Personal History of Stanley Floyd Leonard written by himself

Written by Stanley in 1994
Born June 23, 1915, Price, Utah
Early in the morning of June 23rd, 1915, I was born to Leo B. and Zoe Ellen Powell Leonard, in Price Utah. I was number six out of what was to be a family of nine children -- seven boys and two daughters.

My father was born and raised in Kamas, Utah. He was a kind man, hard—working, dedicated to his family - working really hard to see that we had the food and clothes we needed.

My mother was a native of Price and lived there nearly all her life. She was a very strong personality, with a great deal of good common sense. She was a competent planner and could get things done that needed to be accomplished. Mother and father always kept our home very attractively, as it was one of the nicest homes in Price at that time.

One of the earliest experiences I can remember (when I was approximately three years old) is the night my family arrived home from Idaho. We pulled into the railroad station at Price. It was dark, wet, and cold. Years later, I talked to mother about these memories and she said that it had to have been when we came home from visiting Dad, who was working in Idaho. I can also remember a lot of people at the station.

We lived in Peerless for nine or ten years. While there, Max and Jack were born. It was my job to wash the diapers and, boy, were there a lot of them! Some wash days, usually Saturday, I headed for the hills and hid. A boyhood friend, Ken Howard, and I would take enough food to get by for the day. We would come slinking back at night, only to be rewarded with a good spanking.

I had little odd jobs to earn money, such as pass bills for a dollar, or work at the company store for a new pair of shoes, bananas, or whatever. We would have to go to Mutual and Sunday School at Spring Canyon. I joined the Boy Scouts in Spring Canyon, where I would have to go alone at night. It was scary coming home at 10 o'clock and I would run all the way. But at Christmas time, I was always the one who had the privilege to go up in the mountains to get our Christmas tree at Peerless. I didn't have to go far, just up a mile or so but the snow could be quite deep at times.When we moved back to Price, I remember that I got sick and had to stay with Dad and Birdie in Peerless, where I could be close to the company doctor.

Memories, Anecdotes, and Reflections on my Father Leo P. Leonard

Recorded April 25, 1991 by Max G. Leonard, seventh child of Leo P. Leonard.

Leo P. Leonard was born October 28, 1882 in Kamas, Utah, the youngest of five children of George Bradford Leonard and Julia Hillock. He married Zoe Ellen Powell of Price, Utah in 1904. He died March 1963 in Salt Lake City, Utah.

This is not a short biography of my father because I have not been able to collect sufficient data on his long and eventful life to do it justice. What I have recorded here are a few of my most vivid memories and anecdotes and some reflections about his impact on my life over a period of approximately 37 years from 1926, when I was slightly over three years of age until March 1963 when he died.

One of my first recollections of my father was meeting him after work as he came off the Peerless Mine tipple, walking with him to the miner’s bathhouse where he bathed before going home and sitting on one of the benches used by miners to undress while he removed the coal dust and sweat from his body with the other miners working that shift. The odor of sweaty bodies mingled with steam and soap are still clearly etched in my memory. It seemed, however, that no amount of soap and water completely removed the coal dust that collected on my father’s and the miner’s eyelashes and eyebrows, and around the fingernails. This contrast of white faces against dark eyebrows and eyelashes made a distinct impression on a three year old; Our walk home from the bath house was always enjoyable because dad would hoist me up on his shoulders and I could sit there and ask him all kinds of questions about his job as a Tipple Foreman and Weigh Boss, which he always patiently answered.