Essentials in Church History: A History of the Church from the Birth of Joseph Smith to the Present Time (1922), with Introductory Chapters on the Antiquity of the Gospel and the "Falling Away"Smith, Joseph Fielding
History
Essentials in Church History: A History of the Church from the Birth of Joseph Smith to the Present Time (1922), with Introductory Chapters on the Antiquity of the Gospel and the "Falling Away"
Smith, Joseph Fielding
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints -- History
Dedication of the Font in the Temple
One month later, November 8, 1841, the baptismal font in the temple was
dedicated. President Brigham Young was spokesman. The font is described
as being situated in the center of the basement room, under the main
hall of the temple. It was constructed of pine timber, and put together
of staves tongued and grooved, oval shaped, sixteen feet long east and
west, and twelve feet wide, seven feet high from the foundation, the
basin four feet deep, the moulding of the cap and base were formed of
beautiful carved work. It stood upon twelve oxen, four on each side,
and two at each end, their heads, shoulders, and fore legs projecting
out from under the font. The oxen and ornamental mouldings were carved
by Elder Elijah Fordham, which took him eight months to finish. This
font was replaced later by a permanent font which was more durable.
First Baptisms in the Temple
Sunday, November 21, 1841, the twelve met in council at President
Brigham Young's house, and at four o'clock they repaired to the
baptismal font in the temple, where President Brigham Young, Elders
Heber C. Kimball and John Taylor baptized about forty persons for their
dead. Elders Willard Richards, Wilford Woodruff and George A. Smith,
confirmed them. These were the first baptisms for the dead in the
font in the Lord's House. From this time forth, as long as the Saints
remained in Nauvoo, baptisms for the dead were performed in the temple.
Death of Don Carlos Smith
Sunday, August 7, 1841, Don Carlos Smith, the youngest brother of the
Prophet, died in Nauvoo. He was only twenty-six years of age, and was
one of the first to receive the testimony of the Prophet. He received
the Priesthood when but fourteen years of age, and in 1836 was made
president of the high priests' quorum. He was on a mission in Tennessee
and Kentucky in 1838. During his absence in the midst of winter his
wife was driven from her home which was burned, and she was forced to
wade Grand River with her two little children. In Kirtland he labored
in the office of Oliver Cowdery and learned the art of printing. In the
flight of his father's family from Missouri in the winter of 1839, he
took charge, and saw them removed to Quincy, Illinois. In June, 1839,
he commenced making preparations for printing the _Times and Seasons_,
a periodical published in Nauvoo. The press and type had been rescued
by Elias Smith, Hyrum Clark and others, from Dawson's yard in Far West,
where it had been buried the night that place was besieged by the
mob-militia under General Lucas. The _Times and Seasons_ was issued by
Don Carlos Smith and Ebenezer Robinson, the first number appearing in
November, 1839. At the time of his death the editors were Don Carlos
Smith and Robert B. Thompson. Don Carlos was six feet four inches tall,
was very straight, strong and active. The Prophet said of him: "I never
knew any fault in him; I never saw the first immoral act, or the first
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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