Story of the Monument

The Miracle of the Joseph Smith Monument


Today was our first opportunity to hear the story of the monument.
Junius F. Wells (Son of Daniel H. Wells) began in the 1890's with the desire to find the birthplace of the prophet Joseph. He asked about buying the property, but at the time the church did not have the money. Several years later, in March 1905 Brother Wells met with a contractor regarding a granite monument for the birthplace of the Prophet. The contractor said such a monument would be feasible, so in anticipation of the 100th anniversary of the birth of Joseph Smith, Brother Wells received approval to proceed with plans to purchase the birthplace site. Wells planned to purchase the 68 acre farm of the original Solomon Mack farm (Joseph's Grandfather) but in the end, purchased the entire piece of property which consists of 400 acres (including a beautiful Stake camp called Camp Joseph - which is a story for another day).

The monument came from a marble quarry in Barre (pronounced Berry) 40 miles north of the memorial (Top Picture). Mike and I drove past it yesterday. It is the largest marble quarry in the world, and has provided some of the finest granite in the world. Brother Wells determined that the shaft of the monument should be 38 1/2 feet tall, with each foot representing a year of the Prophet's life. He wanted a "perfect shaft" from which to construct the main section of the monument. It was July 24th and he was told that it would take eight to twelve months time to have it ready, but he explained that it must be done before December 23rd or the object in view (the 100th anniversary) would be defeated.
Rush! Was the word given, and no expense was spared to finish the work. After a long search an appropriate piece was found and cut out of the mountainside. Then it was formed and polished. According to the Herald News of December 28, 1905, the shaft is the "largest single spire of polished granite in America."

It was a herculean task to convey the monument to it's present location. The entire monument weights 100 tons. The one piece shaft weighs 40 tons all by itself. The stones were carried by special railroad cars to Royalton. A new iron bridge had recently been constructed across the river, but it was not strong enouth to support the massive load, so the older wooden bridge was strengthened (practically rebuilt) with additional supports (at the church's expense). From Royalton the stone were carried by a specially built wagon that weighed ten tons with tires 20 inches wide. It was pulled by TEN pairs of draft horses. Traveling was extremely difficult because the road bed was soft and the tremendous weight of the stones frequently forced the wagon deep into the mud. To help with this problem, the wagons drove over wooden planks which were continually moved from the back of the wagon to the front. Then they came to Dairy Hill Road (a road we drive every day). The first part of that road has a 12% grade. When we drive up that part of the hill it is so steep that our car only gets 3.6 miles per gallon. Well, needless to say the horses could NOT pull it, but they did not give up. They got teams of oxen and used block and tackle to move it. The horses were still hooked up in the front but they put ropes around trees and used teams of oxen going the opposite direction to sort of "wench" the wagon forward. They would go about 30 feet and then have to stop and reset their tackle. It took them 31 days to travel the two miles up the hill.

Now remember it was winter. Wells had been told that during the prior winter there had been snow on the ground from November 13 until the middle of March. Because of this it was widely believed that the Vermont winter would prevent Wells from completing the monument before the anniversary. Well, it ALWAYS snowed in November, but NOT THIS YEAR.

There was another problem. About a quarter of a mile up Dairy Hill Road was an infamous mud hole called "Mr. Button's Mud Hole." The day before the wagons were planning to cross the mud hole, it rained, making it especially difficult. The wagon wheels sunk in the mud so deep they could scarcely be seen. Extra horses were called to pull the wagon back out of the mud, and plans were made to try again the next day. The men helping just shook their heads and said, "What are you going to do now Mr. Wells?" Brother Wells said he was going to go home and pray, and he asked them to do the same.

That night Wells recalled, "It commenced to snow, but the thermometer dropped in three and a half hours by 35 degrees, and the north wind blew the storm (snow) down to the sea." The following day the wagons traveled over FROZEN MUD, and it didn't snow until after the monument pieces reached the site. After nearly SEVEN weeks of hard labor all the sections of the monument were transported to the birthplace site.

Now can you imagine hoisting a 40 ton granite spire to a height of thirteen feet and standing it upright...in 1905? It was no easy task. special machinery was brought from Pennsylvania and on December 8th the spire was placed and the gigantic task completed, within the time set, without so much as a scratch on the polished surface, and with no serious mishap or accident. It was indeed a miracle.
This afternoon (Sunday) we drove up to the monument and our dear friend Sister Fisher told us the story and gave us a reproduction of the original newspaper from 1905. It tells the entire story, and it is amazing. The weather was perfect today and we enjoyed just being there in that beautiful and peaceful place. We miss you all, but WE DO LOVE IT HERE. We send our love and hope you are all well. Thanks to the grandchildren who have written us letters. We will write back soon. We love you all!