Frederick was a journal writer and documented much of his life, including spiritual experiences, dreams and visions. The following is an excerpt from his journal:
"Sometime in the year 1873, I had the following dream: I found myself standing east of where the
A personage appeared to me and said aloud, 'You marvel at this.'
I replied: 'Yes, sir, I really do.'
He answered in a mild sweet voice, 'What you see here is the foundation of a temple which will be built right here on this spot of ground in a short time from now, and it will be built by the free will offerings of the Saints, and they will be far better off when it is completed than they are now, and will be a great blessing, both temporal and spiritual.'
In the year 1878 I saw the foundation exactly as I saw it in my dream five years previous."
The Logan Temple was built completely by volunteer labor in seven years between 1877 and 1884. Frederick gave his part in this free will offering, including manual labor, as well as artistic contributions.
A fact that Frederick humbly omitted from his personal writings is found in Nolan P. Olsen's book Logan Temple, the First 100 Years:
"Beautiful hand-carved chairs were placed in each of the sealing rooms, having been made by Frederick W. Hurst. He also did the gold stenciling on the 'C' floor."
In the late 1970's, the interior of the Logan Utah Temple was completely gutted and rebuilt. President Spencer W. Kimball, who rededicated the completed temple in 1979, expressed regret for the need to reconstruct the interior because of the loss of pioneer craftsmanship. I am uncertain if the chairs carved by my Great, Great Grandfather's hands are still in use.
