-- Friday, Mar 29, 1907
[Apostle John Henry Smith Diary] Salt Lake City
My son Joseph Harmon Smith was rebaptised to day at the Baptistry by John W. Grace. (1)
-- Wednesday, Apr 10, 1907
[Apostle John Henry Smith Diary] Salt Lake City
My son Joseph Harmon was born December 17th, 1884. Baptised and confirmed by me April 4th, 1892. Rebaptised March 29th by John W. Grace and reconfirmed by me Sunday March 31st.
To day John Royman, Prest. of the Elders Quorum, and myself, me being Mouth Ordained him an Elder. (1)
-- Apr 20, 1907
No member of the Church, male or female, who, after leaving off his or her garments, would be justified in putting them on again without consent of the proper authority, and that authority is the First Presidency of the Church; and this consent would, as a general thing, involve the renewal of covenants by baptism. Where sisters cast off their garments, and give themselves in marriage to non-members of the Church, they must not, under any circumstances, be permitted to wear their garments again while living in such marriage relationship, and therefore all such sisters must be content to continue to live without wearing the garment of the holy priesthood during the existence of their present marital relationships. This practice obtains in the stakes of Zion and must be strictly adhered to in the missions. [Joseph F. Smith, John R. Winder, and Anthon H. Lund to Nephi Pratt, Apr. 20, 1907] (2)
-- During 1908
... INSTRUCTIONS TO THE SAINTS WHO ARE PRIVILEGED TO ENTER THE SALT LAKE TEMPLE At least one year should be allowed to elapse after the death of individuals before Temple ordinances are performed in their behalf, unless it is known the deceased were prepared to obey the Gospel before their death. . . . Baptisms, or other ordinances, must not be performed in behalf of any individual whose death is not positively known, except one hundred years has elapsed from date of birth. When there is no evidence of the dead having reached a sufficient age[,] endowments should not be performed in behalf of such persons. . . . The dead who have been endowed can only be represented in any vicarious work by those who have themselves been endowed. A living person cannot be represented by proxy. Before children are sealed to parents or adopted, all the other ordinances to which they are eligible should first be attended to. All the members of a family should be sealed to their parents at the same time, if possible. If the sealing is to another person than the father or mother, that fact must be stated. No person should have the ordinances of Sealing to Parents, or Adoptions, performed for those who are not of their own lineage. Those who do Temple work, or get it done, should be careful to designate their proper relationship to each one of the dead. A clear distinction should be made between blood kindred and those to whom they are married; the latter are known as relatives in law, thus, a man is nephew in law to his uncle's wife, cousin in law to his cousin's wife, etc. If the dead are known to be blood relations, but the degree of relationship cannot be stated, the word Relative is to be given. When there is no family connection the word Friend should be used. The relatives, or friends, of a wife should be listed separately from those of her husband, and the work for her kindred should be at the instance of her eldest brother, if he is a member of the Church, or of her eldest son. . . . The Saints who enter the sacred building should be properly prepared. Their bodies should be scrupulously clean, and those who feel it necessary to renew their covenants before beginning their work ought to attend to this previous to entering the Temple, it being in the nature of a preparation. Males should be ordained Elders before they come to the Temple to receive endowments. The Saints who attend to baptisms for the dead, should be amply dressed in white before entering the font. All participants in the ordinance of sealing children should also be dressed in white. Males over 21 or females over 18 years of age, are not permitted to witness or take part in any Temple ordinances until they have received their own endowments. . . . Couples who come to the Temple to be married (sealed), must bring Licenses issued by County Clerks of this State. When this is not complied with the ceremony will not be performed. Those who have been legally married before do not require such licenses. Husbands and wives must be sealed before their children can be sealed to them. In the performance of work for the dead, the right of heirship (blood relationship) should be sacredly regarded. When practicable, relatives should represent the dead. When an heir empowers another person to do the work in his or her stead, he or she should give the acting proxy a written authorization to that effect. The name of the individual at whose instance the work is done, and his, or her, relationship to each of the dead is required for [the] record. As a rule, heirship is determined by the patriarchal order, the eldest son. Individuals, or families, who cannot conveniently attend personally to the performance of Temple work in behalf of their dead kindred, or friends, can make arrangements to have such work done at their instance. The necessary instructions regarding this matter will be imparted on application to the Recorder. When baptisms have been attended to, the other ordinances to which the individuals are eligible should be performed without delay. . . . Those who do ordinance work have not the right to make matches between people who are deceased, except in cases of persons who were married in life. In all other instances the President of the Temple must be consulted. Persons who committed murder or suicide, or who apostatized or were excommunicated from the Church, cannot be officiated for except by special permission of the President of the Temple. He should be appealed to in all matters involving doubt or complications. The Temple is open on all working days at 7:30 a.m., and all ought to be in the building not later than 8:30. Monday is devoted to taking the record of Baptisms for the dead, which are performed on Tuesday. Baptismal records are not taken after eleven o'clock Mondays. The higher ordinances are attended to on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. The record of this work is taken between the hours of 7:30 and 9:00 a.m. of the day it is performed. The earlier the Saints come to give in [their] record[s] the better. All who enter the Temple must observe good order and proper decorum; loud and irrelevant conversation should be avoided. All who come to the Temple to perform ordinance work are expected to make donations according to their circumstances, to aid in meeting necessary expense, but the poor who have nothing to give are equally welcome. Recommends for the privilege to work in the House of the Lord must be renewed every six months. Each individual needs a recommend, including children over eight years of age. [Joseph F. Smith, signed statement, ca. 1908; emphasis in original] (2)
Endnotes:
1 - Jean Bickmore White (editor), Church, State, and Politics: The Diaries of John Henry Smith, Signature Books in association with Smith Research Associates, Salt Lake City, 1990, http://bit.ly/johnhenrysmith
2 - Anderson, Devery; The Development of LDS Temple Worship, 1846-2000: A Documentary History, http://amzn.to/TempleWorship
LDS History Chronology: Unconventional Baptisms
Mormon History Timeline: Forms of Rebaptism in LDS History
http://lds-church-history.blogspot.com/
