snow attended the special meetings on Aug. 8th, at which the Twelve Apostles, with Brigham Young as president, were acknowledged as the highest authority in the Church, notwithstanding Sidney Rigdon's claim to the leadership.
Elder Snow was present in the general council of the Church, held in Nauvoo, where General Warren, Judge Douglas and other State dignitaries, sent by Governor Ford, were present, and where the Saints agreed to leave the State early the following spring. From that time the Saints doubled their efforts in completing the Temple, in order to receive their blessings before leaving for the wilderness.
In the beginning of December the attic story was dedicated for giving endowments, Elder Snow and his wife received their anointings Dec. 12th, after which he was called to administer in the Temple, and he remained there night and day for six weeks, together with the Twelve and others who were called to officiate in a similar manner.
On Jan. 23, 1846, Elder Snow yielded obedience to the principle of plural marriage, by having not only his wife Artimesia, but also a second wife, Minerva, sealed to him for time and all eternity. They also received their second anointings. During the winter the difficulties with the mob continued to loom up, and when it was decided in council to commence the emigration westward in February, Elder Snow was sent to Quincy to lay in supplies for the pioneer company.
Elder Snow writes: "Many interesting episodes occurred on the journey, but among trying and affecting ones was the appearance of the mountain fever among us. This affliction detained us so that, with the labor on the roads through the Wasatch Mountains, we were unable to reach Great Salt Lake valley until the 21st of July, when Orson Pratt and myself, of the working parties, who were exploring, first emerged into the valley and visited the site of the future Salt Lake City, and when we ascended Red Butte, near the mouth of Emigration canyon, which gave us the first glimpse of the blue waters of the Great Salt Lake, we simultaneously swung our hats and shouted, Hosannah! for the Spirit told us that here the Saints should find rest.
Elder Snow continues: "Soon after our arrival in the valley, I was appointed one of the presidency of the Stake, and during the following winter (Feb. 12, 1849), I was called and ordained into the quorum of the Twelve Apostles, together With Charles C. Rich, Lorenzo Snow and Franklin D. Richards. In my ordination, President Brigham Young acted as spokesman. I continued to labor in the ministry, in common with my brethren, though all were obliged to labor with their hands during the week, in opening up farms and building houses for our families.
We all wintered in the Old Fort, which had been commenced and partly built by the Pioneers, using our wagon beds chiefly for our sleeping rooms. During the spring of 1849, we began to move out on our lots, divided the city into Wards, and began to fence by Wards. During the summer, I built chiefly with my own hands, two rooms on my lot, one of adobe, the other of logs, separated from each other for a shed between, and got my family moved into them, with some wagon beds by the side of them for sleeping apartments.
This year the Perpetual Emigrating Fund Company was organized, and the system of emigration inaugurated, which has so largely contributed to the gathering of our people and the building up of Utah Territory. I was appointed one of the committee of three in gathering funds to put into the hands of Bishop Hunter to send back to our poor brethren left on the Missouri river. At that time our settlements extended only to Provo on the south and to Ogden on the north. We gathered about $2,000. About this time, also, I participated in the organizing of the provisional government of the State of Deseret."
At the semi-annual conference held in October, 1849, I was appointed on a mission to Denmark.
I sailed from Boston on the 3rd of April on a Cunard steamer, for Liverpool, where I landed on the 16th. We visited many of the churches in England, Scotland and Wales. During the next four weeks I received many contributions in aid of our missions. I landed in Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark, June 14, 1850, in company with Elders George P. Dykes and John E. Forsgren—the former an American and the latter a native of Sweden. We were met at the wharf by Elder Peter O. Hansen, a native of that city, who had embraced the gospel in America, and had left Salt Lake City with us, but had made his way in advance of us to his native land. Brother Peter O. Hansen conducted Elders Snow, Dykes and Forsgren to a hotel, where, after being shown an upper room they all kneeled together and offered up thanksgiving to God, dedicating themselves to His service.
Apostle Snow baptized fifteen persons in the clear waters of the beautiful Oresund, near Copenhagen, Aug. 12, 1850. Ole U. C. Monster was the first man and Anna Beckstrom the first woman baptized. These had all been members of Mr. Peter C. Monster's reformed Baptist Church. August 14, 1850, the first confirmation took place in Denmark, and on the 25th the Sacrament was administered there for the first time by divine authority in this dispensation. On the latter date the first ordination to the Priesthood also took place, Brother Knud H. Bruun being ordained to the office of a Priest. After the first baptisms, many others came forward and followed the example, and on Sept. 15, 1850, the first branch of the Church in Scandinavia was organized in Copenhagen, with fifty members.
In September, 1850, Apostle Snow wrote an interesting pamphlet entitled "En Sandheds Rost" (A Voice of Truth), explaining the first principles of the gospel in a very plain and forcible manner. Over 200,000 copies of that little work have since been published in the Danish and Swedish languages. "Remarkable Visions" by Orson Pratt and a number of other pamphlets were subsequently translated and published in Danish.
It is here also worth recording that none of the missions established by the Elders in this last dispensation, save the British, has been so fruitful as the one rounded by Apostle Snow in Scandinavia.
Apostle Snow, taking an affectionate leave of his flock, sailed from Copenhagen March 4, 1852, accompanied by nineteen emigrating Saints. These, together with nine others, who had embarked a few weeks previous, were the first direct fruits of the gospel from the Scandinavian countries. They have been followed by more than twenty-five thousand others. After spending a few weeks in England, attending to the organization of the Deseret Iron Company and other matters, Apostle Snow embarked from Liverpool May 8, 1852, in company with Franklin D. Richards, and arrived safely in Salt Lake City Aug. 20th, following, having been absent from his mountain home nearly three years.
When the anti-polygamy crusade commenced, Elder Snow, like many of his brethren, became an "exile for conscience sake," and the hardships he was forced to endure as such undoubtedly shortened his days. After a most remarkable and useful life, fraught with great events and crowned with many blessings, he departed this life at his home in Salt Lake City, May 27, 1888, a little under the age of three score and ten. Apostle Erastus Snow was kindhearted and benevolent, a man of fine appearance and strongly built. Like all great men he had his peculiarities. He was a deep thinker, and at times, so swallowed up in profound thought, that he took but little notice of things around him. Sometimes, when asked a question, he would not answer it until the next day, or perhaps still later. Frequently, some would think that he did not hear their question, but he seldom failed to answer it at some future time. He was an honest man, a true husband and a kind father, a wise counselor, an efficient pioneer and colonizer, a great statesman and, in every sense of the word, truly an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ. His name and his works will live forever in the generations of the Saints who loved and respected him as their friend and counselor."
Baptized 1833
Ordained Teacher 1834
Ordained Priest 1834
Ordained Elder 1835
Mission to New Hampshire and Vermont 1835
Mission to Pennsylvania 1836
Ordained Seventy (Second Quorum) 1836
Married Artemesia Beman 1838; later practiced plural marriage
Ordained Apostle and sustained to Quorum of Twelve 1849
Numerous Missions to the East, to Europe and to Southern Utah
Died 1888 Salt Lake City, Utah
The following biographical sketch is excerpted from the LDS Biographical Encyclopedia.
=============================================
Erastus Snow was a member of the Council of Twelve Apostles from 1849 to 1888. He was the son of Levi and Lucina Snow, and was born at St. Johnsbury, Caledonia county, Vermont, Nov. 9, 1818. His father's family was among the early settlers of the Massachusetts colony.
At an early age Erastus Snow was much impressed with religion, his mother being a member of the Wesleyan-Methodist church. In the spring of 1832 Elders Orson Pratt and Luke S. Johnson visited Vermont and commenced to preach the fulness of the gospel. William and Zerubbabel, two elder brothers of Erastus, were the first of the Snow family who were baptized. Erastus, who was only fourteen years of age, believed the testimony of the Elders when he first heard it, and was baptized by his elder brother. William, Feb. 3, 1833.
Immediately after his baptism, he commenced to search the scriptures diligently and soon became very desirous to preach. Consequently, he was ordained to the office of a teacher, June 28, 1834, by Elder John F. Boynton. At that time he worked on his father's farm at St. Johnsbury, where a branch of the Church had been organized. Erastus met regularly with the Saints on Sundays and visited them in their houses. He also made several short missionary trips to the neighboring villages, in company with his cousin Gardner Snow and others. He was ordained by his brother William to the office of a Priest, Nov. 13, 1834, after which he extended his missionary labors into the States of New York and New Hampshire, holding meetings and baptizing quite a number. After being ordained an Elder by Elder Luke S. Johnson, Aug. 16, 1835, he continued his mission with increased zeal in New Hampshire and Vermont, in company with William E. M'Lellin, his brother Willard and others. Nov. 8, 1835, he left St. Johnsbury together with Elder Hazen Aldrich and traveled to Kirtland, Ohio.
After a hard journey, during which they came near being shipwrecked on Lake Erie, they reached their destination Dec. 3rd. In Kirtland Elder Snow met the Prophet Joseph Smith for the first time and lived with him several weeks.
The next spring he was ordained a Seventy, called into the Second Quorum of Seventy, and received his patriarchal blessings under the hands of Joseph Smith, Sen. After the endowments in Kirtland, the Elders went out preaching with greater diligence than ever, and Elder Snow started on a mission to Pennsylvania April 16, 1836. He was absent over eight months, during which time he traveled 1,600 miles, preached 220 sermons, baptized 50 persons, organized several branches of the Church in western Pennsylvania, and returned to Kirtland, Dec. 29th.
With Elder Bosley as a missionary companion, he started on another mission to the East, May 9, 1837. After seven months' absence, he returned to Kirtland, Dec. 5, 1837, having labored faithfully in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland, preached 147 sermons and baptized about forty people.
Jan. 2, 1838, he started from Kirtland on yet another missionary tour. A couple of days later he attended a conference of Elders at Milton, fifty miles south. There he was challenged for a debate by a Mr. Hubbard, a Campbellite preacher, who denounced the Book of Mormon as false. Elder Snow suggested to the congregation that he would produce as much proof for the divinity of the Book of Mormon as his opponent could for the Bible. With this the people seemed to be entirely satisfied, and a meeting was appointed for the following day. But when the hour of meeting arrived, none of the six Campbellite preachers, who were present, would abide by Elder Snow's proposition. Being anxious to use every opportunity that presented itself to lay the truth before the people, Elder Snow finally consented to other arrangements, and the debate was continued until 11 o'clock at night. As usual, the truth was triumphant, although Elder Snow was abused in various ways.
In the latter part of May he received a message from Kirtland, notifying him to return to Ohio, for the purpose of going to Missouri. With joy he complied with this call and arrived in Kirtland June 3, 1838, after five months' absence. In Kirtland he met Elders Heber C. Kimball and Orson Hyde, who had just returned from their missions to England, and were now preparing for a journey to Missouri. Most of the Kirtland Saints were also preparing to remove to Missouri because of apostasy and persecutions in Ohio. Together with forty or fifty others, Elder Snow started from Kirtland June 25th and traveled by land to Wellsville, on the Ohio river, thence with steamboats down that river, 950 miles, and up the Mississippi and Missouri rivers, 550 miles further, to the Richmond landing in Missouri. From this place the company traveled forty miles northward to Far West, in Caldwell county, where they arrived July 18th.
Elder Snow married Artemesia Beman Dec. 3, 1838, and taught school the following winter in Far West. In the following February (1839), together with other brethren, he was sent by the Church at Far West as a messenger to Liberty, Clay county, where Joseph, the Prophet, and fellow-prisoners at that time were incarcerated. When the jailor on the evening of Feb. 8th brought supper to the prisoners, the visiting brethren were permitted to enter the cell. That same evening the prisoners, agreeable to an arrangement made the day previous, made an attempt to escape, but failed. When the jailor went out, Hyrum Smith took hold of the door, and the others followed; but before they could render the assistance needed, the jailor and guard succeeded in closing the door, shutting in the visiting brethren as well as the prisoners.
The jailor immediately gave the alarm, and the greatest excitement followed. Not only the citizens of the town, but a great number from the surrounding country, gathered around the jail. Every mode of torture and death that their imagination could fancy, was proposed for the prisoners, such as blowing up the jail, taking the prisoners out and whipping them to death, shooting them and burning them to death, tearing them to pieces with horses, etc. The brethren inside listened to all these threats, but believing that the Lord would deliver them, laid down to rest for the night. The mob finally became so divided among themselves that they were unable to carry out any of their numerous plans. That night, while some of the visiting brethren spoke about their being in great danger, the prophet Joseph told them "not to fear, that not a hair of their heads should be hurt, and that they should not lose any of their things, even to a bridle, saddle, or blanket; that everything should be restored to them; they had offered their lives for their friends and the gospel; that it was necessary the Church should offer a sacrifice and the Lord accepted the offering."
In the beginning of May, Elder Snow visited Commerce, in Hancock county, which had been selected as a gathering place for the Saints. Here he commenced a new home, and in the following June removed his family to Montrose, on the opposite, side of the river, where he had secured a small hut for a temporary dwelling. July 4, 1839, he started on a mission, to which he had been called at the conference held in Quincy two months previous. He traveled through several counties in Illinois, held a number of meetings and administered to the sick, until it was revealed to him in a dream that his family was sick and needed his presence.
When President Joseph Smith returned from Washington in March, 1840, he told Elder Snow that his labors were much needed in Pennsylvania. Wishing to act upon this suggestion, he at once prepared for a mission to that State. But as the protracted illness to which he and his family had been subjected had reduced him to the depths of poverty, he had no means wherewith to defray traveling expenses, and he was too weak to undertake the journey on foot. After preaching several times in Quincy and attending the April conference at Commerce, where he received some means from kindhearted Saints, he finally took leave of his family April 28, 1840, and started on his mission with Elder S. James as a companion. They traveled down the Mississippi and up the Ohio rivers, a distance of about fourteen hundred miles, to Wellsburgh, in Virginia, where they landed May 7th and commenced their missionary labors. After having held a two days discussion with a Campbellite preacher (Matthew Clapp), Elder Snow continued to Philadelphia and afterwards visited New York and Brooklyn.
He continued to preach and baptize in Philadelphia and vicinity, and also in New Jersey, until towards the close of September, when he received a letter from Nauvoo to the effect that his mother-in-law, with whom his wife resided, was dead. Concluding under these circumstances to bring his wife to Pennsylvania, he left Philadelphia Sept. 30th and arrived at Nauvoo Oct. 21st, having been absent about six months and traveled 5,650 miles. After a stay of seventeen days in Nauvoo, he started for Pennsylvania Nov. 7, 1840, taking his wife with him.
Finally he happened to meet Elder George A. Smith, who was returning from his mission to England, and also Elders John E. Page, Dr. Galland, William B. Smith, Hyrum Smith, William Law and others from Nauvoo. The two last named brethren had visited the New England States, and meeting Elder Snow on their return they desired that he should go to Salem, in Massachusetts, to open the gospel door. In a revelation given in 1836 the Lord had said that He had much people in that city. Although Elder Snow had expected to return to Nauvoo in the fall, and he also knew that his long absence would affect his temporal affairs considerably, he made up his mind to go to Salem, after making the subject a matter of sincere prayer.
He reaped the first fruits of his work in Salem Nov. 8, 1841, by initiating the first five persons into the Church by baptism, and before the close of February, 1842, the number of baptized had increased to 35. March 5, 1842, he held a conference meeting in the Masonic Hall, and organized a branch of the Church, consisting of 53 members. He also ordained an Elder and a Priest. Subsequently he extended his field of labor to Boston, where he assisted Elder Nickerson in organizing a branch of the Church, and to Marblehead, Bradford, Lynn, Petersboro (in New Hampshire) and other places. In April, 1842, he visited Philadelphia, Penn., where he attended a five days' conference. After his return to Salem, his first son was born, May 1, 1842.
Having set the branch in order and appointed a brother to preside, Elder Snow left Salem March 9, 1843 and arrived in Nauvoo April 11th.
At the general conference held at Nauvoo in April, 1844, Elder Snow was again called to go on a mission to the Eastern States. Consequently, about three weeks later (April 30th), he took a memorable leave of his family and the Prophet, whom he never saw again in this life, and commenced his journey. After having visited the branches in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont, he, in company with four of the Twelve, held a conference in Salem, Mass., in July. About this time the sad news of the martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum Smith reached him, and he concluded to return home. When he arrived at Nauvoo July 25th he found the Saints bowed down with grief over the loss of their beloved leaders. Elder Snow attended the special meetings on Aug. 8th, at which the Twelve Apostles, with Brigham Young as president, were acknowledged as the highest authority in the Church, notwithstanding Sidney Rigdon's claim to the leadership.
Elder Snow was present in the general council of the Church, held in Nauvoo, where General Warren, Judge Douglas and other State dignitaries, sent by Governor Ford, were present, and where the Saints agreed to leave the State early the following spring. From that time the Saints doubled their efforts in completing the Temple, in order to receive their blessings before leaving for the wilderness.
In the beginning of December the attic story was dedicated for giving endowments, Elder Snow and his wife received their anointings Dec. 12th, after which he was called to administer in the Temple, and he remained there night and day for six weeks, together with the Twelve and others who were called to officiate in a similar manner.
On Jan. 23, 1846, Elder Snow yielded obedience to the principle of plural marriage, by having not only his wife Artimesia, but also a second wife, Minerva, sealed to him for time and all eternity. They also received their second anointings. During the winter the difficulties with the mob continued to loom up, and when it was decided in council to commence the emigration westward in February, Elder Snow was sent to Quincy to lay in supplies for the pioneer company.
Elder Snow writes: "Many interesting episodes occurred on the journey, but among trying and affecting ones was the appearance of the mountain fever among us. This affliction detained us so that, with the labor on the roads through the Wasatch Mountains, we were unable to reach Great Salt Lake valley until the 21st of July, when Orson Pratt and myself, of the working parties, who were exploring, first emerged into the valley and visited the site of the future Salt Lake City, and when we ascended Red Butte, near the mouth of Emigration canyon, which gave us the first glimpse of the blue waters of the Great Salt Lake, we simultaneously swung our hats and shouted, Hosannah! for the Spirit told us that here the Saints should find rest.
Elder Snow continues: "Soon after our arrival in the valley, I was appointed one of the presidency of the Stake, and during the following winter (Feb. 12, 1849), I was called and ordained into the quorum of the Twelve Apostles, together With Charles C. Rich, Lorenzo Snow and Franklin D. Richards. In my ordination, President Brigham Young acted as spokesman. I continued to labor in the ministry, in common with my brethren, though all were obliged to labor with their hands during the week, in opening up farms and building houses for our families.
We all wintered in the Old Fort, which had been commenced and partly built by the Pioneers, using our wagon beds chiefly for our sleeping rooms. During the spring of 1849, we began to move out on our lots, divided the city into Wards, and began to fence by Wards. During the summer, I built chiefly with my own hands, two rooms on my lot, one of adobe, the other of logs, separated from each other for a shed between, and got my family moved into them, with some wagon beds by the side of them for sleeping apartments.
This year the Perpetual Emigrating Fund Company was organized, and the system of emigration inaugurated, which has so largely contributed to the gathering of our people and the building up of Utah Territory. I was appointed one of the committee of three in gathering funds to put into the hands of Bishop Hunter to send back to our poor brethren left on the Missouri river. At that time our settlements extended only to Provo on the south and to Ogden on the north. We gathered about $2,000. About this time, also, I participated in the organizing of the provisional government of the State of Deseret."
At the semi-annual conference held in October, 1849, I was appointed on a mission to Denmark.
I sailed from Boston on the 3rd of April on a Cunard steamer, for Liverpool, where I landed on the 16th. We visited many of the churches in England, Scotland and Wales. During the next four weeks I received many contributions in aid of our missions. I landed in Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark, June 14, 1850, in company with Elders George P. Dykes and John E. Forsgren—the former an American and the latter a native of Sweden. We were met at the wharf by Elder Peter O. Hansen, a native of that city, who had embraced the gospel in America, and had left Salt Lake City with us, but had made his way in advance of us to his native land. Brother Peter O. Hansen conducted Elders Snow, Dykes and Forsgren to a hotel, where, after being shown an upper room they all kneeled together and offered up thanksgiving to God, dedicating themselves to His service.
Apostle Snow baptized fifteen persons in the clear waters of the beautiful Oresund, near Copenhagen, Aug. 12, 1850. Ole U. C. Monster was the first man and Anna Beckstrom the first woman baptized. These had all been members of Mr. Peter C. Monster's reformed Baptist Church. August 14, 1850, the first confirmation took place in Denmark, and on the 25th the Sacrament was administered there for the first time by divine authority in this dispensation. On the latter date the first ordination to the Priesthood also took place, Brother Knud H. Bruun being ordained to the office of a Priest. After the first baptisms, many others came forward and followed the example, and on Sept. 15, 1850, the first branch of the Church in Scandinavia was organized in Copenhagen, with fifty members.
In September, 1850, Apostle Snow wrote an interesting pamphlet entitled "En Sandheds Rost" (A Voice of Truth), explaining the first principles of the gospel in a very plain and forcible manner. Over 200,000 copies of that little work have since been published in the Danish and Swedish languages. "Remarkable Visions" by Orson Pratt and a number of other pamphlets were subsequently translated and published in Danish.
It is here also worth recording that none of the missions established by the Elders in this last dispensation, save the British, has been so fruitful as the one rounded by Apostle Snow in Scandinavia.
Apostle Snow, taking an affectionate leave of his flock, sailed from Copenhagen March 4, 1852, accompanied by nineteen emigrating Saints. These, together with nine others, who had embarked a few weeks previous, were the first direct fruits of the gospel from the Scandinavian countries. They have been followed by more than twenty-five thousand others. After spending a few weeks in England, attending to the organization of the Deseret Iron Company and other matters, Apostle Snow embarked from Liverpool May 8, 1852, in company with Franklin D. Richards, and arrived safely in Salt Lake City Aug. 20th, following, having been absent from his mountain home nearly three years.
When the anti-polygamy crusade commenced, Elder Snow, like many of his brethren, became an "exile for conscience sake," and the hardships he was forced to endure as such undoubtedly shortened his days. After a most remarkable and useful life, fraught with great events and crowned with many blessings, he departed this life at his home in Salt Lake City, May 27, 1888, a little under the age of three score and ten. Apostle Erastus Snow was kindhearted and benevolent, a man of fine appearance and strongly built. Like all great men he had his peculiarities. He was a deep thinker, and at times, so swallowed up in profound thought, that he took but little notice of things around him. Sometimes, when asked a question, he would not answer it until the next day, or perhaps still later. Frequently, some would think that he did not hear their question, but he seldom failed to answer it at some future time. He was an honest man, a true husband and a kind father, a wise counselor, an efficient pioneer and colonizer, a great statesman and, in every sense of the word, truly an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ. His name and his works will live forever in the generations of the Saints who loved and respected him as their friend and counselor."
Christian Frederick Nielsen Twede
1. Christian Frederick Nielsen Twede (1851-1854)
[Submitted by: Eugene H. Halversen, mailto:ijc42@aol.com]
2. Christian Frederick Nielsen Twede
by his granddaughter, Hazel Twede Baird
The autobiography of Christian Frederick Nielsen Twede was given to me by my Aunt Delia Harris, daughter of Christian, before she died. She showed me the journal and said many of the pages were missing, but as I was interested i n genealogy, she wanted me to have it, thinking I could obtain some genealogical information from it. It has been quite difficult to decipher in many places. Grandfather was a good penman, but he wrote in the old Danish script. Often the Danish and English way of writing were intermixed. At one of our genealogical committee meetings, I volunteered to try and copy it off for other family members. I have been working on this project for the past year, and during the copying of the last pages, I have reached the point where I could read the journal quite well. My daughter, Ruth Baird Bartholomew, has done the typing of this autobiography for me.
As a child I remember my grandfather Twede quite well. He lived with my father and mother in Mapleton, and had a room of his own with a little pot-bellied stove in it to keep him warm. He disliked the copper pennies that are used as money, and whenever he had any, he always threw them into this stove. When he emptied the ashes I would go out where he threw them away and sift them carefully. These pennies I put into a little bank. When we moved to Payson, I had several dollars worth of pennies saved, so my father helped me start a savings account in the Payson Bank. When I married, these pennies I had saved, together with interest earned, were worth $20, enough for me to buy material for my wedding dress. I am indebted to Grandfather Twede for that.
Grandfather went to live with his daughter, Thora Hafen in Springville when we moved from Mapleton to Payson 17 March, 1907. He died there 7 April, 1907 and is buried in the Evergreen Cemetery on Mapleton Bench.
Aunt Viola remembers that Grandfather Twede's funeral was held in the Second Ward, the same building that is used at the present time in Springville. His old friend, Mr. Berg was not only his undertaker, but he spoke at the funeral. Viola says that every time her father came to visit them, he wanted Christiana to make chocolate and her rich, light sweet bread which she sliced and browned for him. Viola says she never heard them quarrel. When her mother made soap, her father would not come in the house. He didn't like the smell. "Mother had to take his lunch out to him," she said. Thea gave Christian one dollar each day for his use. He was a very proud and aristocratic man, Viola recalls. "He was the cleanest and most particular man I ever knew." When Christiana washed his handkerchiefs, he was not satisfied if they were not properly ironed.
I have enjoyed copying Grandfather's journal or day book as he called it. I have come to appreciate his testimony of the gospel and his spirituality. He did a lot of good wherever he went. I was impressed with the fluency of his language and the way he was able to express himself. We as a family give thanks to him for leaving us his autobiography.
3. Christian Frederick Nielsen Twede
by Christian Frederick Nielsen Twede,
Manti City, Sanpete County, Utah Territory, United States of North America,--------- 11 December, 1886,
I got acquainted with a girl by the name of Maria who lived in Heber C.Kimball's home. I kept company with her all Summer. In August my oldest sister, Caroline married Gardner Snow who lived in Manti. I went down with her to that place. Gardner Snow also married another sister named Marie, a great associate of my sister. But before we went to Manti, I had my first Patriarchial Blessing from Issac Morley. It took us a week to get to Manti about 130 miles south of Salt Lake City.
His sister, Caroline Marie Nielsen (5 June, 1816) married Gardner Snow on 3 july 1855. They lived in Manti and had no children. At the age of 88 she died of injuries when thrown from a buggy when the horse ran away. Died 30 October 1903.
His sister Thora Henriette Nielsen was born 9 November, 1822. She was married to Gardner Snow but also married, John C. Wyhee (or C.R. Weibee?) who lived in Manti? Thora died 1 May 1896.
[Submitted by: Eugene H. Halversen, mailto:ijc42@aol.com]
2. Christian Frederick Nielsen Twede
by his granddaughter, Hazel Twede Baird
The autobiography of Christian Frederick Nielsen Twede was given to me by my Aunt Delia Harris, daughter of Christian, before she died. She showed me the journal and said many of the pages were missing, but as I was interested i n genealogy, she wanted me to have it, thinking I could obtain some genealogical information from it. It has been quite difficult to decipher in many places. Grandfather was a good penman, but he wrote in the old Danish script. Often the Danish and English way of writing were intermixed. At one of our genealogical committee meetings, I volunteered to try and copy it off for other family members. I have been working on this project for the past year, and during the copying of the last pages, I have reached the point where I could read the journal quite well. My daughter, Ruth Baird Bartholomew, has done the typing of this autobiography for me.
As a child I remember my grandfather Twede quite well. He lived with my father and mother in Mapleton, and had a room of his own with a little pot-bellied stove in it to keep him warm. He disliked the copper pennies that are used as money, and whenever he had any, he always threw them into this stove. When he emptied the ashes I would go out where he threw them away and sift them carefully. These pennies I put into a little bank. When we moved to Payson, I had several dollars worth of pennies saved, so my father helped me start a savings account in the Payson Bank. When I married, these pennies I had saved, together with interest earned, were worth $20, enough for me to buy material for my wedding dress. I am indebted to Grandfather Twede for that.
Grandfather went to live with his daughter, Thora Hafen in Springville when we moved from Mapleton to Payson 17 March, 1907. He died there 7 April, 1907 and is buried in the Evergreen Cemetery on Mapleton Bench.
Aunt Viola remembers that Grandfather Twede's funeral was held in the Second Ward, the same building that is used at the present time in Springville. His old friend, Mr. Berg was not only his undertaker, but he spoke at the funeral. Viola says that every time her father came to visit them, he wanted Christiana to make chocolate and her rich, light sweet bread which she sliced and browned for him. Viola says she never heard them quarrel. When her mother made soap, her father would not come in the house. He didn't like the smell. "Mother had to take his lunch out to him," she said. Thea gave Christian one dollar each day for his use. He was a very proud and aristocratic man, Viola recalls. "He was the cleanest and most particular man I ever knew." When Christiana washed his handkerchiefs, he was not satisfied if they were not properly ironed.
I have enjoyed copying Grandfather's journal or day book as he called it. I have come to appreciate his testimony of the gospel and his spirituality. He did a lot of good wherever he went. I was impressed with the fluency of his language and the way he was able to express himself. We as a family give thanks to him for leaving us his autobiography.
3. Christian Frederick Nielsen Twede
by Christian Frederick Nielsen Twede,
Manti City, Sanpete County, Utah Territory, United States of North America,--------- 11 December, 1886,
I got acquainted with a girl by the name of Maria who lived in Heber C.Kimball's home. I kept company with her all Summer. In August my oldest sister, Caroline married Gardner Snow who lived in Manti. I went down with her to that place. Gardner Snow also married another sister named Marie, a great associate of my sister. But before we went to Manti, I had my first Patriarchial Blessing from Issac Morley. It took us a week to get to Manti about 130 miles south of Salt Lake City.
His sister, Caroline Marie Nielsen (5 June, 1816) married Gardner Snow on 3 july 1855. They lived in Manti and had no children. At the age of 88 she died of injuries when thrown from a buggy when the horse ran away. Died 30 October 1903.
His sister Thora Henriette Nielsen was born 9 November, 1822. She was married to Gardner Snow but also married, John C. Wyhee (or C.R. Weibee?) who lived in Manti? Thora died 1 May 1896.
Alexander L. Baugh
Alexander L. Baugh
“For This Ordinance Belongeth
to My House”:
The Practice of Baptism for the Dead
Outside the Nauvoo Temple
ALEXANDER L. BAUGH received a B. S. in Family and Human Development in 1981 from
Utah State University. He received an M. A. in 1986, and Ph.D. in 1996 in American
History from Brigham Young University. He is an Associate Professor in the Department
of Church History and Doctrine at BYU. He also serves as associate editor of Mormon
Historical Studies, and on the boards of the John Whitmer Historical Association and
the Mormon Historic Sites Foundation.
Alexander L. Baugh: Baptism for the Dead Outside Temples 47
The Elders’ Journal of July 1838, published in Far West, Missouri, included
a series of twenty questions related to Mormonism. The answers to the
questions bear the editorial pen of Joseph Smith. Question number sixteen
posed the following query: “If the Mormon doctrine is true, what has become
of all those who have died since the days of the apostles?” The Prophet
answered, “All those who have not had an opportunity of hearing the gospel,
and being administered to by an inspired man in the flesh, must have it hereafter
before they can be finally judged.”1 The Prophet’s thought is clear—the dead
must have someone in mortality administer the saving ordinances for them
to be saved in the kingdom of God. Significantly, the answer given by the
Prophet marks his first known statement concerning the doctrine of vicarious
work for the dead. However, it was not until more than two years later
that the principle was put into practice.2
On 15 August 1840, Joseph Smith preached the funeral sermon of
Seymour Brunson during which time he declared for the first time the doctrine
of baptism for the dead.3 Unfortunately, there are no contemporary
accounts of the Prophet’s discourse. However, Simon Baker was present at
the funeral services and later stated that during the meeting the Prophet
read extensively from 1 Corinthians 15, then noted a particular widow in
the congregation whose son had died without baptism. After referring to the
statement Jesus made to Nicodemus that a man must be born of the water
48 Mormon Historical Studies
and of the spirit, Baker recalled the Prophet saying that the Saints “could
now act for their friends who had departed this life, and that the plan of salvation
was calculated to save all who were willing to obey the requirements
of the law of God.”4
It is not known precisely when the first proxy baptism or baptisms were
performed, however, the first documented baptism for the dead was performed
on 12 September 1840. On that occasion Jane Neyman requested
that Harvey Olmstead baptize her in behalf of her deceased son Cyrus
Livingston Neyman. Vienna Jacques witnessed the proxy baptism by riding
into the Mississippi River on horseback to hear and observe the ceremony.
A short while later, upon learning the words Olmstead used in performing
the baptism, Joseph Smith gave his approval of the ordinance.5
In the early 1840s, Nauvoo had four landing sites—the Upper Stone
House Landing, the Kimball Wharf, the Lower Stone House Landing, and
the Main Street Dock near Joseph Smith’s Homestead and later the Nauvoo
House.6 Each of these locations likely would have provided a suitable place
South end of Main Street, Nauvoo, Illinois, with the Mississippi River and Lake Cooper
formed by the Keokuk Dam in the background (2002). In the 1840s,
this location was of four riverboat landings in the Nauvoo area. Baptisms,
both for the living and the dead, are known to have been performed at this location.
Photograph by Alexander L. Baugh.
Alexander L. Baugh: Baptism for the Dead Outside Temples 49
for baptisms to be performed, although the ordinance was conducted at any
number of locations near the riverbank. Traditionally, the Main Street
Landing has been the site generally believed to be where baptism, both for
the living and the dead, was performed most frequently.
There is a good possibility that Alvin Smith, Joseph Smith’s older brother
who died in November 1823, was one of the first deceased persons to have
his baptismal work performed. Lucy Mack Smith recalled that just prior to
her husband’s death, Joseph told his father, “that it was . . . the privilege of
the Saints to be baptized for the dead,” whereupon Joseph Sr., requested
that, “Joseph be baptized for Alvin immediately.”7 Significantly, Joseph Sr.,
died on 14 September 1840, less than a month after the Prophet first taught
the doctrine of baptism for the dead and only two days after Jane Neyman
was baptized in behalf of her deceased son. If Joseph and the Smith family
were true to their father’s request that Alvin’s baptism be done “immediately,”
the likelihood exists that it was performed sometime around mid-
September. The record containing the early proxy ordinance information
indicates that Hyrum acted as proxy (not Joseph, as Father Smith requested),
but does not give any other date than the year 1840.8 The ordinance
was performed for Alvin a second time, again by Hyrum in 1841, and was
probably done after the font was completed and dedicated in the basement
of the Temple.9 A friend and contemporary of the Prophet, Aroet Hale, stated
that Joseph Smith instructed the Saints, “to have the work done over as
quick as the temple was finished, when it could be done more perfect.”10
Developmental Beginnings
The early practice and procedure of baptism for the dead during the
Nauvoo years was developmental and not as clearly defined as it is today.
For example, first, in the case of the Neymans, a female was baptized for a
male. Second, though a witness was present (Vienna Jacques), the individual
was not a priesthood holder. Third, no mention is made of a confirmation
following the baptism (although there may have been one, perhaps
soon after the baptism or sometime later). Fourth, no “official” baptismal
record is known to exist. Finally, the ordinance was performed in the
Mississippi River, not in a temple font. In consideration of these irregularities,
in 1873 Brigham Young reported the following:
When Joseph received the revelation that we have in our possession concerning the
dead, the subject was opened to him, not in full but in part, and he kept on receiving.
When he had first received the knowledge by the spirit of revelation how the
dead could be officiated for, there are brethren and sisters here, I can see quite a
number here who were in Nauvoo, and you recollect that when this doctrine was
50 Mormon Historical Studies
first revealed and in hurrying in the administration of baptism for the dead, that sisters
were baptized for their male friends, were baptized for their fathers, their grandfathers,
their mothers and their grandmothers, &c. I just mention this so that you
will come to understanding, that as we knew nothing about this matter at first, the
old Saints recollect, there was little by little given, and the subject was made plain,
but little was given at once. Consequently, in the first place people were baptized for
their friends and no record was kept. Joseph afterwards kept a record, &c. Then
women were baptized for men and men for women.11
Thus, Joseph Smith gave additional instructions to the Saints concerning
baptism for the dead as he came to more fully understand the principle.
By September 1842, a little more than two years after his first discourse on
the subject, his words and teachings reveal that he had gained a profound
theological and symbolic understanding of proxy baptism (see D&C
128:1–18). With this increased understanding came the need to be more
procedurally correct in the performance of the ordinance; hence, instruction
was given that a recorder be present to properly record and archive the ordinance
(see D&C 127:5–9).12
As indicated, the first proxy baptisms were performed in Nauvoo in the
Mississippi River. In the first revelatory instruction concerning baptism for
the dead, given in 19 January 1841—five months after the first baptisms for
the dead were performed—the Saints were instructed that this practice
would be temporary. “For a baptismal font there is not upon the earth, that
they, my saints, may be baptized for the dead—For this ordinance belongeth
to my house, and cannot be acceptable to me, only in the days of your poverty,
wherein ye are not able to build a house unto me” (D&C 124:29–30; see
also vv. 31–34). In essence, the revelation allowed a provision for the performance
of the ordinance outside the temple until a font could be completed
and placed in the temple, or the temple itself was completed.
The Saints enthusiastically embraced the doctrine and practice.
Examining the records of baptisms for the dead performed in 1841, M. Guy
Bishop calculated that 6,818 baptism for the dead were performed.13
Furthermore, considering the fact that baptisms for the dead were not performed
in the Nauvoo Temple until 21 November, the majority of the baptisms
performed in 1841 would likely have been river baptisms. Bishop also
notes that in 1841 the most active Latter-day Saint proxy was Nehemiah
Brush who was baptized for more than one hundred deceased relatives and
friends. The most baptized woman was Sarah M. Cleveland, who performed
the saving ordinance for forty deceased persons.14
Several individuals recorded their experiences and first impressions of
participating in the new practice. “I saw the Elders baptizing for the dead in
the Mississippi River,” Robert Horne wrote. “This was something new to me
Alexander L. Baugh: Baptism for the Dead Outside Temples 51
and the beauty of this great principle dawned upon me. I had never heard of
such a doctrine then. Orson Pratt was baptizing. Brother Joseph stood on the
banks.”15 Aroet Hale remembered Joseph Smith performing more than two
hundred baptisms in the Mississippi River. “Then the apostles and other
elders went into the river and continued the same ordinance. Hundreds were
baptized there.”16Wilford Woodruff stated that Joseph Smith “went into the
Mississippi River, and so did I, as well as others, and we each baptized a hundred
for the dead.”17 Interestingly, while the Prophet was known to have
officiated in performing the ordinance, there is no record that he ever participated
as a proxy.18
Baptism for the Dead Practiced Outside Nauvoo
A significant part of D&C Section 124 often overlooked is a provision
in the revelation allowing for the Saints living outside Nauvoo to temporarily
perform the ordinance. The revelation stated, “And after this time [after
the Saints had a sufficient time to complete a place in the temple to perform
baptisms], your baptisms for the dead by those who are scattered abroad, are not
acceptable unto me, saith the Lord. For it is ordained that in Zion, and in
her stakes, and in Jerusalem, those places which I have appointed for refuge,
shall be the places for your baptisms for the dead” (D&C 124:35–36; emphasis
added).
The Mississippi River, looking east towards Nauvoo.
Courtesy of LDS Church Archives.
52 Mormon Historical Studies
Historical sources reveal that baptisms for the dead were indeed performed
by Latter-day Saints living in areas other than Nauvoo. For example,
on 9 November 1840, a meeting was held at the home of Melvin Wilbur in
Quincy in Adams County, Illinois. Somewhere near the Wilbur property,
perhaps in the Mississippi River, Ezra T. Benson was baptized for his deceased
brother John Benson.19 At this same time, members of the Lima/Yelrome
branch, situated just a few miles north of Quincy, were also performing the
ordinance. On 7 November 1840, John Murdock, Gardner Snow, Edmund
Durfee, Albert Miner, Levi Osgood, Joseph Allen, Lane Durfee, Lydia B.
English, and Sarah Weston, “performed baptisms for their dead friends.” One
week later, on 14 November, the ordinance was attended to again by six
branch members.20 The fact that there is evidence showing that Latter-day
Saints were performing baptisms for the dead in these outlying areas, suggests
that Mormons in other settlement communities such as Montrose,
Nashville, Ramus, LaHarpe, and Plymouth, may have also engaged in the
practice.
Baptism for the dead was also practiced in Kirtland, Ohio. In fact, it was
probably due to problems associated with the leadership of the Church in
Kirtland that the practice of baptism for the dead outside the temple was cut
short. During the Church’s October 1840 general conference held in
Nauvoo, Almon W. Babbitt was appointed to preside as stake president over
approximately three to four hundred Latter-day Saints still residing in
Kirtland.21 At the time of the conference, it had only been six weeks since
Joseph Smith had first publically revealed the doctrine of baptism for the
dead, and during one of the sessions the Prophet delivered another major
discourse on the subject.22 Clearly, Babbitt knew of the doctrine before leaving
Nauvoo and then taught the principle to the Ohio Saints after his
arrival. On 23 May 1841, during a conference in Kirtland at which he
presided, Babbitt entertained the subject. The minutes of the conference
include the following report: “Elder Babbitt delivered a discourse on baptism
for the dead, from 1 Peter 4:6, to a very large audience, setting forth that
doctrine as compatible with the mercy of God, and grand council of heaven.”
W. W. Phelps, the conference clerk, followed Babbitt and “continued
the same subject from 1 Corinthians 15:22, bringing scripture upon scripture
to prove the consistency of this doctrine.”23 The conference minutes end
with the following entry: “About 25 baptisms took place, the most of which
were for the dead.”24 During the years the Church was in Ohio, a small dam
was situated across a portion of the east branch of the Chagrin River in the
Kirtland Flats area; the baptisms likely took place there.
Evidence that Latter-day Saints indeed practiced baptism for the dead in
Kirtland in the early 1840s is also supported by Alfred Holbrook, a nonAlexander
L. Baugh: Baptism for the Dead Outside Temples 53
Latter-day Saint who lived in the Kirtland area. In constructing his memoirs,
Holbrook remembered the Saints instituting the practice in Kirtland but
observed that the doctrine was rather strange to him, noting that “it seemed
to me and others that this was running baptism into the ground.”25
It is not known to what extent baptisms for the dead were performed in
Kirtland, but the practice was relatively short-lived. Contrary to the First
Presidency’s counsel, Babbitt began preaching and promoting Kirtland,
rather than Nauvoo, as the main gathering place. News of Babbitt’s countermanding
reached Church leaders in Nauvoo and was likely a primary reason
why on 2 October 1841, during a general conference of the Church in
Nauvoo, Babbitt was disfellowshipped.26 Then, the following day, the
Prophet announced, “There shall be no more baptisms for the dead, until the
ordinance can be attended to in the Lord’s House. . . . For thus saith the
Lord!”27 Four weeks later, on 31 October, Hyrum Smith, representing the
First Presidency, addressed a letter to the Kirtland Saints in which he
encouraged them to move to Nauvoo so that “the House of the Lord and the
baptismal font shall be finished” and then added with possible reference to
proxy work that “any proceedings of the Saints otherwise than to put forth
their hands with their might to do this work, is not according to the will of
God.”28 In short, Babbitt’s conduct and the lack of confidence exhibited by
Church leaders in his leadership contributed to the cessation of the practice
of baptism for the dead outside the temple both in Nauvoo and the surrounding
Mormon settlements, and Kirtland.29
In total, the allowance and practice of performing proxy baptisms outside
the temple lasted approximately thirteen and one-half months (15
August 1840–3 October 1841). With the announcement that such a practice
must cease, the Saints in Nauvoo moved quickly to comply with Joseph
Smith’s directive. On 8 November 1841, Brigham Young dedicated a temporary
wooden baptismal font in the basement of the unfinished temple.30
Less than two weeks later, on 21 November, the first baptisms for the dead
were performed in the temple by Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, and
John Taylor, who performed the ordinance for approximately forty deceased
persons. Willard Richards, George A. Smith, and Wilford Woodruff performed
the confirmations.31 Sometime in late 1845, a stone font replaced
the wooden one.32
Although the Saints were instructed not to perform proxy baptisms outside
the temple after the October 1841 conference, a few recorded instances
were found showing that there were exceptions to the policy. Charlotte
Haven, a non-Latter-day Saint who lived in Nauvoo in 1842-43, wrote a letter
to her family in the east describing a baptismal service she observed being
performed in behalf of the dead. In the letter, dated 2 May 1843, she wrote:
54 Mormon Historical Studies
Last Sunday morning . . . was a balmy spring day, so we took a bee-line for the
river, down the street north of our house. Arriving there we rested a while on a log,
watching the thin sheets of ice as they slowly came down and floated by. Then we
followed the bank toward town, and rounding a little point covered with willows
and cottonwoods, we spied quite a crowd of people, and soon perceived there was a
baptism. Two elders stood knee- deep in the ice cold water, and immersed one
another as fast as they could come down the bank. We soon observed that some of
them went in and were plunged several times. We were told that they were baptized
for the dead who had not had an opportunity of adopting the doctrines of the Latter
Day Saints. So these poor mortals in ice-cold water were releasing their ancestors
and relatives from purgatory! We drew a little nearer and heard several names
repeated by the elders as the victims were douched, and you can imagine our surprise
when the name George Washington was called. So after these fifty years he is out of
purgatory and on his way to the “celestial” heaven! It was enough and we continued
our walk homeward.33
Wilford Woodruff recorded two instances where he and others performed
baptisms for the dead outside the temple after the October 1841
injunction. The first of these occurred on 26 August 1844. He recorded in
his journal that he and his wife Phoebe, “went to the River in company with
Mrs. Woodruff to be baptized for some our dead friends.” He continued, “I
was baptized for five of my friends under hands of G. A. Smith & confirmed
under the hands of Elder Richards.” He then notes the names for whom he
was baptized, each of whom were his relatives. Phoebe was also baptized for
five deceased persons who were members of her family.34 Even though the
temple’s wooden font was in place in November 1841, and the stone font in
use in late 1845, ongoing construction probably prohibited use of the baptistry
at times, thereby necessitating the need to perform the ordinance elsewhere.
Post-Nauvoo Baptisms for the Dead
Following the Nauvoo exodus, with the exception of three documented
instances, baptism for the dead was not practiced again until 1867. The first
of these occurred on 4 April 1848. While in Iowa, just prior to his return
trip to the Salt Lake Valley, Wilford Woodruff performed nine baptisms for
deceased persons in the Missouri River, followed by four confirmations.35 On
21 August 1855, Margaret E. Moffatt was baptized and confirmed for Lyrena
Evans Moffatt by Ezra T. Benson in City Creek in Salt Lake City. Two years
later, on 23 October 1857, Nancy Kent was baptized for Nabby Howe, and
Fanny Smith was baptized for Nabby Young, with John and Joseph Young
officiating.36 These two baptisms took place in the baptismal font affixed to
the Endowment House in Salt Lake City.37
Alexander L. Baugh: Baptism for the Dead Outside Temples 55
Beginning in 1867, Church leaders once again allowed members to perform
baptisms for the dead in the Endowment House font. This practice
continued for a period of nine years (1867-76) until the completion and dedication
of the St. George Temple in 1877. One example of this is the case of
Martin Harris, one of the Three Witnesses to the Book of Mormon. On 29
August 1870, Harris arrived in Utah. During the first week of September he
met with several Church leaders who instructed him concerning some of the
doctrines that had been revealed since his disaffection from the Church in
late 1837, including the principle of baptism for the dead. Following his own
rebaptism by Edward Stevenson and reconfirmation by Orson Pratt, “he
returned into the font and was baptized for several of his dead friends—
fathers, grandfathers, etc. . . . [and] his sister also was baptized for the female
relatives, and they were confirmed for and in behalf of those whom they
were baptized for, by . . . Jos. F. Smith being mouth.”38
With the completion of the St. George Temple, all of the ordinances for
the dead, including priesthood ordinations, endowments, and sealings, could
be administered. Thereafter, the practice of performing temple ordinances,
including baptism for the dead outside the temple, came to a permanent end.
Notes
1. Elders’ Journal of The Church of the Latter Day Saints, 1 (July 1838): 43; emphasis
added.
2. The Prophet’s initial understanding of vicarious work for the dead may have come
to him as a result of the vision he received in January 1836 concerning his older brother
Alvin, who had died in 1823, prior to the restoration of the gospel (D&C 137). In the
vision, Joseph stated that he saw Alvin in the celestial kingdom, but wondered how he
could have received such an inheritance without having received baptism under the
proper authority (v. 6). It was then revealed to him that all those who died prior to the
gospel being on the earth and all who would die henceforth without a knowledge of the
gospel would be heirs of the celestial kingdom (vv. 7–8). With this revelation as a backdrop,
the Prophet probably came to understand that while the gospel could be received
by the dead following their departure from this life, the ordinance work must be performed
for them by someone living in mortality.
3. Seymour Brunson died on 10 August 1840. See Times and Seasons 1 (September
1840): 176; and Joseph Smith Jr., History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,
ed B. H. Roberts, 2d. ed., rev., 7 vols. (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1971), 4:179 (hereafter
cited as History of the Church). The date of 15 August 1840 is usually given as the
date for Brunson’s funeral. See Journal History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints, 15 August 1840, LDS Church Archives, Family and Church History Department,
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah, microfilm copy in
Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah (hereafter cited as Journal
History). Don F. Colvin gives 10 August 1840 (Brunson’s death date) as the funeral date.
See Don F. Colvin, Nauvoo Temple: A Story of Faith (American Fork, Utah: Covenant
Communications, 2002), 83. In a 19 October 1840 letter to the Twelve, the majority of
56 Mormon Historical Studies
whom were serving in Great Britain, Joseph Smith stated that he first taught the doctrine
while preaching Brunson’s funeral sermon. See History of the Church, 4:231. Brunson
joined the Church in Ohio in January 1831. He played an active role as captain in the
Caldwell County militia during the 1838 Mormon conflict in Missouri. At the time of
his death, he was a devoted friend of Joseph Smith and a member of the Nauvoo high
council. See “A Short Sketch of Seymour Brunson, Sr.,” Nauvoo Journal 4, no. 1 (Spring
1992): 3–5.
4. Simon Baker, Statement, in Journal History, 15 August 1840; also cited in
Andrew F. Ehat and Lyndon W. Cook, eds., The Words of Joseph Smith (Provo, Utah:
Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1980), 49 note 1.
5. See Nauvoo Baptisms for the Dead, Book A, attached note, microfilm no.
183,376, LDS Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah, microfilm copy in Harold B.
Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah. See also, Jane Neyman and Vienna
Jacques, Statement, 29 November 1854, in Journal History, 15 August 1840. The Journal
History gives the name spelling N-e-y-m-o-n.
6. See LaMar C. Berrett, Keith W. Perkins, and Donald Q. Cannon, Sacred Places,
Ohio and Illinois: A Comprehensive Guide to Early LDS Historical Sites (Salt Lake City:
Deseret Book, 2002), 104-105, 115-17, 133-34, 195-96.
7. Lucy Mack Smith, Lucy’s Book: A Critical Edition of Lucy Mack Smith’s Family
Memoir, ed. Lavina Fielding Anderson (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 2001), 714.
8. Nauvoo Baptisms for the Dead, Book A, 145.
9. Nauvoo Baptisms for the Dead, Book A, 149.
10. Aroet Lucious Hale, “Diary of Aroet Lucious Hale, 1828-1849,” typescript, 8, L.
Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo,
Utah, spelling and capitalization corrected. Although the document is titled as a diary, it
is actually an autobiography.
11. Journal of Discourses, 26 vols. (London: F. D. Richards, 1854-86), 16:165.
Wilford Woodruff later recalled, “When that [baptism for the dead] was first revealed . .
. a man would be baptized for both male and female [but] afterward we obtained more
light upon the subject and President Young taught the people that men should attend to
those ordinances for the male portion of their dead friends and females for females.”
Journal History, 9 April 1857; as cited in M. Guy Bishop, “‘What Has Become of Our
Fathers?’: Baptism for the Dead at Nauvoo,” Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 23,
no. 2 (Summer 1990): 87.
12. Between August 1840 and September 1842, Joseph Smith addressed the Saints
on the subject of baptism for the dead on at least eight occasions. See Ehat and Cook,
The Words of Joseph Smith, 37 (15 August 1840); 38 (4 October 1840); 70 (8 April 1841);
71 (11 April 1841); 77–79 (3 October 1841); 109–10 (27 March 1842); 111 (7 April
1842); 131 (31 August 1842). In 1843–44, the Prophet addressed the subject on only four
occasions. See Ehat and Cook, The Words of Joseph Smith, 210–11, 213 (11 June 1843);
333 (10 March 1844); 362–65 (8 April 1844); 368, 370–72 (12 May 1844).
13. Bishop, “‘What Has Become of Our Fathers?’” 88-89. Since instructions regarding
accurate record-keeping were not in place at that time, the 6,818 figure would have
been larger.
14. Bishop, “‘What Has Become of Our Fathers?’” 90.
15. “Reminiscences of the Church in Nauvoo,” Millennial Star 55 (4 September
1893): 585.
16. Hale, “Diary,” 8, spelling and capitalization corrected.
Alexander L. Baugh: Baptism for the Dead Outside Temples 57
17. Wilford Woodruff, “The Law of Adoption,” 8 April 1894 General Conference
Address, in Brian H. Stuy, ed., Collected Discourses, 5 vols. (Burbank, California, and
Woodland Hills, Utah: B. H. S. Publishing, 1987-1992), 4:71.
18. Bishop, “‘What Has Become of Our Fathers?’” 92.
19. Nauvoo Baptisms for the Dead, Book A, attached note. See also, A Record of
the Branch in Quincy, 9 November and 15 November 1840, Church Archives; Richard
E. Bennett, “‘Quincy–The Home of Our Adoption’: A Study of the Mormons in Quincy,
Illinois, 1838-40,” Mormon Historical Studies 2, no. 1 (Spring 2001): 115; also in Susan
Easton Black and Richard E. Bennett, A City of Refuge: Quincy, Illinois (Salt Lake City:
Millennial Press, 2000), 101; and Bishop, “‘What Has Become of Our Fathers?’” 87-88.
20. “Early Branches (Lima, Adams, Illinois to Mendon Monroe, New York),” The
Nauvoo Journal 3, (April 1991): 24. I have corrected the spelling of the Durfee’s.
21. History of the Church, 4:204.
22. History of the Church, 4:206.
23. “Minutes of a Conference, Held in Kirtland, Ohio, May 22nd 1841,” Times and
Seasons 2 (1 July 1841): 459, also in Lyndon W. Cook and Milton V. Backman, Jr., eds.,
Kirtland Elders’ Quorum Record, 1836–1841 (Provo: Grandin Book, 1985), 58.
24. “Minutes,” Times and Seasons 2 (1 July 1841): 460; also in Cook and Backman,
Kirtland Elders’ Quorum Record, 59.
25. Alfred Holbrook, Reminiscences of the Happy Life of a Teacher (Cincinnati: Elm
Street Printing Company, 1885), 223. Holbrook claims the Mormon practice of baptism
for the dead was introduced and took place in Kirtland while Joseph Smith and Sidney
Rigdon were residing there (i.e., before 1838). This is an obvious error, since the practice
did not begin until May 1841, more than three years after the Prophet and Rigdon left
northeastern Ohio. However, the fact that Holbrook had any knowledge of it whatsoever
indicates that he was at least aware that it was practiced by the Saints there.
26. History of the Church, 4:424.
27. History of the Church, 4:426.
28. History of the Church, 4:443–44.
29. For a brief discussion of Kirtland under Babbitt’s leadership, see Davis Bitton,
“The Waning of Mormon Kirtland,” BYU Studies 12, no. 4 (Summer 1972): 456–57.
Biographical information on Babbitt’s life and church involvement is found in Andrew
Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 4 vols. (Salt Lake City: Andrew Jenson
History Company, 1901), 1:284–86; and A. Gary Anderson, “Almon W. Babbitt and the
Golden Calf,” in H. Dean Garrett, ed., Regional Studies in Latter-day Saint Church History:
Illinois (Provo: Department of Church History and Doctrine, Brigham Young University,
1995), 35–54.
30. History of the Church, 4:446.31. History of the Church, 4:454.
32. The Times and Seasons reported in January 1846, that “The Font, standing upon
the twelve stone oxen, is about ready.” Times and Seasons 6 (20 January 1846): 1096.
However, Virginia S., and J. C. Harrington, in their report of the archaeological investigations
of the Nauvoo Temple property give evidence showing the stone font was probably
being used in late 1845. See Virginia S. and J. C. Harrington, Rediscovery of the
Nauvoo Temple: Report on Archaeological Excavations (Salt Lake City: Deseret News Press,
1971), 33.
33. Charlotte Haven, “A Girl’s Letters from Nauvoo,” Overland Monthly and Out
West Magazine 16, no. 96 (December 1890): 629-30.
34. Wilford Woodruff, Wilford Woodruff’s Journal, 1833-1898, Typescript, ed. Scott
G. Kenney, 9 vols. (Midvale, Utah: Signature Books, 1983-1984), 2:455. On this occa58
Mormon Historical Studies
sion, both Wilford and Phoebe were rebaptized for relatives for whom they had previously
been baptized for on 29 May and 25 August 1842. See Woodruff, Wilford Woodruff’s
Journal, 2:177, 204.
35. Woodruff, Wilford Woodruff’s Journal, 3:336.
36. Endowment House Baptisms for the Dead, 1867, 1-2, microfilm no. 183,382,
LDS Family History Library, copy in Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University,
Provo, Utah. The baptism and confirmation information of Lyrena Evans Moffatt, Nabby
Howe, and Nabby Young are the first three that appear in the 1867 register.
37. The Endowment House was dedicated on 5 May 1855. The font was dedicated
on 2 October 1856. See Richard O. Cowan, Temples to Dot the Earth (Salt Lake City:
Bookcraft, 1994), 69. See also, A. William Lund, “The Endowment House,” Improvement
Era 39, no. 4 (April 1936): 213.
38. Deseret Evening News, 5 September 1870; also in Edward Stevenson, “One of the
Three Witnesses: Incidents in the Life of Martin Harris,” Millennial Star 44 (6 February
1882): 87. Concerning the proxy baptisms done in the Endowment House, Brigham
Young stated in 1873: “We can, at the present time, go into the Endowment House and
be baptized for the dead, receive our washings and anointing, etc., for there we have a
font that has been erected, dedicated expressly for baptizing people for the remission of
sins, for their health and for their dead friends.” Journal of Discourses, 16:186.
“For This Ordinance Belongeth
to My House”:
The Practice of Baptism for the Dead
Outside the Nauvoo Temple
ALEXANDER L. BAUGH received a B. S. in Family and Human Development in 1981 from
Utah State University. He received an M. A. in 1986, and Ph.D. in 1996 in American
History from Brigham Young University. He is an Associate Professor in the Department
of Church History and Doctrine at BYU. He also serves as associate editor of Mormon
Historical Studies, and on the boards of the John Whitmer Historical Association and
the Mormon Historic Sites Foundation.
Alexander L. Baugh: Baptism for the Dead Outside Temples 47
The Elders’ Journal of July 1838, published in Far West, Missouri, included
a series of twenty questions related to Mormonism. The answers to the
questions bear the editorial pen of Joseph Smith. Question number sixteen
posed the following query: “If the Mormon doctrine is true, what has become
of all those who have died since the days of the apostles?” The Prophet
answered, “All those who have not had an opportunity of hearing the gospel,
and being administered to by an inspired man in the flesh, must have it hereafter
before they can be finally judged.”1 The Prophet’s thought is clear—the dead
must have someone in mortality administer the saving ordinances for them
to be saved in the kingdom of God. Significantly, the answer given by the
Prophet marks his first known statement concerning the doctrine of vicarious
work for the dead. However, it was not until more than two years later
that the principle was put into practice.2
On 15 August 1840, Joseph Smith preached the funeral sermon of
Seymour Brunson during which time he declared for the first time the doctrine
of baptism for the dead.3 Unfortunately, there are no contemporary
accounts of the Prophet’s discourse. However, Simon Baker was present at
the funeral services and later stated that during the meeting the Prophet
read extensively from 1 Corinthians 15, then noted a particular widow in
the congregation whose son had died without baptism. After referring to the
statement Jesus made to Nicodemus that a man must be born of the water
48 Mormon Historical Studies
and of the spirit, Baker recalled the Prophet saying that the Saints “could
now act for their friends who had departed this life, and that the plan of salvation
was calculated to save all who were willing to obey the requirements
of the law of God.”4
It is not known precisely when the first proxy baptism or baptisms were
performed, however, the first documented baptism for the dead was performed
on 12 September 1840. On that occasion Jane Neyman requested
that Harvey Olmstead baptize her in behalf of her deceased son Cyrus
Livingston Neyman. Vienna Jacques witnessed the proxy baptism by riding
into the Mississippi River on horseback to hear and observe the ceremony.
A short while later, upon learning the words Olmstead used in performing
the baptism, Joseph Smith gave his approval of the ordinance.5
In the early 1840s, Nauvoo had four landing sites—the Upper Stone
House Landing, the Kimball Wharf, the Lower Stone House Landing, and
the Main Street Dock near Joseph Smith’s Homestead and later the Nauvoo
House.6 Each of these locations likely would have provided a suitable place
South end of Main Street, Nauvoo, Illinois, with the Mississippi River and Lake Cooper
formed by the Keokuk Dam in the background (2002). In the 1840s,
this location was of four riverboat landings in the Nauvoo area. Baptisms,
both for the living and the dead, are known to have been performed at this location.
Photograph by Alexander L. Baugh.
Alexander L. Baugh: Baptism for the Dead Outside Temples 49
for baptisms to be performed, although the ordinance was conducted at any
number of locations near the riverbank. Traditionally, the Main Street
Landing has been the site generally believed to be where baptism, both for
the living and the dead, was performed most frequently.
There is a good possibility that Alvin Smith, Joseph Smith’s older brother
who died in November 1823, was one of the first deceased persons to have
his baptismal work performed. Lucy Mack Smith recalled that just prior to
her husband’s death, Joseph told his father, “that it was . . . the privilege of
the Saints to be baptized for the dead,” whereupon Joseph Sr., requested
that, “Joseph be baptized for Alvin immediately.”7 Significantly, Joseph Sr.,
died on 14 September 1840, less than a month after the Prophet first taught
the doctrine of baptism for the dead and only two days after Jane Neyman
was baptized in behalf of her deceased son. If Joseph and the Smith family
were true to their father’s request that Alvin’s baptism be done “immediately,”
the likelihood exists that it was performed sometime around mid-
September. The record containing the early proxy ordinance information
indicates that Hyrum acted as proxy (not Joseph, as Father Smith requested),
but does not give any other date than the year 1840.8 The ordinance
was performed for Alvin a second time, again by Hyrum in 1841, and was
probably done after the font was completed and dedicated in the basement
of the Temple.9 A friend and contemporary of the Prophet, Aroet Hale, stated
that Joseph Smith instructed the Saints, “to have the work done over as
quick as the temple was finished, when it could be done more perfect.”10
Developmental Beginnings
The early practice and procedure of baptism for the dead during the
Nauvoo years was developmental and not as clearly defined as it is today.
For example, first, in the case of the Neymans, a female was baptized for a
male. Second, though a witness was present (Vienna Jacques), the individual
was not a priesthood holder. Third, no mention is made of a confirmation
following the baptism (although there may have been one, perhaps
soon after the baptism or sometime later). Fourth, no “official” baptismal
record is known to exist. Finally, the ordinance was performed in the
Mississippi River, not in a temple font. In consideration of these irregularities,
in 1873 Brigham Young reported the following:
When Joseph received the revelation that we have in our possession concerning the
dead, the subject was opened to him, not in full but in part, and he kept on receiving.
When he had first received the knowledge by the spirit of revelation how the
dead could be officiated for, there are brethren and sisters here, I can see quite a
number here who were in Nauvoo, and you recollect that when this doctrine was
50 Mormon Historical Studies
first revealed and in hurrying in the administration of baptism for the dead, that sisters
were baptized for their male friends, were baptized for their fathers, their grandfathers,
their mothers and their grandmothers, &c. I just mention this so that you
will come to understanding, that as we knew nothing about this matter at first, the
old Saints recollect, there was little by little given, and the subject was made plain,
but little was given at once. Consequently, in the first place people were baptized for
their friends and no record was kept. Joseph afterwards kept a record, &c. Then
women were baptized for men and men for women.11
Thus, Joseph Smith gave additional instructions to the Saints concerning
baptism for the dead as he came to more fully understand the principle.
By September 1842, a little more than two years after his first discourse on
the subject, his words and teachings reveal that he had gained a profound
theological and symbolic understanding of proxy baptism (see D&C
128:1–18). With this increased understanding came the need to be more
procedurally correct in the performance of the ordinance; hence, instruction
was given that a recorder be present to properly record and archive the ordinance
(see D&C 127:5–9).12
As indicated, the first proxy baptisms were performed in Nauvoo in the
Mississippi River. In the first revelatory instruction concerning baptism for
the dead, given in 19 January 1841—five months after the first baptisms for
the dead were performed—the Saints were instructed that this practice
would be temporary. “For a baptismal font there is not upon the earth, that
they, my saints, may be baptized for the dead—For this ordinance belongeth
to my house, and cannot be acceptable to me, only in the days of your poverty,
wherein ye are not able to build a house unto me” (D&C 124:29–30; see
also vv. 31–34). In essence, the revelation allowed a provision for the performance
of the ordinance outside the temple until a font could be completed
and placed in the temple, or the temple itself was completed.
The Saints enthusiastically embraced the doctrine and practice.
Examining the records of baptisms for the dead performed in 1841, M. Guy
Bishop calculated that 6,818 baptism for the dead were performed.13
Furthermore, considering the fact that baptisms for the dead were not performed
in the Nauvoo Temple until 21 November, the majority of the baptisms
performed in 1841 would likely have been river baptisms. Bishop also
notes that in 1841 the most active Latter-day Saint proxy was Nehemiah
Brush who was baptized for more than one hundred deceased relatives and
friends. The most baptized woman was Sarah M. Cleveland, who performed
the saving ordinance for forty deceased persons.14
Several individuals recorded their experiences and first impressions of
participating in the new practice. “I saw the Elders baptizing for the dead in
the Mississippi River,” Robert Horne wrote. “This was something new to me
Alexander L. Baugh: Baptism for the Dead Outside Temples 51
and the beauty of this great principle dawned upon me. I had never heard of
such a doctrine then. Orson Pratt was baptizing. Brother Joseph stood on the
banks.”15 Aroet Hale remembered Joseph Smith performing more than two
hundred baptisms in the Mississippi River. “Then the apostles and other
elders went into the river and continued the same ordinance. Hundreds were
baptized there.”16Wilford Woodruff stated that Joseph Smith “went into the
Mississippi River, and so did I, as well as others, and we each baptized a hundred
for the dead.”17 Interestingly, while the Prophet was known to have
officiated in performing the ordinance, there is no record that he ever participated
as a proxy.18
Baptism for the Dead Practiced Outside Nauvoo
A significant part of D&C Section 124 often overlooked is a provision
in the revelation allowing for the Saints living outside Nauvoo to temporarily
perform the ordinance. The revelation stated, “And after this time [after
the Saints had a sufficient time to complete a place in the temple to perform
baptisms], your baptisms for the dead by those who are scattered abroad, are not
acceptable unto me, saith the Lord. For it is ordained that in Zion, and in
her stakes, and in Jerusalem, those places which I have appointed for refuge,
shall be the places for your baptisms for the dead” (D&C 124:35–36; emphasis
added).
The Mississippi River, looking east towards Nauvoo.
Courtesy of LDS Church Archives.
52 Mormon Historical Studies
Historical sources reveal that baptisms for the dead were indeed performed
by Latter-day Saints living in areas other than Nauvoo. For example,
on 9 November 1840, a meeting was held at the home of Melvin Wilbur in
Quincy in Adams County, Illinois. Somewhere near the Wilbur property,
perhaps in the Mississippi River, Ezra T. Benson was baptized for his deceased
brother John Benson.19 At this same time, members of the Lima/Yelrome
branch, situated just a few miles north of Quincy, were also performing the
ordinance. On 7 November 1840, John Murdock, Gardner Snow, Edmund
Durfee, Albert Miner, Levi Osgood, Joseph Allen, Lane Durfee, Lydia B.
English, and Sarah Weston, “performed baptisms for their dead friends.” One
week later, on 14 November, the ordinance was attended to again by six
branch members.20 The fact that there is evidence showing that Latter-day
Saints were performing baptisms for the dead in these outlying areas, suggests
that Mormons in other settlement communities such as Montrose,
Nashville, Ramus, LaHarpe, and Plymouth, may have also engaged in the
practice.
Baptism for the dead was also practiced in Kirtland, Ohio. In fact, it was
probably due to problems associated with the leadership of the Church in
Kirtland that the practice of baptism for the dead outside the temple was cut
short. During the Church’s October 1840 general conference held in
Nauvoo, Almon W. Babbitt was appointed to preside as stake president over
approximately three to four hundred Latter-day Saints still residing in
Kirtland.21 At the time of the conference, it had only been six weeks since
Joseph Smith had first publically revealed the doctrine of baptism for the
dead, and during one of the sessions the Prophet delivered another major
discourse on the subject.22 Clearly, Babbitt knew of the doctrine before leaving
Nauvoo and then taught the principle to the Ohio Saints after his
arrival. On 23 May 1841, during a conference in Kirtland at which he
presided, Babbitt entertained the subject. The minutes of the conference
include the following report: “Elder Babbitt delivered a discourse on baptism
for the dead, from 1 Peter 4:6, to a very large audience, setting forth that
doctrine as compatible with the mercy of God, and grand council of heaven.”
W. W. Phelps, the conference clerk, followed Babbitt and “continued
the same subject from 1 Corinthians 15:22, bringing scripture upon scripture
to prove the consistency of this doctrine.”23 The conference minutes end
with the following entry: “About 25 baptisms took place, the most of which
were for the dead.”24 During the years the Church was in Ohio, a small dam
was situated across a portion of the east branch of the Chagrin River in the
Kirtland Flats area; the baptisms likely took place there.
Evidence that Latter-day Saints indeed practiced baptism for the dead in
Kirtland in the early 1840s is also supported by Alfred Holbrook, a nonAlexander
L. Baugh: Baptism for the Dead Outside Temples 53
Latter-day Saint who lived in the Kirtland area. In constructing his memoirs,
Holbrook remembered the Saints instituting the practice in Kirtland but
observed that the doctrine was rather strange to him, noting that “it seemed
to me and others that this was running baptism into the ground.”25
It is not known to what extent baptisms for the dead were performed in
Kirtland, but the practice was relatively short-lived. Contrary to the First
Presidency’s counsel, Babbitt began preaching and promoting Kirtland,
rather than Nauvoo, as the main gathering place. News of Babbitt’s countermanding
reached Church leaders in Nauvoo and was likely a primary reason
why on 2 October 1841, during a general conference of the Church in
Nauvoo, Babbitt was disfellowshipped.26 Then, the following day, the
Prophet announced, “There shall be no more baptisms for the dead, until the
ordinance can be attended to in the Lord’s House. . . . For thus saith the
Lord!”27 Four weeks later, on 31 October, Hyrum Smith, representing the
First Presidency, addressed a letter to the Kirtland Saints in which he
encouraged them to move to Nauvoo so that “the House of the Lord and the
baptismal font shall be finished” and then added with possible reference to
proxy work that “any proceedings of the Saints otherwise than to put forth
their hands with their might to do this work, is not according to the will of
God.”28 In short, Babbitt’s conduct and the lack of confidence exhibited by
Church leaders in his leadership contributed to the cessation of the practice
of baptism for the dead outside the temple both in Nauvoo and the surrounding
Mormon settlements, and Kirtland.29
In total, the allowance and practice of performing proxy baptisms outside
the temple lasted approximately thirteen and one-half months (15
August 1840–3 October 1841). With the announcement that such a practice
must cease, the Saints in Nauvoo moved quickly to comply with Joseph
Smith’s directive. On 8 November 1841, Brigham Young dedicated a temporary
wooden baptismal font in the basement of the unfinished temple.30
Less than two weeks later, on 21 November, the first baptisms for the dead
were performed in the temple by Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, and
John Taylor, who performed the ordinance for approximately forty deceased
persons. Willard Richards, George A. Smith, and Wilford Woodruff performed
the confirmations.31 Sometime in late 1845, a stone font replaced
the wooden one.32
Although the Saints were instructed not to perform proxy baptisms outside
the temple after the October 1841 conference, a few recorded instances
were found showing that there were exceptions to the policy. Charlotte
Haven, a non-Latter-day Saint who lived in Nauvoo in 1842-43, wrote a letter
to her family in the east describing a baptismal service she observed being
performed in behalf of the dead. In the letter, dated 2 May 1843, she wrote:
54 Mormon Historical Studies
Last Sunday morning . . . was a balmy spring day, so we took a bee-line for the
river, down the street north of our house. Arriving there we rested a while on a log,
watching the thin sheets of ice as they slowly came down and floated by. Then we
followed the bank toward town, and rounding a little point covered with willows
and cottonwoods, we spied quite a crowd of people, and soon perceived there was a
baptism. Two elders stood knee- deep in the ice cold water, and immersed one
another as fast as they could come down the bank. We soon observed that some of
them went in and were plunged several times. We were told that they were baptized
for the dead who had not had an opportunity of adopting the doctrines of the Latter
Day Saints. So these poor mortals in ice-cold water were releasing their ancestors
and relatives from purgatory! We drew a little nearer and heard several names
repeated by the elders as the victims were douched, and you can imagine our surprise
when the name George Washington was called. So after these fifty years he is out of
purgatory and on his way to the “celestial” heaven! It was enough and we continued
our walk homeward.33
Wilford Woodruff recorded two instances where he and others performed
baptisms for the dead outside the temple after the October 1841
injunction. The first of these occurred on 26 August 1844. He recorded in
his journal that he and his wife Phoebe, “went to the River in company with
Mrs. Woodruff to be baptized for some our dead friends.” He continued, “I
was baptized for five of my friends under hands of G. A. Smith & confirmed
under the hands of Elder Richards.” He then notes the names for whom he
was baptized, each of whom were his relatives. Phoebe was also baptized for
five deceased persons who were members of her family.34 Even though the
temple’s wooden font was in place in November 1841, and the stone font in
use in late 1845, ongoing construction probably prohibited use of the baptistry
at times, thereby necessitating the need to perform the ordinance elsewhere.
Post-Nauvoo Baptisms for the Dead
Following the Nauvoo exodus, with the exception of three documented
instances, baptism for the dead was not practiced again until 1867. The first
of these occurred on 4 April 1848. While in Iowa, just prior to his return
trip to the Salt Lake Valley, Wilford Woodruff performed nine baptisms for
deceased persons in the Missouri River, followed by four confirmations.35 On
21 August 1855, Margaret E. Moffatt was baptized and confirmed for Lyrena
Evans Moffatt by Ezra T. Benson in City Creek in Salt Lake City. Two years
later, on 23 October 1857, Nancy Kent was baptized for Nabby Howe, and
Fanny Smith was baptized for Nabby Young, with John and Joseph Young
officiating.36 These two baptisms took place in the baptismal font affixed to
the Endowment House in Salt Lake City.37
Alexander L. Baugh: Baptism for the Dead Outside Temples 55
Beginning in 1867, Church leaders once again allowed members to perform
baptisms for the dead in the Endowment House font. This practice
continued for a period of nine years (1867-76) until the completion and dedication
of the St. George Temple in 1877. One example of this is the case of
Martin Harris, one of the Three Witnesses to the Book of Mormon. On 29
August 1870, Harris arrived in Utah. During the first week of September he
met with several Church leaders who instructed him concerning some of the
doctrines that had been revealed since his disaffection from the Church in
late 1837, including the principle of baptism for the dead. Following his own
rebaptism by Edward Stevenson and reconfirmation by Orson Pratt, “he
returned into the font and was baptized for several of his dead friends—
fathers, grandfathers, etc. . . . [and] his sister also was baptized for the female
relatives, and they were confirmed for and in behalf of those whom they
were baptized for, by . . . Jos. F. Smith being mouth.”38
With the completion of the St. George Temple, all of the ordinances for
the dead, including priesthood ordinations, endowments, and sealings, could
be administered. Thereafter, the practice of performing temple ordinances,
including baptism for the dead outside the temple, came to a permanent end.
Notes
1. Elders’ Journal of The Church of the Latter Day Saints, 1 (July 1838): 43; emphasis
added.
2. The Prophet’s initial understanding of vicarious work for the dead may have come
to him as a result of the vision he received in January 1836 concerning his older brother
Alvin, who had died in 1823, prior to the restoration of the gospel (D&C 137). In the
vision, Joseph stated that he saw Alvin in the celestial kingdom, but wondered how he
could have received such an inheritance without having received baptism under the
proper authority (v. 6). It was then revealed to him that all those who died prior to the
gospel being on the earth and all who would die henceforth without a knowledge of the
gospel would be heirs of the celestial kingdom (vv. 7–8). With this revelation as a backdrop,
the Prophet probably came to understand that while the gospel could be received
by the dead following their departure from this life, the ordinance work must be performed
for them by someone living in mortality.
3. Seymour Brunson died on 10 August 1840. See Times and Seasons 1 (September
1840): 176; and Joseph Smith Jr., History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,
ed B. H. Roberts, 2d. ed., rev., 7 vols. (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1971), 4:179 (hereafter
cited as History of the Church). The date of 15 August 1840 is usually given as the
date for Brunson’s funeral. See Journal History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints, 15 August 1840, LDS Church Archives, Family and Church History Department,
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah, microfilm copy in
Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah (hereafter cited as Journal
History). Don F. Colvin gives 10 August 1840 (Brunson’s death date) as the funeral date.
See Don F. Colvin, Nauvoo Temple: A Story of Faith (American Fork, Utah: Covenant
Communications, 2002), 83. In a 19 October 1840 letter to the Twelve, the majority of
56 Mormon Historical Studies
whom were serving in Great Britain, Joseph Smith stated that he first taught the doctrine
while preaching Brunson’s funeral sermon. See History of the Church, 4:231. Brunson
joined the Church in Ohio in January 1831. He played an active role as captain in the
Caldwell County militia during the 1838 Mormon conflict in Missouri. At the time of
his death, he was a devoted friend of Joseph Smith and a member of the Nauvoo high
council. See “A Short Sketch of Seymour Brunson, Sr.,” Nauvoo Journal 4, no. 1 (Spring
1992): 3–5.
4. Simon Baker, Statement, in Journal History, 15 August 1840; also cited in
Andrew F. Ehat and Lyndon W. Cook, eds., The Words of Joseph Smith (Provo, Utah:
Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1980), 49 note 1.
5. See Nauvoo Baptisms for the Dead, Book A, attached note, microfilm no.
183,376, LDS Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah, microfilm copy in Harold B.
Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah. See also, Jane Neyman and Vienna
Jacques, Statement, 29 November 1854, in Journal History, 15 August 1840. The Journal
History gives the name spelling N-e-y-m-o-n.
6. See LaMar C. Berrett, Keith W. Perkins, and Donald Q. Cannon, Sacred Places,
Ohio and Illinois: A Comprehensive Guide to Early LDS Historical Sites (Salt Lake City:
Deseret Book, 2002), 104-105, 115-17, 133-34, 195-96.
7. Lucy Mack Smith, Lucy’s Book: A Critical Edition of Lucy Mack Smith’s Family
Memoir, ed. Lavina Fielding Anderson (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 2001), 714.
8. Nauvoo Baptisms for the Dead, Book A, 145.
9. Nauvoo Baptisms for the Dead, Book A, 149.
10. Aroet Lucious Hale, “Diary of Aroet Lucious Hale, 1828-1849,” typescript, 8, L.
Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo,
Utah, spelling and capitalization corrected. Although the document is titled as a diary, it
is actually an autobiography.
11. Journal of Discourses, 26 vols. (London: F. D. Richards, 1854-86), 16:165.
Wilford Woodruff later recalled, “When that [baptism for the dead] was first revealed . .
. a man would be baptized for both male and female [but] afterward we obtained more
light upon the subject and President Young taught the people that men should attend to
those ordinances for the male portion of their dead friends and females for females.”
Journal History, 9 April 1857; as cited in M. Guy Bishop, “‘What Has Become of Our
Fathers?’: Baptism for the Dead at Nauvoo,” Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 23,
no. 2 (Summer 1990): 87.
12. Between August 1840 and September 1842, Joseph Smith addressed the Saints
on the subject of baptism for the dead on at least eight occasions. See Ehat and Cook,
The Words of Joseph Smith, 37 (15 August 1840); 38 (4 October 1840); 70 (8 April 1841);
71 (11 April 1841); 77–79 (3 October 1841); 109–10 (27 March 1842); 111 (7 April
1842); 131 (31 August 1842). In 1843–44, the Prophet addressed the subject on only four
occasions. See Ehat and Cook, The Words of Joseph Smith, 210–11, 213 (11 June 1843);
333 (10 March 1844); 362–65 (8 April 1844); 368, 370–72 (12 May 1844).
13. Bishop, “‘What Has Become of Our Fathers?’” 88-89. Since instructions regarding
accurate record-keeping were not in place at that time, the 6,818 figure would have
been larger.
14. Bishop, “‘What Has Become of Our Fathers?’” 90.
15. “Reminiscences of the Church in Nauvoo,” Millennial Star 55 (4 September
1893): 585.
16. Hale, “Diary,” 8, spelling and capitalization corrected.
Alexander L. Baugh: Baptism for the Dead Outside Temples 57
17. Wilford Woodruff, “The Law of Adoption,” 8 April 1894 General Conference
Address, in Brian H. Stuy, ed., Collected Discourses, 5 vols. (Burbank, California, and
Woodland Hills, Utah: B. H. S. Publishing, 1987-1992), 4:71.
18. Bishop, “‘What Has Become of Our Fathers?’” 92.
19. Nauvoo Baptisms for the Dead, Book A, attached note. See also, A Record of
the Branch in Quincy, 9 November and 15 November 1840, Church Archives; Richard
E. Bennett, “‘Quincy–The Home of Our Adoption’: A Study of the Mormons in Quincy,
Illinois, 1838-40,” Mormon Historical Studies 2, no. 1 (Spring 2001): 115; also in Susan
Easton Black and Richard E. Bennett, A City of Refuge: Quincy, Illinois (Salt Lake City:
Millennial Press, 2000), 101; and Bishop, “‘What Has Become of Our Fathers?’” 87-88.
20. “Early Branches (Lima, Adams, Illinois to Mendon Monroe, New York),” The
Nauvoo Journal 3, (April 1991): 24. I have corrected the spelling of the Durfee’s.
21. History of the Church, 4:204.
22. History of the Church, 4:206.
23. “Minutes of a Conference, Held in Kirtland, Ohio, May 22nd 1841,” Times and
Seasons 2 (1 July 1841): 459, also in Lyndon W. Cook and Milton V. Backman, Jr., eds.,
Kirtland Elders’ Quorum Record, 1836–1841 (Provo: Grandin Book, 1985), 58.
24. “Minutes,” Times and Seasons 2 (1 July 1841): 460; also in Cook and Backman,
Kirtland Elders’ Quorum Record, 59.
25. Alfred Holbrook, Reminiscences of the Happy Life of a Teacher (Cincinnati: Elm
Street Printing Company, 1885), 223. Holbrook claims the Mormon practice of baptism
for the dead was introduced and took place in Kirtland while Joseph Smith and Sidney
Rigdon were residing there (i.e., before 1838). This is an obvious error, since the practice
did not begin until May 1841, more than three years after the Prophet and Rigdon left
northeastern Ohio. However, the fact that Holbrook had any knowledge of it whatsoever
indicates that he was at least aware that it was practiced by the Saints there.
26. History of the Church, 4:424.
27. History of the Church, 4:426.
28. History of the Church, 4:443–44.
29. For a brief discussion of Kirtland under Babbitt’s leadership, see Davis Bitton,
“The Waning of Mormon Kirtland,” BYU Studies 12, no. 4 (Summer 1972): 456–57.
Biographical information on Babbitt’s life and church involvement is found in Andrew
Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 4 vols. (Salt Lake City: Andrew Jenson
History Company, 1901), 1:284–86; and A. Gary Anderson, “Almon W. Babbitt and the
Golden Calf,” in H. Dean Garrett, ed., Regional Studies in Latter-day Saint Church History:
Illinois (Provo: Department of Church History and Doctrine, Brigham Young University,
1995), 35–54.
30. History of the Church, 4:446.31. History of the Church, 4:454.
32. The Times and Seasons reported in January 1846, that “The Font, standing upon
the twelve stone oxen, is about ready.” Times and Seasons 6 (20 January 1846): 1096.
However, Virginia S., and J. C. Harrington, in their report of the archaeological investigations
of the Nauvoo Temple property give evidence showing the stone font was probably
being used in late 1845. See Virginia S. and J. C. Harrington, Rediscovery of the
Nauvoo Temple: Report on Archaeological Excavations (Salt Lake City: Deseret News Press,
1971), 33.
33. Charlotte Haven, “A Girl’s Letters from Nauvoo,” Overland Monthly and Out
West Magazine 16, no. 96 (December 1890): 629-30.
34. Wilford Woodruff, Wilford Woodruff’s Journal, 1833-1898, Typescript, ed. Scott
G. Kenney, 9 vols. (Midvale, Utah: Signature Books, 1983-1984), 2:455. On this occa58
Mormon Historical Studies
sion, both Wilford and Phoebe were rebaptized for relatives for whom they had previously
been baptized for on 29 May and 25 August 1842. See Woodruff, Wilford Woodruff’s
Journal, 2:177, 204.
35. Woodruff, Wilford Woodruff’s Journal, 3:336.
36. Endowment House Baptisms for the Dead, 1867, 1-2, microfilm no. 183,382,
LDS Family History Library, copy in Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University,
Provo, Utah. The baptism and confirmation information of Lyrena Evans Moffatt, Nabby
Howe, and Nabby Young are the first three that appear in the 1867 register.
37. The Endowment House was dedicated on 5 May 1855. The font was dedicated
on 2 October 1856. See Richard O. Cowan, Temples to Dot the Earth (Salt Lake City:
Bookcraft, 1994), 69. See also, A. William Lund, “The Endowment House,” Improvement
Era 39, no. 4 (April 1936): 213.
38. Deseret Evening News, 5 September 1870; also in Edward Stevenson, “One of the
Three Witnesses: Incidents in the Life of Martin Harris,” Millennial Star 44 (6 February
1882): 87. Concerning the proxy baptisms done in the Endowment House, Brigham
Young stated in 1873: “We can, at the present time, go into the Endowment House and
be baptized for the dead, receive our washings and anointing, etc., for there we have a
font that has been erected, dedicated expressly for baptizing people for the remission of
sins, for their health and for their dead friends.” Journal of Discourses, 16:186.