Richard Bennet, “‘Line upon Line, Precept upon Precept: Reflections on the 1877 Commencement of the Performance of Endowments and Sealings for the Dead” BYU Studies 44:3 (2005).

• Summary.
• A copy may be downloaded from BYU Studies for 2.00 from that page.
• Prior to 1877, few ordinances for the dead were performed, due to the prevailing conceptions of family and sealing at the time (ie. “adoption.” For more on that topic, seeJames B. Allen, “Line upon Line,” Ensign, July 1979 and Gordon Irving, “The Law of Adoption: One Phase of the Development of the Mormon Concept of Salvation, 1830-1900,”  BYU Studies 14:3 )