William Weeks facts for kids
William Weeks (born March 11, 1813 – died March 8, 1900) was an important architect for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. He is most famous for designing the Nauvoo Temple.
William Weeks was born on March 11, 1813, on Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts. His family had a history of building things. His father, James Weeks, Jr., taught William and his brother Arwin about architecture and building. William grew up as a Quaker. Later, he joined the Latter Day Saint church. He was in Missouri when church members had to leave in the winter of 1838–1839. He then settled in Quincy, Illinois. On June 11, 1839, he married Caroline Matilda Allen. They were married for 61 years and had ten children.
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Designing the Nauvoo Temple
In 1840, Weeks moved to Nauvoo. He built a new brick home there that is still standing today. When Joseph Smith, the church leader, asked for designs for the new Nauvoo Temple, he was very impressed with Weeks' drawings. Smith even hugged him and said, "You are the man I want!"
Weeks was the temple's architect, but Joseph Smith made the final decisions. Sometimes, Smith would change Weeks' ideas. For example, Smith insisted on using circular windows instead of oval ones. Weeks thought this broke architectural rules. Smith trusted Weeks a lot. When others on the Temple Building Committee argued with Weeks, Smith gave Weeks a special paper. This paper said that "no person or persons shall interfere with him or his plans in building the temple."
After Joseph Smith died in 1844, Brigham Young became the new church leader. He took over the temple's construction and even made some changes to Smith's design. Weeks did not see the temple finished. Brigham Young wanted him to travel west with the church members. Young wanted Weeks to design a new temple when they found a new home. On February 13, 1846, Brigham Young gave the job of finishing the Nauvoo Temple to Truman O. Angell.
Later Life and Other Works
Weeks arrived in Salt Lake City in September 1847. He soon became unhappy with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). The next summer, he took his family back east. He also took all the original plans for the Nauvoo Temple with him. For a while, Weeks lived in Wisconsin and Iowa. While in Iowa, he heard that the Nauvoo Temple had been burned down.
He returned to Utah in 1852. It seems he wanted to work on the Salt Lake Temple as the architect. However, Brigham Young chose Truman O. Angell for that job. After working on the Nauvoo Temple, Weeks never worked as an architect again. By 1857, he had settled in San Bernardino, California. There, he stopped all contact with the LDS Church. However, he always admired Joseph Smith. He lived the rest of his life in California.
Weeks did not work as an architect in California. He moved to El Monte, where he worked as a carpenter. Later, he managed a gristmill for a Mr. Temple. He bought a group of cows and started a dairy farm in Hollywood. This farm was about 160 acres and provided milk to stores in Los Angeles. He later moved the dairy to Green Meadow, which was six miles north of Los Angeles. When he became too old for the dairy, he bought a small ranch. He built a house in Palms, where he and Caroline lived out their days. William Weeks passed away on March 8, 1900.
Nauvoo Temple Drawings
William Weeks' original drawings of the Nauvoo Temple stayed with his family. They passed from Weeks to his daughter, Caroline F. Weeks Griffin, and then to her son, Leslie Griffin. In 1948, two Mormon missionaries, Frank Gifford and Vern Thacker, met Leslie Griffin in Boron. They became friends. When Griffin learned that Thacker was going back to Salt Lake City, he gave him Weeks' drawings. He asked Thacker to give them to the LDS Church. Thacker did as he was asked. These original drawings were very helpful when the Nauvoo Illinois Temple was rebuilt years later.
Images for kids
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Undated photograph of the Nauvoo Temple.
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The newly-rebuilt Nauvoo Illinois Temple
See also
- Temple architecture (Latter-day Saints)
Sources
- Arrington, Earl J. (1979). "William Weeks: Architect of the Nauvoo Temple". BYU Studies 19 (3): 337–360.
- Bennion, Marjorie Hopkins (2002). "The Rediscovery of Williams Weeks' Nauvoo Temple Drawings". Mormon Historical Studies 3 (1): 73–90. http://www.mormonhistoricsitesfoundation.org/publications/studies_spring2002/MHS3.1Spring2002Bennion.pdf.
- Cornell, Steven (2009). William Weeks and the Ephemeral Temple at Nauvoo (MArH thesis). University of Virginia. pp. 48–49. doi:10.18130/V3028PC64.
