Personal History by Paul Bert (Jack) Leonard, April, 1994

I was born of wonderful parents, Leopold and Zoe Ellen Powell Leonard, April 18, 1925, in the coal camp of Peerless, Utah. I was the eighth child of nine -- seven boys and two girls. As I started my earthly journey, I must say, it was something to think about!

About My Name

My first name and birth certificate read Ervin Bye Leonard. Then my parents had a change of heart and were given another birth certificate a short time later that read Paul Bert Leonard. Down the road a few short years, I came to be known as Jackie Leonard, so this gave me a few aliases to work with so, to end this, my social security registration reads Jackie Paul Leonard. How did I get the name "Jackie"? I was a child who did not like to stay home and help with the many chores that Mother had for us. This one Saturday, at an early age, I had taken off to go to the movie at the Star Theatre. At this time, Jackie Coogan was a popular star. Well, I was only five or six years old and, coming home over the railroad tracks on Carbon Avenue after all day at the movies, with my bib overalls and one strap undone, a shoe missing, I looked like a neglected child. The family was out looking for me. When they saw me walking down the street, they said I looked just like Jackie Coogan and so the name stuck. Some called me "Jack in the Box". I was rather small for my age and, when I was supposed to enter the first grade, they thought I was too small, so mother said: "Jackie, wait 'till you're seven years old. From then on, I decided to be as big as other kids and took the next path and that was to be the best I could be.

THE ETHNIC NEIGHBORHOOD

I was raised in a very pleasant ethnic neighborhood. The French families, the Italian and Greek families had a strong influence in my life. We all looked forward to Greek Easter, with the roasting of two or three lambs in their back yard, eating Greek cheese, pastries and the main course -- Greek dancing, music and their colorful dress. These years, with the variety of families in our neighborhood had a strong influence on me to appreciate all people and enjoy their life styles.

GROWING UP IN PRICE

Playing roughneck basketball by Uncle Abe's corral was very close to mayhem. During the summer of the late 1930's, a few of us would take a small herd of cows from the Pitts family. We would get ten cents a day to take them south of town for the day and herd them back at evening for milking. I tried my hand at thinning sugar beets between Price and Wellington. It paid ten cents a row. I am sure the rows were one half mile long and, after a few days, I decided this was not for me. I would sooner be home helping there. When growing up, I shined shoes with Rex, Don, Reid and Eben Powell, my cousins. It was a time when the depression had not quite ended. Rex Powell made me a shoe shine box, so I could be with them. We would shine shoes on Main Street and go into the Greek coffee houses. Shoe shines were ten cents. After making many rounds and earning enough for a Saturday matinee ticket of five cents, we would go to the Utah Cafe and order a large hamburger for ten cents, with a bowl of soup for ten cents and have enough left over for candy at the movie. At that time, there were Flash Gordon serials plus others that made you want to go each week. There were the original "Our Gang" comedies, Laurel and Hardy, the Three Stooges, etc..

History of Clair and Blanche Leonard Written By Clair Leonard 1987

Born January 25, 1911 in Price, Carbon County, Utah. Educated at Price Jr. High and Carbon High School. Married to Blanche Ellison on December 9, 1929 at Castle Dale, Utah. Latter married in the Salt Lake Temple December 9/11, 1940.

Some of my early memories was when I was two or three years old I swallowed a peanut shell and was choking on it. I had turned black and blue from not being able to get my breath when my grandmother Sarah Jane Powell came into the house. She grabbed me by the heels of my feet, turned me upside down and gave me some quick slaps on the back. I coughed up the shell. I later developed pneumonia. When I was just a bit younger I received a scar over my right eat from a pan of hot grease. Mother was in bed ready to give birth to Evelyn, and dad's brother Fred and his wife Jessie had fixed a good meal for us. My brother Lee, however, decided he wanted fried eggs. Just as he started over to the table with the eggs, doctor Piske knocked on the door. I jumped up from the table to see who it was, and ran into Lee and the hot pan of grease. Another accident I remember was when we had been cleaning up the yard and was burning the trash. Someone picked up an old piece of garden hose that had been burning, whirled it around in the air, and I caught all the hot melted rubber on my face, hands etc.

Between the ages of four and five we were on a trip out to Uncle Lots in Altonah. We were traveling by wagon from Price to Altonah when I became very sick. At the time they thought it was typhoid fever, and said they almost lost me. Years later around the year 1937 when I was living on 7th South in Salt Lake with my wife Blanche and our two children, Norma and Jimmie, I had to have my appendix out. The doctor at the L.D.S. Hospital asked my mother if I had ever had an attack before. He said my appendix had ruptured at one time, healed over, and had grown to my back and other parts of my body. He said that I was lucky to be alive. Mother told the doctor of my early supposed typhoid fever sickness on our way to uncle Lots in Altoniah, Utah by wagon, and how it had taken us over a week to get there. The doctor said that this must have been when my appendix ruptured and that I was lucky to have survived.

Another experience was when Mother was washing clothes and someone came to the front door. When she went to answer the door I had to see how the wringer worked. I hit the leaver and my right hand got caught and went through the ringer. My hollering brought my mother on the run and she hit the pressure leaver that stopped the rollers and opened up the rollers. I don't remember going to the doctors, but my hand had been split wide open and looked like a hand full of hamburger.

History of Jemima Wimmer Powell, Utah Pioneer

The most part of this history is material supplied by a Great grand-daughter Mary Powell Blackburn, which was taken from an old record book in 1930 by Mary who found it at the home of Charles Wimmer, now deceased.

Other information from a family group sheet submitted by Jay Prince, and a few personal memories of a Grandson, Samuel Powell. This history written for Mary Blackburn— by Nora Lund D.U.P. historian 1970.

Born - 14th March, 1814 - Lisbon, New Castle, Henry Co. Indiana.

Died - 13th Dec. 1893— At her son Robert's ranch-near Price, Carbon County, Utah

Buried in Salem, Utah County, Utah.

Married - James Powell

Information furnished and history filed by Mary Powell Blackburn - Granite Park Camp, South Center Salt Lake County

(My Great Grandmother) Jemima Wimmer Powell was born 14 March, 1814 in Lisbon, New Castle, Henry County, Indiana. She was number 5 in a family of 11 children, born to Peter and Elizabeth Shirley Wimmer. The group sheet lists her brothers and sisters as Robert, born in Penn., all the rest who were born in Indiana were as follows: John P, Jacob, Polly, Susannah, Peter Martha, Elisabeth, Ellen and William. Only four out of this large family grew maturity and married, these were Robert, John and Susannah and of course Jemima. We have no death dates recorded for the other members of the family with the exception of Susannah, who married Simeon J. Comfort, no doubt in Hancock County, Ill. She was just 22 years old when she died, 2 April, 1840.

Jemima was taught the rudiments of home making by her mother, so was well prepared to take on the  responsibilities of a home of her own when she married James Powell in 1334 in Indiana. She was 20 years old and he was 25, having been born 13 Oct. 1309 in North Carolina. He was the son of Abraham and Elizabeth Powell.

Jemima's parents, Peter and Elizabeth Wimmer became converted and were baptized members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They were thoroughly convinced of the truths of the gospel, and felt they were making the right choice, but just being members of this unpopular religion meant trouble, and they had plenty. Jemima and James didn’t join the church then.