William Weeks
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William Weeks (March 11, 1813 - March 8, 1900), the son of James Weeks, Jr., and Sophronia Fisher , is best known as the architect of the Nauvoo Temple. He was born on March 11, 1813 in Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts. He came from a family of builders; his father taught architectural and building skills to his two sons, William and Arwin. Raised as a Quaker, Weeks converted to Mormonism in the southeastern states. Apparently, he was in Missouri when the Mormons were driven from that state during the winter of 1838–1839 and he settled in Quincy, Illinois. There he married Caroline M. Allen on June 11, 1839, who was ten years his junior. Their marriage lasted sixty-one years and produced ten children, seven of whom died in early infancy.
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[edit] The Nauvoo Temple
In 1840 Weeks relocated in Nauvoo, where he build a new brick home, which still stands. When Joseph Smith, Jr., called for architects to submit designs for the Nauvoo Temple, he was so impressed with Weeks' drawings that he hugged him, exclaiming, “You are the man I want!” While Weeks was the temple’s architect, final decisions about the building design was made by Smith, who overruled Weeks on occasions. Most famous is Smith’s insistence that circular windows, instead of oval, be used in the temple, although Weeks insisted that such windows were a violation of all known rules of architecture. Smith did not extended such latitude over Weeks to others. When the Temple Building Committee got into an argument with Weeks, Smith prepared a certificate for Weeks, which stated that “no person or persons shall interfere with him or his plans in building the temple.” When Smith was killed in June 1844, Brigham Young assumed Smith’s role as the church’s leader, which included oversight of the temple’s construction; Young even made his own changes to Smith’s design. Weeks did not see the temple completed, however, because Young insisted that he accompany the Mormon migration west so that he could design a new temple when the Mormons found a place to settle. On February 13, 1846, Brigahm Young turned the he final completion of the Nauvoo Temple over to Truman O. Angell.
[edit] Disaffection with Mormonism
Weeks arrived in Salt Lake City in September 1847. For some reason Weeks soon became disaffected and took his family east the next summer, taking all of the Nauvoo Temple plans with him. For a time Weeks settled in Wisconsin and Iowa. It was while he was in Iowa that he learned of Nauvoo Temple’s arson, which must have sadden him to learn that his great work had been destroyed. He returned to Utah in 1852, apparently seeking reconciliation and reinstallation as the architect for the Salt Lake Temple. However, Young snubbed Weeks and turned to Angell as the architect of the building. By 1857 Weeks had settled in San Bernardino, California, where he severed all contact with the Mormon Church, although he remained an admirer of Joseph Smith all his life. He stayed in California the rest of his life.
[edit] Later life
Apparently Weeks did not pursue work as an architect in California, but moved to El Monte, where he worked as a carpenter and later ran a gristmill for a Mr. Temple. He purchased a herd of cows and opened a 160 acre dairy in Hollywood, providing milk to Los Angeles groceries. He later moved the dairy to Green Meadow, six miles north of Los Angeles. When he became too old to run the dairy, he purchased a small ranch and built a house in Palms, where he and Caroline lived the rest their lives. Weeks died on March 8, 1900. Sadly, Weeks’ potential as an architect was never fully realized. His skills, which clearly blossomed in Nauvoo, withered when he abandoned Mormonism. Had he remained in Utah it is likely he would have designed additional temples and other buildings, probably becoming one of Utah’s pioneer architects.
[edit] Recovery of Weeks’ Nauvoo Temple Drawings
Weeks’ drawings of the Nauvoo Temple remained with his descendants, passing from Weeks to his daughter Caroline F. Weeks Griffin, who passed them to her son, Leslie Griffin. In 1948 two Mormon missionaries, Frank Gifford and Vern Thacker, contacted Griffin while tracting door to door in Boron, California. Griffin and the two missionaries became friends, and, when Griffin learned that Thacker was returning to Salt Lake City, he gave him Weeks' drawings to donate to the Mormon Church headquarters. Thacker did as Griffin requested, and the Weeks’ original drawings proved invaluable in the later reconstruction of the Nauvoo Illinois Temple.
[edit] See also
[edit] Sources
- Arrington, Earl J. (1979). "William Weeks: Architect of the Nauvoo Temple". Brigham Young University Studies 19 (3): 337-360.
- Bennion, Marjorie Hopkins. (2002). "The Rediscovery of Williams Weeks’ Nauvoo Temple Drawings". Mormon Historical Studies 3 (1): 73-90.
