Written By Clair Leonard in 1987
What I remember about my parents:
Although I had many a licking and grabbed by the hair of the
head when I tried to get away from my mother, it was because I did not do what
I was told to do at the time. Playing came first with me, as it does with all
kids, and when a woman has a baby every two years her strength and nerves are
not in the best shape.
Dad was more easy going, and was a good provider, but mother
was the money manager. When I was a teenager and would have a run in with my
mother, I would go up and stay with my grandmother Powell. My mother was the
8th child of Sarah Jane and John Powell, born December 6, 1887. She met Leo
P. Leonard at Sunnyside. Utah while
working at her sister Florence's Boarding house. They were married June 17,
1904 and had nine children - seven boys, and two girls.
Mother was quite high strung and could get quite hysterical,
and would become a screaming female when something unexpected would happen. A
good example of this behavior is one that I will never forget. We were out in
Carbon Co. in 1919 when a cloud burst happened. It rained so hard that Price River
was flooding over its banks and the fire truck came down past our house at 2
a.m. with siren and fire bell blasting, and a string of cars behind.
Mother started screaming, "What's happening". Dad
went out and down to the river to find out what had happened. It seems that a young
couple had been parked to close to the river bank which had caved in and took
them and their car into the river. I don't know if they ever did find them. As
Dad talked with people. They were all afraid the Scofield dam was going to
break. The next morning they put a train of cars together, loaded the cars down
with men, scrapers and horses, and sent them up to the dam to save the dam.
Clark and I both tried to get on but they kicked us off.
