William Weeks

William Weeks (March 11, 1813 – March 8, 1900), was the first church architect of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and is best known as the architect of the Nauvoo Temple.

Weeks was the son of James Weeks, Jr., and Sophronia Fisher and was born on March 11, 1813 on Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts. He came from a family of builders; his father taught architectural and building skills to his two sons, William and Arwin. Raised as a Quaker, Weeks converted to Mormonism in the southeastern states. Apparently, he was in Missouri when the Mormons were driven from that state during the winter of 1838–1839, and he settled in Quincy, Illinois. There on June 11, 1839 he married Caroline Matilda Allen, youngest child of Elihu Marcellus Allen and his first wife Laura Foote. Caroline was ten years his junior. Their marriage lasted sixty-one years and produced ten children, seven of whom died in early infancy.

In 1840 Weeks relocated to Nauvoo, where he built a new brick home, which still stands. When Joseph Smith, called for architects to submit designs for the Nauvoo Temple, he was so impressed with Weeks' drawings that he hugged him, exclaiming, “You are the man I want!” While Weeks was the temple’s architect, final decisions about the building design were made by Smith, who overruled Weeks on occasions. Most famous is Smith’s insistence that circular windows, instead of oval, be used in the temple, although Weeks insisted that such windows were a violation of all known rules of architecture. Smith did not extend such latitude over Weeks to others. When the Temple Building Committee got into an argument with Weeks, Smith prepared a certificate for Weeks that stated that “no person or persons shall interfere with him or his plans in building the temple.” When Smith was killed in June 1844, Brigham Young assumed Smith’s role as the church’s leader, which included oversight of the temple’s construction; Young even made his own changes to Smith’s design. Weeks did not see the temple completed, because Young insisted that he accompany the Mormon migration west so that he could design a new temple when the Mormons found a place to settle. On February 13, 1846, Brigham Young turned the final completion of the Nauvoo Temple over to Truman O. Angell.

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