Samuel Bennion's St. George Temple Trip

by Helen Madsen

In the spring of 1882, Samuel Bennion journeyed to St. George to perform the first temple endowments for his (and our) deceased ancestors. Before describing the work he performed, a little background information would probably be helpful.

The Saints performed baptisms for the dead in Nauvoo from 1840 to 1845, and the performed both baptisms for the dead and sealings in the Salt Lake City Endowment House from 1867 to 1876. But, prior to the completion of the St. George Temple in 1877, no endowments for the dead had been performed in the Church. Samuel & John had seen to it that many of their ancestors had received the baptismal and sealing ordinances prior to 1877, but along with the rest of the church they were awaiting the opportunity to have endowments performed for their deceased ancestors. Unfortunately John Bennion died in 1877 and was unable to participate in endowments for the dead.

Samuel, on the other hand, was able to arrange his affairs and make a trip to the St. George temple in the spring of 1882. If Samuel took advantage of the train that extended as far south as Cedar City at that time, he could have made the trip from the Salt Lake Valley to St. George in as little as 2 1/2 days. Depending on the weather and if he took his own horse and buggy, the trip could have take 4 days or more.

From Tuesday, February 28, 1882 through Friday, March 3, 1882, Samuel either performed or had performed at least 26 baptisms for the dead, 36 endowments, and 13 sealings. Much of the work which required a female proxy was performed by Elizabeth Cooper Pixton, a friend and neighbor from West Jordan. (Incidentally, Samuel received his own endowments in the Endowment House in 1852, along with his wife Mary Bushell.)

By comparing the St. George Temple records to those of the vicarious baptisms and sealings performed in Nauvoo and the Endowment House, it appears that Samuel had access to the records of the work that had been performed earlier. This would be logical, as he and his brother John were responsible for that earlier work! In any case, there is very little duplication of effort between the Nauvoo, Endowment House, and St. George Temple ordinances.

The ordinances performed were for Samuel's wife, sister, parents, cousins, nieces, nephews, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and in-laws. Samuel was re-sealed at this occasion to his deceased second wife Sarah Williams, who had passed away in 1854, and to whom he had been sealed in the Endowment House in 1853. However, she had not been endowed at that time, and received her endowments vicariously during this St. George temple trip. Samuel was also sealed to four other deceased relatives who had never married: two cousins Elizabeth Jones and Elizabeth Bennion; a great great aunt Jane Bennion; and Ann Chamberlain, who is probably the sister of Samuel's uncle John Chamberlain. He participated in the sealing of his parents, John Bennion Sr. and Elizabeth Roberts, and also sealed Elizabeth's sister Maria Roberts to his father.

This surely must have been a special experience for Samuel. By sacrificing a week or two of his time to perform this important work, Samuel set a great example for the rest of us!