Life Story of Leo Thomas Grover

I was the third child and first son born to Thomas Martin Grover and Isabella Hogg, in North Morgan, Morgan County, Utah on March 3, 1897.

Morgan is in a beautiful little valley in Weber Canyon where the Weber River flows. Our pioneer families settled on both sides of the river dividing the town of Morgan into North and South Morgan. My father's family settled in North Morgan on property that his mother, my Grandmother Heiner, had inherited from her family. Grandmother Heiner passed away when my father was 15 years old. My mother's family, the Hogg's, had settled in South Morgan. The young people from both North and South Morgan would meet at the "Switch" (railroad station) to visit with one another. Father had hurt his hand and was having a hard time tying his horse up. Isabella Hogg helped him tie it up. This act of kindness was the beginning of their friendship and courtship, which later resulted in their marriage on 29 June 1892 in the Logan Temple. My three older sisters and I were born there in Morgan.

Probably, my earliest memories were of my Grandfather Grover staying with us on weekends. I later found out he had been an Ordinance Worker in the Logan Temple. I remember thinking it strange he would always wear his Sunday clothes to "work" when we weren't allowed to.

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When I was about three, my father and Uncle Bob (mother's brother, Robert Hogg), decided to move their families to the Snake River Basin where many of their relatives had already moved. So early in the spring of 1900 they made their long trek. They had 23 cows, several horses, chickens and other livestock; and they traveled with all their belongings stacked high on two wagons.The move took three weeks.My father rented a home in Sugar City. Mother and we four children came by train. 

Dad and Uncle Bob built two log homes on 160 acres they each homesteaded in Salem, Idaho. In order to homestead, you were required to plant at least 40 acres of trees to cut down on soil erosion. They planted fruit trees, berries and pine trees. We worked hard clearing the land and planting crops. Mother had a large garden and any flowers she could find to plant. Her father (Grandfather Hogg) had been a professional gardener for rich people in Scotland before coming to America.

" This was the beginning of the Depression and we lost the farm and most of our belongings. We moved back to Driggs to a small farm a couple miles south of town with a small log house where we lived for several years. Most of the time there, I was Scoutmaster and Deacon advisor. On __ _____ 1933 our youngest child, Mary, was born. We still lived in Driggs, but Leone went to her folks in Sugar City to deliver the baby. Leone had a very hard delivery and nearly died, losing a lot of blood with complications."

(Thomas Martin Grover Family, children and grandchildren in front of the house on the highway in Driggs)