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The St. George Temple had followed the basic pattern of the earlier Kirtland and Nauvoo Temples—essentially comprising only two large assembly rooms, one above the other, which were well-suited for large meetings. The inauguration of endowments for the dead, however, created a greater need for temple facilities specifically adapted to the presentation of this sacred ordinance. The next decade and a half witnessed a dramatic acceleration in temple construction. Not just one, but three of these sacred edifices—the Logan, Manti, and Salt Lake Temples—were under construction at the same time. They would embody changes made with the guidance of inspired Church leaders.

Inspired Variations in Temple Design

Nineteenth-century temples in Utah. Courtesy of Lee R. Cowan.

Speaking at the time that the St. George Temple was being completed, several Church leaders had indicated that the design of future temples would meet new needs. In 1879 Elder Orson Pratt pointed out that the Church by then had tabernacles and other buildings for the Saints’ regular meetings. Therefore, temples could be designed specifically for more “sacred and holy purposes”—for ordinances associated with “the Priesthood of the Most High God.” Elder Pratt insisted that the Lord is “not confined” to a single pattern in temple building any more than he is in the creation of worlds, “but He will construct His Temples in a great variety of ways.”[1] Two years previously, Elder Pratt explained, “The Lord begins little by little; he does not reveal everything all at once.” There were no rooms for ordinances in the Kirtland Temple. When baptisms for the dead were restored at Nauvoo, a font was provided in the temple there. Endowments for the dead, not known in the first two temples, were now being performed at St. George. Therefore, “by and by,” Elder Pratt concluded, “we will have Temples, with a great many things contained in them which we now have not.”[2]

Exterior plan of the Logan Temple. Courtesy of Church History Library.

That there would be variations in temple design had specifically been made known to President Brigham Young in St. George. “Oh Lord,” he had prayed, “show unto thy servants if we shall build all temples after the same pattern.” People do not build their homes the same when their families are large as when they are small, came the inspired response. “So shall the growth of the knowledge of the principles of the gospel among my people cause diversity in the pattern of temples.”[3] Years earlier, at the time ground was broken for the Salt Lake Temple, President Young had taught that the order of priesthood ordinances is made known by revelation, and therefore we should know what facilities must be included in our temples.[4]

In his landmark work The House of the Lord, Elder James E. Talmage pointed out that “there is a definite sequence of development in the dealings of God with man.” He explained, “While the general purpose of temples is the same in all times, the special suitability of these edifices is determined by the needs of the dispensation to which they severally belong.” Therefore, “we may affirm that divine revelation of temple plans is required for each distinctive period of the Priesthood’s administration.” Consequently, Elder Talmage concluded, the temple buildings themselves are a tangible record of God’s unfolding revelations to his people concerning temple work.[5]

A Design for the Two New Temples

During the 1850s, two rather different concepts were advanced for temples and related buildings. First, Church architect Truman O. Angell presented the traditional concept of two large meeting halls that Brigham Young envisioned for the Salt Lake Temple. Then, at the same time, Angell designed the Endowment House, the first building composed of separate permanent ordinance rooms—a plan obviously more suited for performing priesthood ordinances. When he planned the St. George Temple two decades later, he returned to the earlier pattern, providing facilities for giving the endowment only in the basement. As the Logan and Manti Temples were contemplated, Church leaders gave inspired direction on which concept in temple design to follow and how extensive facilities for the endowment would be. Speaking at the October 1876 general conference, President Brigham Young encouraged the Saints to get to work building temples in the Cache and Sanpete Valleys, promising that he would “provide the plan.” Just two weeks later, in a circular letter, the First Presidency indicated that these new temples would not be costly, could be built quickly, and would be designed specifically “for Endowment purposes.”[6]

Manti and Logan Temple layout. Courtesy of Lee R. Cowan.

By the mid-1870s, Angell was tied up with other projects and in poor health, so the task of completing the design for the new temples was turned over to his two capable assistants. William H. Folsom, who had served during the early 1860s as Church architect and helped to design the Salt Lake Tabernacle, became architect for the Manti Temple, while Truman O. Angell Jr. received the assignment to complete the plans for the temple in Logan.

Though the Logan and Manti Temples were finished under the direction of Young’s successor, President John Taylor acknowledged at the Logan Temple dedication that Brigham Young “contemplated and designed” that structure.[7] Both Folsom and Angell Jr. affirmed in 1878 that President Young had instructed that “it was not required that temples should [always] be alike, neither in their interior or exterior design and construction,” but they should be arranged for the “convenience of performing the labors therein.”[8] This was a departure from the Kirtland, Nauvoo, and St. George Temples.

Both the Manti and Logan Temples would have similar dimensions, be built of local stone in the “castellated” (or castle-like) style. They would each have two towers, the eastern one representing the higher priesthood being slightly taller. They would also have corner turrets enclosing spiral staircases. Hence, these were the first temples to have permanent creation, garden, world, terrestrial, and celestial rooms. In both temples, these rooms would be situated at various levels in a similar ascending clockwise progression. These temples would also be the first to be built with an “annex,” which would include space for waiting rooms, administrative offices, record storage, dressing rooms, and other related functions and therefore provide a more suitable entrance to the temple itself. The construction of these two temples was a major focus of the Church during the later 1870s and the 1880s.

A Temple in Cache Valley

Speaking at Wellsville on July 4, 1857, John Thirkell, a convert from England, prophesied that a temple would be built on Cache Valley’s east bench.[9] The settlement of Logan at that location would not begin until two years later. Then, in 1863, President Young and other General Authorities visited the valley. Preaching at the bowery in Logan on August 22, Elder Wilford Woodruff was impressed to direct his remarks particularly to the youth: “You will have the privilege of going into the tower of a glorious temple built unto the name of the most high God, east of us upon the Logan Bench.” President Young then testified that what Elder Woodruff had said was revelation.[10]

Groundbreaking in Logan

President Young and a large group of general and local Church leaders broke ground on May 18, 1877. Four inches of snow had fallen during the previous night, and the day was brisk yet sunny. Someone in the congregation placed his coat on the ground so that Elder Orson Pratt would not have to kneel in the mud and snow as he offered the prayer dedicating the site.[11] Following the prayer, President Young reminded the Saints that the temple would be constructed by volunteer labor and that “wages are entirely out of the question.” Nevertheless, the temple could be built “without any burden to ourselves if our hearts are in the work,” he insisted, “and we will be blessed abundantly in doing so. We will be better off in our temporal affairs when it is completed than when we commenced.” Speaking on this same occasion, Elder John Taylor quoted the biblical prophet Jacob’s affirmation that “this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven” (Genesis 28:17). “That is not simply a metaphorical expression, but a reality,” Elder Taylor affirmed, “for it is in [temples]that the most sacred ordinances of God are to be performed, which are associated with the interest and happiness of the human family, living and dead.”[12]

Logan Temple under construction. Courtesy of Church History Library.

Construction began immediately. Only two feet of dirt had to be excavated in order to reach bedrock, and by September, the seven-foot-wide foundations were in place. The temple’s cornerstones were laid on the nineteenth of that month, just over three weeks following President Young’s death. The southeast or chief cornerstone was laid by the Twelve, who were then the presiding quorum in the Church. The other cornerstones were laid at the southwest by Presiding Bishop Edward Hunter, who represented the lesser priesthood; at the northwest by the high priests; and at the northeast by the seventies and elders. Elder Wilford Woodruff testified that a host of departed spirits were “witnessing these proceedings [even] more intently and anxiously” than the ten thousand Saints who were physically present, “for they well know in their prison homes that their salvation depends upon these things.”[13]

Charles O. Card was named superintendent of construction. During the next several years, more than two hundred men, including Shoshone converts, were almost constantly engaged in building the temple.[14] Many were volunteers from the various towns in the area, each coming when assigned to donate his skill as a mason, carpenter, plasterer, or in some other way to help build the house of the Lord. For example, each Monday morning Julius Smith left his large family at their small farm near Brigham City and hiked over the mountain about twenty miles to Logan. Although he was a slender man just over five feet tall, he worked all week carrying heavy loads of mortar or plaster up ladders to the workmen. After finishing his work on Saturdays, he walked back home in order to spend Sundays with his family.[15]

Fundraising

More than $600,000 (equivalent to nearly twelve million dollars in the early twenty-first century) was contributed to the Logan Temple, over 60 percent coming from the Saints within the Logan Temple district itself. Only a relatively small amount ($93,000) was donated in cash. The remainder came in a variety of forms: $30,000 in merchandise, $30,000 in livestock, $71,000 in produce, and $3,000 in wagons and teams. The equivalent of $380,000 was donated in the form of labor (using the prevailing wage rate of $1.50 per man per day).[16] Those who worked on the temple received food, clothing, livestock, or other items donated by the wards and stakes in the area. In Bear Lake Valley, for example, all the eggs laid on Sundays were donated for the temple. Some Saints even donated some of their hair to strengthen the plaster in at least two of the sacred rooms. Children of the Cache Stake contributed $2,300 toward the temple by means of a Sunday School “nickel fund.” One day a young boy attempted to climb the scaffolding to have a close look at the temple but was stopped by a guard. Permission was granted when he explained that he “had paid his nickel to the temple” and therefore felt he had a right to see it.[17]

The Saints established their own quarries, sawmills, mechanical shops, and other facilities in order to supply as many materials as they could for the temple without having to use their scarce finances to purchase goods elsewhere. The temple’s construction had a far-reaching impact on the development of the whole area. “One can hardly distinguish the building of the . . . temple from the general building of the community,” historians concluded. “The network of temple industries not only supplied the temple itself but provided materials for the construction of homes, barns, and shops.” Skills learned by those working on the temple subsequently aided the construction of other important buildings in the area.[18]

Logan Temple. Courtesy of Church History Library.

A challenge facing the temple builders was to construct a roof to span the large upper assembly room. Mechanical superintendent James Quayle reported that after fasting and praying for guidance, he was pondering and saw how “the roof seemed to fit perfectly on the Temple” and knew “how it was [to be] supported and built.”[19] After the roof was completed in 1881, work on the temple’s interior could move forward throughout the year.

In about 1882 the temple’s dark gray limestone exterior was painted white. This outside paint scheme was maintained until about the turn of the century, after which the temple’s stone was allowed to weather back to its original color. The supply of commercially produced carpeting in Utah Territory was not adequate to meet the temple’s needs. Just two months before the dedication, the sisters in the temple district received the overwhelming assignment to produce the needed floor coverings. They worked energetically collecting rags, tearing them into strips, matching colors, and then stitching together the carpets. Eventually, the women produced over two thousand square yards of finely woven rag carpeting.[20]

The Logan Temple Dedicated

Logan Temple dedication ticket. Courtesy of Church History Library.

Dedication was set for Saturday, May 17, 1884, and the conference of the Cache Stake was scheduled to coincide with this event. This date would mark the seventh anniversary of the groundbreaking for the temple. The railroad offered special excursion rates, so large crowds were anticipated for the events in Logan. The Saints opened their homes, and local Church leaders arranged to feed the crowds; thus, none of the visitors had to pay anything for meals or lodging. Because not all could be accommodated inside the temple during the dedicatory services, bishops were instructed to issue tickets only to those who were worthy to be admitted into the Lord’s house.[21] These tickets were personally countersigned by President John Taylor. This was the first time invitations of this kind were used at a temple dedication.

The temple’s large east doors were opened promptly at ten o’clock Saturday morning. The approximately fifteen hundred Saints bearing tickets to this first dedicatory session climbed the winding corner stairways to the large upper assembly room. The first speaker was President George Q. Cannon of the First Presidency. “Heaven itself and our co-workers of the past are delighted with the accomplishment of this temple,” he declared. “We are the representatives of the ages. . . . How boundless should be our gratitude that we are permitted to officiate in the ordinances that will save those who have gone before us.” Elder Woodruff testified that “the spirits of Elias, Elijah and other holy men of old are hovering over us and are ready to aid us in any way that is possible.” He declared that Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, and the Savior were especially interested in the dedication of this temple, and that “if the veil were taken from our eyes we would behold their faces. . . . God and the heavens are with us today and the Lord is pleased with our labors.”[22]

At the conclusion of this dedicatory service, those in attendance were permitted to see other parts of the temple. Led in a procession by Presidents Taylor and Cannon and other Church officials, they walked quietly two by two through the various rooms in the building. As they exited the building, they were greeted by the music of brass bands from Logan and Tooele (the latter having traveled about one hundred miles to be present for this occasion).

Logan Temple ordinance workers, 1880s. Temple president Marriner W. Merrill is in the center left. Courtesy of Church History Library.

President John Taylor dedicated the Logan Temple. Courtesy of Church History Library.

A session of stake conference convened Saturday afternoon in the Logan Tabernacle, about two blocks from the temple. Speaking in this service, Elder Franklin D. Richards of the Quorum of the Twelve referred to the importance of the occasion: “The dedication of the Temple this morning awakens anew in our souls a heavenly, family feeling.” Our interest extends beyond this earth to those who are in the spirit world, he explained, and “inspires a feeling that we are part of them and that they are part of us.” On such occasions, by the power of faith we view “that portion of the family of God with whom we have before associated, and with whom we expect hereafter to be associated.”[23]

To accommodate others who wished to attend, additional dedicatory sessions were scheduled for Sunday and Monday, and about 3,500 more tickets were issued. At one of the three dedicatory sessions, President John Taylor and Charles O. Card stood at the top of the stairs as the throngs were surging into the temple’s upper assembly room. President Taylor noticed a woman whom he did not know but instructed Brother Card, “Don’t let that woman come into the assembly, she is not worthy.” When asked for an explanation, President Taylor replied: “I know not but the Spirit of God said, ‘She is not worthy.’” Brother Card therefore told the woman she would have to leave. She offered no resistance. When questioned about the matter, she admitted that she had not been able to get a recommend from her bishop but had purchased one for a dollar from a man on the street.[24]

President John Taylor had also been guided by inspiration in the selection of the first president for the Logan Temple. Several prominent men were under consideration, but because of some prejudiced reports about Marriner W. Merrill, he was not included among the candidates. However, as President Taylor earnestly prayed for guidance, “a voice seemed to say that the man for the post was Bishop Merrill of Richmond.” Because of the reports he had received, the president questioned this impression, so he prayed on. “Then there came the distinct and unmistakable impression of a voice, ‘Bishop Merrill of Richmond.’” That settled the matter, and Merrill was chosen as temple president. Just five years later, he also was called as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve, and he continued to serve in both positions until his death in 1906.[25]

At the time of the dedication, President Taylor gave instructions concerning the selection of workers for the temple. Except about six who would need to be employed on a permanent basis, men and women should be chosen “who can leave their farms for a season and supply their own necessities for living and doing their work without being dependent on the Temple for their sustenance.” These workers should be prepared to stay “as long as shall be needed,” from six months to three years. They were to serve much on the same basis as missionaries to the living. President Taylor instructed that this pattern was also to be implemented at St. George and in all other future temples.[26] Two years earlier, a group of nine individuals had been asked to spend several months in St. George working in the temple in order to learn essential procedures. While on this assignment, these individuals were supported by their home wards.

The first ordinances in the Logan Temple were performed two days after the dedication under the personal supervision of the General Authorities still present. Before leaving Logan, President Taylor instructed that the following be placed in the official temple records: “The Lord is well pleased and has accepted this House, and our labors in its Dedication, also the labors of the people in its building and beautifying. . . . I state this as the Word of the Lord. And the Lord will continue to reveal unto us every principle that shall be necessary for our guidance in the future in all matters pertaining to our labors both spiritually and temporally."[27]

A Temple in Sanpete Valley

Although construction on the Manti Temple did not commence until the later 1870s, the idea of a temple in the Sanpete Valley began much earlier. Manti, founded in 1849, was the fourth settlement established by the pioneers in the Rocky Mountains. Only Salt Lake City, Ogden, and Provo preceded it. When the residents of Manti laid out a fifty-nine-acre fort in 1854, they identified a central block as the site for a future temple. At about this same time President Heber C. Kimball prophesied that the temple would be built on the hill above Manti rather than down in the town. “And more than that,” he continued, “the rock will be quarried from that hill to build it with, and some of the stone from that quarry will be taken to help complete the Salt Lake Temple.”

The rock at Manti, known as oolite, is a warm cream color. President Kimball’s prophecy would be fulfilled completely, as stone from Manti was used for decorative work at the east and west ends of the Salt Lake Temple.[28]

Site Selected and Dedicated

As early as December 4, 1873, at a conference in Ephraim, seven miles north of Manti, President Young announced that the temple in Sanpete Valley would be built soon. While in the area, he made some preliminary investigations of possible sites and available materials. By this time, Ephraim had become the principal settlement in the valley. Hence, a controversy arose over where the temple should be built. People in Manti advocated a site in or just above town, while the residents of Ephraim believed the temple should be in their community. This matter was decided at another conference in Ephraim on June 25, 1875, when President Young declared that the temple would be built at the “Manti stone quarry.”[29]

The stone quarry was where the first settlers of Manti had lived in dugouts on the side of the rattlesnake-infested hill during the winter of 1849–50. A large stone from this same quarry had been Utah Territory’s contribution to the Washington Monument at the nation’s capital. Carved by William Ward, the slab bore a beehive, the “all-seeing eye,” and the name “Deseret.” William H. Folsom had received the assignment as temple architect and superintendent of construction.[30] His work was to be supervised by a committee composed of three members of the Twelve: Elders Wilford Woodruff, Orson Hyde, and Erastus Snow.

On his way back to Salt Lake City from the St. George Temple dedication, President Brigham Young stopped in Manti to dedicate the temple site there. He arrived April 24, 1877, and on that same afternoon he supervised the work of William Folsom and Truman O. Angell Jr. as they surveyed the site and set stakes. Several hundred were present the following day at noon when President Young dedicated the site in connection with stake conference.

A common story dating to this visit is that Brigham Young took Warren S. Snow to the temple site and told him that during the prophet Moroni’s wandering years he visited the area and dedicated this piece of land for a temple. Yet Warren Snow’s memory of the conversation is the only source for this account. Diligent research by the Church History Department has not turned up any contemporary references to Moroni by any Church leaders who spoke at the groundbreaking, cornerstone ceremony, or dedication. On the contrary, their remarks point to President Young as the one who chose the site. Historian Ardis Parshall notes that John Taylor said in 1879, “Brigham Young . . . selected this ground as a suitable site whereon to build a temple,” and at the temple dedication in 1888, Wilford Woodruff said Brigham was “moved to build and to appoint Temples . . . and to designate that one should occupy this delightful spot.”[31] While the Moroni story has been very popular and sensational over the years, it distracts from the prophetic role and mantle exercised by the living prophet at the time, who was Brigham Young.

Construction Begins

When President Young dedicated the site for the Manti Temple, he exhorted the people to labor on the temple with “clean hands and pure hearts” so that they might be worthy to receive blessings in the temple and to officiate in behalf of their dead. He explained that the women could assist by giving encouragement to their husbands and sons and by making clothing for those working on the temple. He instructed bishops in the area to have men and their teams come and prepare the site for construction. He hoped that from fifty to one hundred would respond, and explained that they could be rotated as often as necessary. “Now, Bishops,” President Young instructed, “if any person should inquire what wages is to be paid for work done on the temple, let the answer be, ‘Not one dime.’ And when the temple is completed, we will work in God’s holy house without inquiring what we are going to get, or who is going to pay us, but we will trust in the Lord for our reward, and he will not forget us.”[32]

George Edward Anderson, Construction of the Manti Temple. Courtesy of Church History Library.

Only five days later, some one hundred men with their teams from Manti and surrounding communities reported to the temple site at 8:00 a.m. After kneeling in prayer, they commenced the work of excavation. Work on the hillside was discouragingly slow. Explosions shattered the stillness of the rural valley as men worked to provide a level building site for the temple. In the last blast on June 27, 1878, for example, 875 pounds of powder threw out over 4,600 cubic yards of rock and debris. By the end of the year, rough retaining walls were completed, and material removed from the hill had been graded to form four terraces nearly a quarter mile long. A level plot, about sixty feet above the road at the base of the hill, was now ready for temple construction to begin in the spring. Honoring Brigham Young’s vision to turn the spur of the mountain into a temple site, Wilford Woodruff later stated, “The Prophet of God also laid out the Manti Temple, and he did a thing that perhaps no other man on the earth would have done—he removed a mountain at the cost of a hundred thousand dollars to get a place that would suite [sic] him for a Temple to stand on.” [33]

Manti Temple. Courtesy of Church History Library.

Cornerstones were laid on April 14, 1879. Master mason Edward Parry had prepared the cornerstones and made a treasure box that would include historical memorabilia. Previously, Parry had constructed similar cornerstone boxes for both the Salt Lake and St. George Temples.[34] A steady rain fell most of the morning on the appointed day, but the sun broke through as about four thousand Saints gathered for the 11:30 service. As the Stars and Stripes fluttered overhead, the southeast cornerstone with its zinc box containing historical memorabilia was laid by William Folsom under the supervision of President John Taylor of the Quorum of the Twelve—then the presiding officer of the Church—who also spoke. The Presiding Bishop, representing the Aaronic Priesthood, laid the southwest cornerstone. The presidencies of the high priests and seventies laid the northwest and northeast cornerstones respectively. The two-hour service featured other talks by General Authorities as well as music provided by the Manti choir and by a band from Nephi. As the last Saints left the hill, the rain began to fall again.[35]

Many people became involved in raising funds for the temple. A dramatic company put on two performances, donating half their proceeds. Two brethren were appointed to travel from settlement to settlement soliciting funds. Beaver, over a hundred miles from Manti, contributed $1,500. Less than 4 percent of the donations came in the form of cash. Most contributions were commodities, including beef, chickens, wheat, flour, quilts, shoes, socks, overalls, and other items of clothing. Children gleaned wheat from the fields so that their mothers could make bread for the workmen. A young father gave his only cow even though his small children needed the milk; soon afterward, however, a bachelor neighbor offered to provide from his own cow all the milk the little family needed. The Greenwood United Order provided a wagonload of butter. Such supplies were distributed to the workmen through the local bishop’s “tithing office.”[36]

The estimated cost to construct the Manti Temple was about $1,000,000 (equivalent to over $20,000,000 in the twenty-first century). Almost all the materials needed for the temple were donated or produced locally. A few items, however, had to be shipped in from the East. Nails were particularly scarce; twenty pounds of nails cost sixty dollars (at this time one hundred pounds of flour sold for only two dollars). Glass was sent from New York to California by ship and then had to be carried carefully by wagon across the desert.[37]

Stake president Canute Peterson became the assistant superintendent of construction with the specific assignment to promote and coordinate the donation of materials and labor. Under the direction of his wife Sarah, women of the Relief Society made cheese and donated “temple eggs”; many were convinced that their hens laid twice as many eggs on Sunday for the temple than on any other day of the week. As had been done for the Logan Temple, these women wove hundreds of yards of carpet.[38]

Construction on the temple progressed slowly. Lumber from the surrounding mountains was delivered to the site during the winter when the men were free from farm work and the normally muddy roads were frozen (and hence in the best condition). Furthermore, most of the work had to be done by hand. Craftsmen shaping stones for the walls used hammers and chisels and took pride in their work. By April 1882 the walls reached the height of fifty feet.

A concern for excellence also motivated those who accomplished the intricate wood carving in the temple. “When I see the terrestrial room,” a woodworker later remarked, “a feeling of deep reverence comes over me as I imagine myself attempting the pieces of wood work there. These men were inspired with a higher cause.”[39]

The spiral stairways in the two west corners are a unique feature of the Manti Temple. They are an outstanding example of pioneer craftsmanship. Unlike most spiral staircases, which wind around and are supported by a central column, those in Manti are open in the center. Even though the temple’s floors are not all the same distance apart, each story is reached by one complete revolution of the stairway. The curved panels and perfectly executed curved banisters of imported black walnut are a marvel of woodworking.[40] Large wooden stairways of this design are extremely rare, and two of those in existence are in this temple.[41] In addition to these celebrated staircases, there actually are two others in the temple; they too are open in the center, but they are not as noted because they ascend only one story.

Manti Utah Temple dedication ticket. Courtesy of Church History Library.

In 1886–87 murals were painted on the plaster walls of the first three endowment rooms. C. C. A. Christensen, a Danish convert who had studied art in Denmark, painted the creation room; he was noted for his large “panorama” painting of Church history scenes featured in his traveling lectures. Dan Weggeland, a Norwegian immigrant who had studied art in Europe, painted the murals in the garden room and probably the world room.

The temple was nearing completion when President Taylor died in the summer of 1887. That fall President Woodruff, his successor, advised Church members that the Manti Temple was ready for its interior furnishings and invited the Saints to make their last donations toward the completion of this temple. Contributions poured in from many locations in Utah and Idaho and from such far-flung places as England, Germany, Switzerland, and Hawaii. Hundreds of Saints responded, most donations ranging from twenty-five cents to five dollars.

Private and Public Dedications

Manti Utah Temple. Courtesy of Intellectual Reserve, Inc.

The public dedication of the Manti Temple was scheduled to begin on Monday, May 21, 1888. However, because of the bitter anti-Mormon persecution raging primarily over the issue of plural marriage, most General Authorities were forced to remain in seclusion in the “underground.” Hence, a private dedicatory service was scheduled for a few days earlier. President Woodruff, the senior apostle who then presided over the Church, left Salt Lake City on a Sunday night and traveled by private railroad car to Nephi. There he remained in seclusion until the following night when he journeyed by carriage across the mountain to Manti, arriving at 1:00 a.m. on Tuesday. He remained in the temple the next few days conferring with local officials and naming Daniel H. Wells, formerly a counselor to Brigham Young, to be the temple’s first president. In the presence of only a few General Authorities and other invited guests, President Woodruff offered the dedicatory prayer at noon on Thursday, May 17. Before leaving the temple on Friday, President Woodruff “consecrated upon the Altar the [white] seer stone that Joseph Smith found by revelation [and which was] carried by him through life.”[42]

On Saturday and Sunday, the roads leading to Manti were clogged with teams and wagons bringing people to the public dedication. Early Monday morning the Saints began to gather on the hill east of the temple from which they would be admitted into the building, “and by 9:30 the grounds were black with people.” The doors were opened at 10:00, and the service began one hour later. Elder Lorenzo Snow, next to Wilford Woodruff in seniority, presided. He reminded the congregation that the dedicatory prayer for the Kirtland Temple had been given by revelation. “So the prayer we are now about to offer up,” he testified, “was written and inspired by holy men of God in our day.” The prayer referred to existing difficulties and petitioned: “As thou hast in the past overruled the violence of mobs and the cruelty of the wicked for the glory of thy name and the salvation of thy people, we ask thee, Righteous Father, to so control this present persecution that thy purposes may be accomplished in the redemption of thy Zion.”[43]

Following the prayer, the choir sang the “Dedication Hymn,” with words composed by Charles Walker especially for the occasion:

Wilford Woodruff, 1888. Courtesy of Church History Library.

Righteous God, th’eternal Father,

Lend Thine ear, accept our praise;

While we dedicate this Temple

Reared to Thee in latter days.

Let Thy blessings rest upon it,

Hallow now this sacred shrine,

Fill its courts with joy and gladness,

Holy Father, it is Thine.

Rays of sunshine pierce the prison,

Jesus lighten up the gloom,

Millions hail the joyful tidings,

Vict’ry o’er death, hell and tomb.

Oh what rapture fills the captive!

Christ hath crushed the serpent’s head,

And another House erected,

Links the living with the dead.

Oh how anxious souls are waiting,

Eager watching for the day,

When kind friends on earth will save them,

In God’s own appointed way.

Let no loved one’s spirit linger,

Loose the bands, we have the keys;

Christ hath wrought for all a ransom,

And will grant them sweet release.[44]

Once again, the solemn shout of hosannas accompanied the presentation of yet another temple to the Lord.

Several members of the Twelve addressed the congregation, expressing gratitude for the plan of salvation and for sacred temple ordinances which extend blessings to the millions who died without the opportunity of accepting the gospel on earth. “The erecting of [a] Temple,” Elder Franklin D. Richards declared, “was a matter of as much interest and concern to those who had passed behind the veil as to the living.” Ever since the site for the Manti Temple had been selected, “they had watched with anxiety for its completion.”[45] This service continued until 3:00 p.m.

Similar services convened on the following two days with 1,500 to 1,700 in attendance. In each session the dedicatory prayer and Hosanna Shout were repeated, and other members of the Twelve addressed the congregation. Following each session, those in attendance were given the privilege of walking two by two through the various rooms of the temple, as had been done at Logan. In the evening of the first day, children too young to attend one of the regular dedicatory services were invited to tour the temple.

Remarkable spiritual experiences accompanied these memorable dedicatory services. The Church’s Millennial Star reported, “On the 21st of May, before the opening exercises commenced, Brother A. C. Smyth, the chorister, seated himself at the organ, and rendered a piece of sacred music, a selection from Mendelssohn, at the conclusion of which, persons sitting near the centre of the hall, and also on the stand at the west end, heard most heavenly voices and singing—it sounded to them most angelic, and appeared to be behind and above them, and they turned their heads in the direction of the sound, wondering if there was another choir in some other part of the Temple.”[46]

There was no other choir. Then, several of the Saints beheld departed Church leaders during the services. Typical of several accounts published in the Millennial Star were these: “On the 22nd of May, when Brother John W. Taylor was speaking, a bright halo surrounded him, and in that halo the personages of Presidents Brigham Young, John Taylor, and a third personage, whom she believed to be the Prophet Joseph, were seen by Sister Emma G. Bull, of Salt Lake City; also the personage of Brother Jedediah M. Grant was seen by her standing by his son, Brother Heber J. Grant, looking towards him while he was speaking; they were surrounded by a bright halo.”[47]

Moses Farnsworth, the temple recorder, noted, “On the 23rd . . . I was sitting at the foot of the east stand, taking notes of the services; I looked up while Brother Heber J. Grant was speaking, and saw a bright halo surrounding him, which swayed to and fro as he moved his body. I laid down my pencil and gazed steadily at him for a few moments.”[48]

In summarizing its account, the Star affirmed, “The Saints enjoyed a spiritual feast extending through the three days and many shed tears of joy while listening to the testimonies and admonitions of the servants of God. There can be no question but that God has accepted the Manti Temple at the hands of His Saints.”[49]

“When we dedicated the Temple at Manti,” Elder Franklin D. Richards of the Quorum of the Twelve recalled a few years later, “there were many brethren and sisters that saw the presence of spiritual beings, which could only be discerned by the eyes of the inner man. The Prophets Joseph, Hyrum, Brigham, and various other Apostles that have gone, were seen; and not only so, but the ears of many of the faithful were touched, and they heard the music of the heavenly choir that was there.”[50]

Yet another spiritual manifestation occurred the day following the temple’s dedication. That night when a pounding rain hit the building, custodian Peter Alstrom ran to close a window. “Opening the door of the sealing room, he was surprised to see, standing above the altar, a personage clothed in white robes, a brilliant light surrounding him and filling the whole room.” Upon hearing this, President Wells replied “that there are angels in this place we can have no doubt, but it is not given to every one to see them.”[51]

In the meantime, while the faithful in Logan and Manti were enjoying the remarkable experiences connected with the dedications of their temples, the Saints in the Salt Lake area were eagerly anticipating the completion of the great temple in that city as well.

Notes

[1] Orson Pratt, October 26, 1876, in Journal of Discourses (London: Latter-day Saints’ Book Depot, 1854–86), 24:25.

[2] Orson Pratt, May 20, 1877, in Journal of Discourses, 19:19–20.

[3] Erastus Snow, November 20, 1881, in St. George Stake Historical Record, MS, Church History Library.

[4] Brigham Young, February 14, 1853, in Journal of Discourses, 1:277–78.

[5] James E. Talmage, The House of the Lord (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1962), 110–11.

[6] James R. Clark, comp., Messages of the First Presidency (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1965), 2:280.

[7] Paul L. Anderson, “William Harrison Folsom: Pioneer Architect,” Utah Historical Quarterly 43 (Summer 1975): 247–52; Laurel B. Andrew, The Early Temples of the Mormons (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1978), 175–76. Initially, Joseph A. Young received the assignment to design the Manti Temple but died soon afterward.

[8] Truman O. Angell Jr., to John Taylor, May 8, 1878, and William H. Folsom to John Taylor, May 24, 1878, First Presidency (John Taylor) correspondence, 1877–1887, Church History Library.

[9] Cache Valley Stake Historical Record, Book A, quoted in Nolan Porter Olsen, Logan Temple: The First 100 Years (Providence, UT: the author, 1978), 6–7, and in Melvin A. Larkin, “The History of the L.D.S. Temple in Logan, Utah” (master’s thesis, Utah State Agricultural College, 1954), 14.

[10] Scott G. Kenney, ed., Wilford Woodruff’s Journal (Midvale, UT: Signature Books, 1985), 8:247–48, May 8, 1884; Olsen, Logan Temple, 10–12; Larkin, “History of the L.D.S. Temple in Logan, Utah,” 14–15.

[11] Olsen, Logan Temple, 24–26.

[12] Brigham Young and John Taylor, in Journal of Discourses, 19:33–35, May 18, 1877.

[13] Quoted in Olsen, Logan Temple, 7:374, September 17, 1877.

[14] “Washakie: Description of the Lamanitish City in Malad Valley,” Utah Journal, December 1, 1883; Larkin, “History of the L.D.S. Temple in Logan, Utah,” 124.

[15] Boyd K. Packer, The Holy Temple (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1980), 248.

[16] Leonard J. Arrington and Melvin A. Larkin, “The Logan Tabernacle and Temple,” Utah Historical Quarterly 41 (Summer 1973): 308.

[17] C. O. Card, “The Nickel Fund,” Juvenile Instructor, February 29, 1884, 95.

[18] Arrington and Larkin, Logan Tabernacle and Temple,” 306.

[19] Joseph L. Quayle, “Stories of James Quayle,” FamilySearch.org.

[20] Olsen, Logan Temple, 129–30.

[21] Larkin, “History of the L.D.S. Temple in Logan, Utah,” 133–35.

[22] Quoted in Olsen, Logan Temple, 140–41.

[23] Franklin D. Richards, in Journal of Discourses, 25:231, May 17, 1884.

[24] N. B. Lundwall, Temples of the Most High (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1947), 108–9.

[25] Melvin Clarence Merrill, Marriner Wood Merrill and His Family (n.p.: the author, 1937), 78–79.

[26] L. John Nuttall diary, MS, L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, May 19, 1884; John Taylor, in Journal of Discourses, 25:185–87, May 18, 1884,.

[27] Nuttall diary, May 22, 1884.

[28] Heber C. Kimball, quoted in Millennial Star, August 13, 1888, 521.

[29] Daniel Tyler, “Temples,” Contributor, November 30, 1880, 160; Glen R. Stubbs, “A History of the Manti Temple” (master’s thesis, Brigham Young University, 1960), 17–18.

[30] Paul L. Anderson, “William Harrison Folsom: Pioneer Architect,” Utah Historical Quarterly 43 (Summer 1975): 252.

[31] Ardis Parshall, “Moroni’s Reported Rambles,” .

[32] Millennial Star, June 11, 1877, 373.

[33] Brian H. Stuy, Collected Discourses Delivered by President Wilford Woodruff, His Two Counselors, the Twelve Apostles, and Others, vol.5 (Burbank, CA: B.H.S. Publishing, 1992), 5:315.

[34] Edward L. Parry, “Autobiography of Edward Lloyd Parry,” FamilySearch.org.

[35] Millennial Star, May 12, 1879, 295.

[36] Stubbs, “History of the Manti Temple,” 38–42.

[37] Thomas Weston Welch, “Early Mormon Woodworking at Its Best: A Study of the Craftsmanship in the First Temples in Utah” (master’s thesis, Brigham Young University, 1983), 11.

[38] Stubbs, “History of the Manti Temple,” 38–42.

[39] Welch, “Early Mormon Woodworking,” 85.

[40] Welch, “Early Mormon Woodworking,” 81–85; Stubbs, “History of the Manti Temple,” 67.

[41] Victor J. Rasmussen, The Manti Temple (Manti, UT: Manti Temple Centennial Committee, 1988), 104.

[42] Kenney, Wilford Woodruff’s Journal, 8:496–500, May 13–18, 1888.

[43] “The Dedication of the Manti Temple,” Millennial Star 50 (June 18, 1888), 385–92; for dedicatory prayer see NB. Lundwall, Temples of the Most High, 111–20.

[44] “The Dedication of the Manti Temple,” 401.

[45] Franklin D. Richards, in “The Dedication of the Manti Temple,” 403.

[46] Moses F. Farnsworth to George Teasdale, July 2, 1888, in “Spiritual Manifestations in the Manti Temple,” Millennial Star, August 13, 1888, 521–22.

[47] Moses F. Farnsworth to George Teasdale, July 2, 1888, in “Spiritual Manifestations in the Manti Temple,” Millennial Star, August 13, 1888, 521–22.

[48] Farnsworth to Teasdale, Millennial Star, August 13, 1888, 521–22.

[49] “Dedication of the Manti Temple,” Millennial Star, June 25, 1888, 405.

[50] Franklin D. Richards, in Millennial Star, June 19, 1893, 431.

[51] “A String of Pearls for Those Who Have Intelligence to Appreciate Them,” Young Woman’s Journal, April 1890, 213–14.