Henry Grow, Jr. (October 1, 1817 – November 4, 1891) was a

Latter-day Saint Mormons are a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's death in 1844, the movement split into several ...

Mormon Mormons are a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's death in 1844, the movement split into severa ...

") builder and civil engineer in

pioneer Pioneer commonly refers to a settler who migrates to previously uninhabited or sparsely inhabited land. In the United States pioneer commonly refers to an American pioneer, a person in American history who migrated west to join in settling and de ...

-era

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

. His most notable achievement was aiding the construction of the

Salt Lake Tabernacle The Salt Lake Tabernacle, also known as the Mormon Tabernacle, is located on Temple Square in Salt Lake City, in the U.S. state of Utah. The Tabernacle was built from 1863 to 1875 to house meetings for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Sa ...

Temple Square Temple Square is a complex, owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), in the center of Salt Lake City, Utah. The usage of the name has gradually changed to include several other church facilities that are immediately ...

Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

. Grow engineered the meeting hall's unique elongated dome roof.

Biography

Grow was the seventh child of Henry Grow and Mary Riter Grow. Born in

Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvania Lower Merion Township is a township in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. It is part of the Philadelphia Main Line. The township's name originates with the county of Merioneth in north Wales. Merioneth is an English-language transcription of the ...

, he spent his childhood on his father's sixty acre (240,000 m²) farm. This farm was one of five bequeathed by Grow's German grandfather, Frederick Grow, to each of his children. In his early adulthood, Grow was apprenticed as a carpenter and

joiner A joiner is an artisan and tradesperson who builds things by joining pieces of wood, particularly lighter and more ornamental work than that done by a carpenter, including furniture and the "fittings" of a house, ship, etc. Joiners may work in ...

for the

Norristown Norristown may mean: * Norristown, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Norristown, Georgia, an unincorporated community * Norristown, Indiana, an unincorporated community * Norristown, Pennsylvania Norristown is a municipality with home ...

and

Germantown Germantown or German Town may refer to: Places Australia * Germantown, Queensland, a locality in the Cassowary Coast Region United States * Germantown, California, the former name of Artois, a census-designated place in Glenn County * Ge ...

railroads Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prep ...

. He eventually superintended the construction of all bridges under George G. Whitmore, president of the railroads and ex-mayor of Philadelphia. In May 1842, Grow was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints; he traveled to church headquarters in Nauvoo, Illinois, in 1843. Grow worked on the

Nauvoo Temple The Nauvoo Temple was the second temple constructed by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.''Manuscript History of the Church'', LDS Church Archives, book A-1, p. 37; reproduced in Dean C. Jessee (comp.) (1989). ''The Papers of Jose ...

until its completion in May 1846. By that time, church leader

Joseph Smith Joseph Smith Jr. (December 23, 1805June 27, 1844) was an American religious leader and founder of Mormonism and the Latter Day Saint movement. When he was 24, Smith published the Book of Mormon. By the time of his death, 14 years later, ...

had long been assassinated by a mob, and the church had schismed as Mormons were being driven from Nauvoo. Following the leadership of

Brigham Young Brigham Young (; June 1, 1801August 29, 1877) was an American religious leader and politician. He was the second president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), from 1847 until his death in 1877. During his time as ch ...

, Grow traveled across the Great Plains to Utah in 1851 as part of the James Cummings Company. He arrived in Salt Lake Valley on October 1, 1851, his 34th birthday. Grow settled north of present-day Ogden, Utah, but was called to

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the capital and most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in Utah. With a population of 200,133 in 2020, th ...

by Young in 1852 to oversee construction projects for

Utah Territory The Territory of Utah was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from September 9, 1850, until January 4, 1896, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Utah, the 45th state ...

and for

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a nontrinitarian Christian church that considers itself to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The ch ...

(LDS Church). In 1853, Grow designed and built the first suspension bridge in Utah, over the

Weber River The Weber River ( ) is a long river of northern Utah, United States. It begins in the northwest of the Uinta Mountains and empties into the Great Salt Lake. The Weber River was named for American fur trapper John Henry Weber. The Weber River ...

. He was also superintendent for the construction of the original

Sugar House A sugar shack (french: cabane à sucre), also known as sap house, sugar house, sugar shanty or sugar cabin is a commercial establishment, primarily found in Eastern Canada and northern New England. Sugar shacks are small cabins or groups of cab ...

sugar beet mill under the direction of

Bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is c ...

Fred Kesler. From 1854 to 1861, Grow built or rebuilt at least five sawmills, mostly in

Big Cottonwood Canyon Big Cottonwood Canyon is a canyon in the Wasatch Range southeast of Salt Lake City in the U.S. state of Utah. The -long canyon provides hiking, biking, picnicking, rock-climbing, camping, and fishing in the summer. Its two ski resorts, Brig ...

. He also worked on a cotton mill and built more bridges, over the Provo and Jordan Rivers. The Jordan River Bridge, finished in 1861, employed the patented Remington bridge lattice similar to other bridges he helped construct in Pennsylvania. From 1876 to 1877, Grow served a

mission Mission (from Latin ''missio'' "the act of sending out") may refer to: Organised activities Religion *Christian mission, an organized effort to spread Christianity *Mission (LDS Church), an administrative area of The Church of Jesus Christ of ...

for the church in

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...

, and

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, where he was able to visit old relatives. Upon his return to Salt Lake City, he was assigned to tear down the so-called "old Tabernacle" that stood on

and superintended the construction of the

Salt Lake Assembly Hall The Salt Lake Assembly Hall is a building owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) which sits on the southwest corner of Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah. It has seating capacity for an audience of approxima ...

under Obed Taylor. Grow built several residences, including a house for church president John Taylor, and acted as superintendent of carpentry of the church through the 1880s. Grow's last important project was the construction of the Deseret Paper Mill for the LDS Church-owned Deseret News newspaper.

Salt Lake Tabernacle

In the early 1860s, Young tapped Grow for what became Grow's largest and most famous construction, the dome of the

. Young had become infatuated with the idea of constructing the Tabernacle in an elongated dome shape. When asked how large a roof he could construct using a Remington bridge-style lattice, Grow replied that it could be "100 feet wide and as long as is wanted." Grow engineered the tabernacle roof to be across and long. Construction of the Tabernacle began on July 26, 1864, but construction of the roof did not begin until 1865 when all 44 supporting

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...

pier Seaside pleasure pier in Brighton, England. The first seaside piers were built in England in the early 19th century.">England.html" ;"title="Brighton, England">Brighton, England. The first seaside piers were built in England in the early 19th ...

s designed by William H. Folsom were in place. Grow rapidly built the roof structure from the center out, but encountered difficulty engineering the

semicircular In mathematics (and more specifically geometry), a semicircle is a one-dimensional locus of points that forms half of a circle. The full arc of a semicircle always measures 180° (equivalently, radians, or a half-turn). It has only one line o ...

ends of the roof. This difficulty dragged structural work on the roof into fall of 1866 even as other parts of the roof were being shingled. However, Grow finished and shingled the entire roof by the spring of 1867, before the interior of the building was finished. He continued to superintend the construction of the building until it was finished.

Personal life

polygamist Crimes Polygamy (from Late Greek (') "state of marriage to many spouses") is the practice of marrying multiple spouses. When a man is married to more than one wife at the same time, sociologists call this polygyny. When a woman is married ...

, Grow had seven wives, of which only four bore children. Chronologically in order of marriage, his wives who had children were Mary Moyer, Ann Elliott, Ann Midgley, and Julia Veach. They bore him seven, eight, one, and seventeen children respectively. Notable descendants of Grow include C. Scott Grow and Marlin K. Jensen, general authorities of the LDS Church. In 2012, Grow and Jensen helped plan a large-scale reunion of more than 3,000 descendants of Henry Grow. File:Henry Grow1.jpg, Photo from ''Pioneers and Prominent Men of Utah'' (1913). File:Henry Grow3.jpg, Another image

References

External links

Story regarding the re-dedication of the Salt Lake Tabernacle, BYU Newsnet, 2 April 2007
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grow, Henry 1817 births 1891 deaths Mormon pioneers Architects of Latter Day Saint religious buildings and structures Converts to Mormonism Latter Day Saints from Pennsylvania Architects from Utah American Mormon missionaries in the United States 19th-century Mormon missionaries 19th-century American architects Latter Day Saints from Utah

Biography

Salt Lake Tabernacle

Personal life

References

Further reading

External links