-- Apr 17, 1897
[President Wilford Woodruff Journal] April 17th I was troubled some with phlem in my throat, but slept 5 1/2 hours from midnight to 9 am. After breakfast Bro Samuel Bateman called. I directed the planting of some garden seeds.
At 2 pm Pres Lorenzo Snow & Bro Wm Salmon called and staid for 1 1/2 hours & we conversed together. He gave me a list of /Salt Lake/ Temple work since the commencement May 22, 1893 to March 31 /97 Showing 142,679 Baptisms for the dead, 3,646 for health, 5,908 living Endowments 81,933 dead endowments; ordinations 53 living 32,739 dead; Sealings 2,590 living, 21,288 dead; children to Parents 6,147 living 17,936 dead; adoptions 67 living 694 dead; 2nd anointing 1,017 living 531 dead. Total living 19,428 Dead 297,794 = 317,222.
Before they left I asked Bro Snow to administer to me. Bro Salmon anointed Pres Snow mouth Elder Nuttall assisting. I had some short naps before midnight. (1)
-- May 25, 1897
[Apostle Marriner W. Merrill Diary] Logan. Lorin, my son, was baptized for himself and grandfathers Joseph Reunolds, Rufus Bulmer, and John R. Richardson. (2)
-- Mar 1, 1898; Tuesday
Pres[ident]. W[ilford]. Woodruff is 91 years to-day. He was at the Office, looking and feeling well and attending to business as usual, in company with Pres[ident]. G[eorge]. Q. Cannon. He waived his usual birthday party, but promised to have one if he should live to a hundred.
Permission was given by the President for the use of the Assembly Hall to repeat the program given at the 11th Ward meeting-house for the benefit of Hirini Whaanga, as the Ward house proved too small to accommodate the audience assembled.
Bishop H[iram]. B. Clawson informed the Presidency that the late James T. Little had expressed a desire previous to his death that H[iram]. B. Clawson, Jun[ior]., his brother-in-law should be baptized for him after his decease. (3)
-- May 19, 1898; Thursday
Meeting of the First Presidency and Twelve Apostles at the Salt Lake Temple at 11 A.M. Present: Presidents W[ilford]. Woodruff, Jos[eph]. F. Smith and Lorenzo Snow; Elders F[ranklin]. D. Richards, J[ohn]. H[enry]. Smith, Geo[rge]. Teasdale, Heber J. Grant, M[atthias]. F. Cowley, and A[braham]. O[wen]. Woodruff. ...
The subject of rebaptism was discussed at some length by the Council, the question being whether or not the practice, which had become too common in the Church, should be discontinued, or permitted only in certain cases. The subject was dropped without action.
This afternoon Presidents Woodruff and Smith appropriated the sum of $111.50 in labor tithing to the Utah Stake Tabernacle. (3)
-- Thursday, Mar 16, 1899
[Apostle Rudger Clawson Diary] Salt Lake City. Cloudy and mild. I worked on Pres. Snow's private books until 11 a.m.
11 a.m. Council meeting of the brethren at temple. ...
Pres. Jos. F. Smith said a question had been asked in reference to baptism for the dead. Read from Alma (Book of Mormon), Chap. 34, Verses 32, 33, 34, and 35. How can these passages, it was asked, be reconciled with [the] principle of the baptism for the dead? After a few moments of animated discussion, the idea seemed to prevail among the brethren, that, at the time of uttering those words, Amulek could not possibly have been acquainted with the principle of baptism for the dead. Benediction by Apostle M. W. Merrill.... (4)
-- Jun 8, 1899; Thursday
Presidents [Lorenzo] Snow and [Joseph F.] Smith at the Office. President Smith offered prayer this morning at the commencement exercises of the State University, held in the Salt Lake Theatre.
... He had advised Elder Ben E. Rich, now presiding in the South, to communicate with the Liverpool [England] office, and try to get the Book of Mormon cheaper than it could be got here. He mentioned the incident of a number of persons having been baptized into the Church who did not know that we believed in the divine calling of Joseph Smith; due no doubt to the fact that Brother Kimball had deemed it wise at one time for the Elders not to mention the name of the Prophet, but to preach the first principles of the Gospel as contained in the scriptures, and let that suffice for the time being. The result was, since the Elders had been reinstructed to bear testimony to his divine calling, that some of these new
members had left the Church. The speaker had heard, however, that a number of the backsliders had been rebaptized.... (3)
Endnotes:
1 - Wilford Woodruff's Journal: 1833-1898 Typescript, Volumes 1-9, Edited by Scott G. Kenney, Signature Books 1993, http://amzn.to/newmormonstudies
2 - Notes from the Miscellaneous Record Book, 1886-1906: Selected diary notes from the journal books of Marriner Wood Merrill, http://amzn.to/newmormonstudies
3 - First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve minutes
4 - Stan Larson (editor), A Ministry of Meetings: The Apostolic diaries of Rudger Clawson, Signature Books in association with Smith Research Associates, Salt Lake City, 1993, http://bit.ly/rudgerclawson
LDS History Chronology: Unconventional Baptisms
Mormon History Timeline: Forms of Rebaptism in LDS History
http://lds-church-history.blogspot.com/
