Mid 1844 – Late 1845
During this period, the Anointed Quorum reflected Brigham Young’s efforts to sustain Smith’s vision for a church undergirded by a network of sanctified, familial relations. It was an eclectic group: male and female, they were of various ages and church offices; some were polygamous, some were not; all had received some of the intended temple rites, few had received all of them; and several polygamous marriages were not included, a significant number were still monogamous.
At a personal, experiential level, the importance of the quorum to its members was undoubtedly as a supportive community of belief in which to practice the church’s higher spiritual arts. Members would gather to pray for the church and perform the would-be temple rites, as well as discuss matters of concern for the church at large. The institutional significance of the quorum was as a forerunner of the “endowment companies,” the first of successive groups which would gather in the temple to perform its liturgy.
In all, there were approximately 90 men and women who constituted the “Anointed Quorum.” Future pages on this website will analyze the data of their connections, marital and otherwise, to identify the evolution of plural marriage under Brigham Young’s initial leadership and, more specifically, the development of women’s priestly function in the larger social field represented by the quorum.
Sealings Between 1845-1846: List of all time and eternity sealings after 12/10/1845 but before 3/1/1846.
Anointed Quorum Members: List of all members of the Anointed Quorum in our database.
Recommended Readings
Matthew J. Grow, et. al., eds., Administrative Records, Volume 1: The Council of Fifty, Minutes, March 1844–January 1846, (Salt Lake City: Church Historians Press, 2016)
Anderson, Devery Scott and Gary James Bergera, eds., Joseph Smith’s Quorum of the Anointed 1842–1845: A Documentary History (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 2005)
Buerger, David John. The Mysteries of Godliness: A History of Mormon Temple Worship. Smith Research Assoc., 1994.
Esplin, Ronald K. “Joseph, Brigham and the Twelve: A succession of continuity.” Brigham Young University Studies (1981): 301-341.
Turner, John G. Brigham Young: Pioneer Prophet. Harvard University Press, 2012.
Quinn, D. Michael. “Latter-day Saint Prayer Circles.” Brigham Young University Studies 19, no. 1 (1978): 79-105.