One of the little noticed chapters in the saga of the Salt Lake Tabernacle is what Richard Oman calls "kid power."

Deseret News file photo

Museum exhibit tells of "kid power" that helped build the Tabernacle on Temple Square.

Photo illustration courtesy Church Historical Library

An example of a child with a remarkable talent is Joseph Ridges who, as a boy in England, lived across the street from an organ factory where he learned the rudiments of organ making. He constructed the first Tabernacle organ.

Brother Oman, along with Kirk Henrichsen and Ray Halls, planned the current exhibit at the Museum of Church History and Art that spotlights the Salt Lake Tabernacle on the occasion of its reopening last year after extensive remodeling and seismic upgrade. The exhibit opened last year and continues through Jan. 11, 2009.

The recent service project at the museum involving girls from the Farmington Utah South Stake Primary, commemorating what pioneer-era girls did in making paper flowers for evergreen garland in the Tabernacle, illustrates the involvement of children in the building's history.

Children were involved early on, Brother Oman noted, mentioning that they paid tithing to help fund the building's construction. And the Tabernacle was a huge undertaking for its time, locale and circumstances. "Say, for instance, we were going to build another Grand Coulee Dam somewhere. What are the chances a 7-year-old kid is going to make any contribution to that dam?"

The Tabernacle, he said, was "an amazing achievement in the middle of nowhere with no money, with no technology. And the way they pulled it off is that everybody got involved, including kids."

The stories of Joseph Ridges, who constructed the first Tabernacle organ, and Joseph J. Daines, first Tabernacle organist, are examples of children with remarkable talents who were in place at precisely the time they were needed for their unique contribution to the Tabernacle.

Brother Oman said Brother Ridges grew up in England where he lived across the street from an organ factory where he often wandered. At one point someone took young Ridges under his wing and showed him the rudiments of organ making. The young enthusiast would travel around London viewing organs at newly opened churches.

Apprenticed as a carpenter, Joseph Ridges took his new bride to Australia, where he found work building houses. There, he built a small pipe organ — the first ever built in Australia — for the parlor of his house.

He joined the Church, then brought his organ to Salt Lake City, where it was placed in the Old Tabernacle, which stood where the Assembly Hall now stands on Temple Square. When the present Tabernacle was planned, President Brigham Young asked Joseph Ridges if he could make a large organ for it. With the confidence of youth, he said yes.

His effort took him to Boston, Mass., to obtain metal organ pipes and other materials. While there, he observed the installation of a European-built pipe organ in the Boston Music Hall, the largest organ ever installed in America up to that time. Brother Ridges patterned his Tabernacle organ after that instrument.

Putting it all in perspective, Brother Oman likened it to a hobbyist who had built ultralight aircraft taking on the challenge to construct a 747 jet aircraft in his spare time — and succeeding.

Joseph Daines, Brother Oman said, was a child in Norwich, England, where his family joined the Church. By age 10, he was playing a concertina and a little pump organ for special occasions. When the Daines family crossed the ocean to Zion, they brought the concertina and pipe organ along. Joseph rarely had to walk across the plains, as travelers wanted him to ride in their wagons to play the concertina and lift their spirits as they trekked along.

Camping with other new arrivals at Salt Lake City's Washington Square, young Joseph, now 11, was playing the organ for the festive occasion. There, he came to the attention of Brigham Young, who declared, "We have found our Tabernacle organist."

With Joseph Ridges, he traveled to Boston to obtain the materials for the organ, and he helped construct it. The instrument was finished by the time Joseph Daines was 16. He served as Tabernacle organist for decades and composed a number of what are now standard hymns of the Church.

The stories of Joseph Ridges and Joseph Daines are "part of why the Tabernacle is such a big deal," Brother Oman said. "It really is a microcosm of who we are as a people, and it pulls us together."

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