Nauvoo Bell

Nauvoo Bell
Location	Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S.
Type	Bell tower

The Nauvoo Bell, also known as the Relief Society Memorial Campanile, is a bell tower in Salt Lake City's Temple Square, in the U.S. state of Utah.^[1]^[2]

It is also the name of the 1,500-pound bell in that tower, also known as the Hummer Bell.^[3] This bell is frequently confused with the bell from the Nauvoo Temple that was brought from Nauvoo, Illinois by Charles C. Rich’s company of pioneers. The original Nauvoo Bell was used as a signal bell in Nauvoo, Winter Quarters and then at Temple Square in Salt Lake City. It cracked in the harsh winter of 1849–50 and was likely melted down in an attempt to recast the bell.^[3]

The Hummer Bell was originally purchased from the Meneely bell foundries in Troy, New York for the First Presbyterian Church of Iowa City. Rev. Michael Hummer oversaw the construction of the building and the purchase of the bell, but was expelled by the church. During a dispute over his final pay from the church, Michael Hummer and James W. Margrave attempted to steal the bell to use in Hummer's new church in Keokuk, Iowa. During the attempted theft, a group of men from Iowa City stole the bell from Hummer and Margrave, hiding it in the Iowa River near the mouth of Rapid Creek. When the Iowa City men traveled west to join the California gold rush in 1850, they took the bell with them and sold it to Asa Calkin in Salt Lake City, who purchased it in behalf of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Hummer Bell remained in storage until 1939, when it was put on display in a church museum in Salt Lake City. At that time, it was confused with both the original Nauvoo Bell and a bell at Brigham Young's schoolhouse and began to be used as a pioneer relic. When the Relief Society planned and constructed their centennial celebration memorial, the Hummer Bell was incorporated.^[3]

The 35-foot tower displays multiple sculptures,^[4] including 1942 works by Avard Fairbanks. Benevolence depicts women and children and measures approximately 4 feet tall by 3 feet wide.^[5] Pioneering has the same dimensions and depicts a family with one man, one women, and two children.^[6] Both works, collectively known as the Bell Tower Plaques, were surveyed by the Smithsonian Institution's Save Outdoor Sculpture!" program in 1993.^[5]^[6]

References

^ Arave, Lynn (2005-06-23). "Nauvoo Bell's 'clang' is back on KSL Radio". Deseret News. Retrieved 2021-05-09.
^ "Nauvoo Bell Historical Marker". www.hmdb.org. Archived from the original on 2021-05-08. Retrieved 2021-05-09.
^ ^a ^b ^c Tracy, Shannon M.; Leonard, Glen M.; Watt, Ronald G. (2019). "The Nauvoo Temple Bells". BYU Studies Quarterly. 58 (2): 113–170. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
^ "Nauvoo Bell Tower & Relief Society Memorial | Utah Historical Markers". Archived from the original on 2021-05-06. Retrieved 2021-05-09.
^ ^a ^b "Benevolence, (sculpture)". Smithsonian Institution. Archived from the original on May 9, 2021. Retrieved May 6, 2021.
^ ^a ^b "Pioneering, (sculpture)". Smithsonian Institution. Archived from the original on May 9, 2021. Retrieved May 6, 2021.