Elwin Robinson on the Kirtland Temple (Part 2)

Interior and Finishing Work (1835-1836)

With the completion of the roof, interior woodworking began in earnest. During the fall and winter of 1834-35, workers had been busy felling timbers for seasoning while craftsmen drew detailed plans for implementing the rough outline of pews and pulpits indicated by Joseph Smith and his associates. Skilled workers in wood relied on previous building experience and carpenter's manuals to work out spatial and ornamental details and create a functional interior of distinctive beauty. (p.59)

Jacob Bump was predominantly responsible for the interior decoration of the lower courtyard (p.59). Bumps primary skills seem to have been joinery and plastering (p.60), but he and Millett became good friends during the Zion Camp's outage and respected each others work (p.61).

Robison then provides a short excursion on carpenter's manuals, which were basically pattern books for builders.

... such manuals gave rules of thumb for structural design, explained principles of geometry, and showed how to build out of simple plank lumber ornate classical elements (columns, capitals, entablatures) originally intended for stone construction. (p.60)

Pattern books followed geographic distributions, an Asher Benjamin was mostly popular in New England, as well as the Connecticut immigrants to the Western Reserve (p.60).

A number of pattern books were available for sale in the Kirtland vicinity, with Benjamin and Englishman Peter Nicholson being popular authors. (p.60)

Robison gives a Painesville Telegraph advertisement from July 5th, 1832, page 3, as an example, where Benjamin and Nicholson's books are reported as for sale at the Painesville Book Store (p.60).

Bump and his colleagues worked with pattern books in giving "three dimensional form" to the "verbal description and plan outline for the interior", combining elements or adjusting the scales to make it fit into a visual whole (p.61).

By the fall of 1834, Bump must have been busily engaged in seasoning timbers and obtaining moulding planes for the woodwork in the temple. The multiple tiers of pulpits allowed for considerable standardization since the basic curved "stand", or pulpit, is replicated eighteen times in the lower floor and thirty-two of the windows share an identical design. (p.61)

This kind of planning could begin before the roof was fully completed.

Bump must have made a number of sketches to work out joinery details and compute quantities of lumber and molding profiles before the roof was completed. (p.61) 

The focal point of the lower-court interior is the great window behind the west pulpit. The upper arch of this window is formed from decoratively carved moldings derived from classical precedents, with ornaments including a running guilloche, plain band, bead and lozenge, and eggs and dart. (p.63)

This plethora is indicative of Bump's expertise.

The deeply carved molding and plastic curves of these ornaments are typical of Bump's style. The wide range of stylistic sources is also typical of Bump, a mature craftsman with years of experience. (p.63)

Robison suggests, the beaded keystone of the west window in the lower court may hail from plate 31 in Asher Benjamin's American Builder's Companion from 1806 (p.63); similarly the "oval medallion with a stylized acanthus leaf divided by a starlike cruciform element on the interior columns in the courts, is also found only in Benjamin's book (p.63). A particular interesting case is the Virtruvian scroll work, which only occurred in the 1806 edition of Benjamin's book and is rare in other pattern books, and appears to have inspired the lower arch framing in the west window (p.63).

The use of this early pattern book in the design of the interior of the lower court is consistent with Bump's age, as the 1806 American Builder's Companion would have been new when he apprenticed, a time he might have been purchasing reference materials for use in his career. (p.63)

Robison then turns to the pulpits.

The pulpits share the same general articulation as the windows and pillars in that they are ornamented with fluted pilasters; a simple, Doric-like capital; a frieze with a running guilloche; and a dentiled cornice. A standard entablature, the horizontal element placed on a column or pilaster, would have looked too heavy on the relatively small-scale pulpits, and so Bump eliminated the architrave, or lowest section, that is normally prescribed by a classical canon. (p.63)

In general, of the five columnar types---Tuscan, Doric, Ionic, Corinthian and Composite---the Doric and the Ionic were the preferred types; the Corinthian and Composite were too complicated, and the Tuscan is an unfluted Doric at heart (p.64).

As used by the Greeks, Doric and Ionic columns consist of a column shaft and a capital (the widened portion on top of the column shaft). On top of the column shaft and capital sits the entablature, a horizontal lintel composed of three parts: the architrave, frieze and cornice. (p.64)

The height of a classical column was proportionate to its base diameter (p.66)

The Greek system was modified by the Romans, who moved the rounded columns into the walls, creating "engaged columns" (p.64). When flattened, these were called pilasters, which were popular with American builders, as they are easy to construct "from sawed planks of lumber" (p.64)

The mixing of Ionic and Doric was popular in American building, and the minimization of architrave and frieze as well, given that the majority of buildings did not have the dimensions of classical Greek temples (p.65).

How skillfully the workers executed some of these wood tasks is illustrated by the way the doors of the pulpits open, which required a tricky elliptical cut to allow the door to swing (p.65).

In August of of 1835, Bump broke out in "open rebellion" against Joseph Smith (p.66) [and joined the group of dissenters in Kirtland, RCK] and was removed from the project. He was replaced by Truman Angell, who would go on to work on the Nauvoo and Salt Lake City temples as well (p.66). Angell used a more abstractive or simplifying style, and put his stamp on the east window, as well as the entire upper courtyard (p.66). Angell had apprenticed with a carpenter and worked as a joiner in Providence, Rhode Island (p.68), used the Practical House Carpenter, whose moldings were by then being offered commercial in Portage County, for example (p.68).

Fall to Winter 1835-36, the Kirtland community rallied to get the temple finished (p.68). New arrivals without financial resources were impressed into the effort (p.68), raising the number of unskilled workers in the teams (p.69). There were several factors contributing to the push, including that some had not brought their families with them or left them behind, and the desire to see the endowments [cf letter of Phelps to his wife, December 18, 1835, RCK], an expectation that was undergirded by D&C 38, [where it was still a verb, RCK] as well as D&C 105 [where it is still a singular, RCK].

The rush [combined with the less-well-trained work force, RCK] caused the cutting of decorative corners as well.

Nailing strips of wood to the planks is far easier than carving the long, deep flutes used on the lower story and resulted in significant savings of time. (p.69)

Likewise, the pulpits on the upper story do not have fluted pilasters but rather have applied reeds. The reeding technique was widely used in New England in the first decade of the nineteenth century and was used in the Western Reserve area as well. (p.69)

Robison briefly speculates whether Bump had used his personal molding planes and taken them with him upon departure (p.69). But this seems an unnecessary assumption, given the general switch of artists and pattern books, and the rush of completion (p.70).

The use of the applied reeding in the upper room also indicates that many workers were not skilled joiners. ... reeding can be done by a worker with little skill. This shift in technique allowed skilled craftsmen like Angell to direct many other workers, accelerating progress on temple construction. (p.70)

Angell simplified the pulpits in the upper courtroom as well (p.70). Angell also reduced the rise, which eliminated joinery work, and eliminated the complicated doors (p.71) But Angell was no hack, as the well-executed running vines on the large east window demonstrates (p.71). The extensive use of Greek frets was another concession to speed and untrained labor (p.71).

The exterior ornamentation shows equally interesting shortcuts (p.75).

In the gable, the mutule beds (the square blocks attached to the underside of the projecting cornice) show a shortcut technique of drilling holes into a block of wood instead of laboriously fitting pegs as was done in Greek architecture. (p.75)

In contrast (p.76), the tower and belfry exhibit properly classical forms---including properly hand-crafted mutule beds---and follows pattern books (p.76).

In addition the entablature below the cornice of the tower has the properly formed classic triglyphs (three slots carved into a wooden block) and metopes (the flat spaces between them) derived from Greek Doric temples as found in the pattern books. (p.76)

But then again

Typical of American practice, the spiral volutes are etched in a flat plan of wood instead of carved from a solid block. (p.76)

One of the more interesting details of the tower is the awkward use of quarter-round egg-and-dart molding just below the spiral volutes. ... The unusual use of quarter-round moldings implies that the builders use leftover pieces of precut || moldings in this lofty location where on one would notice the difference. (pp.76-77)

The reliance of pattern books extending to the outside is most evident with the dormers; here, no adaption was done, but the design of Benjamin's Practical House Carpenter from 1830, Plate 32, was copied wholesale (p.77).

Beginning November 1835, Brigham and Joseph Young began with the installation of the windows (p.78). Brigham Young was a carpenter, painter and glazier before coming to Ohio (p.78).

The two brothers built the frames and installed and glazed the original windows, which are currently stored in the basement of the temple. These windows show typical construction techniques of the 1830s, with the mullions and sashes joined by small mortise and tenon connections. The Young brothers were highly skilled craftsmen: the curved mullions and frames of the Gothic windows and the elliptical shapes in the windows of the facades must have been difficult to produce with simple hand planes. (p.78)

Despite the disaffection between Bump and Smith, Bump was hired on November 9th, 1935, at $1,500 to plaster the interior of the temple---possibly, because no one else possessed the skill (p.78). Bump used fires in the earthen crawl-space of the lower floor to hasten the drying, but that was too dangerous, so the Temple committee hired another man to install stoves in the cellar and place twelve cylinders into the temple, to heat the house until April (p.78).

For the Artemus Millett and Lorenzo Young and their team of men tasked with applying the stucco, such interior heating did little (p.78). But they worked from November 2nd, 1835 to January 8th, 1836, in inclement weather (p.78), and produced a durable finish (p.79). The stucco mixed with glass and earthenware was somehow special in Millett's mind, because he insisted that it had been inspired by revelation, but what exactly was unusual about it is unclear (p.79). The men rounded up the majority of the broken crockery and glassware from the surrounding cities (p.79).

After Millett and his crew finished applying the "hard finish" to the outside of the temple, Joseph Young painted blue shadow lines to imitate cut-stone masonry. (p.79)

The roof was done in orderly shingles, painted red by a "red lead pigment dissolved in linseed oil, as it was readily available in large quantity and was not prone to fading in the sunlight like some pigments" (p.79).

As the parts of the temple reached completion, they were pressed into service. Joseph Smith Jr gave final directions for the attic space on December 31st, 1835 and picked the west office as his private study (p.79). Starting January 4th, 1836, the School of the Prophets began meeting in the attic (p.79), which must have been noisy with the continuing construction.

On February 22nd, 1836, Brigham Young began supervising the painting of the upper and lower courtyards (p.80).

Religious Life and the Kirtland Temple

Robison describes the temple "vails" or curtains, which were called so in allusion to the Solomonic forerunners, and which the Saints could raise or lower through an elaborate roller and pulley system. (p.85) Hooks in the ceiling could shut off rows of pulpits (p.87). Because of the curvature of the ceiling the middle curtain could not be rolled up all the way (p.88), looking somewhat awkward aesthetically. The ropes came to the seats hiding the cranks concealed, and other ropes were hidden in the columns, which were eight-by-eight timbers encased in wooden panels to a size of fifteen by fifteen (p.88). The pulleys were made of cast iron and fixed into the wood with machine-cut nails (p.90). The drums and cranks were mounted on the timbers, behind small doors. In the case of the pulpits, the raised seats were extended to the columns, to allow the ropes to come out of the columns and travel to a pulpit seat, where the crank and the drum were hidden (p.90). From the fact that the workers had to drill their way through the wooden supports at time it is clear that the pulley system was an after-thought solved in an ad-hoc fashion. 

Bibliographic Record

Elwin C. Robison, The First Mormon Temple: Design, Construction and Historic Context of the Kirtland Temple, Provo UT (Brigham Young University Press), 1997.

Elwin Robison on the Kirtland Temple (Part I)

Many studies of early Mormon history subordinate historical inquiry to proving that Joseph Smith was either a saint or a scoundrel. (p.xii)

Context of the Kirtland Temple

Robison quickly reviews how the Western Reserve had come into being and why it was a magnet from settlers (and land speculators) from New England: gentler topography, richer soil and milder climate (p.1). Robison also points to the excellent transportation infrastructure integration, with the Lake Erie canal providing access to Buffalo and the Erie Canal, open since 1825.

Fairport Harbor, twelve miles to the north of Kirtland, was an especially important transportation node because high bluffs made it the last good anchorage until the || city of Cleveland, situated on the Cuyahoga River. The Cuyahoga River itself formed the first leg of the Ohio Canal, which after 1832 connected Lake Erie with the Ohio River and the entire Mississippi River system. (p.2)

This spelled a superior economic situation.

Thus, Ohio farmers had the enviable position of having access to markets in both New York and New Orleans via inexpensive river transportation. (p.2)

All this did not just bring the settlers, but also the land speculators.

By the 1830s, land prices in the Kirtland area were soaring, a fact that was to have a significant influence on the future of Mormonism and the Kirtland Temple. (p.2)

[[Unfortunately, Robison belongs to the generation of Mormon scholars, who confused the United Firm with the law of consecration. For example:

One problem was the slow development of the United Firm, the communitarian economic organization of the early Saints who pooled their resources and then received back individual "stewardships" proportionate to each family's needs. (p.3)

RCK]]

As converts without personal resources moved to Independence and applied for entrance into the communitarian organization, community resources were stretched. (p.3)

While prosecutions raged in Missouri, Kirtland remained the primary center of the Church. .. Most significantly, Joseph Smith himself resided in Kirtland. These social and political conditions combined to make Kirtland the location of the first temple built by the Mormons. (p.4)

The temple in Kirtland had to be built with what was available locally, both in terms of materials and of talent.

Most of the temple's builders were self-reliant craftsmen used to making do with materials at hand. No trained architect was involved with its [i.e. the temple's RCK] design, and experienced builders were summoned only after plans for the structure had been completed. The few skilled joiners and masons in the group relied on the same architectural pattern books and vernacular aesthetics used by other craftsmen along the frontier. (p.4)

At the same, the requirements of the temple broke the mold and required innovation.

However, the temple's unusual arrangement of two main congregational spaces required non-standard solutions in lighting and circulation. These nonstandard regions of the building tell us a great deal about the skill level of the artisans who built it. (p.4)

The prolific record keeping, both personal and institutional, of the Kirtland Saints gives unusually detailed insight into the construction process.

The challenges and struggles faced by these workers are recorded in a large number of diaries and letters, which provide thorough documentation unusual for most frontier American structures. (p.4)

The drawback of this non-professional volunteer builder team was that, when external circumstances required the members to volunteer for something else [such as Zion's Camp, RCK], discontinuities developed.

... events surrounding the establishment of the new religion required some of the designers and supervising craftsmen to leave the building site. Consequently, the Kirtland Temple displayed several different building traditions and the mark of various builders. (p.5)

Overall the project was just at the limit of what the community could pull off, financially and organizationally.

A study of the temple's physical building fabric indicates how some of these obstacles were overcome, namely, what was purchased, what had to be made by hand, what had to be substituted, and what individual members of the Church contributed. (p.5)

The Design of the Temple, 1832-1833

The process of planning for the temple took its departure with D&C 88, received December 27th, 1832, in Kirtland (p.7). The general outline of the revelation---"prayer, fasting, faith and learning"---made it sound like a religious meetinghouse (p.7), and impression that later revelations such as D&C 95:8, 13-14 from June 1st, 1833, corrected (p.7).

Architecturally, the main distinction was the two-floor, lower and upper courtyard construction (p.7).

The lower court was to function like a common Christian church for preaching, administering the sacrament (communion), praying and fasting. However, the upper hall was to be dedicated for the School of the Prophets, whose purpose was to give Church leaders both secular and religious instruction. [= HC 1:352] (p.7)

Furthermore, [and in line with Mormon restoration thinking, RCK] the Kirtland Temple looked to connect to the Old Testament temples.

The use of the term "house" parallels biblical references to the temple of Solomon (see 1 Chr 28:10; 29:16). The term "court" referring to the main rooms of the Kirtland Temple, evokes the image of the courtyard of Solomon's temple (see 2 Chr 4:9). This terminology reflects the Mormon's belief that they were restoring the ancient Christian organization of the Church. (p.7)

Robison then turns to the difficult issue [for Mormons, RCK] of how to relate the vision that Smith, Rigdon and Frederick Williams had of the temple, and their insistence that the implementation corresponded to that design, with the fact that the builder made a lot of individual decisions, including the numerous differences in detail between the lower and the upper court, usually following standard practice pattern books? (p.8) Robison proposes a gestalt-vs-closeup interpretation.

... though Williams perceived the vision and the built temple as corresponding perfectly, he probably overlooked minor differences the craftsmen had introduced. The Presidency of the Church defined major elements of the Kirtland Temple design, but individual builders worked out structural and ornamental details to the best of their abilities. (p.8)

Robison then points out that there was a cross-pollination taking place between the Independence and the Kirtland temple design.

Although the Presidency's vision specifically addressed the Kirtland Temple, the design received in the vision was also applied to plans for the never-built Independence Temple. The Kirtland Temple and the Independence Temple plans are remarkably similar in window layout, floor plan, and interior details. The entries in Joseph Smith;s journal describing the plans for the Independence Temple and the entries describing the revelation concerning the Kirtland Temple occur within days of each other. (p.9)

[[Thus, the Kirtland plan cannot be a reaction to the difficulties of implementing the Independence plan. RCK]]

Plans for the Independence Temple were mailed to Edward Partridge in Missouri on June 25, 1833, just three weeks after the vision of the Kirtland Temple was received. [= HC 1:363, RCK] Given the close correlation in scale and layout, the Independence drawings clearly represent the plan received by Joseph Smith,  Sidney Rigdon, and Frederick G. Williams for the Kirtland Temple. (p.9)

The fact that no drawings of the Kirtland temple from the construction phase have come down to use gives rise to two possibilities: either it was deemed unnecessary, due to the presence of the Presidency (p.9). Or only the plans of the Independence Temple, which was never constructed, survived, because no builder ever made reference to them on a daily basis.

... drawings often were worn out and tattered by constant reference during construction and were simply thrown away upon completion of the building. Since the Independence Temple was never built, its drawings were not worn out during the building process and hence have survived, while Kirtland Temple plans may have been used and discarded. Also, any plans and specifications for the Kirtland structure would not have had to be mailed and therefore were never logged in the daybook. (p.9)

Robison then characterizes the two different sets of drawings for the Independence Temple (p.9).

Two different sets of temple drawings were prepared and sent to Independence. The first drawing set consists of an unsigned sheet showing a plan and specifications on the recto (front) and front and side elevations with written specifications on the verso (back). The second drawing set, signed by Frederick G. Williams, was sent to Independence a little later and was identified as a revised plan. The second shows two bays added to the building, stretching it out by about twenty feet. Internal arrangements and the building height were kept the same. (p.9)

Robison then uses the evidence of these drawings to infer the architectural capabilities and pre-knowledge of the involved parties.

The crudeness of both sets of drawings clearly shows that none of the men involved with the design of the Independence  and Kirtland Temples had architectural training. (p.9)

Joseph Smith had little formal schooling of any kind, although he probably learned about simple building practices by helping construct the family's frame house in Manchester. Sidney Rigdon was a former || Campbellite preacher and likewise lacked formal training in building. Frederick G. Williams ... was a physician. ... since the level of skill displayed in all the drawings is not high, William's building experience could not have been significantly greater than that of his colleagues in the presidency. (p.9; p.12)

In (p.12 Fn 8), Robison notes that Williams, placed in charge of the brickmaking at the French farm in April 1833, had at least a smattering of building knowledge. [= HC 1:336]

Robison then considers some of the shortcomings of the architectural sketch.

The windows in Williams's west elevation drawing (fig. 2-8) were drawn at the wrong height, as can be seen by the pinpricks that show through from the opposite side of the sheet. Instead of redrawing the sheet, Williams || merely corrected the mistake with a written note. (pp.12; 14)

William also gives the width of the plan as sixty-one feet, leaving a three-foot-thick wall around the fifty-five-foot wide interior specified in the revelation. This tremendously thick wall was reduced to approximately two feet when the Kirtland Temple was built, almost certainly under the advice of an experienced builder who recognized that such a thick wall was unnecessary. (p.14) 

[[The specification cited (= HC 1:363) specifies "make the wall a sufficient thickness for a house of this size", which is itself indicative of their confusion. RCK]]

In the specification (= HC 1:363), there is an overhead elliptical arch for the the ceiling mentioned. But that piece is missing in the plans.

More revealing of the inexperience of the temple's designers is the omission of space allotted for the elliptical barrel vaults, the arched ceiling to run the length of each story. Written specifications for the Independence Temple describe the vaults, but neither the scaled drawings nor the height measurements listed in the specifications take them into account. (p.14)

Because the house is divided into floors that sum perfectly to the total building's height, there is no room left for the second-floor girders and joists, "nor the elliptical arch set into the ceiling of the lower floor" (p.15). As a result, the builders had to jack up the height to the eaves of the roof from 28 to 45 feet for the Kirtland Temple. Assuming that the elliptical vaults took an extra four feet, and that one foot each was needed for the floor structure and the working space above the vaults, then a minimum of six feet per floor, or 12 feet more for the whole building was required (p.15) Adding those extra 12 feet to the design of the Independence Temple makes "the proportion of width to height of the Independence and Kirtland Temples ... very similar." (p.15)

[[Thus, any visual comparisons of the Mormon temples should always start with the Kirtland Temple, because the height of the Independence Temple was unimplementable as described, by at least twelve feet. RCK]]

The drawings prepared by Williams show one architectural feature that Williams erased himself, an extension of a thicker foundation walls above ground, called a water table. These assist in keeping the building from settling unevenly (p.15), and issue that the Temple is still struggling with (p.15). However, Williams drew them way too big---feet instead of inches---and negated any positive effect they could have had by the 3-ft walls (p.15).

Robison then points out ways in which the authors of the drawings tried to make them more sophisticated (p.16). The first, unsigned sets, exhibits light pencil trace lines used for laying out the outline. A template was used to draw the Gothic windows, given the absence of compass prick points. The second set has watercolor wash to indicate wall thickness and "accurately defines the number of glass panes in the windows" (p.16).

There is a dearth of stylistic specifications, limited to the Gothic tops on windows and doors. "The bell tower ... was merely mentioned on the drawings ...." (p.16) However, these omissions are due to the fact that in nineteenth century building plans, the involved parties understood what was desired, giving interpretation to phrases such as "in the best workmanlike manner" or "[building materials, RCK] of the best kind" (p.16).

Stylistic eclecticism was not uncommon in Ohio, and the Kirtland Temple is a fine specimen thereof.

The Kirtland Temple as it now stands is a mixture of Georgian, Federal, Greek Revival and Gothic elements. Although the dominant roof pediment and tower make it primarily Greek Revival in style, the temple has the tall, boxy proportions of an enlarged Federal house, not a classical Greek temple. The relatively thin moldings surrounding the windows also point to a Federal heritage, which was somewhat out of date in the mid-1830s. On the other hand, the quoins (stone blocks that articulate the corners) on the exterior and the carved ornament in the interior of the ground floor are primarily Georgian in derivation. (p.16)

This eclecticism was common for religious buildings as well.

The Presbyterian Church in Kinsman, Ohio (about 1832), for example, has Gothic windows on a building form that closely copies Asher Benjamin's design for the Old West Church in Boston. The Congregational Church in Atwater, Ohio (1837-41), displays Gothic windows on an otherwise Greek Revival structure. (p.17)

Though scholars have sometimes looked to Boston and New York churches that Joseph Smith Jr saw on trips as origins of inspiration, Robison argues that the use of Gothic windows on non-Gothic style churches was simply to common in the early nineteenth century Western Reserve to warrant such an inference (p.17)

Gothic windows were placed on churches in the United States on Canada because they were a cultural symbol for a church .... (p.17)

What does that mean for Joseph Smith Jr?

The specification of Gothic windows merely tells us that Joseph Smith and his associates shared a common culture with their contemporaries. (p.19) 

This use of shared vocabulary extends to the way Joseph Smith Jr couched the unusual aspects of the designs.

Joseph Smith also described the main volume of the structure---occupied by the two congregational spaces one on top of the other---in terms of traditional church design. Most contemporary churches had an entry vestibule that led into the main sanctuary, a feature also of the Independence Temple plans. In these church buildings, stairs at the sides of the vestibule led to an upper gallery, or balcony, which was above the sanctuary and supported on columns. Often these balconies were U-shaped, leaving a full double-height in the center of the room. However, the Independence Temple specifications stated, "There will not be a gallery but a chamber [in] each story to be 14 feet high arched over head with an eliptical arch [in] each of the stories." Joseph Smith and his counselors described the temple in terms of its divergence from well-known traditional forms. (p.19)

The setup for pulpits and pews, however, was decidedly non-traditional, and here the written specifications had to go into the greatest detail (p.19).

First, each end of the congregational spaces, or upper and lower courts as they are called in the revelation, has raised seating for twelve persons: three upper rows of three "stands" or pulpits, and a fourth (lower) row of three seats behind a "swing table" for the sacrament. In the corners of the room adjacent to these pulpits, additional raised seating provides space for choirs. (p.19)

These spaces had theological significance.

The rows of pulpits and seats at the west end were designated for the Higher, or Melchizedek, Priesthood, with the uppermost tier for "the president and his council" (Joseph Smith and his counselors, Sidney Rigdon and Frederick G. Williams). The next tier of pulpits was for "the Bishop and his council" ... [Partridge or Whitney and their counselors, RCK] ... and the third tier was for the high priests. The lowest seats, those without pulpits, were for the elders. (p.19)

The situation was similar on the east end of the building, with the Lower or Aaronic Priesthood taking the place of the one of Melchizedek, again, going top to bottom, presidency before priests before teachers before deacons (p.19).

While each row was to be raised, the central pulpit was supposed to be higher than the flanking ones (p.19). In order to communicate this (p.19), the drawings for the Independence Temple specify the middle pulpit's increment to be 12 inches, while the flanking pulpits to be eight only (p.20). However, that rate was too high, making the highest pulpit 16 inches higher than the flanking ones, and thus requiring two steps to reach it, which was impossible, as the flanking pulpits left no room for steps (p.20).

Perhaps this unresolved problem led carpenters to dispense with making the making the central pulpit higher and to build all three pulpits in each row at the same elevation. (p.20)

At the same time, the decoration of the pulpits is glossed with "panel work", presumably because everyone knew what was intended (p.20).

Given that there were two sides from which instruction could come, the pews had to be reversible, which the designers solved with having benches that could be reversed in the pew box (p.20).

With these movable benches set in the pew boxes, congregants could face either the Melchizedek or Aaronic pulpits, depending upon who was officiating during the meeting. (p.20)

The instructions also specified that it should be possible to quarter the meeting room using veils, which required the pews to be aligned with the windows and there to be gaps between the lengthwise section (four inches) as well as the widthwise section (p.20). In addition, each quarter was supplied with a (p.20)  "gallery" (p.21) or passageway running front to back. Furthermore, the pulpits could be covered with veils, using hooks or a roller system described in Chapter 6. (p.21)

Robison then points that the combination of two spaces stacked on top of each other with pulpits at each ends poses significant lighting issues (p.21).

In traditional late-eighteenth and nineteenth-century American church interiors, a large window (usually a "Palladin motif" or "Venetian" window) was located behind the pulpit and altar to focus sight on that area of the church. (p.21)

This was done on the western side (p.21),  but the eastern side had the entrance (p.22), and thus required a different solution.

On the eastern end, the second floor is cut out above the vestibule, creating a second-floor balcony. Symmetrical staircases rise to the balcony from each side of the vestibule. (p.22)

Unfortunately, the vestibule walls now block the light, so the Presidency came up with a system of windows, one in the interior, one in the exterior wall, pass light into the meeting room. (p.22)

Light from the central facade window passes through to the interior windows behind the eastern pulpits, illuminating the eastern side of the main room. (p.22)

The solution is clearly described in the instructions provided by the Presidency.

In other words, the balcony on the second floor was not to block circulation in the vestibule; rather it was to be fitted with a railing and to leave enough floor area in the ten-foot-wide space to permit passage from one side to the other. (p.22)

The window and balcony arrangement in the vestibule is an original solution to an unusual spatial problem and indicates fairly complex three-dimensional thinking on the part of Joseph Smith, Sidney Rigdon and Frederick G. Williams. (p.22)

[[I do not quite understand how that balconied U is any different from the balconied U in the meeting room, and why it could not be inspired from there. RCK]]

In summarizing his insights, Robison provides a very tight reading of the inscription on the Independence Temple plans, namely that "the size form and demisions [dimensions] of the house were GIVEN US OF THE LORD" (see letter from June 1st-25th, 1833) (p.22).

[This means that the Presidency felt, RCK] ... that everything else was their attempt to combine these defined elements into a functioning structure. These three men had a visual idea of what they wanted, but they knew neither how that idea should be implemented nor how various pieces should fit together. (p.22)

[[But that narrow reading helps nothing, because it is precisely the height measurement was off by at least 12 feet, due to the ignorance about the vault construction. In what sense then were the "size" and the "demisions" given to them by the Lord? RCK]

First Construction Campaign (Summer-Fall 1833)

D&C 95:3, received June 1st, 1833, chastised the Kirtland community for not getting on with the temple construction (p.27).

Construction of the temple began in earnest the following Monday, June 5, 1833, with Hyrum Smith and Reynolds Cahoon digging the trench for the foundation and Harry Stanley and George A. Smith hauling the first load of stone. (p.28)

[[Though Robison writes that Smith and Cahoon excavated the foundation by hand, the passage quoted [= HC 1:353] only speaks of the foundation trench. Are these the same things? RCK]]

By July 23, 1833, the foundation was excavated and the cornerstone ceremony could be celebrated (p.28). But they were as short on manpower as on tools and materials. It is estimated [= HC 1:366] that the church in Kirtland only had 150 members at the time.

The construction of the foundation walls progressed from Reynolds Cahoon and Jacob Bump, "a plasterer and carpetern from a Lake Erie harbor town in New York State" (p.28). The sandstone was hauled from Stannard's Quarry, a distance of two (p.28) miles from the building site (p.29). Here, the sandstone bed was exposed by a small stream running over it, and the Kirtland members were able to break out blocks with wedges along existing fracture lines (p.29).

Typical residential foundations in the 1830s had cut-stone or rubble-stone walls and extended into the soil below frost level---deeper if root cellars were to be located under the structure. (p.29)

Like these residential foundations, the Kirtland Temple foundation is formed of large cut-stone blocks to the outside, with rubblestone completing the thickness of the wall. However, the Kirtland Temple, more than ten times the volume of most residences and constructed of thick masonry walls, requires a far more substantial foundation than a residence. (p.29)

Thus, even though the walls were twice as thick as residential walls at 28 inches, no footing or flared base could spread the weight of the structure, resulting in the temple sinking by about 2 inches over the years, causing the walls to crack (p.29).

In a side-panel on page 31, Robison goes into detail on what the issues with foundations are. Proper foundations protect against leaning, rotation or cracks, which in turn can cause wood-rot or freeze-thaw action in the walls (p.31). Since the Kirtland members did not have the option of building on bedrock, the preferred solution, they could have used other load spreading techniques, for example "stepping out the foundation on each [brick RCK] course", and "laying stout timbers crosswise underneath the wall to spread out the weight" (p.31). The builders also did not realize that if the building was fully occupied, the soil stress increases to three times the recommended level. Furthermore, there was an additional layer of sandy soils "ten feet below the foundations" (p.31), which is not suitable for the construction of such structures. Thus, digging deeper than they did would have exasperated the situation.

As it currently stands, the Kirtland Temple is delicately balanced on insufficiently wide and insufficiently embedded foundations perched above a loose layer of soil. (p.31)

Robison then speculates about the rough-work girders, which he believes were placed by Bump and Cahoon, as they exhibit characteristics of relatively unskilled craftsmen (p.30).

The oak girders show a large number of knots; apparently no special effort was made to obtain timbers free from defects. The surface of the girders is roughly worked, showing a pockmarked pattern where chips of wood were crudely split off. Either the workers did not have an adze at their disposal, or they did not know how to wield one effectively. (p.30)

Given the rectangular cross-section (or scantling) of 9x12 inches of the beams used, the workers had two choices how to orient them, 12 inch horizontally or vertically oriented (p.30). The difference is important in terms of the static of the building; a vertical orientation of the beams nearly doubles the bending strength (p.30). However, residential builders preferred the horizontal orientation to give them a place to cut mortises, or joist pockets, directly into the beams (p.30).

However, with the building designed to house large public assemblies and with the span between support piers close to twenty-five feet, the horizontal orientation of support girders is woefully inadequate. (p.30)

After its completion, the temple regularly hosted meetings with about one thousand people in attendance. [= HC 2:410, RCK] Given the weakness of the girders supporting the floor of the lower court, the floor must have creaked and groaned during the services. (p.30)

Robison thinks that the members were lucky the floors did not break during the dedicatory service (p.32) and notes that later occupants did run into troubles, with the westernmost girder, that had a large defect in the wood, splitting and failing, the floor---probably saved by the thick floor boards---settling a few inches in mid-section (p.32). In 1883, timber props were added below the lower court beams (p.32).

Bricks are about 15% lighter than stone, which decreases the degree of settling (p.32). Both the Independence and the Kirtland Temple had been designed with bricks in mind (p.43 Fn 15) [= HC 1:361]. Beginning with April 2nd, 1833, Frederick G. Williams was put in charge of the brickyard on the recently purchased French farm [= HC 1:336] (p.32), and the laborers worked until September 25, 1833, where the dearth of the output of usable bricks caused the effort to be abandoned (p.32).

As a consequence, when the stone foundation was completed in October, no materials were available to continue work, and the building site was abandoned until spring. (p.33)

Robison estimates (p.43 Fn 18) that for a temple with twenty-four inch thick walls of the dimensions of the Kirtland temple, about 35,000 bricks would have been needed. The inability of the community to produce their own bricks must have been a blow, because they had expended so much effort on it and had no resources to buy the bricks locally.

This materials crisis was most likely solved by Artemus Millett, a builder of mills, chimneys, and foundations from Ontario, Canada. Apparently on the recommendation of Brigham Young, who had converted Millett in January 1833, Joseph Smith requested that Millett come down to Kirtland to work on the temple. Fortunately for the Saints, Millett had large-scale building experience: he had built a brewery in New York State around 1825 and two three-story flour mills in Canada in 1830.

[[For a recent article on Artemus Millett, see Erekson & Newell BYU Studies (2002) and the problems of the source situation regarding his biography RCK]]

Artemus Millett came in October of 1833, found the work suspended, made some recommendations, and then returned to Canada to settle his debts, gather up his family and move to Kirtland on a permanent basis in April of 1834 (p.33). [[Robison's sketch is actually to vague to suss this chronology out; this was complemented by Erekson & Newell, (p.79) RCK]]

His contribution during his short stay was the suggestion to use rubblestone walls covered with a stucco finish in place of brick. (p.33)

This was a technique that Millett was familiar with from Canada, where it was common in Ontario and Quebec (p.33); the popularity may be a colonial influence from the English and French popularity of rubble-walled buildings (p.33).

During the early nineteenth century, buildings of rubble construction in the United States were quite rare, primarily because wood framing was so inexpensive in contrast with solid masonry walls. (p.33)

Robison speculates whether the quoin design in Kirtland was inspired by the Madison Barracks (1816-1819), raised in an area that Millett worked in after the War of 1812 (p.34).

Millett probably used stone from the Russell Quarry, where the stream washes over a sandstone stratum, making the stone soft while breaking it and hard as it dries on land (p.34).

Millett effectively inherited the construction site. When he arrived in October 1833, all he saw was the foundation work (p.34): "[an] excavation four to five feet deep, with the stone foundation wall completed and probably at least some of the floor girders in place" (p.35). Millett had no way of ascertaining the quality of the foundation work done; he could not have easily criticized the work had he noticed any problems; and he may not have had the right expertise to spot inadequacies (p.35).

The second challenge facing Millett was the spacing of piers and windows. Once foundations are built, they are not easily moved. ... Of course, since the dimensions of the structure were determined by revelation, the foundation walls could not be moved for theological reasons either. (p.35)

The issue at hand though was the relationship between the interior columns and the horizontal girders.

Most critical for Millett, the foundation walls and masonry piers determined the location of the interior columns and girders. Interior columns should be located between the windows so the girders (the main horizontal supports) that run between the columns and outside walls are supported on the exterior by solid masonry and are not immediately above a window. (p.35)

However, the foundation trench was begun before the window positioning had been sorted out (p.35). Robison points out that the original Independence drawing had 5 Gothic windows; the revised 9; and the Kirtland temple ended up with 6 (p.43 Fn 25).

The difficulty for Millett ... was to create a regular exterior shell around an irregular internal structure. (p.35)

The problem was the vestibule, which snipped off about ten feet from the building and required to have the first line of piers there, esp given the tower above (p.35). A normal approach would have been to continue in 10 foot increments with the piers down the length of the courtyards, thus giving each window a ten foot zone and a even windowed looked from the outside (p.35). But the courtyards were only 65 feet long (p.35).

Rather than building the piers at five even intervals of thirteen feet, builders varied bay spacing across the building. ... Starting at the east end, bay spacings begin with the required ten feet in the vestibule, then jump up to just over twelve feet || in the courts and gradually lengthen as they approach the westernmost bay, with a maximum spacing of about fourteen feet, measured center to center. This irregular spacing creates a variety of problems, indicating that the builders who determined the bay spacing were unaware of its effect on the upper wall. (p.35; p.39)

Columns and girders manage to miss the windows on the western half of the building, but unfortunately, the narrower bay spacing causes the easternmost girders (set into the vestibule wall) to frame into the masonry directly above a window. Although about eight feet of masonry separated the girder and the window opening (allowing the pressure of the girder load to spread out along the wall), stacking the girder and window puts unnecessary stress on the arch above the window. (p.39)

Also, as the drawings by Verdon W. Upham (Library of Congress, March 1934) show, esp. the plan of the lower and the upper court (pp.36-37), the vestibule wall cuts through the eastern-most window (p.39), and the raised choir seats equally interfered with the window (p.39). The uneven spacing of the joists---between twelve feet, center to center, at the east end, and fourteen feet, at the west end---causes a 20% difference in the bending stress (p.40).

One final piece of evidence for lack of coordination between the design of the foundations and the design of the upper sections is the fact that the middle masonry pier designed to support the vestibule wall could not received a pillar, because there was the middle window in the masonry wall [cf. (p.22) RCK] for light passage into the upper courtyard which the pillar would have bisected (p.40).

However, just as Joseph Smith, Sidney Rigdon, and Frederick G. Williams were unable to anticipate the effect elliptical vaults in the ceiling would have on the total height of the structure, the builders who placed the foundations either did not understand the interrelationship between the foundation and the supporting walls and columns, or more likely, did not have the design explained to them in sufficient detail to avoid such errors. (p.40)

Millett probably only stayed a few weeks, given the constraints of the icing over of the ports, the large number of masons working for him Ontario, and his desire to move to Kirtland (p.42). Thus, the community in Kirtland focused on stockpiling stone and seasoning timbers for the next building campaign, the work site remaining inactive until Millett's return April 1834 (p.42).

Finishing Walls & Roof (1834-1835)

In April 1834, Artemus Millett returned to Kirtland on what was probably one of that spring's first schooners to pass through the thawing waters of Lake Erie. (p.45)

Unfortunately, Kirtland was getting ready to send off Zion's Camp (p.45), which was taking up the energies of Smith & Rigdon as well as the local workforce (p.45). According to Joseph Smith's diary [= HC 2:50, RCK], there was only one meeting in April where they had time to discuss the temple (p.45).  Sure, Millett was busy getting himself settled in (p.46), but when the Camp left Kirtland on May 1st, 1834, it consisted of 130 men, and only about ten to fifteen men remained behind (p.46).

[[This seems to be the solution of the apparent inconsistency between a thousand people attending the dedication of the temple (p.30) (p.32), and only ~150 grown up males being available for tasks like the Zion Camp or the temple building. RCK]]

Fortunately for Millett, Jacob Bump, who had worked on the foundation and would go on to do much of the woodwork, remained in Kirtland (p.46). Progress was slow, the crew raising the wall only four feet over the summer.

But even this small step would have eliminated any possibility of design revision. Any work above the foundation would locate window and door openings with finality and determine the width of the walls. (p.46)

Millett himself was probably occupied with carving the stone quoins, the lintels and the architraves that encased the windows and doors. (p.46)

The remainder of the crew probably mixed the mortar, roughly shaped and placed the stone, and prepared scaffolding. (p.46)

Robison assumes that just not much stone was stockpiled during the winter (p.47); if the crew had to haul stone in addition to doing masonry work, that would explain the slow pace (pp.46-47). Women had already contributed in stereotypical patterns of labor division for the temple---Heber C. Kimball's wife spun a hundred pounds of wool to make clothes for the workers---but the lack of stones lead to some breaking of the boundaries; at least one woman drove two yokes of cattle to haul rock (p.47).

Not only was there fewer laborers, Rigdon was the only member of the Presidency available to ask about the design of the building (p.47). For example, the raised elliptical panels on the doors are a Canadian twist (p.47), and do not match Williams' drawings (p.48). Millett also replaced the Gothic arches over the door with elliptical arches (p.48)

This decision remedied the awkwardness of the pointed Gothic arches above the wide doors and even wider "Venetian" windows without radically altering the existing design. (p.48)

Most of these decisions regarding the form of the doors, the width of the masonry openings for the doors, and the location of the windows were made during the summer when Joseph Smith and the main body of the Mormon workforce were absent from Kirtland. (p.48)

With the Zion camp back in the summer of 1834, substantial progress was now possible. Joseph Smith participated in the quarrying of stone [= Kimball, Journal of Discourses, 10:165, April 6, 1863, RCK] as a foreman [= HC 2:161] as often as possible (p.49). Robison estimated that about 500 tons had been needed for the foundation, and another 1000 tons to finish the building; so quarrying and hauling were key tasks during the fall of 1834 (p.49).

Because the church members had little money, they needed to do without cranes and pulleys, most likely.

The use of cranes could be avoided by employing large numbers of workers for lifting and by using each floor as a staging area for the next higher floor. (p.49)

... placement of the main girders supporting the upper court floor would have required many workers and ropes. The fifty-five-foot girders weigh just over one ton and would require about fifteen men lifting approximately 150 lbs each to maneuver the girders around the site. These girders had to be lifted twenty-two feet from floor to floor, thus the need for temporary staging for workers and levers. Manpower did not require "hard money" as did equipment, and the lumber used for staging could be reused in other areas. (p.49)

Additional safety could be provided by tying ropes to each end of the girder and passing them over the top of the masonry wall. Draft animals on the ground could hold the girder in place using the friction of the rope as it passed over the wall as a safety brake. (p.49)

Scaffolding was usually constructed of long vertical poles that were too thing to turn into usable planking. These poles were lashed together level by level as needed. Of all the construction site dangers, scaffolding presented the greatest to the workers, as Millett himself well knew; he had previously experienced several accidents involving falling from a building or being struck by stones dropped by a co-worker from the scaffolding, .... (p.49)

There were only a few accidents recorded for the construction, but Father Fisher fell from the scaffold and ended up "disabled for performing manual labor" (p.50); Artemus Millet fell from the temple top onto a pile of rock, breaking his shoulder blade, leaving a permanent hump on that side (p.50).

Given that the church members were ready to tackle the roof in February 1835, the walls must have reached the upper court by about November 1834; and the girders supporting the "attic office on the top of the masonry wall would have been placed in January or February" (p.50). The fact that the upper and lower sets of girders exhibit "unusual differences" (p.50) suggests that the construction personnel was not stable, possibly due to mission calls (p.50).

In contrast to the roughly finished girders supporting the lower-court floor (see chapter 3 [= (pp.30ff) RCK]), the girders supporting the upper-court and attic-office levels are more skillfully worked and are oriented properly. These girders were more carefully selected for freedom from defects, an important factor that can make timbers twice as strong as those with many knots and checks. The upper girders are more carefully adzed and have depths that average between 13.5 and 14 inches as opposed to the 9-inch depths on the lower girders. (p.51)

This was a key difference, structurally (p.51).

Although the depths of the girders supporting the two courts differ only by a few inches, the strength of a rectangular beam is proportional to the cube of its depth, meaning that just a few inches (or fractions of inches) can result in significantly different strengths. Selected and hewn under Millett's supervision, the girders supporting the upper-court floor demonstrate his good intuitive feel for structure. (p.51)

They also reflected his plus of skill and experience compared to Bump and Cahoon (p.51).

Millett equally showed his skill by opting for the more complicated and bothersome continuous girders for the upper floor, requiring beams of 55 foot length that had to be manipulated as one large object (p.51). Given two columns of support, these beams resulted in spans of fifteen, twenty five and fifteen feet, but with a superior capability to carry the expected loads (p.51).

Continuous girders resist bending not only at the center of the span, but also at the supports. This resistance spreads the bending stresses across a greater portion of the girder, thereby increasing the load it can safely carry. In addition, the upper girders are fitted at the interior supports with knee braces that significantly || reduce the high stresses in the girders. These factors bring the girders very close to modern code requirements. (p.52)

Robison then gives a three-page excursion on the techniques of mortises and tenons in the early 19th century and their impact on the structural stability of the building (pp.52-54). The key take-aways are that builders used joists to space the girders, and then notched the girders in some fashion with mortises to hook in the joists, into which tenons had been cut (p.52). Holes drilled into the tenons allowed to fix these with polygonal pegs (p.52). The problem is that the notches weaken the girders structurally, especially at the intermediate supports, for which no allowance was made in the case of the lower and upper floor supports (p.52).

[The, RCK] ... reduction in the cross section of the joist at the connection creates high stresses in the joist at the bottom of the tenon. Several joists in the temple have "failed" by splitting along the length of the || joist from tenon base to tenon base. (pp.52-53)

The solution of notching and holing for the upper floor joists is even more problematic, because the three-inch tenon is "woefully inadequate to transfer the weight born by the joist to the girder" (p.53) but the use of the upper floor, and the weight-spreading effect of the pews, has reduced this issue (p.53).  The attic-office uses a better mortises system, but the wood shrinkage has popped some of the joists out of their shallow slots, and the wider spacing---36 instead of 18 inches---doubles the load on the joists and weakens the structural support (p.54).

Robison then turns his attention to the Attic, which came about as a side effect of the placing of the roof (p.55).

Begun in February 1835, the roof structure uses a variation of the king-post truss and is from the same wood species, probably black walnut, that is used in the timbers in the lower court. Coinciding with the bays of the supporting columns, the trusses are contained in the walls that divide the attic into five separate offices. (p.55) 

Although not mentioned in the specifications for the Independence Temple, the attic offices take advantage of the considerable space under the roof and between the roof trusses. No corridor joins the offices; rather one has to walk through each of the offices in turn to access the westernmost office. (p.55)

This approach maximizes floor space and light in the rooms and was unanticipated in its size and accommodative capacity.

The five large attic offices provided more than adequate space for the relatively small Church leadership, and plans for a separate structure for printing and other office functions were dropped (see D&C 94). (p.55)

The lighting of the offices was solved as follows:

The outer offices are light by dormers. To help light the central offices when the doors between offices are closed, windows are fit between the diagonals of the roof trusses (as are the doors). Because of the manner the doorways and windows communicate between the rooms, the heavy structural members that support the roof are inconspicuous. (p.55)  

With the roof and the walls in place, Millett headed back to Canada to finish collecting on debts and selling the last bits of property (p.56). Upon his return, he supported the temple construction process as much as his bad leg would support (p.56).

The more the temple progressed, the more incensed the Kirtland non-Mormon community became (p.56). Possibly encouraged by the success of the Missourians to evict the Mormons, possibly worried about the Mormons staying for good, having lost their Missourian toe-hold; either way, threats began to roll in (p.56). The Mormons found themselves sleeping with their firelocks in their arms. (p.57)

Bibliographic Record

Elwin C. Robison, The First Mormon Temple: Design, Construction and Historic Context of the Kirtland Temple, Provo UT (Brigham Young University Press), 1997.

Mark Hamilton on 19th Century Mormon Architecture & City Planning

Preface

Hamilton points out that the LDS established a total of 500 hundred settlements between 1830 and 1899 (p.v). 

Zion and its establishment was the driving force behind Mormonism. If also formed the basis for Mormon city planning and building types. The early material experiments in Ohio, Missouri, and Illinois, and influx of converts from Europe influenced subsequent communities and architectural forms in Utah and elsewhere. A knowledge of the doctrinal concept of Zion and is application is the key to understanding nineteenth-century Mormon material culture. (p.v)

Hamilton sees this work as the continuation of his master thesis (1972) and his doctoral dissertation (1978) (p.vi).

Historical Context

Hamilton claims that Chicago, IL already outstripped Nauvoo, IL, in 1845---"in less than six years" (p.6) after May 1st, 1839, purchase of 135 at the old site of Commerce, IL---with a population of 12,088 versus 11,057 (p.7). Hamilton believes that Joseph Smith Jr's refusal to direct the saints in their voting was what was problematic for the politicians in Illinois, given their rapid growth (p.7). 

In the wake of the exodus [of February 1846, RCK], Nauvoo was a virtually deserted city (1,141 by 1850), one that once rivaled Chicago in size and population and had exceeded that city in beauty and order. (p.10)

Zion and Mormon City Planning

Joseph Smith interpreted Zion as more than a state of mind or way of life; he also saw in it a geographical location. He stated that the Americas in general were blessed above all other lands, with the United States being most blessed among them. (p.14) [= D&C 133,1-35, though the interpretation is weak, taking islands as continents, RCK]

In (p.146 Fn 7), Hamilton argues that the Colonial New England antecedents should not be termed "villages" at all, but rather "town" or "city". In discussing the reluctance of the majority of the Saints to move to Jackson County, and the readiness of the Colesville branch [which actually had no place to go, having been evicted from the Copley farm, RCK] to go, Hamilton cites (p.146 Fn 6) the Newel Knight's Journal, Scraps of Biography, Salt Lake City (Juvenile Instructor Office), 1883, esp. pp.69-70.

When Hamilton cites HC 1,357-359 [see also the plat explanation in the papers, RCK], both for the general plat and for the central three blocks, and then writes:

The plan for Zion had a central ecclesiastical, public and commercial area surrounded by symmetrically arranged blocks composed of single-family dwellings. (p.16)

[[This is overstating the commercial aspect insofar as the only commercial dwelling there is the Bishop's storehouse, which was a general store of course---see the Gilbert store in Missouri and the Whitney store in Kirtland---but not truly a commercial district. RCK]]

Hamilton then cites Charles L. Sellers as giving the best summary of the plan's provisions (p.17):

• "The city was to be divided into a square grid pattern.
• Central blocks were reserved for ecclesiastical buildings.
• Specific blocks were reserved for public buildings---storehouses, schools and parks.
• The city was divided into ecclesiastical districts called wards resulting in the possible creation of social units or neighborhoods.
• Individual family lots were regulated relative to the siting of the dwellings and the enhancement of the community.
• The farmers and ranchers lived within the boundaries of the city in order to be part of the larger community.
• An agricultural greenbelt was to be created.
• Barns, corrals, and heavy industry were to be located on the periphery of the city." (p.17)

[[In this representation, one has to challenge the notion that any mention of heavy industry is made it all. In addition, there is a complete absence of workshops beyond those in the gardens of the houses, and there is no story on how the transportation is supposed to work. RCK]]

Then the revised plat was made, which made the following changes (pp.17-18).

1. "The revised plat was one and a half times greater in area than the original plat. It increased the total area from 1 to 1.5 square miles." (p.17) from 6006 x 5676 ft to 9092 x 8349 ft (p.18).
2. "The revised plat has nearly three times as many half-acre family building lots." (p.18) from 968 half-acre lots to 2,600 half-acre lots (p.18)
3. "One of three center blocks reserved for storehouses and schools was eliminated." (p.18) This was the bishop's block, leaving just the two temple blocks. (p.18) Hamilton states that "The proposed temples were designed to be multipurpose buildings. They were schools as well as meetinghouses." (p.18)
4. "The two remaining center blocks were reduced in size from fifteen to ten acres." (p.18)
5. "The change from rectangular to square center blocks created a uniform grid pattern." (p.18)
6. "The axial direction of the temple blocks was changed from a north-south to an east-west orientation." (p.18)
7. "The uniform street width of the original plat was applied only to the four major cross-axis avenues. The width of the other streets was reduced to 82.5 feet." (p.18) This meant that 15 132-foot-wide streets became 4 132-foot-wide streets, creating 21 82.5-foot-wide streets in the process. (p.18)
8. "Only the streets on the revised plat were given either names or numerical designations. For example, the major cross-axis avenues were given specific names, such as New Jerusalem or Zion; the other streets were numbered First or Second North, First or Second South, etc." (p.18)
9. "There was a significant decrease in the projected average family size. (The comparison is based on Joseph Smith's population projects of 15,000 to 20,000 for the City of Zion.) (p.18) As Hamilton shows, given the number of family building lots, the 15,000 to 20,000 city would have had an average family size of 15.5 to 20.7 in the first plat, but the more realistic 5.8 to 7.7 family size with the revised plat. (p.19)

Hamilton notes that Bishop Partridge was responsible for purchasing lands, platting them and distributing them as inheritances; while Oliver Cowdery had been asked to assist in the laying out (p.19). When Cowdery traveled to Kirtland, Ohio, in late July / early August 1833, he learned of the revised plat [he may even have helped to revise it, RCK] and warned the Zion Saints in an undated letter that a better plat was on its way (p.19), since the other one had been drawn in too great a haste. 

Sometime in August 1833, Partridge received the plat from Kirtland and began to make modifications to them, proposing these changes to Joseph Smith in a letter (p.19). 

Because the plat had been changed, and because of the nature of Cowdery's remarks, Edward Partridge felt that had the freedom to alter the plat even further. He then adjusted the center blocks and the position of the temples to suit the actual site location. (p.19)

[[Partridge argued this freedom to adjust the plat on both aesthetical and grounds of authority.

Thinking perhaps that their arrangement [i.e. of the squares and the buildings, RCK] was not by revelation, and also that you had not seen them platted out has induced me to plat them this way for your view & reflect upon. (p.19)

RCK]]

[[Partridge was mistaken, in their letter from June 1st-25th, 1833, the First Presidency had explicitly stated that the plat for Zion was given from God:

NB For your satisfaction we inform you that the plot for the City and the size form and dime[n]sions of the house were given us of the Lord.

RCK]]

Hamilton then analyzes the adjustments made (p.19).

Partridge changed the axial direction of the temple blocks from a north-south to an east-west orientation and rearranged the complex of temples into horizontal and vertical rows of three or four per block. (p.19)

Hamilton then points out that another plat was drafted by Frederick G. Williams, left in an incomplete state, which "appears to be a compromise between the original and the revised plat" (p.20). It follows the first plat with " the central range of rectangular blocks and uniform street widths" (p.20), but it only specifies two ecclesiastical, which coincides with the revised edition. Hamilton believes however that the incomplete Williams plan influenced the plating of the other cities (p.20).

Hamilton gives a brief overview of Kirtland, the plat for which he justifies with the reluctance for departure, the fading hopes for Missouri, and the continuous influx of Mormon settlers (p.20).

The plat was probably prepared at the same time as the revised plat for the City of Zion and was similar in form. Both shared a two-block central arrangement, street designations, and overall square grid pattern. However, Kirtland did not include the center axial avenues, or the variation in street width found in the revised plat. The probable reason for the difference in the street widths had to do with the existing layout of Kirtland. (p.20)

Hamilton then turns to Far West, Missouri (p.20). The plat was yet another compromise on the proposed plats.

When surveyed, the plat [of Far West, Missouri, RCK] encompassed an area of a square mile or 640 acres (the same amount of land that Smith had proposed in his original plat for the City of Zion). In general, the plat followed the square grid pattern of the revised plat and specifically utilized the same street patterns and street widths. (p.20)

But there were departures, specifically with respect to the town center, and with overall block size.

However, it had only one central temple block and each block was 4 acres, not 10, in size. (p.20)

[[What is missing from that description is that the center square as an era of commerce was completely re-designed, possibly by inspiration from the way Missouri county seats were organized. Furthermore, there are two Far West plats that need discussion. RCK]]

The eviction from Missouri was a big deal, and Joseph Smith Jr tried to pucker up his followers by two missives from his incarceration, one sent December 5th, 1833 [= HC, 1:449-51, RCK], the other December 10th, 1833 [= HC 1:453-56, RCK] (p.21), which talked about the return to Zion and its redemption, though he admitted in the 2nd letter "but how many will be the days of her purification, tribulation and affliction, the Lord has kept hid from my eyes" (p.21).

Hamilton points out the difference between the quality of the land of Commerce and the Hebrew name used for it by the Mormons (p.22).

The name, however, did not reveal that Nauvoo was built on a less-than-desirable piece of real estate.  The site largely consisted of swampy bottomlands known for malaria, that would later translate into a higher-than-average death rate among the Saints. The task of draining the site was made more difficult because of the heavy stands of trees and thick growth of shrubs and underbrush. (p.22)

Hamilton admits:

The reasons why Joseph Smith chose the site are not fully known, but the financial conditions of the sale appeared correct. There was sufficient flat land for a new city, and the Saints were desperately in need of a new gathering place, .... Many thousands of Saints would head their prophet's call and work together to transform the swampland into a thriving city. (p.22)

Hamilton uses the Gustavus Hill plat from 1842 to compare the prescribed grid patterns for Independence and Far West to the Nauvoo plat (p.22).

Maybe most interesting:

There was no provision for a public area or temple block in the Nauvoo plat. Each square block was 4 rather than 10 ares in size [just like Far West, RCK]; and each block was divided into 1-acre lots, compared to 20 half-acre lots. The actual size of each block was probably determined more by preexisting survey of the area than any of Smith's proposal. (p.22)

Furthermore, that division turned out to be suboptimal to handle the financial difficulties of the Saints after the land purchase.

The number of lots per 4-acre block was later increased; the money from the sale of each lot was to help pay for the debt incurred in the initial land purchase. (p.22)

At Nauvoo, the needs for commerce were taking into consideration in the way the street widths were handled.

All streets were to be 3 rods wide (49.5 feet), except for Main and Water streets. The reason for the discrepancy in street size was to allow for expansion, including a possible commercial district. Water Street, at 64 feet, was to have been a canal for commercial boat traffic from the || Mississippi River. Main Street, at 87 feet, was intended to be the primary commercial street. The presence of the two wider streets, and their position as the focal point of the community, reflect the influence of the main axial streets proposed for Independence and Far West. (pp.23-23)  

Hamilton sees the finger of Smith's involvement in the platting in the fact that his original homestead was right at that key intersection of Water and Main.

Joseph Smith's original homestead, the Mansion House, and the Nauvoo House (a hotel) stood strategically at the intersection of Main and Water Streets. The location of his houses and business enterprises indicate his direct role in the platting of Nauvoo. (p.23)

The commercial focus of Nauvoo, however, developed differently [[as discussed in the interactions with William and Wilson Law, RCK]].

The commercial center of Main and Water streets did not materialize as originally proposed. However, the location of the site for the Nauvoo Temple on the bluff, or "top lands", overlooking the residential area to the west, changed the focal point of the community, and Mulholland Street, which extended eastward from the temple block on the top lands, soon became the center of commercial activity. [= HC 4:185-186, RCK] Even with this development, a good number of individually owned stores, shops, and home industries were located on the family lots below the bluff. (p.23)

[[More information is needed on how the Mulholland development played out. If there was commercial development there before the Temple Announcement in August 1840, then the claim that the temple shifted the focus to Mulholland is silly. RCK]]

The plan to build the temple was announced in August 1840, a form of community commitment (p.23).

In keeping with the sanctity of the temple, the people were encouraged to take greater care of their dwellings and yards, realizing that their land was a place of righteous inheritance. An individual plot of ground was viewed as an integral part of the larger concept of "sacred space". (p.23)

Hamilton points to Ebenezer Robinson's exhortation in the February 1st, 1842 edition of the Times and Seasons, [under Horticulture, p.678, RCK] to replicate the vistas of Eden through "fruit trees, shrubbery, vines" as well as "peach and mulberry trees" and "current, raspberry and gooseberry bushes" (p.23).

It was President Smith's desire to make Nauvoo a showpiece and to let it stand as a physical manifestation to the validity of Mormonism. (p.24)

Hamilton speculates that the British immigrants especially were "better educated and skilled than where their American and Canadian counterparts", thus: "Their presence did much to promote a more cosmopolitan and literate society." (p.24) Hamilton admits in (p.148 Fn 27) that Richard L. Jensen opposed that view in his Transplanted to Zion, BYU Studies 31 (Winter 1991), arguing that the British influence did not begin until their arrival in the Great Basin region.

Hamilton points out (pp.148f Fn 29) that Smith Jr was impressed with the beauty of the Rock Mountains [= HC 5,86]. Cf also the recollections of Anson Call, July 14th, 1843. Wilford Woodruff recalled that Smith Jr had first talked to the Saints about the Rocky Mountains on April 25th, 1834 [= LDS Conference Report, April 8, 1898]. In 1843 the thought of moving west was investigated, with expeditions sent to Wisconsin, Iowa, Texas and California to locate sites for colonies [= Millennial Star, 26:327-328; HC 5:542-49 and 6:255-257]. Joseph & Hyrum Smith, together with Willard Richards and the Council of the Twelve, were looking for a Rocky Mountain refuge on the early morning of June 23, 1844, but turned back when entreated by Emma Smith and other Saints [= HC 7:78-91]. It is assumed that Smith Jr knew this would mean his death.

For the remainder of the chapter, Hamilton then turns to the problem of Zion and Mormon City planning in Utah from 1846-1900, which is outside my time horizon of interest.

Temples

The temple has been important in Judeo-Christian tradition since the time of Solomon. (p33).

[[It is debatable whether the Christian church fulfills the same role as the OT temple does. Hamilton clearly thinks that temples "stand as a physical representation of God's earthly presence, in the sense of medieval Gothic cathedrals" (p.33); so for him the continuity is palpable. RCK]]

Clearly Nephi built a temple in the style of Solomon in the Book Of Mormon [= 2 Nephi 5:16] (p.33). [[Which is ignorant of OT theology, because the whole point of the temple of Solomon is that it cannot be replaced by a temple located anywhere other than Zion. RCK]]

Hamilton correctly points out that temples are not public places of worship like a Christian church; that is the role of tabernacles and meetinghouses in Mormon theology (p.33).

Instead, temples provide space for giving the sacred instructions and ordinances necessary to prepare individuals to return to the presence of God. (p.33)

Hamilton provides additional clues to the status of endowments by pointing to church history (p.167 Fn 2). The term occurs first in D&C 124:39, given January 19th, 1841. It was over year later that Joseph Smith Jr gave the first instructions regarding endowments to other church leaders.

The first instructions pertaining to the endowments were given by Joseph Smith to Hyrum Smith, Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, Willard Richards, Newel K. Whitney, George Miller, and James Adams in the spring of 1842. The meeting was held in the president's private office (the Council Room) on the second floor of his store. [= HC 5:1-2] (p.167 Fn 2) 

Hamilton reviews the history of temples in the revelations (p.34). In D&C 36:8, given in Fayette, NY, in December 1830, Jesus Christ states that he will be coming to his temple suddenly (so the Saints should be ready).  In the Kirtland revelation D&C 57:3 [not 53:3, as Hamilton accidentally writes, RCK], the location of the temple westward of Independence is established (p.34). By June of 1833, when the First Presidency was sending the plans for the Zion plat to Missouri, they also included the first plans for the temple.

The temple design lacked any real sense of style or historicism. It was little more than a vernacular two-story, rectangular meeting hall. There were no architects or builders among the Missouri Saints with sufficient training or experience to build a more refined structure than the one proposed. (p.36)

In (p.151 Fn 9) Hamilton points out that Dr Frederick G. Williams had performed the elevation drawings for the Temple of Zion and the revised plat for the City of Zion.

With the Missouri difficulties obliterating any near-time chances for a temple in Zion, the Saints focused their efforts on a temple in Kirtland (p.37); on July 23rd, 1833, the cornerstones for the Kirtland Temple were laid (p.37). Specifics of the Kirtland temple's design were received in D&C 95:13-17.

The need for the temple had become imperative. According to Mormon belief, many sacred "keys" or rites of the priesthood or divine authority had yet to be restored to the earth. These keys, they believed, would be restored through the instrumentality of heavenly messengers and be received in a temple. (p.37)

From 1833 to 1836, the Saints worked on the temple.

No plans or drawings of the building survive, but the exterior appearance bears some resemblance to the temple proposed for Zion---two and a half stories and two interior courts that were reached from a vestibule entrance. (p.37)

Hamilton points to the Congregational Church at Atwater (1837-1841) as an example of a similar project that exhibited "a mixture of Georgian, Federal, Greek, and Gothic elements" (p.38) and reminds us that this mix and match approach was typical and that pattern books provided the underpinnings. (p.38)

A New Hampshire mason, who was working in Ontario when Brigham Young converted him to Mormonism, came to Kirtland in April 1834 upon Smith's request and had "full superintendency of the building" (p.38). The material was sandstone quarried from nearby, and the exterior was stuccoed in crushed glass and chinaware on the outside, and painted with lines to simulate "dressed and evenly coursed stone" (p.38).

The interior arrangement of double courts and multitiered pulpits at each end, was undoubtedly derived from the proposed temple in Independence. The vestibule entrance with its two corner staircases is a thing of beauty, enhanced by light from the large, centrally placed Federal-style window. The landing of the second floor was purposefully designed with an open front, or balcony to allow light from the window to illuminate both stories of the vestibule and the two interior courts. (p.38)

The classical aspects of the building are most noticeable on the interior. Vaulted ceilings of both courts are supported by fluted piers of the Doric order capped by an Ionic frieze and architrave. A dentiled Ionic cornice forms the base of the elliptical vault in the lower court. The classical motifs---guilloche, egg and dart, bead and lozenge---in the lower court undoubtedly came from the late eighteenth-century volume Practical House Carpenter (London 1789) by William Pain, or its American counterpart, American Builder's Companion (Boston, 1806) by Asher Benjamin.

Jacob Bump, a carpenter from Silver Creek, NY, was responsible for the implementation of the lower court (p.38), including the decorative work, e.g. on the West window.

Design inconsistencies can be seen in the building. The easternmost windows of the north and the south elevations are bisected by the wall, separating the vestibule from the courts. And the interior pier-supports do not correspond to the window bays, a support system that probably accounts for the corresponding misalignment of the dormers to the windows. (p.39)

As far as pulpits and pews were concerned, the arrangement followed the Zion plan.

The ecclesiastical order of the pulpits and the arrangement of the pews followed that prescribed in the original plan for the Temple of Zion. The pews on the floor of the first court could be reversed to face either pulpit. Natural light filtered from the arched windows above each pulpit and from the five window bays of the side elevations. The lower court was used for general church meetings and assemblies, while the upper court and attic floor were used for priesthood councils, educational purposes, and giving sacred instructions. (p.39)

Unfortunately, the Saints had to leave Ohio for Missouri only a few months after the completion of the Kirtland Temple (p.39).

Once the Saints had found a save haven in Nauvoo (p.40), they could construct a new temple to receive the full temple ordinances or "endowments", which Hamilton cites Brigham Young to define as follows:

Your endowment is, to receive all those ordinances in the House of the Lord [temple], which are necessary for you, after you have departed this life, to enable you to walk back to the presence of the Father, passing the angels who stand as sentinels, being enabled to give them the key words, the signs and tokens, pertaining to the Holy Priesthood [Mechizedek Priesthood], and gain your eternal exaltation in spite of earth and hell. (p.40) [= JD 2:31]

For the Nauvoo temple, "a singular Greek Revival" style was chosen, for which Hamilton attributes the influence to Smith, who had chosen the plans of William Weeks from among the membership, because it "came closest in design to what Smith had seen in a vision" (p.40). [cf Arrington, William Weeks, BYU Studies 19 (Spring 1979), p.340, RCK] [cf HC 5:353] Weeks hailed from Martha's Vineyard, MA, and had trained as carpenter with his father before building in the Greek Revival Style in the South with his brother Arwin (p.40). Converted by Mormon missionaries (p.40), he arrived in Nauvoo in 1840 (p.41).

His [i.e. William Weeks, RCK] design for the Nauvoo Temple promised a significantly more impressive structure than either of the previous temples. Except for a massive tower in the style of James Gibbs, Weeks's rendering of the Nauvoo Temple resembles a peripteral Greek Revival-style temple. (p.41)

Of course, the Prophet, backed up by his vision, retained final say, and forced changes against all architectural convention, such as round windows [= HC 6:196-7] (p.41).

The interior arrangement for the Nauvoo Temple was derived from the pattern proposed for the Temple of Zion, and built interior of the Kirtland Temple. It exhibited two interior courts, end-pulpits, and a functioning attic story that was accessed by a spacious two-story vestibule. (p.41)

One improvement over Kirtland was the way that administrative offices had been slotted into an area that had existed in the Kirtland temple but been too small to accommodate them.

The half-story administrative offices above the side aisles of each court were unique to the Nauvoo Temple. The round windows and high elliptical vaults in the courts provide light and extra height for the offices. A similar area exists in the Kirtland Temple, but it lacks sufficient height and outside windows to accommodate such offices. (p.41)

Similar design modifications were undertaking with respect to the tower, which lost its massive Gibbsian structure (p.41).

The Prophet asked Weeks to change the triangular pediment of the facade to a rectilinear service area for the cross-axial arrangement of the rooms in the attic story. This probably was done in anticipation of this area becoming the facility for the endowment service. (p.42)

The temple was destroyed by fire in 1846, and the remnants by a tornado in 1850. The surviving two-story vestibule was take down and the stone reused. (p.42)

For the remainder of the chapter, Hamilton then turns to the problem of temples in Utah from 1846-1900, which is outside my time horizon of interest.

Tabernacles

A tabernacle was an important unifying element in maintaining the Mormon concept of Zion and the Saints' requirements to bring it about. Its size and central position within the community reminded the Saints of their covenants and obligations. Tabernacles were specifically designed to meet the congregational needs of a stake, a term used to describe a Mormon ecclesiastical unit roughly equivalent to a diocese. (p.53)

The terminology of stakes and tabernacles could be traced back to Isaiah 54:2-7 and to Isaiah 33:20, where it is promised for Zion that "a tabernacle shall not be taken down; not one of the stakes thereof shall ever be removed" (p.54). On the other hand, as Hamilton points out, in common parlance of the 17th century, tabernacle was just a temporary facility for religious congregations [as it is in the Exodus story, RCK].

Sir Christopher Wren, for example, while rebuilding parish churches destroyed in the Great Fire of London (1666), erected a number of wooden temporary shelters that he referred to as tabernacles. (p.54) [cf. Kerry Downs, Art. Christopher Wren, in: Encyclopedia of Architecture, 4 vols., New York (Free Press) 1982, 4:423.] 

Tabernacles expressed the "diversity of Mormon taste and knowledge of architecture. This diversity led to styles ranging from Wrenish Colonial to Victorian Gothic." (p.55)

The story of tabernacle construction dates back to the Nauvoo era.

The rapid growth in church membership in Nauvoo created the need for a covered facility of ample size. The Grove, an open area east of the Nauvoo Temple, had become and inadequate place for the Prophet to address his followers and was very uncomfortable during cold and inclement weather. In the spring of 1844, Smith requested a tabernacle to be constructed to remedy the situation. The tentlike structure, to be fabricated of canvas and wood, was to be attached to the west facade of the temple then being constructed, to take advantage of the structural stability of the building. The dimensions of the projected ellipse were approximately 250 feet on the long axis and 125 feet on the short axis. (p.55)

After Smiths' martyrdom, Brigham Young and his Council of Twelve attacked the problem with their usual vigor, soliciting contributions from the eastern Saints for the building in 1845 (p.55).

For the remainder of the chapter, Hamilton then turns to the problem of tabernacles in Utah from 1846-1900, which is outside my time horizon of interest.

Meetinghouses

If the tabernacle is the building for the stake level, then the meetinghouse is the building at the level of the ward, the subdivision of the stake (p.77). 

The meetinghouse ... served the congregational needs of a ward, the basic ecclesiastica unit within the church, serving the weekly devotional needs of the Saints as community hall, and often, as school. (p.77)

Hamilton reminds us that the notion of the ward is intimately tied to the lay status of the ministry in the LDS.

A ward is the smallest fully staffed ecclesiastical unit in the LDS Church. A church does not have a paid ministry and all ward positions are filled by people taken from the lay membership, including the position of bishop, the presiding authority over a ward. All members serve the church voluntarily while holding regular jobs. (p.163 Fn 1)

The exception are the General Authorities, as Hamilton explains (p.169 Fn 19)

The General Authorities, or central leadership of the church---First Presidency, Council of Twelve, etcetera---are paid, but not from tithing funds. Rather they are self-supporting, or are paid from existing financial investments. (p.169 Fn 19) 

Though Hamilton wrote the following statement when discussing the early time in the Great Basin, it applies mutatis mutandis to the time before 1845.

Like the Puritans before them, they made no distinction between church and state, and all activities involving the communities of Zion were done in one form or another under the aegis of the church. (p.77)

While in Kirtland, the temple sufficed for the community, in Nauvoo the tabernacle became necessary (p.78), and none of the wards had their own meetinghouses yet. Yet the combination of temple and tabernacle could not have sufficed.

Nauvoo was divided into wards, none of which held regularly scheduled worship services. (The Prophet held weekly meetings for the church membership, in the Grove east of the temple, or at other places within the city.) When the Saints did meet, it was typically in private houses or in various other buildings. (p.78)

Obviously the issue of sacred space was in this case tied to number of members, which cross a qualitative line only in Nauvoo.

The resolution of the relationship between the church, stake, and ward organizations and standardization of meetings came after the Saints arrived in the Great Basin. The same was true for the building of meetinghouses. (p.78)

For the remainder of the chapter, Hamilton then turns to the problem of meetinghouses in Utah from 1846-1900, which is outside my time horizon of interest. 

Associated Buildings

Hamilton identifies four types of associated buildings that serve specialized purposes (p.93).

... the endowment house, the priesthood hall, the Relief Society hall, and the tithing office. Each was built in response to a specific liturgical, administrative or auxiliary need. (p.93)

Though endowment house and priesthood hall stopped being relevant in the nineteenth century, and the Relief Society hall and tithing office sometime in the early twentieth century, they functioned as intermediaries in the development of Mormon doctrines and practices (p.93).

Eventually, each [of endowment house, priesthood hall, Relief Society hall, and tithing office, RCK] was abandoned because of the completion of the temples, changes in church practices, and the expanded role of meetinghouses. Yet these building types played an important role as the Saints strived to solidify church doctrine and practices and to accommodate the growing numbers of converts coming to "Zion". (p.93)

The endowment house was a temporary place needed until the attic story of the temple was completed after the Prophet's death in 1844 (p.93).

Joseph Smith first administered the full endowment in 1843, in the upper room of his "Red Brick Store," a commercial building on Water Street in Nauvoo. There, members of the Council of Twelve were endowed so they could share in---and administer to other Saints---the knowledge and blessings of the kingdom. (p.93)

In order to understand priesthood halls,  Hamilton first sketches the priesthood setup in the Mormon Church (p.94).

The priesthood is the governing power, or authority, of the Mormon Church and is held by lay persons from within the ranks of the church. It is divided into the Aaronic and Melchizedek priesthoods. Each has three divisions which form a hierarchy of offices. In the ascending order of responsibility they are deacon, teacher and priest in the Aaronic Priesthood; and elder, seventy, and high priest in the Melchizedek Priesthood. Members of the Aaronic Priesthood officiate in the lesser duties and ordinances of the church, while those in the Melchizedek Priesthood are called to oversee spiritual affairs and to assume the major leadership positions within the church [= DC 20:38-67; DC 107:1-100].  

The seventies were the only office to build a priesthood hall (p.95).

In 1843 John D. Lee, a prominent Mormon leader and general secretary of the Seventies Quorums (seventy members per quorum) in Nauvoo, was appointed to oversee the construction of the first Seventies Hall. Each seventy (member) was assessed a five dollar fee for the building of the hall. (p.95)

Work on the structure, on the corner of Bain and Parley streets, commenced in the fall of that year but came to an abrupt end the following March when a tornadolike wind blew a portion of the west wall down. On Brigham Young's advice, the builders tore the remaining portion of the wall down and rebuilt it, adding an extra coursing to increase the wall's thickness from two to three bricks. By August, a two-story, 28-by-40 foot building had been completed, .... (p.95)

Unfortunately, the building fell into ruin after 1846, and was sold for bricks in 1915. Thus, though the reconstruction that Hamilton gives is based on research, excavations in the 1970s, and contemporary description, but it is somewhat conjectural (p.95).

The south facade of the building is marked by a Federal-style double-door entrance topped by a handsomely proportioned arched fanlight window. The ground floor consists of an assembly hall with a pulpit and rostrum at the north end. It is assumed that the hall was reached from a vestibule entrance. The hall was used for general quorum meetings as well as Sunday services for other church groups. (p.95)

 The second floor was reached by one or two corner staircases, held a three-thousand-volume library probably occupying the area overlooking Parley Street to the south and marked on the exterior by the second-story windows of the entrance facade. The library's importance to the church and its members was reported in the pages of a local Mormon newspaper: "Among the improvements going forward in this city, none merit higher praise, than the Seventies' Library. This concern has been commenced on a footing and scale, broad enough to embrace the arts and sciences, everywhere: so that the Seventies, while traveling over the face of the globe, as the Lord's Regular Soldiers (missionaries), can gather all the curious things, both natural and artificial, with all the knowledge, inventions and wonderful specimens of genius that have || been gracing the world for almost six thousand years." [= Nauvoo Neighbor, January 1st, 1845] The Seventies Hall became a center of learning for Nauvoo, just as it would in Salt Lake City. (pp.95-96)

The remaining part of the second floor was used for meetings of the Council of Fifty, an administrative body appointed to oversee security and some directional and organizational affairs of the church and civil government. This area is also a conjectural reconstruction based on available information. (p.96)

Hamilton reminds us: 

The Relief Society, the women's auxiliary unit of the Mormon Church, is the oldest--and largest---women's organization in the world. It was founded in Nauvoo on March 16, 1842, by Joseph Smith, who appointed his wife Emma as the first president. The society's primary responsibility was to look after the physical well-being of its members, assisting effectively, the priesthood leadership in helping the Saints to become self-sufficient. (p.97)

However, that retro-projects too much, as Hamilton admits in (p.168 Fn 12),

During the Nauvoo period, the Relief Society was organized to help the needy in the church. It was under the immediate direction of the president of the church. The expanded role of the Relief Society and its work under the direction of a local bishop came after the Saints' arrival in the Great Basin region. (p.168 Fn 12)

However, no Relief Society halls were constructed during the Nauvoo period (p.97)

The practice of tithing had been introduced in 1831 by Joseph Smith [??? this seems wrong, check RCK] (p.98).  Hamilton believes that Joseph Smith collected tithes in Nauvoo in the office located in the back of his Red Brick Store (p.169 Fn 17). It was only in the Great Basin that tithing offices and even a tithing yard (for commodities and livestock, when paying in kind) were construct (p.99).

Hamilton closes his discussion with a comment on the demise of these specialized building types.

Each type was a casualty of history. With the completion of the Salt Lake Temple, the Endowment House was no longer needed. The institution of regular priesthood meetings by quorums within individual wards eliminated any need for separate priesthood halls. A new generation of meetinghouses around the turn of the century, accompanied by changes in church practices, led to the demise of the Relief Society halls and tithing offices. (p.100)

Domestic Architecture 

While Hamilton emphasises the important role of the family in Mormon theology (p.101), he also admits that the importance did not translate to innovation in the domestic space, where existing vernacular forms dominated (p.101).

The homes of the Saints in Kirtland were simple, vernacular frame structures that were consistent with their places of origin in the Western Reserve, New York, or New England. Aside from a few classical details, the houses were unremarkable and the Saints' impoverished circumstances prevented them from building any architecturally significant houses. It would not be until after they arrived in Nauvoo that they would be able to develop more substantial family dwellings. (p.101)

[[I consider this sketch to be misleading; at Kirtland and Missouri there were already substantial dwellings of the Mormon elites; and in Nauvoo the arriving poor had surely no better houses than the modified boxes of Kirtland. RCK]]

... log and wood-frame structures were the most common of the 2,500 homes built during the Nauvoo period; 1,500 were log cabins, 650 were frame structures, and only 350 were brick. (p.102)

No long cabin built during the Mormon period has survived. (p.101) 

However, the basic log house style is pretty clearly understood and reconstructed at Nauvoo on the former property of Dr Calvin Pendleton.

The [log, RCK] house is of square cut, V-notch log construction. Chinking was applied to seal and weatherproof the main body of the house, and the gable ends and frame lean-to were covered by weather boards. The open-beam ceiling of the single-room ground floor is seven feet in height. The sleeping loft is reached by a narrow staircase in the northwest corner to the right of the brick chimney. (p.102)

The only surviving log dwelling in Nauvoo predates the arrival of the Saints and was constructed in 1803. Joseph Smith Jr purchased it, adapted the first floor to his height, and then added a lean-to (p.169 Fn 2).

A few of the original frame houses still exist, however.

Joseph Coolidge, an accomplished woodworker from Main, built a two-story, L-plan fame house (1843) in a classically inspired vernacular design. It was painted white, as were most other frame houses in Nauvoo. Sash windows and continuous cornice were used on the building. Only the roof of the south portion or wing of the house was finished with pedimented gables. The main entry, a single door on the west front of the building leads directly into a large, one-room hall and parlor. Access to the south-facing portion of the house is through the hall-parlor, or a single door side entry. The door leads to an entry hall off the hall-parlor and staircase. The larger ground-floor room of this portion of the house is thought to have been used by Coolidge as a workshop. Bedchambers formed the second floor of the house. Its two-story configuration, Federal-style proportions, and decorative elements are often referred to as a "Nauvoo house". (p.102)

The Mansion House (1842-43) and the Orson Hyde home (1843) were more pretentious. Both were of the Greek Revival Style popular  along the Mississippi River in that era. Joseph Coolidge was credited with the design of the Mansion House, and L-plan two-story || frame building painted off-white with green shutters. It was large enough for Joseph Smith's family, and served as a fitting place to entertain guests. (pp.102-103)

The west facade of the I-plan, two story, frame building is defined by four colossal pilasters of the Tuscan order. Placed at the corners and on either side of the front entrance, they visually supported a well-proportioned entablature beneath the shallow cave of a low-pitched roof. The entrance features a pattern-book-drived single-paneled door with side and transom lights. The entablature above the door is appropriately placed at the point marking the structural division between the two floors. A central passage hall opens into the ladies' parlor and the men's parlor ("the Office") on the south. Both rooms are fitted with end-wall fireplaces. A two-story kitchen and bedroom (or sitting room) all came off the southeast corner of the house. It was extended to make a hotel in 1843. (p.103)

Other than the Mansion or the Coolidge home,  the Orson Hyde home does not follow the L-plan.

The Orson Hyde house (1843) is an I-plan, one-and-a-half story, four-room frame dwelling adorned with corner piers and a shallow, noncontinuous cornice. The cornice concludes in the gable ends, corresponding with the cornice returns and the corner piers. Four windows set in the cornice mark a half, or attic, story on the front and back of the house. The half story is best defined by the two windows in the gable ends. The pilastered Greek entrance was symmetrically placed, providing access to the parlor and hall. (The veranda, bay window, and rear extension are not original to the house.) (p.103)

In the restored Nauvoo, the I-plan brick house with entrances on the long side is the dominant design.

They [i.e. the I-plan brick houses, RCK] are largely vernacular in appearance with Federal proportions and decorative elements. The two-story George Laub house (1843), and the large David Yearsley house (1843-44) are representative examples. However, the Wilford Woodruff (1843-44) ... and William Weeks (1843) house are the most expressive I-plan designs. (p.103)

The Wilford Woodruff house stands out in its appearance.

The Wilford Woodruff house is perhaps the most refined of the Federal-style homes in Nauvoo. Woodruff, a keen observer of architecture, hand picked every brick for the exterior wall in order to insure uniform size, color, and surface quality. The proportions and symmetry of the building, from the minimal detailing around the windows and doors to the flat arches above the windows, the double chimneys, and the fan lights in the parapet gable-ends, speak of a person of refined || taste. Its central passage hall leads to symmetrically arranged and spacious rooms on both floors in keeping with the symmetry of the house. (pp.103-104) 

Since William Weeks was an architect, it may not be surprising that his is one of the most individualistic brick houses.

Of the I-plan brick houses with entrances on their long sides, few were as individualistic as the single-story home and office of architect William Weeks. The original two-window cottage designed by himself in 1843 is characterized by a round-arch entrance unusual for Nauvoo. As he did elsewhere in the city, Weeks employed limestone lintels and sills for the windows and a wood cornice to contrast with the red-brown brick, enhancing the simple beauty of his house. It has a full basement with a kitchen and storage area which is reached through an outside entrance from the west slope, and a narrow staircase off the north side of what is now the center fireplace. The use of parapets and the date for the addition of the smaller east bay and interior arrangement are problematic. (p.104)

The home purchased by John Taylor, a Mormon convert from England and member of the Presidency, in 1845 had been built by James Ivins, a Mormon convert from New Jersey, in 1842 (p.104), then one of the earliest brick structures in the city.

The two-and-a-half story, five bay, symmetrical structure is enhanced by a beautifully crafted single-door entrance with sidelights and an over-door transom. A proportioned limestone lintel or entablature complete the entrance. The sash windows, like a number of others in Nauvoo, diminish in size and conclude with narrow rectangular windows set in a refined cornice beneath the shallow eave of the low-pitched roof. The end chimneys are accented by raised and capped parapet-gables. The fine classical detailing of this central-passage hall-parlor design is unexcelled. The same concern for detail can be seen in || the woodwork in the four symmetrically arranged rooms. A summer kitchen, with an attic-story bedchamber was added to the back of the one-room deep house. (Summer kitchens, either attached or detached, were commonplace in Nauvoo.) Ivins' Store (later a church printing office) and the Post Office (reconstructed) on the south and north framed the house. (pp.104-105)

One key modification to the I-plan house was to put the entrance on the short-side, the so called temple front (p.105).

The George C. Riser house (1843, reconstructed) was the most simple of those that were built. This designed is characterized by narrow vertical facades either with common or stepped gables. The rooms were arranged on a long axis, reminiscent of a townhouse. The symmetry of the facade varied according to the function of the building; the central position of the door in the Riser house, for example, was for the convenience of the ground-floor shoe shop. (p.105)

Brigham Young ... adopted a side-passage design for his home (1843). The axial hall was set to the right to provide for a full room on the left, a narrow staircase on the right, and a kitchen at the back of the house. Bedroom and meeting-room wings were added to the west and east sides. In adding the wings, stepped gables were used, coordinating with those of the main body. (p.105)

The way that Riser had his shoe shop on the ground floor or Ivins his store next door was common at that time. Hamilton provides a few additional examples.

Jonathan Browning, the father of John Moses Browning, who founded the Browning Arms Company, made two lateral additions to his original brick home to accommodate his family and growing firearms business (1843-1845). (p.105)

[In the] ... Windsor P. Lyon house (1843), ... the apothecary shop and general merchandise store were designed as part of the living quarters. The ship compromised most of the entire lower floor, while the upper story served the domestic needs of the family. (p.105)

In the Raymond Clark house (1843), the west side of the ground floor, as marked by the oversized windows and double-door entrance, was designed as a store. The symmetry of the facade, the double and single-door entrances, and the relative size of the windows are clear indications of the position of the store in relation to the house. (p.105)

Hamilton then discusses the brick-laying strategies involved in these houses.

A "modified American" bond was the most common pattern used in the construction of brick houses in Nauvoo. Typically, a coursing pattern of five or six stretchers to each course of headers was used, differing from the more common pattern (three or five courses of stretchers to each course of headers) of the true American bond. The higher proportion of stretchers to headers was apparently due more to economics than to structural or aesthetic appeal. The Flemish bond was also used, but less frequently because of the added cost. The Taylor and the Kimball houses are two excellent examples of the Flemish bond technique. For added strength, a three-brick thickness [of the wall, RCK] was preferred over two [see the discussion of the priesthood hall above, RCK]. 

[[Notice that the Kimball house was built in 1845 and is therefore omitted from this excerption. RCK]]

Peripheral Buildings

Economy of construction and pragmatic functionalism defined the schools, theatres and civic buildings in the Mormon building type repertoire, which were predominantly vernacular and not architecturally distinguished (p.119).

Education buildings were already a concern in Kirtland and Nauvoo (p.119). 

"The glory of God is intelligence" [= D&C 93:36, RCK] has long been the Mormon scriptural maxim, and education was of paramount importance to the Saints, even during times of severe hardship. As early as 1831, Joseph Smith asked Oliver Cowdery and William W. Phelps to collect the best textbooks available in preparation for organizing a primary and secondary school. In 1833 Kirtland High School was established and 140 children enrolled. Classes were held in the attic story of the newly completed Kirtland || Temple. The curriculum consisted of classics, English and science. Competency examinations were administered at the end of each term. (pp.119-120)

The story of the "School of the Prophets" established in 1833 is well-known (p.119). Hamilton points out that with the completion of the upper part of the Kirtland Temple, the classes moved from the Whitney store to the upper assembly room or court of the temple (p.120). Joshua Seixas conducted classes in Hebrew (p.120). The School of Elders was similarly organized in Independence and in Nauvoo (p.120). On January 15th, 1841, Joseph Smith Jr sent out a circular to the national and international branches of the Church to let them know about the future "University of the City of Nauvoo" (p.120).

The Relief Society the Nauvoo times' central form of promoting a cultural and moral education (p.127).

Through these organizations, the women of the church took active roles in church and community affairs. They were encouraged to become doctors, midwives, and teachers. (Mormon women had equal voting rights with men, but these rights were taken from them by the federal government when Utah became a state in 1896.) The church's influence through its female membership, coupled with the rapid influx of foreign converts from Europe after 1830, were important factors in broadening cultural understanding in Nauvoo and the western settlements. (p.127)

As an example of the cultural activity of dancing, Hamilton mentions the dance that Brigham Young organized December 30th, 1845, in the unfinished temple, as the Saints were working feverishly to complete it before making their exodus. (p.127)

In Nauvoo, William Weeks was the probable architect for the classically inspired, three story multipurpose building (1843-44) to house departments of city government, three Masonic lodges, cultural activities, and school and church meetings. It replaced the Prophet's general store as the city's social center [cf. Launius & McKiernan on the Red Brick Store, Chapter 2. RCK]. Although it was commonly referred to as the Masonic Hall or Masonic Temple, the building was used only briefly for Masonic meetings, as the Grand Lodge of Illinois rescinded the charter a year after the dedication of the hall, on April 6, 1844. [This had been an attempt by Smith to gain acceptability for Mormonism, which failed; cf. (p.177 Fn 34), RCK] It would perhaps be more accurate to refer to the building as the Nauvoo Civic and Cultural Hall. (p.128)

Hamilton then describes the internal organization of the cultural hall.

The first floor was used as a courtroom and assembly hall for plays, concerts, recitals, funerals, and church meetings. The second floor was reserved for the police department. Formal dances and dinners and Masonic meetings were held in a third-floor auditorium. Overlooking the auditorium was a balcony where the Nauvoo Brass Band played for social occasions. The basement was used for the storage of food items. (p.128)

Next Hamilton discusses the architectural features.

The Masonic Hall was second in architectural importance only to the Nauvoo Temple. A synthesis of Federal and Greek revival forms, the hall's three-story attenuated proportions must have appeared ungainly when compared to surrounding buildings. (The use of round arches on the first floor seems to be a hallmark of the architecture.) Center doors opened directly into an assembly hall with a raised stage along the back wall. Access to the second and third floors was gained by a rear interior staircase. The ceiling and main support beams for the second floor were set on six columns. Both of the upper floors were serviced by ample landings and entrance doors. A dumbwaiter positioned in the center of the back wall of the third floor services the social activities held there. (p.128)

Though music was probably as popular as theatre among the Saints, the eight-hundred seat brick Concert Hall, sometimes referred to as the Music Hall, was only commenced after the death of Joseph Smith Jr, in the fall of 1844 (p.128).

Boweries were used as interim gathering places for the Saints in the early years of the church. They could be constructed of readily found materials---logs, willows, brush and tree limbs---in a few hours, and their size and open interiors were conducive to large social gatherings. Such events were considered to be as necessary as work and worship in developing the whole person. This holistic, or balanced concept of life was continually stressed by Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, and their successors. (p.129) [= HC, 4:545-541]

Hamilton then turns to the problem of commercial buildings (p.132).

In Nauvoo, those who did not farm for a living were encouraged to develop a trade to provide for themselves and their families. A network of small businesses sprang up around the city. Joseph Smith, for one, owned the two-story "Red Brick Store" (1841-42) on Water Street and was involved in the construction of a planned four-story hotel (Nauvoo House, begin 1841) at the time of his death. (p.132)

[[Again, the industrialization side of this is completely neglected, possibly because it is so outside of Smith's radar as well. What about the Law steam-powered mill? RCK]]

The Nauvoo House would have been the second-largest building in the city had it been completed. (p.179 Fn 49)

As far as governmental buildings are concerned, all these were non-issues before the Great Basin (p.136).

The Mormons did not build a civic hall in Kirtland, Independence or Far West. Meetings pertaining to civic affairs in Nauvoo were held in private homes, in Joseph Smith's general store, in the Seventies Hall, and in the Masonic Hall. (p.136)

Conclusion

Hamilton claims a special place for the Mormon achievements in 19th-century America (p.140).

No utopian society has contributed so much to the history of nineteenth-century America as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. (p.140)

Recommended Reading

• Robert Bruce FLANDERS, Nauvoo: Kingdom on the Mississippi, Urbana (University of Illinois Press), 1965.

Bibliographic Record

Mark Hamilton, Nineteenth Century Mormon Architecture and City Planning, New York -- Oxford (Oxford University Press), 1995.