Joseph Smith's Quorum of the Anointed deals with the development of the rituals that took place in the upper room of Joseph Smith's Red Brick Store beginning in 1842, portions of which were accidentally witnessed by some in the city. For instance, Ebenezer Robinson, who later embraced the Reorganized Church and later still departed from it, for example, described walking innocently into the upper room only to see "John Taylor, one of the twelve Apostles, in a long white garment, with a white turban on his head, and drawn sword in his hand, evidently representing the 'cherubims and flaming sword which was placed at the east of the garden of Eden, to guard the tree of life'" (p. 79). Robinson was not part of Joseph Smith's inner circle and did not participate in these ceremonies. Like others who became part of the Reorganized Church, he was repulsed by them.

Not so many others—who embraced the endowment as Joseph Smith taught them, even as it evolved during the last couple of years of the prophet's life. As George A. Smith recalled in 1874:

He [Joseph Smith] stated that the Twelve were then instructed to administer in the ordinances of the Gospel for the dead, beginning with baptism and the laying on of hands. The work was at once commenced. It soon became apparent that some had long records of their dead, for whom they wished to administer. This was seen to be but the beginning of an immense work, and that to administer all the ordinances of the Gospel to the hosts of the dead was no light task. The Twelve asked Joseph if there could not be some shorter method of administering for so many. Joseph in effect replied—"The laws of the Lord are immutable, we must act in perfect compliance with what is revealed to us. We need not expect to do this vast work for the dead in a short time. I expect it will take at least a thousand years." (38)

These ideas anchor the faith of the Latter-day Saints to this day. This work does a fine job of documenting through primary sources how the ideas emerged in Nauvoo. Arranged chronologically, various sources are connected together to describe the process of teaching these ideas among the church's elite.

The Nauvoo Endowment Companies is in essence a sequel to Joseph Smith's Quorum of the Anointed. It deals with efforts after Joseph Smith's death to ensure that the temple endowment was administered to as many Saints as possible prior to the departure of the main part of the church from Nauvoo in 1846. Again, it arranges in chronological order the many accounts of temple work during 1845 and 1846. The washings and anointings; the eternal marriage ceremonies; the ritual passage from the Garden of Eden through the telestial, terrestrial, and celestial glories; the adoptions; and other endowments depicted in these primary accounts suggest the evolution of the rituals even after the death of Joseph Smith and the promulgation of this aspect of Mormon theology among the rank and file in the church.

The events of this effort are related in such accounts as this one by Abraham Owen Smoot:

On Saturday the 18th of Dec[ember] 1845, having been called on by the Council of the Twelve Apostles, I went to the Temple in Nauvoo to receive my endowment. At the hour of 8 o'clock in the morning I was received into the preparation rooms, with several others of my brethren, and I was there prepared to be conducted into the washing and anointing room, where I received my washings in clean and pure water, preparatory to my anointing, which I received under the hands of Samuel Bent, President of the High Council. I was then presented with a garment, b[e]aring the marks of the Priesthood, which I was instructed to wear as a prevention from evil. I was now prepared for the reception of further ordinances in the House of the Lord which were to me sublime, great and glorious, making on my mind endurable impressions, or as the prophet said, "engraving upon the heart or writ[t]en upon its inner parts &c." (82-83)

The haste with which these endowments were undertaken is revealing. On February 6, 1846, the last day before endowments were suspended, 512 people in eight different companies went through the Nauvoo Temple. The intention of making these ceremonies available to as many of the Latter-day Saints as possible prior to departing from the city was apparent in these actions. Such widespread administration helped to standardize the practice among those who went west with Brigham Young.

What is most remarkable about both of these books from my perspective is the hierarchies created in the rituals in which men were endowed to become kings and gods and women to become queens and priestesses. The Mormon temple concept, as it emerged in Nauvoo with its secrecy, ritualistic washings and anointings, incantations, preoccupation with Old Testament images, and elaborate rites providing for eternal exaltation during which faithful Mormons would "inherit thrones, kingdoms, principalities, and powers, dominions, all heights and depths" (D&C 132:20), implies that those who did not experience this same endowment must occupy an eternally subservient station. The temple ritual as documented here always mandated a second-class position for women beneath their priesthood-holding husbands, but women of the faith would be exalted above all others. Did this set of ideas emerge ambivalently over time or was it deliberately fostered by status anxiety or other more subtle factors?

Both Joseph Smith's Quorum of the Anointed and The Nauvoo Endowment Companies are welcome additions to the literature of Mormon Nauvoo. They present highly useful documentary materials for all to review. Historians will find them helpful in understanding the evolution of the Mormon temple concept and the practice of rituals in the city. Genealogists and believing LDS will profit from the wealth of biographical and canonical material contained in these works.

¹Ronald K. Esplin, "The Significance of Nauvoo for Latter-day Saints," Journal of Mormon History 16 (1990): 72.

Dave's Mormon Inquiry, David Underhill

I just finished reading through my advance reading copy ("ARC") of Joseph Smith's Quorum of the Anointed, 1842-1845: A Documentary History (Signature, 2005), edited by Devery S. Anderson and Gary James Bergera. The book doesn't use a standard narrative treatment, but instead presents a chronological arrangement of quotations from all available sources relating statements about the Quorum of the Anointed ("QA"), the select group of about ninety individuals who received the higher LDS ordinances under the direction of Joseph Smith before his death in June 1844. A foreword by Todd Compton and a summary introduction by the editors provide context and a framework to the source material that forms the body of the book. There is also a handy section giving short biographies of all QA members. I'll touch on a few of the highlights.

The Sources. Some quotes come right out of the History of the Church, but might not jump out as relating to the QA if one were reading the HC directly. Many quotes come from Nauvoo diaries of LDS leaders: Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, John Taylor, Joseph Smith, Wilford Woodruff, Willard Richards, and William Clayton. When arranged chronologically, the sources often provide duplicate accounts, but they seem to be quite consistent in their reports, a pleasant result. Of the diarists, William Clayton seemed the most complete and enlightening.

The People. While many names are familiar, there are a few that might be surprising. James Adams, for example, was a member of the first Nauvoo endowment group in May 1842. Baptized LDS in 1836, he was made a probate judge in 1841. He was also Deputy Grand Master of the second Masonic Grand Lodge of Illinois and helped establish Nauvoo's lodge in early 1842. A handy fellow to have around.

The Gap. From July 1842 to May 1843, the sources fall silent. The QA apparently went inactive during that period in response to John C. Bennett's embarrassing disclosures and accusations. I knew Bennett's book caused a big flap, but I was surprised to see the effect it had on an activity as important and as publicly unobserved as the Quorum. When activities resumed in May 1843, women were first admitted into the QA, which is often referred to as a priesthood quorum. The 1843-44 period was thus the high water mark of female participation in higher LDS councils. It's worth noting that women were not admitted into Masonic lodges.

The Tone. All in all, it's a pretty tame book. On the one hand, if you're expecting something earthshaking, I'm not sure you'll find it. On the other hand, those with standard LDS sensibilities about LDS temple lore are not likely to be offended by the book. Most of the text, after all, is taken from diaries of early LDS leaders; there isn't any material taken from the John C. Bennett writings or other rather uninformed critics. The preliminary ARC inner flap notes state that "the editors of this volume do not reveal anything that would be considered invasive or indelicate," and I found that to be true throughout the book.

Conclusion. I confess I was somewhat surprised that the original Joseph Smith material (as suggested from the selected diary accounts of the early LDS leaders) seems remarkably similar to the modern LDS material (which, for me, extends to the pre-1991 era; your experience may differ). Somehow I had formed the impression that there were substantial revisions between then and now, but this book gently suggests otherwise. That alone might make the book a worthwhile purchase for some LDS readers.