19 The Kirtland Temple

Vision of the Completed Temple to Be Shown to Three

One day during the winter of 1835–36, President Frederick G. Williams entered the nearly finished interior of the Kirtland Temple to see how the work was progressing. One of the carpenters, forty-one-year-old Samuel Rolfe,¹ asked him if it looked the way the First Presidency had envisioned it. President Williams responded that it did and then proceeded to relate a remarkable vision they had received, in which the completed temple had appeared before their eyes: first the exterior, and then the interior, in what we might call today a display of virtual reality. Another of the workers, twenty-five-year-old Truman O. Angell, who “had the supervision of finishing the second, or middle Hall of the Temple, including the stands” (and who would later draft the Salt Lake Temple), was listening to the conversation intently, and later recorded it in his autobiography.

I here desire to mention a few more items in connection with the Temple. The work on the Lower Hall went on to the finishing of the stands, and pews or slips, plastering and painting complete.

About this time Frederick G. Williams—one of Pres. Joseph Smith’s counsellors—came into the Temple, when the following dialogue took place in my presence.

Carpenter Rolph said, “Doctor what do you think of the House?” He answered “It looks to me like the pattern precisely.” He then related the following. “Joseph received the word of the Lord for him to take his two counselors Williams and Rigdon and come before the Lord and He would show them the plan or model of the House to be built. We went upon our knees, called on the Lord, and the Building appeared within viewing distance, I being the first to discover it. Then all of us viewed it together. After we had taken a good look at the exterior, the building seemed to come right over us, and the makeup of the Hall seems to coincide with what I there saw to a minutia.”

Joseph was accordingly enabled to dictate to the mechanics, and his counselors stood as witnesses, and this was strictly necessary in order to satisfy the spirit of unbelief in consequence of the weakness or childishness of the Brethren of those days.²

This vision came in fulfillment of a prophecy given to Joseph Smith, in which the Lord declared that the manner of its building (especially its interior) would be shown to three persons. “Now here is wisdom, and the mind of the Lord—let the house be built, not after the manner of the world, for I give not unto you that ye shall live after the manner of the world; Therefore, let it be built after the manner which I shall show unto three of you, whom ye shall appoint and ordain unto this power.”³

First Presidency to Draft Interior Temple Design

On June 3, 1833, Joseph shared in a council meeting that the Lord had given him the dimensions of the building and that the drafting of the inner court would be carried out by the First Presidency. Frederick G. Williams was the clerk for the conference and wrote the minutes.⁴

June 3 [1833].—A conference of High Priests convened in the translating room in Kirtland. . . .

The next matter before the conference was to ascertain what should be the dimensions or size of the house, that is to be built for a house of worship and for the School of the Prophets. I had received a revelation on the size of the house in which the word of the Lord was that it should be fifty-five feet wide, and sixty-five feet long, in the inner court. The conference appointed Joseph Smith, Jun., Sidney Rigdon and Frederick G. Williams to obtain a draft or construction of the inner court of the house.⁵

The vision of the completed temple was therefore likely received by the First Presidency on June 3 or 4, 1833.

Work on the temple was officially started on June 5, 1833, when the trench for the foundation was begun and the first load of stones was hauled.⁶ The cornerstone was laid on July 23, 1833,⁷ and the temple was dedicated some three years later, on March 27, 1836.⁸

President F. G. Williams, Draftsman for Early Temples and Cities

Among the many responsibilities and assignments that fell upon Frederick G. Williams as a member of the First Presidency, the most unexpected, perhaps, was that of draftsman. It was President Williams who drew the plat of the City of Zion (Independence, Missouri), as well as the plans for the Independence Temple. He may have also been responsible for drafting the original 1833 plat of the City of Kirtland and in all probability drafted the plans for the Kirtland Temple as well, which, unfortunately, have not survived.

As previously noted, the Lord had directed the Prophet early on to build temples or houses of worship and instruction, whose functions were to accommodate schools, assemblies and conferences, offices for the presiding brethren, printing and translation operations, and holy sites set aside for the receipt of revelations from God. Kirtland was to have had three temples, each with the same dimensions,⁹ while Independence was to have had twenty-four, each temple dedicated to a specific activity.¹⁰ These houses of worship and instruction were to be constructed at the center of planned cities, which would encompass a stake of Zion. On May 6, 1833, the Lord declared the beginning of the city of the stake of Zion in Kirtland, which would emanate from the Lord’s House, the Holy Temple. “And again, verily I say unto you, my friends, a commandment I give unto you, that ye shall commence a work of laying out and preparing a beginning and foundation of the city of the stake of Zion, here in the land of Kirtland, beginning at my house.”¹¹

Plans for Independence Temple

As stated, apparently no plans of the Kirtland Temple have survived, but contemporary ink drawings for the Independence Temple have, and they are similar in design to the Kirtland Temple.

Although the Presidency’s vision specifically addressed the Kirtland Temple, the design received in the vision was also applied to plans for the never-built Independence Temple. The Kirtland Temple and the Independence Temple plans are remarkably similar in window layout, floor plan, and interior details. The entries in Joseph Smith’s journal describing the plans for the Independence Temple and the entries describing the revelation concerning the Kirtland Temple occur within days of each other. Plans for the Independence Temple were mailed to Edward Partridge in Missouri on June 25, 1833, just three weeks after the vision of the Kirtland Temple was received.¹²

The plans that were sent to Edward Partridge on June 25, 1833, were not signed, but a second, revised set of plans sent soon after bear F. G. Williams’s signature with these accompanying words of instructions: “Those patterns previously sent you, per mail, by our brethren, were incorrect in some respects; being drawn in grate haste. They have therefore drawn these, which are correct.”¹³

Both sets of plans, the unsigned as well as those signed by President Williams, are similarly drawn, and Elwin C. Robison posits that Williams was responsible for both sets.¹⁴ Robison also attempts to explain why Williams, and not another, was chosen to draft the plans. “Whether Williams’s authorship of the drawing was due to superior building expertise or simply to his possession of the required pens and watercolors is not evident, but since the level of skill displayed in all the drawings is not high, Williams’s building experience could not have been significantly greater than that of his colleagues in the presidency.”¹⁵

Plat of the City of Zion

In addition to the Independence Temple plans, President Williams was also responsible for drafting a plat of the City of Zion. According to Richard L. Bushman, “With the design for the temple, Joseph included a plat for the City of Zion, a layout for an entire city with temples at the center. In the plat’s margins, the draftsman, Frederick G. Williams, described Zion’s major features. The city was to occupy one square mile, the size of the sections being laid out in the West by the United States government.”¹⁶ Bushman goes on to note:

The most unusual aspect was the three public squares at the center with twenty-four temples, twelve to a block, standing on two of these squares. According to the description, the temples would serve as “houses of worship, schools, etc.” One can imagine a town hall, a courthouse, and perhaps stores among the “temples,” much like the public buildings around the green in a New England town. But the names assigned to the temples do not support this simple reading. The temples were grouped into threes and assigned to priesthood “quorums,” the organizations of the various levels of priesthood. One group was to be called “House of the Lord for the presidency of the High and most holy priesthood after the order of Melchizedek, which was after the order of the Son of God.” Another was “the Sacred Apostolic Repository for the use of the Bishops,” and still another group “the House of the Lord for the Elders of Zion, an ensign to the nations.” And so on down to “House of the Lord for the Deacons in Zion, helps in governments.” Those elaborate titles do not relate to any standard functions of public buildings. Stores line the main streets of most American towns, surrounding a courthouse or jail at the center. But neither commerce nor civil government is given architectural form in the City of Zion. Everything is subsumed under priesthood quorums, which presumably absorbed all other institutions. The plan specified that “Underneath must be written on each House—Holiness To The Lord.”¹⁷

An enlargement of the plat of the City of Zion, with its handwritten annotations and F. G. Williams’s signature clearly visible, is on display at the Independence Visitors’ Center in Missouri.

Drawings Used as Backing for the Egyptian Papyri

A set of at least five sketches, this time unsigned, including maps and some drawings that appear to be connected to the Independence or Kirtland temples, may also be by Frederick G. Williams’s hand. These were drawn on similar sheets of paper but ultimately were thought to be less important, or no longer necessary, for they were used as backing to preserve the Egyptian papyri that had came into the Church’s hands in July 1835. For many years, the papyrus fragments were thought to have been lost in a fire, but eleven of them were rediscovered at the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art and presented to the Church in November 1967.¹⁸ Among the eleven papyrus fragments that came into possession of the Church at that time, was Facsimile No. 1, which appears in the book of Abraham in the Pearl of Great Price.

As exciting as these recovered papyri were, it was apparent that many of them had been pasted to sheets that contained drawings and writings that were nearly as intriguing as the Egyptian documents themselves. Historian T. Edgar Lyon made a study of these sheets used as backing and published his findings in the Improvement Era, together with photographs of several of the sketches.

Because of too much handling, subjection to fluctuating temperatures and humidity, and the hardships of travel as the Saints moved westward, parts of the fragile papyri inevitably cracked, fragments chipped off, and one or more of the rolls probably broke into pieces. Perhaps at Kirtland, but it could have been in Missouri or at Nauvoo, someone attempted to preserve the manuscripts by pasting them on paper. . . .

Probably in the early 1830s some as yet unidentified Latter-day Saint architect or builder drew two or more floor plans for a large building. These early drafts lacked dimensional measurements and were drawn almost devoid of window and door openings. . . . The less detailed drawings were discarded but preserved for other uses, as paper was relatively expensive a century and a quarter ago. When those who decided to preserve the deteriorating papyri fragments sought something on which to mount them, they used these un-detailed drawings for the backing, cutting them into irregular sizes, perhaps comparable to the fragments they were intended to protect.¹⁹

One or more of the unsigned floor plans “for a large building,” as Dr. Lyon described them, are now thought to be for the Independence Temple, but they may, in fact, have been for the Kirtland Temple. In either case, the discarded plans later used as backing for the papyrus fragments could well have been drawn by Frederick G. Williams, since, as we have noted, he had drawn and signed one set of the Independence Temple plans.²⁰

Plat of the City of Kirtland

As noted, the earliest plat of Kirtland was drawn, perhaps by Frederick G. Williams, in 1833 and included the three proposed temples in the center blocks.²¹ Subsequently, a second plat of Kirtland was drawn in 1836,²² perhaps as a draft or precursor to the more official document that was ultimately recorded with the county in 1837. This latter Kirtland city plat was commissioned in early 1837 on behalf of some sixty-seven named subscribers, including the Prophet and his wife, Emma Smith; Sidney Rigdon; Oliver Cowdery; and Joseph Smith Sr. As noted previously, the plat divided Kirtland into 225 square blocks, each containing 40 rods except the center block where the finished temple stood, which contained 43. There were sixteen streets running east and west and sixteen streets running north and south (one of which was named Williams street), bisecting each other at right angles. The finished plat was presented to Frederick G. Williams, justice of the peace, in April 1837 for his certification. Williams then presented it to Ralph Cowles, Geauga County Recorder, on May 18, 1837, who recorded the document in the county’s log on May 24, 1837. Esquire Williams certified that “the plat was drawn and presented by Willard W. Beals, County Surveyor.”²³ Joseph and the other owners of the plat envisioned a grand future for Kirtland, according to comments written by Wilford Woodruff in his diary in April 1837:

It was given him [Joseph Smith] by vision. It was great, marvelous and glorious. The city extended to the east, west, north and south. Steam boats will come puffing into the city. Our goods will be conveyed upon railroads from Kirtland to many places and probably to Zion. Houses of worship would be reared unto the most high. Beautiful streets was to be made for the Saints to walk in. Kings of the earth would come to behold the glory thereof, and many glorious things not now to be named would be bestowed upon the Saints.²⁴

Temple Fund Donation of $500 Paid in One Hour

Every member of the Church was expected to donate cash as well as goods to construct the temple and, if possible, to also donate their labor on its construction. Entries in Joseph’s history often record the amounts subscribed and donated. Among those who contributed large amounts were the leading brethren, including Joseph Smith, Oliver Cowdery, and Frederick G. Williams. When these men made good on their pledges of $500 to $750 within one hour, “the people were astonished.”

June 18 [1835].—Nine hundred and fifty dollars were subscribed for the temple, by the Saints in Kirtland. Great anxiety was manifested to roll on the work. The twenty-first, being Sunday, I preached in Kirtland on the Evangelical Order.

Thursday, June 25.—There was a meeting in Kirtland to subscribe for the building of the Temple; and $6,232.50 was added to the list. Joseph Smith subscribed $500; Oliver Cowdery, $750; W. W. Phelps, $500; John Whitmer, $500; and Frederick G. Williams, $500; of the above, all of which they paid within one hour, and the people were astonished.²⁵

Letter by Jacob Kemp Butterfield

Even after the completion of the temple, funds were still needed for many other projects. From a letter written by twenty-four-year-old Jacob Kemp Butterfield to his mother soon after arriving in Kirtland with his brother Abel, we get a sense of the willing sacrifice on the part of the new converts to give their all to the building up of the kingdom. In the letter, sent on May 10, 1837, to their widowed mother, Persis Butterfield of East Wilton, Maine, Jacob notes that after meeting with Joseph Smith Jr., Sidney Rigdon, and Frederick G. Williams, he gave all his money to the First Presidency and received their notes for it.

Dear mother

According to your request and according to the gratitude which I owe to you for your kindness and your parental care over me; from my infantile moments until now I improve this opportunity to inform you of my health which [is] good; and I hope that these lines will find you enjoying the same blessing. Be assured my aged mother, that I have not forgotten you although time and distance have for some time separated us from each others society. After I shook hands with you and the rest of the family and bade you good by I immediately forgat all behind me for I sat my face like a flint Zionward; and was willing to leave all my friends behind for the Gospel sake. . . . We had a good journey as I informed you in my other letter. Our friends and acquaintances were very glad to see us. The next day but one after our arrival to Kirtland we called a council to see what it would be best for us to do. At the commencement of the meeting we were introduced to Joseph Smith Jr. Frederick G. Williams Sidney Rigdon and others. The meeting was opened by prayer we then made known our circumstances—and counsel was given accordingly. Those of us that had money let the presidency have it and they gave their notes for the sum.

Butterfield continues his letter by bearing his testimony of the gospel and of Joseph Smith, the Prophet.

As you wished to have me write how my faith held out I can answer with all my heart that it holds out well for I am strong in the faith of the everlasting Gospel of Jesus Christ for I do know of a surety that God has set his hand the second time to recover the remnant of his people Israel and that Joseph Smith is a prophet of God I am not afraid to declare it unto the ends of the earth and invite all to embrace it with all their hearts that they may receive the blessings of the Gospel and be saved in the celestial kingdom of God. Joseph is a good looking man as a man that His good examples in his family and in the streets and labors diligently to have the church deal justly walk humbly and to love very.

Jacob writes about the spring planting season, of baptisms that are held nearly every Sabbath, and of the sacrament that is administered in the House of the Lord.

The spring (until lately) has been cold and [lachared] but it is now warm and delightsome the people are planting and vegetation is coming forth with great [rapidity]. There are more or less baptized most every Sabbath. The sacrament is administered every Sabbath in the House of the Lord and the Saints rejoice and are edified together.

Abel Butterfield appended his own message and testimony near the end of the letter.

Dear mother I improve this opportunity to inform you of my health which is good. . . . Joseph Smith is a good man of God and sets good examples and give[s] good instructions. I have heard him tell how he was called to bring forth the Book of Mormon.²⁶

Use of the Temple Prior to Dedication

As quickly as the interior portions of the temple were sufficiently completed, both the large meeting halls as well as the rooms in the upper floors were pressed into service. By mid-November, the final coat of plaster was beginning to be applied. On November 19, 1835, Joseph Smith took his counselor Frederick G. Williams and his scribe, Warren Parish,²⁷ to see how the interior was coming along. “Went, in company with Dr. Williams and my scribe, to see how the workmen prospered in finishing the House of the Lord. The masons in the inside had commenced putting on the finishing coat of plaster.”²⁸ On December 31, 1835, the Prophet was giving final instructions on the upper rooms of the temple: “In the afternoon I attended at the chapel to give directions concerning the upper rooms, and more especially the west room, which I intend occupying for a translating room, which will be prepared this week.”²⁹ As we’ve seen, the Hebrew School began meeting in the temple on January 4, 1836, in the translating room on the upper floor, its temporary quarters. “We are occupying the translating room for the use of the [Hebrew] school, until another room can be prepared. It is the west room in the upper part of the Temple, and was consecrated this morning by prayer, offered up by Father Smith. This is the first day we have occupied it.”³⁰

A large number of leaders from both Kirtland and Missouri, including the Twelve Apostles, joined together in a grand council in the attic story of the printing office in the temple on January 13, 1836.³¹ Meetings continued to be held in the temple nearly every day thereafter, in preparation for the dedication and solemn assembly and the organizing of priesthood quorums.

On Saturday, January 16, 1836, the First Presidency met with the Quorum of the Twelve to reconcile their differences. After listening to the grievances presented by spokesman Thomas B. Marsh, the senior Apostle, each member of the First Presidency responded. Joseph Smith’s lengthy observations were carefully noted in the minutes, as were some of Sidney Rigdon’s. Frederick G. Williams’s, however, are recorded only as generalities by Warren Parrish, the clerk: “By request I met with the Council of the Twelve in company with my Counselors, Frederick G. Williams and Sidney Rigdon. . . . President Williams arose and acquiesced in the above sentiments, expressed by the Prophet and President Rigdon, in full, and said many good things.”³²

The School of the Prophets began meeting in the temple on January 18, 1836, in the room next to the translating room, according to the Prophet’s record.³³ We do not know precisely when the First Presidency began to hold its meetings in the temple, but it seems reasonable to assume it would be sometime in early January.

Sacred Ordinances and Multiple Visions of Angels, the Savior, and the Celestial Kingdom

On January 21, 1836, the First Presidency met in the attic story of the printing office to perform sacred ordinances before moving to the west schoolroom, where the ordinances were continued. They then moved on to the adjoining rooms to attend to similar ordinances with the gathered leaders.

About three o’clock, p.m. I dismissed the school, and the Presidency retired to the attic story of the printing office, where we attended the ordinance of washing our bodies in pure water. We also perfumed our bodies and our heads, in the name of the Lord.

At early candle-light I met with the Presidency at the west school room, in the Temple, to attend to the ordinance of anointing our heads with holy oil; also the Councils of Kirtland and Zion met in the two adjoining rooms, and waited in prayer while we attended to the ordinance.

Among the ordinances performed that evening was that of blessing Father Smith, the first patriarch of the Church. Each member of the First Presidency, starting with Frederick G. Williams, the oldest, was asked to bless him, after which, each member of the Presidency was in turn blessed by him. Joseph’s history records:

I took the oil in my left hand, Father Smith being seated before me, and the remainder of the Presidency encircled him round about. We then stretched our right hands towards heaven, and blessed the oil, and consecrated it in the name of Jesus Christ.

We then laid our hands upon our aged Father Smith, and invoked the blessings of heaven. I then anointed his head with the consecrated oil, and sealed many blessings upon him. The Presidency then in turn laid their hands upon his head, beginning at the oldest, until they had all laid their hands upon him, and pronounced such blessings upon his head, as the Lord put into their hearts, all blessing him to be our Patriarch, to anoint our heads, and attend to all duties that pertain to that office. The Presidency then took the seat in their turn, according to their age, beginning at the oldest, and received their anointing and blessing under the hands of Father Smith.³⁴

After these blessings were pronounced by Father Smith, the members of the Presidency then laid their hands upon Joseph Smith Jr. and pronounced upon his head many prophecies and blessings. Whereupon a vision of the celestial kingdom opened unto them, a part of which is now included in the Doctrine and Covenants as section 137.

The heavens were opened upon us, and I beheld the celestial kingdom of God, and the glory thereof, whether in the body or out I cannot tell. I saw the transcendent beauty of the gate through which the heirs of that kingdom will enter, which was like unto circling flames of fire; Also the blazing throne of God, whereon was seated the Father and the Son. I saw the beautiful streets of that kingdom, which had the appearance of being paved with gold. I saw Father Adam and Abraham; and my father and mother; my brother Alvin, that has long since slept.³⁵

Joseph goes on to relate that in the vision he saw many remarkable things that would occur in the future, including the Twelve Apostles preaching in foreign lands and the redemption of Zion. He prophetically saw the members of the Twelve Apostles and the First Presidency in the celestial kingdom. “And I finally saw the Twelve in the celestial kingdom of God.”³⁶ “And I saw in my vision all of the Presidency in the celestial kingdom of God.”³⁷ Other members of the group saw angels and visions as well: “Many of my brethren who received the ordinance with me saw glorious visions also. Angels ministered unto them as well as to myself, and the power of the highest rested upon us, the house was filled with the glory of God, and we shouted Hosanna to God and the Lamb.”³⁸

The next group to enter the room and receive their blessings were the bishop of Kirtland and the bishop of Zion and their counselors. After they received their anointings from Father Smith and were confirmed by the First Presidency, a similar spiritual outpouring occurred, “and the glories of heaven were unfolded to them also.”³⁹ The same experience followed the anointings bestowed upon the members of the high councils of both Ohio and Missouri.

We then invited the High Councilors of Kirtland and Zion into our room, and President Hyrum Smith anointed the head of the President of the Councilors in Kirtland, and President David Whitmer the head of the President of the Councilors of Zion. The Presidents of each quorum then anointed the heads of his colleagues, each in his turn, beginning at the oldest.

The visions of heaven were opened to them also. Some of them saw the face of the Savior, and others were ministered unto by holy angels, and the spirit of prophecy and revelation was poured out in mighty power; and loud hosannas, and glory to God in the highest, saluted the heavens, for we all communed with the heavenly host. And I saw in my vision all of the Presidency in the celestial kingdom of God, and many others that were present.⁴⁰

The Prophet records that the remarkable proceedings continued until late and that they “retired between one and two o’clock in the morning.”⁴¹

Portraits of the Leaders for the Kirtland Temple

Together with the physical preparations involved in finishing the interior of the building and the spiritual preparation of the leaders for the dedication of the house of the Lord, efforts had apparently been underway to add to the interior décor of the temple with hanging portraits of the leading brethren and, quite possibly, their wives. Such an effort would have involved seeking the services of one or more artists, securing the necessary funds to pay for their work, finding time for the subjects to pose for the artist, and then having the finished portraits framed and hung. It would appear that at that time there were no portrait artists among the members of the Church and no one capable of producing anything approaching the quality of a professional likeness with oil paints. However, it would not have been difficult to secure the services of a competent portrait artist. Perhaps the brethren found an artist to their liking living in nearby Cleveland, or they may have considered bringing one from New York, or perhaps the artist came to them, for it was rather common for itinerant artists to travel about the states and territories offering their services. For those households who could afford it, it was a means of preserving the image and memory of the patriarch and matriarch of a family; this before the advent and widespread availability of photography.

Nevertheless, as plausible as the above scenario appears, there is no known history, biography, memoir, or letter confirming that an artist painted portraits of the leading brethren to hang in the Kirtland Temple. However, there are two facts, which, when taken together, suggest that such was the case. First and foremost, the surviving paintings themselves, all of which seem to date from the same period and place—including one of Frederick G. Williams—attest to there having been one or more portrait artists working in Kirtland. Second, in the deed of assignment of the temple, dated July 11, 1837, there is a reference to “paintings” as well as sculptures, writings, and ancient curiosities (later identified in the deed as mummies) among the temple’s furnishings.⁴² Joseph Smith Jr., Sidney Rigdon, Hyrum Smith, Jared Carter, Oliver Cowdery, and Reynolds Cahoon promised to turn over the Kirtland Temple to Zalmon H. Mead, Jonas Stafford, and Robert W. Mead (known collectively as Mead Stafford & Co.) if the Church leaders did not make good on three promissory notes. One was for $1,377.01, due July 8, 1838; the second was for $1,464.50, due July 8, 1839; and the third was for $1,552.22, due on July 8, 1840. However, if the notes were paid according to their terms, the sale of the temple was void.

[We, Joseph Smith and others,] do hereby bargain, sell, assign and transfer to the said Mead Stafford & Co, their heirs and assigns, all the rights, title and interest which we, or others of any of us have in and to the Stone Temple situated in Kirtland aforesaid, called also the “Chapel House” and in and to the land on which the same is situate[d] . . . including any and all furniture used in and about said house, and in and to all ancient curiosities, writings paintings & sculptures therein contained and kept. . . . Now if the said Joseph Smith Junior, Sidney Rigdon, Oliver Cowdery, Hyrum Smith, Reynolds Cahoon and Jared Carter or either of us shall well and truly pay the aforesaid notes, according to the terms and effect thereof at the time the same become due to the said Zalman H. Mead, Jonas Stafford and Robert W. Mead their heirs executors, administrators or assigns, then the above sale and assignment to be void.⁴³

At the end of the deed, Joseph Smith Jr. signed a note stating that the mummies and ancient writings were not to be included in the sale.⁴⁴

Lachlan McKay, Community of Christ historian and senior docent at the Kirtland Temple, posits that originally there were nine paintings commissioned, one for each of the heads of the Church, the same nine brethren who occupied the uppermost seats in the west end or Melchizedek Priesthood side of the Kirtland Temple when it was dedicated. These were the six members of the First Presidency of the whole Church made up of Joseph Smith Jr., President; Sidney Rigdon, First Counselor; Frederick G. Williams, Second Counselor; and Assistant Presidents Oliver Cowdery, Hyrum Smith, and Joseph Smith Sr., plus the three members of the Presidency of the Church in Zion: David Whitmer, President; W. W. Phelps, First Counselor; and John Whitmer, Second Counselor. McKay posits further that the wives of these nine leaders also had their portraits painted, and that their paintings were also slated to be hung (and perhaps did hang) in the Kirtland Temple. McKay has arrived at this conclusion because he has located not only several of the portraits of those nine brethren but the portraits of their wives as well. The located paintings have served as the models for a modern rendition of several of these eighteen portraits, which today can be purchased at the Kirtland Temple Visitors’ Center.⁴⁵

Oil Portrait of Frederick G. Williams

The portrait of Frederick G. Williams, which today is owned by the LDS Church History Museum, is the only known likeness of the early Church leader. On the museum’s Workfile Record, Williams’s portrait is described as an original oil painting on canvas, the “portrait of a man in high white collar and black suit, expressionless.” Its dimensions are 23" x 17½", and it has a simple wood frame whose color is brown with gold-leafed inner molding. The width of the frame is 2¾". The portrait was donated to the Church by Annie Rebecca Williams, Frederick’s great-granddaughter. The information listed on the back (which now forms a part of the museum workfile record) reads, in part:

This portrait of Frederick Granger Williams, Second Counselor to the Prophet Joseph Smith from 1833 to 1837, was presented to the Church by Annie Rebecca Williams in behalf of Frederick Granger Williams’ descendants. Annie Rebecca Williams is a great granddaughter. Her father was Ezra Henry Granger Williams, the son of Dr. Ezra Granger Williams, the son of Frederick Granger Williams. She resides at 2985 Van Buren Ave., Ogden, Utah.

The artist is not known, but the portrait was painted during the Kirtland period of the Church. Frederick G. Williams was very influential in building up the Church in Kirtland, Ohio, and in the erection of the Kirtland Temple. He gave liberally of his time and means. With the Prophet, he experienced the glorious privilege of seeing an angel of God at the dedication of the Temple.⁴⁶

Description of Frederick G. Williams’s Portrait

The tailored formal attire worn by President Williams in the portrait identifies him with the educated, high social class of that day. The distinctive styles of the coat, vest, and silk tie are useful fashion tools for dating the painting to the early 1830s, according to Dr. Carma de Jong Anderson, director of the Costume Institute of Utah. Her insightful and detailed study of a color photograph of the painting was finished on April 27, 2008. She reminds us that this kind of formal attire required a valet or a dutiful wife to properly assemble.

I, Carma Rose de Jong Anderson, have been asked to evaluate the clothing and quality of a painting of the original Frederick Granger Williams as an adult in the early 1830s.

Skill of the Artist

The quality of this unknown painter’s skill is high enough to make me think it was not painted by a traveling folk artist, a “naïve” or self-trained artist, but an oil portraitist who was grounded in training with his own studio in a city or prospering town. Frederick likely patronized this painter because of his reputation; and he may have been a newly budding artist enchanted by human faces in all their particulars, who had not defined his style sufficiently to make a background of pictorial landscape or interior room as commonly done in American paintings in this period. The figure is shown in just less than the whole upper half of his body. The artist only gave a graceful, but slight indication of rolling waters in the background, since Frederick was a ship pilot on the Great Lakes.

Historical Context for the Great Lakes Area of Ohio in the Early 1830s

He was a well-off upper middle class man in The Ohio, an area of rapid town and city building from the 1830s on. Ohio was bound by business and family travelers on Lake Erie on the North and the busy Ohio river on the South, which connected both commerce and itinerant theatrical shows and star performers, reaching from Buffalo down to Saint Louis and New Orleans.

Facial Features; Unlike the British Fashion, Williams Followed the American Clean-Shaven Style

Frederick G. Williams is dark-eyed and dark-haired, with lank, slightly wavy hair, and this probably was a good likeness, since characteristics are evident in later descendants. His eyebrows are not at all heavy, and his sideburns thin and wavy. They are fashionably longish, and he is the height of polite American fashion in being well shaven without mustache or beard. The painter uses a good technique of darker toning of the skin in masterful application of paint. A short, jawbone-only, Continental beard was used at this time in most of Britain, but it was not an American style of facial hair in the society of larger cities ever since the Revolutionary War.

The White Silk Tie

Frederick is shown in well tailored formal attire, at this time all completely hand sewn. He wears a pure white silk tie which he used for very formal presentations, balls, and church-going occasions. It could have been of the finest semi-opaque white silk, either in a large neckerchief—as large as a woman’s fichu which tucked into a lower neckline; or it could have been a long tie or six inches by sixty inches, cut on the stretchable diagonal [bias] of the fabric, with edges hand-rolled and stitched. Since silk fabrics were seldom light weight when woven in very wide widths, many tiny French seams would be required for the long length cut from narrower silk, and many seams would actually be unsightly in the triple wrapping. I would venture the greater likelihood is that this tie was a square silk neckerchief with hand-rolled and stitched edges. It would be folded in a triangle, then rolled up while hiding the points and edges inside the roll, and it would make a smooth wrap around his neck from front to back, and wrinkle horizontally. When the pointed ends were brought forward again, they were folded over each other and the two points tucked straight downward, well into the vest neckline. It is likely that a jewelry pin secures the tie to the shirt, or it could pull out of the vest. Such a tie pin might be hidden by the neckline of the vest in the portrait.

The High Linen Collar and Shirt

This extremely high wrapped neckline of the early 1830s allowed only the very top jawline points of the refined linen collar to show. Formal collars turned upward had three layers of linen in them, to hold a good deal of starch when ironed, and were hand top-stitched on the closest possible edge, holding the layers of textile together neatly and sharply. The collar had tiny horizontal buttonholes to button on to the one inch small collar band of a formal shirt with six buttons after the shirt was put on, and after the front slit placket opening was closed with two hidden buttons of the vertical, pleated yoke. All shirts were pull-over shirts, not opened all the way down the front. This type of clothing was proof enough that a formally dressed man needed a valet at this period of time, or a tireless wife! The rest of the shirt is not seen at all, since the tie has wide points of a neckerchief covering the bosom yoke. The cuffs of the coat are narrow from elbow to wrist—but the painting does not include hands of the figure.

The Vest and Buttons

All vests had a completely tailored collar around the entire neckline. Many were a “shawl” or rounded collar, from two inches to three inches in depth. Other collars were notched, much like a coat collar but narrower. The opening of the vest to show the vertical shirt yoke tucks or pleats, reached the middle of the breast bone, not as high a vest as in the 1820s, nor very low as in the 1840s. The 1830s vests had approximately six buttons, or seven for a tall man. Frederick’s buttons are either silver plated or pewter, as they don’t appear as brass, or gold-plated. Buttons on a vest were a way to show wealth, and many were either fine metal incised designs, repousse relief designs, or even jewel centered.

The fabric of a vest was another way for men to show off, and even though lovely colors in silken ties were daily worn as much as black, the vest could be all sorts of elegant textiles. It could be, for formal occasions, made of silk in a satin weave, heavily interfaced, but there are no glints of satin shine in this portrait. It could be silk velvet (very perishable on the edges of the interfacing) in plain color; or a cotton Italian velveteen, plain or printed in color; or during hot climate changes a heavy white cotton, fancy weaved called pique (pi-kay). Charles Dickens called the prevalence of white vests very American! We still see it today in some tuxedos. It is not known exactly what season the portrait was produced. Frederick has chosen the conservative black, but it would not be the same type of quality worsted wool broadcloth of his coat. It could be a wool and silk mix; or another heavy silk, horizontally corded faille; or even a plain silk with tiny satin stripes of the same black, for elegance. And always a light weight silk was used for the back of the vest, and the lining. Vests extended out to the edge of the shoulders and did not have deep cut armholes below the arms. There was usually a tiny buckle at the waist, across the back on a small belt, for cinching in or letting out. Vests did not hang loosely.

The Coat

The coat in this painting is a typical early 1830s design, with the highest padded collar of three decades.⁴⁷ There is padding stitched in the very high collar band of the collar’s structure, and then for four inches of light padding inside the lining around the neck and outward, smoothly supporting the high turn-over collar. The measured “fall” of the collar on the outside fabric is about four inches or more. There is scrupulously no padding in the shoulders, and coats’ armholes were cut slightly inward from the top edge of the shoulders, with only tape inside to strengthen the place of insertion of the sleeves. A distinct fullness is at the top of sleeves toward a harmony with women’s huge gigot sleeves in the first five years of the 1830s. The great “easing in” with steam of the woolen fabric gives full play to the movement of a man’s arms and coverage of whatever muscles he had. Some men with the largest sleeves even wore small down cushions buttoned inside the tops of sleeves, but Frederick is too conservative for that.

The Sloped Shoulders Indicated High Social Status and Good Tailoring.

Wide squared shoulders on a man would indicate a muscled manual laborer with no education and underdeveloped intellect. Therefore men of good tailoring wanted to present themselves with sloped shoulders, emphasized by the padded vertical rise of the collar. Frederick was slender and educated, and very capable to pilot a ship in the Great Lakes northern weather. Though family describe him as shy, he was meticulously groomed and of a commanding intelligence and leadership as he matured.

Other Clothing Attire

There is no way to tell if Frederick were still in possession of a coat with tails or a coat with a “frock” skirt attached at the waistline. In the 1830s the skirts were stiffened and flared out considerably away from the legs. Equally, his trousers are in doubt. Likely he was wearing either common broad fall or French fall trousers (referring to the waistline opening across the front buttoned from left side to right side horizontally to the waistband, or a narrower flap in center front) of slim proportions. Both kinds could have hanging pockets on each side in front, but never any back pockets. If he wore “short clothes” as breeches, he would match many a sea-faring pilot. Then he would wear stockings up over the knees. They would be fine woolen knit or opaque silk knee stockings with breeches having four or five small buttons vertically at the outside knee placket. Best stockings were white on men with their very low dress shoes which had the flattest essential heels; or stockings could be dark shades of greys and charcoal worn with boots—stockings showing a little bit above top of various heights of boots. Toes on shoes and boots were miserably flattened, and narrowly squared off on the points.

Portrait Listed among President Williams’s Possessions in His Probate File

The probate file that was prepared at the time of Dr. Williams’s death by his widow, Rebecca, with the help of her son Ezra (who also signed some of the documents), includes several interesting lists, including a bill of appraisement of goods, chattels, and personal items of worth belonging to the estate of Frederick G. Williams. The lists includes a mare, a cow, a family bible, a rifle, two buffalo robes, medicine pans and glass bottles, a [medical] patent right, three chests with books, sundry boxes, several pieces of furniture, a stove, and numerous kitchen items. Also listed is a “portrate” on two different inventory sheets.⁴⁸

When I first consulted the Frederick G. Williams file at the Church Historian’s Office on June 17, 1968, it contained a photograph of Dr. Williams’s portrait made by an Ogden, Utah, photographer, located at 459 E. 23rd Street. Annie Rebecca Williams’s father, Ezra Henry Granger Williams, had sent this photograph to Elder B. H. Roberts in 1910. On the back of the cardboard-affixed photograph, Ezra H. G. Williams had written:

    Photo from a
Painting of
Frederick G. Williams
done at Kirtland Ohio
1831.
    (by Weber)
Ezra HG Williams Ogden
    to
Brigham H. Roberts
    Salt Lake City
    Janu 30th 1910

It is assumed that Elder B. H. Roberts placed the photograph in the Williams file. The notation by Ezra H. G. Williams on the back of the photograph suggests that he remembered the artist’s name as “Weber” and that the painting was done in 1831.⁴⁹ If that date is correct, then Frederick’s portrait was completed well before anyone contemplated hanging the portraits of the leaders of the Church and their spouses in the Kirtland Temple. President Williams’s portrait, of course, may have served as the inspiration for the idea, and it may have come at his suggestion.

Also in the file were letters exchanged between Elder Roberts and Ezra H. G. Williams. Elder Roberts wrote to Ezra H. G. Williams on October 10, 1925, and stated he thought a reproduction of President Frederick G. Williams’s painting should be placed on display.

Now as you know, I was careful to hunt up and obtain from you a photograph of either your father or grandfather, I don’t know which, anyway, Frederick G. Williams, once in the presidency of the Church, and as I had hoped, rescued him from [the] oblivion into which his memory had fallen. I understand that you still have this photograph [painting] of him and if so I think that some suitable reproduction of it should be made, to be placed in some public office where it can be seen and known as a man who was once so prominent in the Church.⁵⁰

Ezra H. G. Williams wrote Elder Roberts back the next day and explained the difficult time he has had in trying to place the portrait in a Church venue. The record he refers to would be Dr. Williams’s medical account book.

In regard to having grandfather’s painting and record in some public place, that the public may see the record, I have at different times offered to place the original painting of Frederick G. Williams in the Temple. And have offered the same to Brother Goddard at the Beaurough [Bureau] of information to be placed on exhibit with those of Oliver Cowdery and Sidney Rigdon, but received no encouragement. And this summer offered it again to one of the guides there. His answer was—we don’t want his counselors. We want his witnesses’ painting, to show the world who saw and heard and witnesses the work.—There is a Sister Wells, up at the Capital who asked me for the painting. She would be pleased to have it among the exhibits there. The Daughters of the Pioneers have asked for it, and I have about concluded to let them have it, with a brief outline of his history, and also of his descendants. But the latter part would take up too much space for tourists to stop and read.⁵¹

When the new LDS Museum of Church History and Art (now Church History Museum) was constructed in 1985, Dr. Frederick G. Williams’s portrait was on display among the paintings of the other early leaders of the Church. More recently, however, due to space constraints, the portrait is now kept in storage.

Dedication of the Temple

Early on Sunday morning, March 27, 1836, members began to gather at the temple for the dedication of the house of the Lord. The meeting was to commence at 9:00 a.m. “The congregation began to assemble at the Temple, at about seven o’clock, an hour earlier than the doors were to be opened. Many brethren had come in from the regions round about, to witness the dedication of the Lord’s House and share in His blessings; and such was the anxiety on this occasion that some hundreds (probably five or six) assembled before the doors were opened. The presidents entered with the doorkeepers, and stationed the latter at the inner and outer doors.”⁵²

Then, before the people were allowed inside, the First Presidency “dedicated the pulpits & consecrated them to the Lord.”⁵³ Once the congregation of some eleven hundred was seated, the Presidency occupied the pulpit seats on the stand of the Melchizedek or west end of the house, with Pres. Williams seated first on the top row.

The assembly was then organized in the following manner, viz: west end of the house, Presidents Frederick G. Williams, Joseph Smith, Sen., and William W. Phelps occupying the first pulpit for the Melchisedek Priesthood; Presidents Joseph Smith, Jun., Hyrum Smith, and Sidney Rigdon, the second pulpit; Presidents David Whitmer, Oliver Cowdery, and John Whitmer, the third pulpit; the fourth was occupied by the President of the High Priests’ quorum and his counselors, and two choristers. The Twelve Apostles on the right, in the three highest seats.⁵⁴

At nine o’clock, the services began with a reading by President Sidney Rigdon of the 96th and 24th Psalms, which was followed by the choir singing Frederick G. Williams’s hymn “Ere long the Veil Will Rend in Twain,” and then the opening prayer was offered by President Rigdon. It was during this prayer that President Williams saw a heavenly messenger “rend the veil” and sit down next to him and Joseph Smith Sr., precisely in the holiest place in the temple that had just been dedicated and consecrated to the Lord by the First Presidency. More will be said about the identity of the personage shortly.

After the prayer, President Rigdon delivered a sermon, which was followed by the singing of the hymn “Now Let Us Rejoice in the Day of Salvation” and a fifteen-minute intermission “during which none left their seats except a few females, who from having left their infants with their friends, were compelled to do so to take care of them.”⁵⁵ Another hymn was sung and then Joseph Smith spoke and asked for a sustaining vote of the leaders of the Church.

Frederick G. Williams Sustained as a Prophet and Seer

The sustaining vote for the Presidency and the Twelve Apostles as prophets and seers was signified by asking the members to stand. Joseph’s history records:

I then made a short address and called upon the several quorums, and all the congregation of saints to acknowledge the Presidency as Prophets and Seers, and uphold them by their prayers, They all covenanted to do so, by rising; I then called upon the quorums and congregation of saints to acknowledge the 12 Apostles who were present as Prophets and Seers and special witnesses to all the nations of the earth, holding the keys of the kingdom, to unlock it or cause it to be done among them; and uphold them by their prayers, which they assented to by rising.⁵⁶

After the sustaining vote was taken for all the leadership of every quorum, a hymn was sung, followed by the dedicatory prayer, which is now found in the Doctrine and Covenants as section 109. Following the dedicatory prayer, the choir sang “The Spirit of God Like a Fire Is Burning.” The Prophet then asked the several quorums separately and finally the whole congregation if they accepted the dedication prayer. The vote was unanimous in the affirmative in every instance. The Lord’s Supper was then administered, after which the Prophet “bore his testimony of the administering of angels.”⁵⁷

President Frederick G. Williams Sees an Angel or the Savior at the Dedication⁵⁸

Following the Prophet’s remarks, his brother Don Carlos Smith bore his testimony, followed by the testimony of Oliver Cowdery and then the testimony of President Frederick G. Williams. “Presdt Williams also arose and testified that while Presidt Rigdon was making his first prayer an angel entered the window and took his seated [sic] between father Smith, and himself, and remained there during his prayer Presdt David Whitmer also saw angels in the house.”⁵⁹

The dedication of the temple and its attendant solemn assembly were accompanied by a remarkable outpouring of the Spirit, which included the appearance of many angels. In the evening of the same day, Joseph Smith met with the quorums and gave “instructions in relation to the spirit of prophecy, and called upon the congregation to speak, and not to fear to prophesy.” He went on to declare that the temple was filled with angels.

Do not quench the Spirit, for the first one that opens his mouth shall receive the Spirit of prophecy.

Brother George A. Smith arose and began to prophesy, when a noise was heard like the sound of a rushing mighty wind, which filled the Temple, and all the congregation simultaneously arose, being moved upon by an invisible power; many began to speak in tongues and prophesy; others saw glorious visions; and I beheld the Temple was filled with angels, which fact I declared to the congregation. The people of the neighborhood came running together hearing an unusual sound within, and seeing a bright light like a pillar of fire resting upon the Temple, and were astonished at what was taking place. This continued until the meeting closed at eleven p.m.⁶⁰

Besides Joseph Smith’s testimony, there are several other eyewitness accounts of the testimony that President Williams gave of what he saw that morning. Oliver Cowdery, who was one of the official clerks of the dedication ceremony, published his minutes soon thereafter in the March 1836 edition of the Messenger and Advocate. From his account, it is uncertain whether the angel appeared during the dedicatory prayer or simply during the dedication ceremony. “President F. G. Williams bore record that a Holy Angel of God, came and set between him and J. Smith sen. while the house was being dedicated.”⁶¹

Brother Stephen Post of New York kept a journal from his baptism in 1835 until his death in 1879. The entry for March 27–31, 1836, tells of his attendance at the Kirtland Temple dedication and of the testimony Frederick G. Williams bore of seeing an angel.

President Hyrum Smith & President O. Cowdery testified of the truth of the work which was made known to them by the power of God. Carlos Smith President of the High Priests testified of the truth of the book. President F. G. Williams arose & testified that in the A.M. an angel of God came into the window (at the back of the pulpit) while Pt. Rigdon was at prayer & took his seat between him & Father Joseph Smith Sr. & remained there during the prayer.⁶²

Another contemporary writer, Bishop Edward Partridge, penned a few important lines about the temple dedication in his 1835–36 diary. In addition to confirming the participants’ roles and the sequence of events as recorded in the History of the Church (for instance, the dedicatory prayer was given by Joseph, and the Prophet spoke to the authorities that evening), Partridge’s brief account also includes the appearance of the heavenly messenger to Frederick G. Williams, whom he identified as the Savior. “Sunday the 27 [March 1836] met and dedicated the house of the Lord. Prest. Rigdon preached in the forenoon. Prest. J. Smith Jun made many remarks and delivered the dedication prayer. meet at 8 morn & dismissed ¼ past 4 afternoon Met again in the evening[,] that is the authorities of the church. many spoke in tongues some saw visions &c. Doct. F. G. Williams saw an angel or rather the Savior during the forenoon service.”⁶³

In Apostle Heber C. Kimball’s account of the dedication, he too recorded that Frederick G. Williams had seen an angel, who came to accept the dedication, and Kimball gave a description of him. “During the ceremonies of the dedication, an angel appeared and sat near President Joseph Smith, sen., and Frederick G. Williams, so that they had a fair view of his person. He was a very tall personage, black eyes, white hair, and stoop shouldered; his garment was whole, extending to near his ankles; on his feet he had sandals. He was sent as a messenger to accept of the dedication.”⁶⁴

Truman Angell, writing some fifty years later, confused the opening prayer by Sidney Rigdon with the dedicatory prayer offered by Joseph Smith. Nevertheless, he recalled that he and others felt the presence of the angel that President Williams had seen, which later that afternoon, he claimed was identified by Joseph Smith as the Apostle Peter.

The Hall was filled at an early hour in the forenoon, I being present among the rest. The Dedicatory prayer was offered Sidney Rigdon being mouth[.]⁶⁵

When about midway during the prayer there was a glorious sensation passed through the House; and we, having our heads bowed in prayer felt a sensation very elevating to the soul.

At the close of the prayer F. G. Williams being in the upper East stand (Joseph being in the speaking stand next below) rose and testified that midway during the prayer an holy angel came and seated himself in the stand.

When the afternoon meeting assembled Joseph feeling very much elated, arose the first thing and said the Personage who had appeared in the morning was the Angel Peter come to accept the dedication.⁶⁶

Apostle George A. Smith, speaking at the tabernacle in Ogden nearly thirty years later, reported the same sequence of events and gave similar details of the dedication, except that in his account he stated that Frederick G. Williams bore testimony that it was the Savior who came to accept the dedication. “On the first day of the dedication, President Frederick G. Williams, one of the Council of the Prophet, and who occupied the upper pulpit, bore testimony that the Savior, dressed in his vesture without seam, came into the stand and accepted of the dedication of the house, that he saw him, and gave a description of his clothing and all things pertaining to it.”⁶⁷

Elder Smith continued his narrative by telling of the heavenly messengers he and more than four hundred others had seen later that evening; this manifestation was accompanied by the gift of tongues, visions, and an outpouring of the Spirit that came “like the sound of a mighty rushing wind.”

That evening there was a collection of Elders, Priests, Teachers and Deacons, etc., amounting to four hundred and sixteen, gathered in the house; there were great manifestations of power, such as speaking in tongues, seeing visions, administrations of angles. Many individuals bore testimony that they saw angels, and David Whitmer bore testimony that he saw three angels passing up the south aisle, and there came a shock on the house like the sound of a mighty rushing wind, and almost every man in the house arose, and hundreds of them were speaking in tongues, prophesying or declaring visions, almost with one voice.⁶⁸

In his autobiography, Elder Smith again wrote that he too bore testimony at the temple dedication of seeing angels and that President Williams testified that an angel entered through the window and sat between himself and Father Smith during the prayer offered by Sidney Rigdon. “I then bore testimony of the administering of angels. Presdt Williams also arose and testified that while Presdt Rigdon was making his first prayer an angel entered the window and (took his) seated himself between father Smith, and himself, and remained there during his prayer Presdt David Whitmer also saw angels in the house.”⁶⁹

Newel K. Knight, another eyewitness to the dedication and to Frederick G. Williams’s testimony of a heavenly visitor, wrote an entry in his diary that supports the account that the angel was Christ himself. William G. Hartley, Newel K. Knight’s biographer, wrote:

Newel’s diary provides an interesting detail not in Joseph Smith’s history. Both Joseph and Newel recorded that during Sidney Rigdon’s opening prayer, Frederick G. Williams saw an angel come and sit between himself and Joseph Smith Sr. and that Brother Williams stood and testified of that experience later in the meeting. Joseph Smith’s history does not identify that personage, but Newel’s diary says that “when he [Williams] had described the dress and personal appearance of the holy visitor brother Joseph said it was Christ himself.” After recording that, Newel expressed his own reaction: “This was to me a satisfaction to know that the Lord did come into the house we had labored so diligently to build to his name, and that he had accepted it of his servants.”⁷⁰

In the above exposition, we have eight eyewitness accounts of President Williams’s testimony of seeing a heavenly personage. Six are contemporary to the events: Joseph Smith in his 1835–36 Ohio journal, Oliver Cowdery in the Kirtland Temple dedication minutes, Stephen Post in his 1836 diary, Edward Partridge in his 1835–36 diary, Heber C. Kimball in his 1836 journal, and Newel K. Knight in his 1836 diary. All six of the contemporary accounts speak of Frederick G. Williams testifying that an angel sat next to him, and two of those, Partridge and Knight, stated that the angel was the Savior or Christ. In addition to the six contemporary accounts, we also have two accounts written several years later, one by Truman Angell, who claimed that the Prophet identified the angel as Peter, and another one by Apostle George A. Smith, who reported that President Williams saw the Savior.

It is evident from these different accounts that President Frederick G. Williams had testified of seeing an angel at the dedication. It is also clear that later in the day, Joseph Smith announced who that angel was. Bishop Edward Partridge reported that the Prophet identified the angel as the Savior; two other writers, George A. Smith and Newel K. Knight, simply stated that the angel was the Savior, or Christ, but without indicating who had made the identification. Only Truman Angell reported that the Prophet identified the angel as Peter. Since Brother Angell was writing fifty years after the event, it is likely that his recollection was simply in error.

It would be appropriate that the heavenly visitor who came to the temple dedication be the Savior and that, as Newel Knight had reported, he had come to accept the building. “This was to me a satisfaction to know that the Lord did come into the house we had labored so diligently to build to his name, and that he had accepted it of his servants.”⁷¹ On April 3, 1836, a week after the dedication of the temple and the appearance of the heavenly messenger, the Lord appeared to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery and told them to tell the people that he had accepted the house.

Let the hearts of your brethren rejoice, and let the hearts of all my people rejoice, who have, with their might, built this house to my name.

For behold, I have accepted this house, and my name shall be here; and I will manifest myself to my people in mercy in this house.

Yea, I will appear unto my servants, and speak unto them with mine own voice, if my people will keep my commandments, and do not pollute this holy house.⁷²

The Lord’s acceptance of the temple had been promised and had been prayed for in the dedicatory prayer, which was given to Joseph Smith earlier by revelation. In the following passage, the Prophet asks for the Lord’s divine acceptance of the house as a fulfillment of the promise that the Lord’s holy presence would continually be in this house.

And now, Holy Father, we ask thee to assist us, thy people, with thy grace, in calling our solemn assembly, that it may be done to thine honor and to thy divine acceptance;

And in a manner that we may be found worthy, in thy sight, to secure a fulfillment of the promises which thou hast made unto us, thy people, in the revelations given unto us;

That thy glory may rest down upon thy people, and upon this thy house, which we now dedicate to thee, that it may be sanctified and consecrated to be holy, and that thy holy presence may be continually in this house;

And that all people who shall enter upon the threshold of the Lord’s house may feel thy power, and feel constrained to acknowledge that thou hast sanctified it, and that it is thy house, a place of thy holiness.⁷³

In addition to praying for himself, his wife, and his family, the Prophet also prayed for all the presidents of the Church and their families, that their names would be had in remembrance for generations to come.

Remember, O Lord, the presidents, even all the presidents of thy church, that thy right hand may exalt them, with all their families, and their immediate connections, that their names may be perpetuated and had in everlasting remembrance from generation to generation.⁷⁴