Minutes of the April 1853 General Conference

MINUTES OF THE GENERAL CONFERENCE of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, held in the Tabernacle and on the Temple Block, Great Salt Lake City, commencing Wednesday, April 6, 1853, 10 a. m., Prest. Brigham Young, presiding. ¶

Present of the First Presidency: Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, and Willard Richards. Presiding Patriarch: John Smith. Of the Quorum of the Twelve: Orson Hyde, Parley P. Pratt, John Taylor, Wilford Woodruff, Ezra T. Benson, George A. Smith, Amasa Lyman, Charles C. Rich, Lorenzo Snow, Erastus Snow, and Franklin D. Richards. Presidents of the Seventies: Joseph Young, Levi W. Hancock, Zera Pulsipher, Henry Herriman, Benjamin L. Clapp, Albert P. Rockwood, and Jedediah M. Grant. Presidency of the High Priests' Quorum: John Young, Reynolds Cahoon, and George B. Wallace. President of the Stake: David Fullmer. Presiding Bishop: Edward Hunter. Clerk of Conference: Thomas Bullock. Reporter: George D. Watt. ¶

Wednesday, April 6, 1853, opened the General Conference with the Deseret National Flag unfurled, the Nauvoo Brass Band, Captain Ballo's Band, and the Military Band playing, and a large procession of Saints. President Young made introductory remarks, noting the Church had grown from six members twenty-three years earlier. The procession then formed and marched to the Temple Block to lay the four cornerstones of the Salt Lake Temple in ceremonial order. ¶

At the Southeast Corner Stone, Presidents Young, Kimball, and Richards, with Patriarch John Smith, laid the stone, after which President Young delivered his oration "Necessity of Building Temples—The Endowment" and President Kimball offered the dedicatory prayer (both filed separately). ¶

The procession then moved to the Southwest Corner Stone, laid by Presiding Bishop Edward Hunter and the Presidencies of the lesser Priesthood, after which Bishop Hunter delivered his oration "Persecutions, Position, Prospects, and Agency of the Saints" and Bishop Alfred Cordon offered the dedicatory prayer (both filed separately). ¶

The procession then moved to the Northwest Corner Stone, laid by John Young, President of the High Priests' Quorum, with his Council, and the President of the Stake with the High Council. President John Young delivered an oration titled "Church Built on a Rock—Efforts of Satan—The Priesthood" (published in Journal of Discourses 2:40-41; filed separately), followed by a dedicatory prayer from George B. Wallace (JD 2:41-42; filed separately). ¶

The procession then moved to the Northeast Corner Stone, laid by the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Elder Parley P. Pratt delivered an extended discourse on "Spiritual Communication" (published in Journal of Discourses 2:43-47; filed separately), followed by a dedicatory prayer from Elder Orson Hyde (JD 2:47-49; filed separately). A second, separately titled "Spiritual Communication" discourse by Pratt on the same theme was delivered the next day (April 7, JD 1:6-15) as part of the regular Tabernacle sessions. ¶

The conference continued through Sunday, April 10, with further sessions in the Tabernacle. Discourses cited for these later sessions in the Journal of Discourses index, none yet transcribed in this vault, include: Orson Hyde, "Sanctification—Economy—Apostates—The Wolves and the Sheep" (April 8, JD 1:71-73); John Taylor, "Legitimacy and Illegitimacy" (April 8, JD 1:221-233); Brigham Young, "Heirship" (April 8, JD 6:306-308); and Parley P. Pratt, "Heirship and Priesthood" (April 10, JD 1:256-263). ¶