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Show WINTER 2013 UHQ pp 4-90_UHQ Stories/pp.4-68 12/5/12 9:38 AM Page 52 uTAH HISTORICAL QuARTERLy high and walls two feet thick, was constructed in May and June 1852 for protection.12 The first oolite home in Manti was built in 1851, but was later demolished. Some examples of oolite limestone structures still standing are the BlackTuttle-Folsom Home built in three stages from the 1850s to 1880s, and the John Patten House built in 1854 of primitive stone masonry. Orville Sutherland Cox and then Jezereel Shoemaker first owned the Cox-Shoemaker-Parry Home, built in 1858. Both men were members of the 1849 group of settlers. The house was purchased by Edward L. Parry in 1877 and was home to four generations of Parrys. The John Crawford home was built in 1874, the Manti City Hall was built in 1873-1882, the present-day Yardley Inn and Spa was built of oolite limestone in 1910, and the Sanpete County Courthouse was built in 1935-1937. The unique beauty and utility of the Sanpete stone was quickly recognized throughout the territory. When the Washington National Monument Society on February 10, 1851, invited the Utah Territory to provide a stone for the Washington Monument in Washington D. C., the General Assembly of the Provisional State of Deseret passed a resolution approved by Governor Brigham Young to “procure a block of marble from the best specimens of stone in the state (territory).” A committee chosen by Governor Young selected the oolitic limestone from quarries at Manti. The talented stonemason, William Ward, considerably enhanced the qualities of the stone with his carving. A native of Leicester, England, Ward followed the family trade of stonemasonry and carving. After emigrating to Nauvoo, Illinois, in 1844 and later to Utah in 1850, he was appointed foreman of the stonecutters working on the temple block in Salt Lake City and was made assistant to Truman O. Angell Sr., chief LDS architect. His credits included participating in the design and construction of the Lion House, the Salt Lake Temple, and other buildings. His intricate carving of the oolite limestone made it a magnificent addition to the Washington Monument. The block of oolitic limestone for the Washington Monument was three-feet long, two-feet wide and six and one-half inches thick. The carving on the stone features a beehive at the center with the motto “Holiness to the Lord” and the all-seeing eye with rays above and Deseret in large letters below. The base of the block is covered with carvings of different kinds of foliage and a semicircular arch is enriched with morning glory vines and blooms. On each side are spandrels, one showing the symbol of union enriched with foliage, and the other displaying a cornucopia. The edge is a fillet 1.5 inches wide and 0.75 inches deep. After a three-month journey, the stone arr ived at Washington D. C. on September 27, 1853, and was placed in the monument some time during 12 Demont H. Howell, The Shoulders on Which We Stand (Fairview: Fairview Museum of History and Art, 1982), 4. 52 |
