A Brief History of Joseph Richardson Dover
(Compiled by Hortense Lloyd Yost - 1968)
Joseph R. Dover, the son of John Dover and Hannah Nixon, was born in Deswick, Cumberland, England on Oct. 11, 1823. He was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1847 at Newcastle, England. Elder Francis Laidiaw officated. In 1850 he went to Australia where he remained until 1871. He then came to Utah and arrived here on July 19.
His first work in Zion was on the Salt Lake Temple, where he remained until its completion. He sometimes acted as foreman, during the absence of J. Moyle. The engraving above the East doors of the Temple which reads as follows: Holiness to the Lord, The House of the Lord, Built by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints-Commenced, April 6, 1853 Completed April 6, 1893. This is just a small portion of his work which he put on the temple.
He built the first gas works in Utah under the direction of President Young. He then built the paper mill in Big Cottonwood, and later the marble works in City Creek under the direction of President John Taylor. He then went to Oregon where he superintended the building of the Cascades Locks under Col. Willard Young. He remained there for a period of seven years.
He died, July 7, 1904, in Salt Lake City, Utah, leaving a wife and eight children, ten Grandchildren, and four great-grand-children.
He died as he had lived, a faithful Latter-day Saint.
England had a policy to send people that they felt were undesirable to
Australia. They sent their criminals. They also felt that Mormons were
in the same class of people and sent them to Australia. That is why Joseph
Richardson Dover and his wife spent time in Australia. (Post script by Lyman Lloyd)
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