Temple Trivia: Manti

One of the best part about writing novels based on historic temples is learning so many cool tidbits that most people never hear about.

I learn far more than ever makes it into my books (first and foremost because they are novels, not history lessons), so I thought it'd be fun to pass along a few fun things that aren't in my books, starting with Manti.

First off, David, a friend of mine (who has a private blog, or I'd link over) passed along an article about the Manti Temple. It's a great read. Thanks to my research, I already knew most of the information in it.

(Edited Oct 2011 to add: The old link above stopped working, so I've replaced it. Another piece about the Manti Temple is HERE. Also, I've since learned that a commonly stold story about Scandinavian boat builders basically making a boat and flipping it upside down for the roof is almost certainly untrue. There's no evidence of it, and the roof doesn't resemble the hull of a boat at all.)

One part of the above article made me smile: it includes one story that's retold in Tower of Strength.

I won't say which, but if you read the book, you'll recognize it. (Okay, fine. Two words: Parry mules.)

The Washington Monument
Before my research, I hadn't known that a stone was cut from the Manti Temple quarry and brought to Washington, D.C. to be used as part of the Washington Monument. In the center is the word Deseret and above that the all-seeing eye. The stone sits near the top.

Workers' Wages
One common misconception is that no workers were paid for their labor on the Manti Temple. Early on, Brigham Young did declare that no one would be paid and that the temple would be built entirely with volunteer labor. Because he said that, people assume that was how things actually played out. (The quote is even on a plaque at the base of Temple Hill.)

However, after President Young's death, his successor, John Taylor, changed things. While there was still a lot of volunteer and tithing labor, many workers did get regular pay. He, the quorum of the Twelve, and the temple officers set the rates based on the different jobs, paid in either cash or commodities.

Among the wages: common laborers received $1.25 to $2.00 per day, quarrymen $2.50 to $3.00 per day, and the master mason, E. L. Parrry, received $5.00 a day.

Personal Donations
After they were settled and doing well (and being creatively thrifty--there are lots of fun stories about that), the people sacrificed and donated what they could to the cause of the temple.

Ellice Moffit, who was a young girl at the time, reported that their family had saved up enough money to buy a few gallons of linseed oil and white lead for paint so they could paint the fence around their house. The Church asked to use it as part of the first coat on the temple.

The family simply handed it over. Sister Moffit reported, "We all felt good about that, we felt blessed." (A Folk History of the Manti Temple, by Barbara Lee Hargis)

Fun Characters
A lot of Danes settled the area, and they were great at laughing at themselves. Another story in A Folk History is retold about "Silent Pete," a man who was very unlike the talkative Danes; he usually gave one-word answers.

The story goes that Noble Andrew, a Dane, asked (I'm not repeating the accent recorded in the original, and I'm not sure what was meant by "bot" flies): "I understand, Peter, that your horse got bot [sic] flies. What did you give him to get rid of them?"

Silent Pete answered, "Turpentine."

A week later, they met again. Noble said, "By the way, Peter, what did you say you gave your horse to get rid of the bot flies?"

"Turpentine."

"That is what I thought you said. It killed mine."

Silent Pete answered, "Killed mine, too."


Today the tour is very busy:

Summer's Nook
Mormon Mom Blogs
Crazyland
Book Blogging Babes

And I was interviewed at:
Modern Molly Mormon

(Be sure to visit MMB for a chance to win and entire SET of my temple books!)