Salt Lake County UT Archives Biographies.....Grant, Heber J. November 22, 1856 - 
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    PRESIDENT HEBER J. GRANT.

     The first native son of Utah to become president of the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints, to which he was chosen, November 23, 1918.

     Denied educational opportunities such as most young men of the present age
enjoy President Heber J. Grant is nevertheless a man of broad knowledge; denied
financial assistance at the outset of his career, he stands today as one of the
most prominent figures in financial and commercial circles in Utah. There was
one thing, however, that he was not denied—the religious training which laid the
foundation for the splendid character which has developed with the passing of
the years. His interest in the church broadened and deepened until, following
the death of the beloved and lamented President Smith, he was called to the
position thus left vacant. The story of his life has been most entertainingly
told by three of his close and warm friends, Orson F. Whitney, Horace G. Whitney
and Richard W. Young. From these articles liberal quotations will be made, as no
one is better qualified to speak concerning his career and what he has
accomplished as he has traveled life's journey.

     Born in Salt Lake City, November 22, 1856, he is a son of Jedediah M. and
Rachel Ridgeway (Ivins) Grant. His father died December 1, 1856, when Heber J.
Grant was but nine days old. While he was thus deprived of a father's
protection, he received the loving care and training of a most devoted mother,
to whom as the years passed he rendered every filial devotion. In this
connection Horace G. Whitney said: "In boyhood days, a little circle of boys
were greatly given to visiting each other's homes. It is a fine memory with all
of us to recall how our mothers interested themselves in the companions of their
sons. I well remember how Heber J. Grant's associates loved 'Aunt Rachel' for
her angelic disposition and respected Heber J. for his devotion to her. This is
the strongest impression I retain of our early boyhood association. Another is
the old school days in the University of Deseret, then conducted by Dr. John R.
Park in the Council House, which stood on the Deseret News corner. Most of us
had but a brief scholastic career—life was too exigent in those days to allow
much time for the acquirement of an education, but Heber J. Grant's associates
of eleven, twelve, thirteen and fourteen years of age, such as Orson F. Whitney,
Richard W. Young, Feramorz Young, Heber M. Wells, B. S. Young, Alonzo Young and
myself (to name only the closest intimates) knew what it was to 'plug' day and
night to reach their goals. The dominant characteristics of Heber J. Grant in
those days were ceaseless perseverance and intense application to his tasks, and
to one task in particular, that of becoming an expert penman. How well he
succeeded is well known to his business associates, and the skill he developed
in rare penmanship enabled him to earn many a dollar to assist his widowed
mother. The same intensity was applied to other pursuits, even to the favorite
sport of the day, baseball. He made up his mind to become an expert first
baseman and the astonishing amount of time he devoted to practicing for that
position was the admiration of all his companions. Later he became one of the
famous 'Red Stockings,' which vanquished the state champions, the 'Deserets,'
and rose to the foremost pinnacle of fame in the' local sporting world."

     That "The boy is father to the man" is an adage that certainly finds
verification in the career of President Grant, for the determination, industry
and resolute purpose which he early displayed have characterized his later
career in the conduct of his business affairs as well as of his churchly duties.
Horace G. Whitney has said: "My principal connection with him has been in the
business world, where he has been as active; and unwearying a worker as in the
religious field. As founder of the Utah Home Fire Insurance Company, organizer
of the State Bank of Utah, and one of the founders of the Consolidated Wagon &
Machine Company, three of the state's most successful institutions today (to say
nothing of the other prosperous concerns with which he is connected) he evinced
the keen discernment, the broad judgment and enterprising spirit which were
always his characteristics. His labors in organizing the first sugar company in
Utah' are well known in the business world. He took a leading part in raising
the capital for that institution and has always remained one of the most loyal
supporters. In the conduct of the old Salt Lake Herald when it was the organ of
the people's' party and when the late Byron Groo and myself were associated with
him, he showed the same zeal, with the result that that period stands out as
probably the only one in the checkered career of that publication, when it was'
in the dividend-paying class. HiS energy extended even to the editorial columns,
and (what is not generally known) he often furnished the ideas and sometimes the
articles themselves which appeared as the 'leaders' in that journal.

     "From the association of those times, reaching back nearly thirty-five
years and extending down to the present, I can say unreservedly that the big
reason for President Grant's success has been his observance of the rule of the
square deal and his fair and generous treatment of friend and opponent alike. If
he has a fault, it is, his inordinate generosity to those he loves—a trait that
alone has kept him from becoming a man of wealth. But I never knew a man who
cared less for money, and the only times I have ever heard him regret that he
had so little was when he wished to lead out and set the example to others in
some of the many charitable enterprises he was called on to promote. His name
was never lacking in any good cause, and whether it was saving a financial
institution to preserve the good name of his friends, starting a Liberty Loan
drive, or keeping some poor widow's roof over her head (a chapter alone might be
devoted to that subject), the signature of Heber J. Grant, like the name of Abou
Ben Adhem, 'led all the rest.' "

     Of the home life of President Grant, Brigadier General Richard W. Young has
said: "Brother Grant has been blessed with an unusually talented and worthy
family. His wives, Lucy (daughter of Bryant Stringham), Emily (daughter of
Daniel H. Wells), hoth of whom are now deceased, and his present wife, Augusta
Winters, were and are companions of whom any man of intelligence, character and
taste might well be proud. His daughters (he had the misfortune to lose both of
his sons) and his sons-in-law are accomplished and exemplary. His sense of
justice is unblurred—yes, even more, his consideration and charity are
exquisite. I sincerely believe that the man or woman does not exist whom he has
conscientiously wronged. I have often said that you might have Heber J. Grant
ground up, after the manner of ore at one of our valley sampling mills and
submit a sample for assay and that it would he impossible for the most expert
microscopist or analyst there to discover the slightest trace of hypocrisy.
President Grant has been a notable figure in the financial history of Utah. It
is perhaps true, it is my belief at least, that his absorbing apostolic and
missionary labors alone have prevented him from becoming one of the greatest
captains of western finance. His ability to grasp all of the factors of a
problem is quite extraordinary as is his resourcefulness. With clearness of
vision, almost unique among our own financiers, he clearly foresaw the future of
the sugar industry in Utah and was foremost in the effort to put that great
enterprise on its feet."

     In relation to his work in the church, one of his biographers has written:
"Heber J. Grant's religious activities are too well known to need describing.
More than any of his boyhood companions, he followed serious and religious
pursuits, and as a boy he was always active in church affairs. His appointment
as president of Tooele stake came when he was only twenty-three years of age,
and he was chosen an apostle under President John Taylor before he was
twenty-six. Since that time he has been an indefatigable toiler for his church
and has spent many years in the foreign service, opening the mission to Japan
and presiding over the European mission."

     A very intimate and interesting picture of President Grant has been given
in the words of Orson F. Whitney, who said: "I  have known Heher J. Grant almost
as long as I have known myself. We were boys together. I could say of him or to
him, with the utmost propriety:

             'Thou art the friend
             To whom the shadows of far years extend.'

And a very good friend Brother Grant has been to me. But of that presently. I
wish to speak of his character and disposition. He has qualities that appeal to
me strongly. His pure and temperate life, his habits of industry and the
princely generosity of his nature, have been to me an incentive and an
inspiration. It is said of our Saviour: 'He went about doing good.' Heber J.
Grant has followed that glorious example and proved himself a true disciple of
the Lord.

     "Gifted with rare financial ability, he has prospered in material things
and has long been known as one of Utah's ablest and brightest business men.
Acting upon the principle that the true mission of the man of affairs is not so
much in getting and keeping,, as in sharing and bestowing, he has made it a
practice to help deserving individuals and worthy causes and is in a position to
realize the truth of the proverb: 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'
More than one poor widow, with the mortgage lifted from her humble home, has
reason to bless the name and remember the kindness of Heber J. Grant. More than
one struggling author, unable through lack of means to launch upon the waters of
publicity the result of his literary labor, recalls as a sweet memory the timely
aid rendered by this enthusiastic friend to letters.

     "Brother Grant not only helps to publish books; he is likewise a liberal
patron of the sellers of books, always to the front with an order for copies of
any meritorious production. He likes to distribute them among his friends, for
the pleasure he derives in thus ministering to the intellectual appetite. It
matters not where the hook comes from —whether issued at home or abroad; it has
but to strike his fancy as good and wholesome reading and it is certain to meet
his approval and receive his patronage. He makes it a point to underscore any
striking sentiment, with a view to impressing it upon the minds of those to whom
he sends these delightful gifts.

     "For some time after the beginning of my acquaintance with Heber Grant I
did not understand him, nor do I think he understood me. Exceedingly sensitive,
both of us— quick to feel, easily hurt and perhaps over-ready to resent a
slight, real or fancied, we sometimes misinterpreted each other and spoke and
acted accordingly. But the bark was always worse than the bite; in fact it never
came to a bite at all. I soon found that my blunt, outspoken schoolmate was a
genial, kind-hearted friend, anxious to help me when I needed help and willing
to put himself out and add to his own cares in order to lessen mine. We were
little more than boys at the time; hut he was a manly boy, the support of his
widowed mother, industrious and thrifty, earning a good salary as collector or
bookkeeper in a local bank. Finding me out of employment, and very

wretched on account of it, he not only told me of a place that was open, waiting
for an applicant, but offered to sit up nights and teach me bookkeeping that I
might qualify for the situation. Another opening, more congenial, prevented my
acceptance of the well-meant offer, but I shall never forget the kind motive
that prompted it. He has done such things repeatedly for various persons. I
could name a dozen men, now prominent in commercial or professional life, who
began their careers virtually as proteges of Heber J. Grant.

     "A hater of sham and hypocrisy, an uncompromising foe to vice in all its
forms, he is fearless and unsparing in the denunciation of wrongdoers. But there
is another side of his nature. While abrupt and severe at times, he is always
kind and gentle to the aged and ailing and is an affectionate and devoted
husband and father. His love for his mother was beautiful, and she was well
worthy of his tender filial affection. He is quick to respond to appeals for
assistance and seldom waits for the appeal to be made before supplying the needs
of the unfortunate.

     "Brother Grant does not pose as an orator, yet few public speakers are more
incisive or more inspirational. He is great in testimony and when inspired his
clear-cut sentences have all the swing and flash of a saber stroke. His voice is
clear and penetrating; nobody goes to sleep while Heber Grant is talking. He
also wields a trenchant and ready pen. His favorite time for committing his
thoughts to paper is anywhere between midnight and daybreak. He is a model of
perseverance, a persistent overcomer of obstacles, a dynamo of energy, and a
gatling gun in execution.

     "As stake president, apostle, mission president and president or director
in various large business concerns, he has shown himself possessed of marked
administrative ability. Public-spirited and philanthropic, he manifests the true
zeal of the reformer and is in his glory when heading or helping forward a
movement for the moral uplift and regeneration of his fellows. If ever Utah
'goes dry' it will be largely owing to the indomitable will and energetic
efforts put forth by this oft-defeated but never discouraged champion of
prohibition. I regard him as an ideal successor to the good and great man who so
recently left us, causing a vacancy in the high and holy office of President of
the Twelve Apostles."

     Since these words were written Utah has ratified the national prohibition
amendment. It is a source of great joy to President Grant, just as is the
accomplishment of every plan or project that tends to the moral development of
the individual or the community at large, or the adoption of the high principles
for which he has ever stood.


Additional Comments:
Extracted from 

UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
ILLUSTRATED VOLUME II
CHICAGO-SALT LAKE: THE S. J. CLARKE PUBLISHING COMPANY 1919


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