William Harrison Folsom
Encyclopedia
William Harrison Folsom was an architect
and contractor
. He constructed many of the historic buildings in Utah
, particularly in Salt Lake City
. Folsom is probably best known as a Latter-day Saint ("Mormon
") architect. Many of his most prominent works were commissioned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. For a time he was sustained as the Church Architect, a calling in the church at the time just as much as a Seventy.
Folsom was born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire
on March 25, 1815. By the age of 16 he held a supervisory position in his father's contracting firm. Folsom directed up to hundreds of employees on dock
projects around Lake Erie
. He and his father then moved to Buffalo, New York
where they ran a building business.
In New York
Folsom met his future wife Zervial Eliza Clark who he married at age 22 on August 12, 1837. Folsom also encountered a Latter-day Saint ("Mormon") stonemason by the name of Enoch Reese
, who helped convert him to Mormonism. Folsom and his wife were baptized in a frigid Niagara River
on February 17, 1842.
Folsom and his wife traveled to Nauvoo, Illinois
in the spring of 1842. Nauvoo was then center of the Latter Day Saint movement
, and Folsom became an acquaintance of Joseph Smith, Jr., the movement's founder and prophet
. Folsom worked on the Nauvoo Temple
until its completion in May 1846 when Mormons were forced from Nauvoo.
At this point Folsom moved to Keokuk, Iowa
.
Folsom committed to follow Brigham Young
to Utah. In 1854 he set out for Salt Lake City but arrived at Council Bluffs, Iowa
ten days too late to join the last company west. Instead he stayed at Council Bluffs for six years employed as a builder. Notably, he worked on columns for the Nebraska Territory
capitol building, which were transported across the Missouri River
from Council Bluffs to Omaha
.
In 1860 he finally set out for Salt Lake with a relatively large outfit of four wagon teams. Soon after his October 3 arrival in Salt Lake City the skilled builder opened shop on Main Street downtown. Brigham Young, leader of the Mormons in Utah, put him to work on church projects almost immediately. He was sustained as church architect in the October 1861 LDS General Conference.
Folsom worked prolifically in the 1860s. By 1864 he was panner in two constructions firms. Folsom himself drew the plans or was involved in the construction of many historic Utah buildings including the Old Salt Lake Theater, the Salt Lake Tabernacle
, the Salt Lake City Council Hall
, the Provo Tabernacle
, the Provo Theater, the Moroni Tabernacle, and the original ZCMI building in downtown Salt Lake City. Folsom also had ecclesiastical duties in the LDS Church, serving first as a high councilor and then as first councilor to the Salt Lake Stake in 1874.
In 1867 Angell was again made church architect and Folsom was made his assistant. While serving as an assistant to Church Architect Truman O. Angell
, in 1877 Folsom was called by the LDS Church to design the Manti Utah Temple
, where he lived in Manti, Utah
until the temple's completion in 1888. Returning to Salt Lake, he was building inspector under Mayor John Clark until 1890. He served some of his last years as an LDS patriarch before his death on March 20, 1901.
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
and contractor
Independent contractor
An independent contractor is a natural person, business, or corporation that provides goods or services to another entity under terms specified in a contract or within a verbal agreement. Unlike an employee, an independent contractor does not work regularly for an employer but works as and when...
. He constructed many of the historic buildings in Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
, particularly in Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City, Utah
Salt Lake City is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. The name of the city is often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC. With a population of 186,440 as of the 2010 Census, the city lies in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, which has a total population of 1,124,197...
. Folsom is probably best known as a Latter-day Saint ("Mormon
Mormon
The term Mormon most commonly denotes an adherent, practitioner, follower, or constituent of Mormonism, which is the largest branch of the Latter Day Saint movement in restorationist Christianity...
") architect. Many of his most prominent works were commissioned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. For a time he was sustained as the Church Architect, a calling in the church at the time just as much as a Seventy.
Folsom was born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire
Portsmouth, New Hampshire
Portsmouth is a city in Rockingham County, New Hampshire in the United States. It is the largest city but only the fourth-largest community in the county, with a population of 21,233 at the 2010 census...
on March 25, 1815. By the age of 16 he held a supervisory position in his father's contracting firm. Folsom directed up to hundreds of employees on dock
Dock (maritime)
A dock is a human-made structure or group of structures involved in the handling of boats or ships, usually on or close to a shore.However, the exact meaning varies among different variants of the English language...
projects around Lake Erie
Lake Erie
Lake Erie is the fourth largest lake of the five Great Lakes in North America, and the tenth largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also has the shortest average water residence time. It is bounded on the north by the...
. He and his father then moved to Buffalo, New York
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...
where they ran a building business.
In New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
Folsom met his future wife Zervial Eliza Clark who he married at age 22 on August 12, 1837. Folsom also encountered a Latter-day Saint ("Mormon") stonemason by the name of Enoch Reese
Enoch Reese
Enoch Reese was an early leader in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, member of the Utah Territorial Legislature, and early Nevada settler....
, who helped convert him to Mormonism. Folsom and his wife were baptized in a frigid Niagara River
Niagara River
The Niagara River flows north from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario. It forms part of the border between the Province of Ontario in Canada and New York State in the United States. There are differing theories as to the origin of the name of the river...
on February 17, 1842.
Folsom and his wife traveled to Nauvoo, Illinois
Nauvoo, Illinois
Nauvoo is a small city in Hancock County, Illinois, United States. Although the population was just 1,063 at the 2000 census, and despite being difficult to reach due to its location in a remote corner of Illinois, Nauvoo attracts large numbers of visitors for its historic importance and its...
in the spring of 1842. Nauvoo was then center of the Latter Day Saint movement
Latter Day Saint movement
The Latter Day Saint movement is a group of independent churches tracing their origin to a Christian primitivist movement founded by Joseph Smith, Jr. in the late 1820s. Collectively, these churches have over 14 million members...
, and Folsom became an acquaintance of Joseph Smith, Jr., the movement's founder and prophet
Prophet
In religion, a prophet, from the Greek word προφήτης profitis meaning "foreteller", is an individual who is claimed to have been contacted by the supernatural or the divine, and serves as an intermediary with humanity, delivering this newfound knowledge from the supernatural entity to other people...
. Folsom worked on the Nauvoo Temple
Nauvoo Temple
The Nauvoo Temple was the second temple constructed by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, commonly known as the Mormons. The church's first temple was completed in Kirtland, Ohio, United States in 1836. When the main body of the church was forced out of Nauvoo, Illinois in the...
until its completion in May 1846 when Mormons were forced from Nauvoo.
At this point Folsom moved to Keokuk, Iowa
Keokuk, Iowa
Keokuk is a city in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Iowa and one of the county seats of Lee County. The other county seat is Fort Madison. The population was 11,427 at the 2000 census. The city is named after the Sauk Chief Keokuk, who is thought to be buried in Rand Park...
.
Folsom committed to follow Brigham Young
Brigham Young
Brigham Young was an American leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and a settler of the Western United States. He was the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1847 until his death in 1877, he founded Salt Lake City, and he served as the first governor of the Utah...
to Utah. In 1854 he set out for Salt Lake City but arrived at Council Bluffs, Iowa
Council Bluffs, Iowa
Council Bluffs, known until 1852 as Kanesville, Iowathe historic starting point of the Mormon Trail and eventual northernmost anchor town of the other emigrant trailsis a city in and the county seat of Pottawattamie County, Iowa, United States and is on the east bank of the Missouri River across...
ten days too late to join the last company west. Instead he stayed at Council Bluffs for six years employed as a builder. Notably, he worked on columns for the Nebraska Territory
Nebraska Territory
The Territory of Nebraska was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 30, 1854, until March 1, 1867, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Nebraska. The Nebraska Territory was created by the Kansas–Nebraska Act of 1854...
capitol building, which were transported across the Missouri River
Missouri River
The Missouri River flows through the central United States, and is a tributary of the Mississippi River. It is the longest river in North America and drains the third largest area, though only the thirteenth largest by discharge. The Missouri's watershed encompasses most of the American Great...
from Council Bluffs to Omaha
Omaha, Nebraska
Omaha is the largest city in the state of Nebraska, United States, and is the county seat of Douglas County. It is located in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about 20 miles north of the mouth of the Platte River...
.
In 1860 he finally set out for Salt Lake with a relatively large outfit of four wagon teams. Soon after his October 3 arrival in Salt Lake City the skilled builder opened shop on Main Street downtown. Brigham Young, leader of the Mormons in Utah, put him to work on church projects almost immediately. He was sustained as church architect in the October 1861 LDS General Conference.
Folsom worked prolifically in the 1860s. By 1864 he was panner in two constructions firms. Folsom himself drew the plans or was involved in the construction of many historic Utah buildings including the Old Salt Lake Theater, the Salt Lake Tabernacle
Salt Lake Tabernacle
The Salt Lake Tabernacle, also known as the Mormon Tabernacle, is located on Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah along with the Salt Lake Assembly Hall and Salt Lake Temple.-History:...
, the Salt Lake City Council Hall
Salt Lake City Council Hall
The Salt Lake City Council Hall is currently home to offices for the Utah Office of Tourism and The Utah Film Commission and is located on Capitol Hill in Salt Lake City, Utah...
, the Provo Tabernacle
Provo Tabernacle
-External links:* * page by the City of Provo*, Photograph Archives in Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library*...
, the Provo Theater, the Moroni Tabernacle, and the original ZCMI building in downtown Salt Lake City. Folsom also had ecclesiastical duties in the LDS Church, serving first as a high councilor and then as first councilor to the Salt Lake Stake in 1874.
In 1867 Angell was again made church architect and Folsom was made his assistant. While serving as an assistant to Church Architect Truman O. Angell
Truman O. Angell
Truman Osborn Angell served many years as Church Architect for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and was a member of the vanguard company of Mormon pioneers, entering the Salt Lake Valley on July 24, 1847. He designed the Salt Lake Temple, the Lion House, the Beehive House, the...
, in 1877 Folsom was called by the LDS Church to design the Manti Utah Temple
Manti Utah Temple
The Manti Utah Temple is the fifth constructed temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . Located in the city of Manti, Utah, it was the third LDS temple built west of the Mississippi River after the Mormons' great trek westward. The Manti Utah Temple (formerly the Manti Temple)...
, where he lived in Manti, Utah
Manti, Utah
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 3,040 people, 930 households, and 742 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,560.2 people per square mile . There were 1,010 housing units at an average density of 518.3 per square mile...
until the temple's completion in 1888. Returning to Salt Lake, he was building inspector under Mayor John Clark until 1890. He served some of his last years as an LDS patriarch before his death on March 20, 1901.
See also
- Temple architecture (Latter-day Saints)
- List of temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints