Josh E. Probert and Dr. Larry C. Porter, Church History and Doctrine

The Kirtland Temple has presided over the Kirtland Flats of Northern Ohio for 164 years as an architectural testimony of the faith and industry of the Kirtland Saints. Much has been said about the Temple and the events that transpired therein, yet there remained a paucity of information about its superintendent of construction – Artemus Millet. References to Millet are only passing ones in works related to the Kirtland period of Mormonism. To me, he deserved to be included among Truman Angell, William Folsom, and William Weeks as one of the great architects in LDS Church History. The goal of my research was to illustrate the important role Artmeus Millet played in the early years of the Restoration.

Although I have spent a considerable amount of time working on this, in a way I am still in the beginning stages. But I feel safe to claim that Artemus was a builder more than an architect. Maybe given a specific assignment to design something as grandiose as the Salt Lake Temple, like Truman Angell was given, Millet may have proved himself. Yet, his career was more of a high-quality builder than an architectural designer.

Millet also strikes me as non-presumptuous. He didn’t hold high offices in the priesthood organization, but seems to have been quite diligent in his duties. The leaders of the Church had great respect for him. Joseph and Hyrum Smith and the Young family were personal friends to him.

Artemus Millet was born in New Hampshire and moved around somewhat as a youth. Eventually he resided in upstate New York. Here he met the Young family including future Apostle and Church President, Brigham Young and his brother Lorenzo. The Youngs and the Millets attended the same Methodist church in Oswego.

Their friendship would prove vital to the Church years later. This friendship was reunited in 1833 when Joseph Smith sent the Young brothers to Ontario, Canada on a special mission to convert Millet. The leadership of the Church had found themselves perplexed concerning the construction of the Kirtland Temple. Joseph Smith had negated suggestions from the Brethren to build the Temple out of wood. He said he would show them a “better way.” That better way – brickmaking – soon failed. The brick kiln, not far from the Temple site, blew up, a worker was killed, and the bricks were of low quality. In addition, it would have been too expensive to buy them. As Joseph Smith was discussing this problem, Lorenzo Young told him, “‘I know the very man who is capable of doing this work . . . Artemus Millet.’ The Prophet turned to Brigham and said, ‘I give you a mission to go to Canada and baptize Brother Artemus Millet, and bring him here. Tell him to bring a thousand dollars with him.’”i[1]

Artemus received the gospel and immediately acquiesced to the Prophet’s instructions. He was assigned as superintendent of construction upon his arrival in Kirtland. He oversaw much of the work on the Temple, but, from what we can tell, was more involved with the exterior than the interior of the structure. Millet introduced rubble-stone construction to the Saints as the best method to build the Temple. In this method, stones were mortared together in an unaesthetic way. Stucco was then placed over the exterior to make surface smooth. The stucco was then painted to look like brick.

Millet’s contribution to the Kirtland period was pivotal. It came at a time of crisis for the Church, especially in Missouri. The Saints faith was surely being tried during those incubatory years. Failure to construct the Temple after their theretofore sacrifices may have caused many to lose faith in the Prophet and his program.

After the completion of the Temple, he returned to Canada, got his family, and met the Church in Nauvoo. Here, he was also involved in the Temple construction, though it is unclear how to what extent.

When the Millet family arrived in Utah, Brigham Young sent them to settle in Manti. Here Artemus was the president of the High Council. He continued his architectural endeavors in Utah. The archival records reveal that he built a carriage house in Salt Lake and a residence in Manti, both for Brigham Young. There is also an extant house in Rockville, Utah that Millet built with his son, Alma.

Information on Artmeus Millet is sparse. This paucity is explained by a history given by his son, Joseph Millet. In it, Joseph tells of a maid-servant throwing all of his father’s papers into a fire soon after he died thinking they were rubbish. Included in the burnt records was an extensive personal history and genealogy supposedly written by Artemus himself.

I have researched the archives of the LDS Historical Department, the Utah State Historical Society, Brigham Young University, and other sources. The most significant “finds” have been those records shared by the Millet family. I visited Don Millet in Mesa, Arizona, who is the chairman of the Millet Family Foundation. A descendent of Artemus, Don shared copies of a reminiscence by Artemus, a photocopy of a patriarchal blessing, deed records and an aerial photo of a large house Artemus built in southern Utah. Most importantly, I obtained a photograph of Artemus. It is the only one known to exist. Shortly before he passed away, Artemus’ children dressed him up in his best clothes, sat him up in bed and took a photograph. The photo is about one inch square.

The research I have completed thus far has opened doors for me leading to bigger things. First, I will write my honors thesis on Artemus Millet’s contributions to the Church. Second, I agreed to co-author a book with Craig Manscill, Professor of Church History and Doctrine on Artemus Millet. It just so happened that Brother Manscill was doing research on the same topic as me, so we are combining our efforts.

References

• Millet Family History, “A Brief History of Artemus Millet, “ MS., 70-71 LDS Church Archives.