pended in the work, and the total cost of the completed building was considerably more than five hundred thousand dollars. The structure was practically finished by the close of 1876. Some parts were dedicated on January 1, 1877, so as to permit of certain ordinance work to be done before the dedication of the building as a whole, which event occurred on the sixth of April following. At the preliminary dedicatory service, January 1, 1877, twelve hundred and thirty persons were in attendance. Music, some of which had been specially composed for the occasion, was rendered by the choir, and dedicatory prayers were offered by members of the Council of the Twelve as follows: by Elder Wilford Woodruff in the basement story; by Elder Erastus Snow in the main room of the story next above the basement; by Elder Brigham Young, Jr., in the room designated as the sealing room. Addresses were delivered by Elders Erastus Snow, Wilford Woodruff, and by President Brigham Young.
Baptisms for the dead were first administered in the St. George Temple on January 9, 1877; and endowments for the dead were begun two days later, the occasion being, according to the statement of Wilford Woodruff, "the first time endowments for the dead had been given in any Temple in this dispensation."
Proceedings incident to the dedication of the Temple as a whole began on the 4th of April, 1877, and terminated on the sixth, the last day's assembly being held in connection with the annual conference of the Church, which conference had been appointed to be held at St. George, in view of the dedication. On the fourth and fifth of the month general assemblies were held in the Temple during both forenoon and afternoon, each session
