Death in 19th-century Mormonism involved several unique religious rituals, cultural customs, and eschatological beliefs. In the years of the Church of Christ and, later, in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), death played a prominent role in the lives of members due to various diseases, forced removal from settlements, the harsh nature of life on the American frontier, and the lack of medical knowledge at the time. Mormon mortality rates climbed through most of the century until a permanent settlement in Utah Territory was established and advances in medical science were made. Before these improvements, the commonality of death in Latter-day Saint communities produced a distinct culture surrounding the death of a member of the community. The dying were either blessed to be healed or to be received into heaven, depending on the person's wishes. A phenomenon known as the "beautiful death" set forth traditions such as family and friends gathering around a person's deathbed to witness their transition into the next life. Nineteenth-century Latter-day Saints came to terms with the frequent deaths of loved ones – especially those of infants and children – by turning to the teachings offered by their religion.

The early Latter-day Saints' respect for the dead is evidenced by burial and funeral traditions. Corpses were washed, dressed, and laid in graves, most often in cemeteries. A member of the church then blessed the gravesite to be protected until the resurrection. Postmortem treatment of fellow church members was an organized community effort most often led by women. Sermons and poetry were composed to memorialize the deceased; death masks, coffin canes, and locks of hair also served as tokens of the person's life and were believed to possess spiritual power. Mormons believed that glorious rewards awaited the righteous in the afterlife. Both teachings from 19th-century church leaders and near-death experiences recorded by church members at the time attest to a pleasant existence after death in a realm called the "spirit world." This desired fate was believed to be attainable only through baptism and the ordinances received in LDS temples.

Causes of death Death was extremely common among early Latter Day Saints due to both disease and conflict. Expulsion from settlements in Ohio, Missouri, and Illinois resulted in small skirmishes such as the Battle of Crooked River and Haun's Mill massacre, contributing to the Mormon death toll. Additionally, most Mormon women lost at least one child soon after giving birth,Savage, Julie Paige Hemming, "'Yet I Must Submit': Mormon Women's Perspectives on Death and Dying 1847–1900" (1995). All Theses and Dissertations. 5092. and one third of babies born did not survive to adulthood. Six of Joseph and Emma Smith's eleven children died, many in infancy.

Especially in the years before the American Civil War, medical science was severely limited; the smallest of injuries could become infected and prove to be fatal. Smith, the founder of the Latter Day Saint movement, spoke of his distrust of traditional physicians after the use of calomel contributed to the premature death of his brother Alvin. Botanical medicine was often used as a substitute for traditional methods. When the Word of Wisdom was revealed, urging the use of herbs for the body, this trend only increased. Herbal medicine was seen as God's prescribed way of treating ailments, so botanical physicians were held in high esteem. The Latter Day Saints turned to traditional doctors when surgery was needed, but used their own remedies to treat illness. They developed several natural treatments that proved to be especially useful during their years spent as pioneers on the American frontier. Each move westward presented new health challenges.

On the American frontier

Far West, Missouri From 1836 to 1839, the Latter Day Saints' mainly settled in Far West, Missouri. It was here that they began the practice of maintaining rural cemeteries, burial grounds located outside city limits. Approximately 200 to 300 Mormons were buried in the Far West burial ground, including David W. Patten, Gideon Carter, and many other victims of the Battle of Crooked River, which occurred in 1838. The bodies of some deceased Latter Day Saints were transported miles in order to be interred in Far West with other people of the faith. Graves were commonly marked using wooden stakes, which collapsed and withered over time. After the Mormons left Far West, the cemetery was abandoned, eventually becoming farmland.

Disease in Nauvoo In the 1830s and 1840s, "Mormon mortality rates rose … due to … the unhealthy conditions in Nauvoo." The swampy environment of this Mormon settlement in Illinois exposed the Latter Day Saints to diseases such as malaria and tuberculosis. The young commonly contracted whooping cough, meningitis, scarlet fever, and convulsions. As a result, the population was highly acquainted with death. Scholars today have argued that these challenges led Joseph Smith to address death and salvation more often in his preaching. He and Brigham Young occasionally referred to diseases as demonic possessions, but this teaching died out when the field of medicine advanced and illnesses began to be understood.

Winter Quarters, Nebraska Hardship only increased with the Mormons' departure from Illinois. An estimated one in twelve Latter-day Saints "died in … camps during the first year" of their journey west. "Several hundred Mormon graves" are found in Winter Quarters, Nebraska. Here, scurvy was the main cause of death due to the lack of fruit and vegetables in the pioneers' diets during their winter travels. The 1846 Nauvoo War had forced them out of the city before they could prepare sufficient food and supplies for the journey. Eating only meat and grains led to malnutrition, which then resulted in cases of noma. Some also died due to exposure to the elements. The death rates in Winter Quarters were three times as high as those of Nauvoo. Accurate records were difficult to keep, but modern historians have estimated that more than 600 people died in this camp. A statue of two parents mourning the death of their newborn child stands at the Mormon Pioneer Cemetery in Florence, Nebraska, commemorating those who were lost and those who lived on to complete the trek west.

Utah As in eastern Mormon settlements earlier in the century, "over a third of children born in Utah [in the late 1800s] never reached adulthood". Settling the western U.S. presented challenges such as obtaining sufficient nutrition and establishing healthcare, but it also protected the Latter-day Saints from the cholera and smallpox epidemics raging on the east coast. Fortunately, life expectancy did increase in Utah Territory. Once they acclimated to the climate, males were expected to live to age 71 and females to age 67. The absence of tobacco in Mormon culture also contributed to low adult mortality rates. They did slightly rise, however, from the 1860s to the 1880s; the influx of immigrants to Utah – brought on by the 1869 completion of the transcontinental railroad – led to the spread of more contagious diseases, particularly through the water supply. Salt Lake City faced a deadly diphtheria outbreak in 1879. Consumption of dirty water also led to dysentery, gastroenteritis, and typhoid fever. When knowledge of how to prevent disease spread towards the end of the century, church leaders released a statement urging members to maintain cleanliness, especially in the water they drank. The previously negative Latter-day Saint perception of the healthcare industry began to change as the field of medicine progressed. Reliance on herbal medicine, prevalent in the first half of the century, waned. More doctors moved to the intermountain West, and the church even sent some of its members to cities in the eastern U.S. to attend medical school and become traditional physicians.

Early Mormon response to death and dying After decades of experience with disease and other adversities, an increasing number of Latter-day Saints concluded that death was a necessary part of the human experience. The "context of tragedy" in which they lived "motivated deep and searching questions about death, salvation, and the eternal nature of families." Coping with the loss of young people proved to be a major challenge for 19th-century Mormons. LDS tradition offered some explanation for such hardship: when a young man died, it was believed that he was needed by God to do missionary work in the afterlife; and when children died, the bereaved often concluded that they were simply too pure to exist in this fallen world. Some parents comforted themselves by asserting that God had seen fit to take their child off the earth; Wilford Woodruff, the fourth president of the church, believed that such premature deaths were evidence of God's will being carried out.

Uncertainty surrounding a person's actual status as alive or dead was commonplace because of the limits of 19th-century medical science, which in turn produced myths of live burials and resurrections. Influenced by these and a Book of Mormon account of a king being mistakenly pronounced dead, some early Mormons occasionally attempted to bring corpses back to life. This applied particularly to those whose deaths were sudden, premature, or both. Joseph Smith Sr., the first patriarch in the LDS Church, purportedly blessed a handful of Latter Day Saints with the power to raise people from the dead. However, the early church leader Oliver Cowdery refuted this claim. A question-and-answer article in the July 1838 edition of the Elders' Journal, of which Joseph Smith was editor, asked if Mormons could revive the deceased; the answer given was: "No … but God can raise the dead through man, as an instrument.""Elders' Journal, July 1838," p. 43, The Joseph Smith Papers, accessed October 7, 2020 Common practice at the time was to observe the corpse overnight "to ensure that no sign of life was missed." This was dubbed as a "traditional wake." Women most often undertook this responsibility. In the summer months, they were diligent in maintaining enough ice around the body "to slow its decay and protect it from insects and rodents."

In general, Mormons preferred peaceful deaths and saw the event as one's transition to a place of both comfort and work, both rest and progress. Oftentimes, the Latter Day Saints did not dread death but saw it as an opportunity to escape the problems they faced in life. In the midst of opposition, Joseph Smith told his followers not to fear, for mobs "[could] only kill the body," not the soul. This belief led to the practice of "dedicating" the dying to speed up the process of death once it was obvious that a person was beyond saving. A prayer would be said aloud, pleading with God to accept the dying man or woman into heaven, and the actual event of death was expected to occur moments later. The person was also anointed with consecrated oil and blessed in preparation for their burial. This ceremony was seen as an important extension of the holy ordinances performed in temples; it was the last rite of passage, of sorts, for Mormons. Those who yearned to pass on to the next life and thus be relieved of pain and suffering often asked for this ritual to be performed for them. Once the Mormon pioneers reached Utah, more instances of dedicatory prayers for the dead were documented.

Healing rituals