LATTER-DAY SAINT BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA
GROVER, Thomas, one of the original
pioneers of Utah , was born in Whitehall ,
Washington Co, New York , July 22, 1807, the son of Thomas
Grover and Polly Spalding. As the
father, Thomas, had died during the previous February, the rearing and teaching
of the infant, as well as that of his brothers and sisters was left to his
widowed mother.
When the
boys was twelve years old he entered a boat on the Erie
Canal as a cabin boy and twelve years later he became captain of
the boat “Shamrock.”
In 1828 he
married Caroline Whiting, the daughter of Nathaniel Whiting and Mercey Young,
and while they were still living at Whitehall ,
their oldest daughter Jane was born. A
little later he moved to Freedom, New
York , where three other daughters were born. It was at this point that he first heard the
Gospel and became a member of the L.D.S.
Church
From a
letter written March 2, 1886 by Caroline Nickerson Hubbard to their daughter
Persia Grover Bunnell, the following is taken:
“it was in Freedom, Cattaraugus
County , New York
Page 140
gained for and brought to Utah to help keep the Mormons from
starvation. This they did, by paying
four dollars a head for them after the men had earned if in California .
At this time Pres. Young also appointed Brother Grover to settle up the
accounts and business connected with the Saints who had come around Cape Horn
with the ship “Brooklyn .” This responsibility he also accomplished
successfully.
He worked
in the gold mines for a year and during that time he collected about $20,000 in
gold dust from the California
members of the church and turned it into the tithing fund of the Church. In addition to this on the return home, e was
chosen captain of a rich company of Mormons returning to Utah, when by his
influence and example the company put into the hands of the Church leaders in
tithing and loans such a generous contribution of gold dust that Pres. Young
putting his hands on Brother Grover’s should said, “Brother Grover, if every
Latter-day Saint would do as you have done there would be no need of a tithing
among this people.” (From the Journal of his wife, Hannah.)
In the
spring of 1850 Brother Grover took his family and went back across the plains
to Iowa to
buy cattle. On the way he met Aunt Lydia
Knight. She was very destitute and had
no team to take her to Utah . Brother Grover gave her a yoke of cattle,
clothing and food to last her until a crop could be raised. When the Grover family arrived in Iowa they settled on Mosquito Creek, and Brother Grover
went into Missouri
and bought 150 cows, ten yoke of oxen and some young cattle. They decided to stay ther for the winter so
that made it possible for his wife Hannah to go back to New Hampshire to get her mother. During the winter Pres. Jedediah M. Grant
came to see them and because of ill health he remained with them most of the
winter. When he was ready to return to
the Valley, Brother Grover gave him a team of horses and a light spring wagon
that he had bought for the purpose of bringing Grandmother Tupper in to join
the body of the saints. In the spring of
1853 Brother Grover and his family returned to the Salt Lake Valley Iowa was made by the
family traveling alone and without accident.
Brother Grover was a splendid marksman and so was able to provide his family with buffalo
meat and wild game.
After his
return he again settled in Farmington . The year of the grasshopper depredation he
had plowed his land in the fall and during a war spell in February he planted
his wheat. It came on early and was
ready for harvesting before the grasshoppers got so bad, while the late grain
was nearly all eaten by them.
That season
he harvested seven hundred bushels of wheat which would have brought five
dollars a bushel on the public market, but Brother Grover loaned and sold every
bushel of it, except enough for his own family, for the tithing office price of
two dollars a bushel.
At this
time Sister Brown, a widow, sent her boy to ask Brother Grover to sell her a
little flour, just a few pounds. Brother
Grover sent his son to fill a grain sack full of flour and put it on the boy’s
wagon. The flustered youth asked how
much a whole sack of flour would cost, adding that he had only a little
money. To which Brother Grover replied,
“I do not sell flour to widows and fatherless children.” As the sack was place upon the wagon the
happy boy drove away in tears. In 1856
two girls from England ,
Emma and Elizabeth Walker (not sisters) arrived in the Valley with one of
the handcart companies. Later these
girls became wives of Thomas Grover and both of them reared large families.
The “Big
House” as the family home was called was built in 1856 and is still standing in
a good state of repair, on the main street in Farmington .
Brother
Grover served three terms in the Utah Legislature, part of the time being
during its session in Fillmore. He was
also Probate Judge of Davis
County
During the
construction of the Cottonwood Canyon canal he contributed twenty-five young cows
for the purpose of transporting the granite blocks for the erection of the Salt Lake
Temple
In 1861 he
sent a driver, wagon and a yoke of oxen to the Missouri
River to help bring in the poor emigrating saints. He continued this practice each year as long
as teams were being sent back. In 1863
his son Thomas was driver of the team.
When the
Indians fell upon the Mormon colony near Salmon
River , Idaho Farmington
meeting house and boarded the men free of charge during its construction.
Brother
Grover was ordained a High Councilman in Kirtland, Jan. 13, 1836, under the
hands of Joseph and Hyrum Smith and Sidney Rigdon, Brother Rigdon being the
spokesman. Shortly afterward he moved to
Far West , Missouri ,
and served in the same capacity there and also on the banks of the Missouri river among the scattered saints. He was called by revelation to be a member of
the High Council in Nauvoo. (Doctrine
and Covenants Section 24, page 445).
This calling did not cease at Nauvoo, but continued on into Utah at the request of
Pres. Young. He served as a missionary
in the Eastern States during 1874-1875, and visited his old home and kindred on
that occasion.
Brother
Grover’s word was as good as his bond. A
common saying with him was, “A debt can never be outlawed; a dollar is due
until it is paid. If I were going to be
hanged I should go on time.”
During the
crusade of the early 80s, as he was returning home from Nephi, U.S. Marshal
Dyer boarded the train. With a sporting
twinkle in his eye, his son Joel came up to him and said: “Father, Marshal Dyer
is on the train, shall I introduce you to him?
You might arrange a compromise with him.” “What,” said the father, “compromise with the
devil? Never!”
Another
time a deputy marshal came to his home to serve a writ on him for
polygamy. When the man appeared at the
door and announced that he had a writ to serve, Brother Grover shouted in his
sonorous voice, “Read it. Read it.” The officer fumbled in his pocket for the
paper, but in his excitement could not find it.
At the repeated command, “Read it,” he turned and fled from the house in
terror. That warrant was never served.
At the time
of his death there were less than $200 in obligations standing against him, and
not a dollar’s worth of his property had ever been mortgaged.
At a
reunion of the family held in Parker, Idaho ,
July 22, 1902, his daughter Emmeline Grover Rich said, “My father was loved by
all who knew him. He never spoke evil of
anyone; he did not boast, and he did not take honor unto himself. Many times he has divided his last meal with
a sufferer. His word was as good as his
bond. He could neither be bought nor
sold. He was incapable of a little mean
or treacherous trick. Not one of his
children has apostatized.”
At the
death of his wife Caroline, in 1849, the kindred of Brother Grover wrote to him
from New York
to bring his six little children home to them.
The distracted father decided to do it and so told the Prophet Joseph of
his intentions. Brother Joseph was at
the time making ???for a somewhat extended absence from home himself, and so
said to Brother Grover, “You are not to do anything of the kind. I want you to stay her and take care of my
family while I am away.” Brother Grover
granted his request and his children often related how they had seen their
father load up his wagon with food and provisions and take it to Emma Smith and
her family.
About the
last Sunday in the life of Thomas Grover he attended the sacrament meeting in
Farmington Ward. As the amen was spoken
and the people were about to move, Brother Thomas suddenly raised his hand and
said, “Wait a minute, Bishop.” Then he
added, that he could not go home until he had borne testimony that the Gospel
was true and that Joseph Smith was a true Prophet of God. All during his late years he seemed to feel
that his special mission was to testify to the divine mission of Joseph Smith.
On
Thursday, Feb. 20, 1886, Thomas Grover passed to the Great Beyond, leaving four
wives and 26 living children to continue his work.
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