“Try to get the sisters to subscribe one cent per week for the purpose of buying glass and nails for the temple. I went immediately to Brother Joseph and told him what seemed to be the whisperings of the still small voice to me.” — Mercy Thompson¹

Mercy Fielding Thompson and May Fielding Smith wished to help contribute to building the temple. Through the whisperings of the spirit, Mercy was inspired to start the Penny Drive, where each Relief Society Sister would subscribe a penny a week to help buy glass and nails for the temple. Hyrum Smith assisted the women in the drive and gave an official endorsement from the First Presidency of the Church.²

Once the drive had been started in Nauvoo, the sisters sent a letter to their fellow sisters in England, asking them to donate their pennies as well. Women in England soon started sending their pennies overseas to Nauvoo. In Boston, the Saints started the Female Penny and Sewing Society, which met one day a month to sew, in addition to weekly penny donations. Across these various locations, over 1,000 sisters participated and donated their pennies to help build the temple.³ In total, these sisters raised approximately $2,000 for the temple.⁴

1. Mercy Thompson Autobiographical Sketch, 1880

2. Saints, Chapter 42, Page 516-517

3. Millennial Star 1840-1850

4. Boston Female Penny and Sewing Society, Minutes, January 28, 1845, The First Fifty Years of Relief Society