Saga of the Sanpitch Volume 17, 1985 - Sanpete County

Priest Quorum of the Sanpete Stake and his counselors, and by Sanpete Stake President Canute Peterson and
his counselors, assisted by other stake presidents. The dedicatory prayer was offered by President Peterson.
The northeast cornerstone was laid by the presidencies of the seventies and elder's quorums. John
VannCott gave the dedicatory prayer.
The work on the temple now commenced and progressed rapidly during the first three years of
construction. The people were devoted to the cause and anxious to spend their time and energy in the
erection of this house to the Lord.
The struggle and sacrifice during the building period is best told from incidents recorded in pioneer
journals and handed down from one generation to the next. Some of the temple workers walked the miles
from Mt. Pleasant, Spring City, Ephraim and Sterling to Manti each week to work on the temple. Andrew
Christian Nielson, "Mormon Preacher," a stone cutter, walked five miles each day to the temple, put in a day's
work and walked to his home at Shumway each evening.
The men's hands would become so sore from the rough work that it was common practice for them to
rub mutton tallow on their hands at night and then wear the hand-knitted socks on their hands so they would
be ready for another day of work.
Money was scarce but the people were generous with what they had. A Mr. Jones from Emery County,
when called on to give a donation, gave his only cow which was needed for his family. Later, a cow was
provided him by a bachelor who asked in return to "eat with the family once in awhile."
The women helped provide food and clothing for the men as they worked, as well as supplying
donations for the temple construction. One lady in Manti, Marie Rath, was an experienced cheese maker
from Germany. Each Monday morning women would bring two quarts of milk to Marie. She would make
cheese and take it to the tithing office where donations were accepted.
Children did their share by gathering "Sunday eggs." Some $117,000 was raised through the gathering
of Sunday eggs. The children also gleaned wheat from the fields to be donated or made into bread for the
workers.
As the men worked and the building grew, scaffolding was built and anchored to the walls by means of
small holes made in the wall and later filled with rocks made to fit. The materials used were within easy
access. The buff colored stone used in the foundation was quarried from the hills south of Manti. The oolite
stone was obtained from the quarry east of the temple and from the Parry brothers' quarry east of Ephraim.
Most of the lumber used was red pine from the local mountains. Some came from the mountains east of
Spring City and some from Panguitch. The black walnut and bird's eye maple used for the banisters and
circular staircases were imported from the eastern part of the United States.
A lumber mill with steam power was built at the base of the temple hill. At this mill the lumber was
planed, shaped and grooved. The rocks were cut at the quarry and transported by wagon, after being fastened
under the wagon frame„ A double pulley with chain was used to hoist the rocks into place after they were
pulled up the hill on a "stone boat" by mules. A story is told about the Parry mules that were used in this
operation. One morning the mules could not be found, so it was finally decided to go to the hill without them.
There at the foot of the hill were the mules, ready to be hitched. They, too, must have been "serious about the
work."
Only the best rocks were used in building the temple. Edward L. Parry, Master Mason, inspected each
stone to see that it was cut to the right dimensions. One day he noticed that a worker was about to place a
rock that was slightly cracked in the wall„ When Mr. Parry approached the worker about it, the worker said it
was such a small crack it wouldn't make any difference, and it could be on the inside so no one would ever
know about it. Mr. Parry told him there would be three people who would know: "You, me and the Lord."
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