RELIGION

Posterity of pioneer who helped build the foundation of the Salt Lake Temple gather

Oct 21, 2024, 5:16 PM | Updated: 7:29 pm

SALT LAKE CITY — A huge reunion was held at Temple Square for a family honoring their pioneer ancestor who helped build the original foundation of the Salt Lake Temple back in the 1800s.

“This is so thrilling. It’s almost overwhelming what this has blossomed into,” said Ann Staples, whose husband is a third great-grandson of James Staples, who joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in England and came to Salt Lake City to settle with the saints.

“I really feel like these ancestors and everything they did must be smiling down on us,” Ann Staples said.

“It’s an amazing Story,” Larry Staples, Ann Staples’ husband, said. “It’s probably the reason we are in America.”

The story of James Staples dates to the 1800s when the family said he worked alongside Brigham Young as a lead mason for the Salt Lake Temple. The historic Salt Lake Temple took 40 years to build and was dedicated in April of 1893. It is now undergoing a major foundation renovation that is expected to be done in 2026.

Larry Staples’ daughter Patrice Staples Winterholler thought it would be a great idea to hold a family reunion honoring James Staples. At first, she said it was rather small, and then it just exploded with about 200 people saying they were coming.

“There’s aunts and uncles and people we’ve never met, and we are sharing stories together, and we are getting to know each other,” Patrice Staples Winterholler said. “As a family, we all feel the presence of our ancestors and the work that they did. We think it matters to them that they are watching this. I have that connection to James. His presence kind of reminding me who I am and the sacrifices that he made.”

“I think there is something sacred about connecting to our past to know who we really are today. And the example they set of their willingness to make a change in their life to make things better for us,” Anne Staples Winterholler said.

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Posterity of pioneer who helped build the foundation of the Salt Lake Temple gather