{"id":1068,"canonical_url":"https://www.kudos365.com/today-in-history/events/1840ce-aug-15--1068","name":"1840 CE, August 15","year":1840,"era":"CE","month":8,"day":15,"url":"https://www.kudos365.com/today-in-history/events/1840ce-aug-15--1068","iso-date":"1840-08-15","precision":"year-month-day","description":"\u003cp\u003eJoseph Smith, Jr. founder of the Latter Day Saint movement, (LDS Church), formally introduces the doctrine of baptism for the dead on August 15, 1840, during a funeral sermon for Seymour Brunson in Nauvoo, Illinois.\u0026nbsp;\u003cbr\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","additional_details":"\u003cp\u003eJoseph Smith had long pondered the fate of his brother Alvin, who died in 1823 before being baptized. This new revelation provided a way for Alvin to receive the ordinance by proxy.Following the 1840 announcement, the practice was quickly adopted, with Jane Neyman often cited as the first woman to act as a proxy (for her son) in September 1840.\u003c/p\u003e","photo":"https://k365fs.imgix.net/fP5h7B3TzWRcT97NLgOw_Joseph_Smith_before_1844%20R1.png?auto=format,compress\u0026fit=clip\u0026max-w=1600","photo_width":1023,"photo_height":706,"created_at":"2025-03-17T22:09:15-07:00","updated_at":"2026-04-05T22:42:25-07:00","breadcrumbs":{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"August History","item":"https://www.kudos365.com/today-in-history/august"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"August 15","item":"https://www.kudos365.com/today-in-history/august-15"}]},"schema":{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Thing","@id":"https://www.kudos365.com/today-in-history/events/1840ce-aug-15--1068#eventK365","name":"1840 CE, August 15","headline":"Joseph Smith, Jr - 1840 CE","description":"Joseph Smith, Jr. founder of the Latter Day Saint movement, (LDS Church), formally introduces the doctrine of baptism for the dead on August 15, 1840, during...","url":"https://www.kudos365.com/today-in-history/events/1840ce-aug-15--1068","additionalType":"HistoricalEvent","inLanguage":"en","datePublished":"2025-03-17T22:09:15-07:00","dateModified":"2026-04-05T22:42:25-07:00","publisher":{"@id":"https://www.kudos365.com/#organizationK365"},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://k365fs.imgix.net/fP5h7B3TzWRcT97NLgOw_Joseph_Smith_before_1844%20R1.png?auto=format,compress\u0026fit=clip\u0026max-w=1600","width":1023,"height":706},"temporalCoverage":"1840-08-15","isPartOf":[{"@id":"https://www.kudos365.com/#websiteK365"},{"@type":"CollectionPage","@id":"https://www.kudos365.com/today-in-history/august","name":"What Happened in August History"},{"@type":"CollectionPage","@id":"https://www.kudos365.com/today-in-history/august-15#pageK365","name":"What Happened on August 15"}]}}