Item Detail
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Grover, Laduska Solome Tupper
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1826-1902
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MSS 8
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Biography
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Laduska Solome Tupper Grover was born May 22, 1826 in Nashau, New Hampshire to Freeman and Hannah Ladd Tupper. She married Thomas Grover in Nauvoo, Illinois in 1846 as his third polygamous wife. They traveled to the Platte River with the first company of saints after being driven from their homes in February of 1847. Thomas Grover aided in helping ferry people across the river and consequently, they did not reach Salt Lake City until August of 1847. After they reached Salt Lake City, the family moved to Centerville, and then Farmington. Their first home was a two-room log house with a dirt roof and floor, although they eventually built a two-story adobe house. Laduska and Thomas together had seven children, four of whom grew to adulthood. In 1849, Thomas went to California to search for gold. Laduska died March 1902 in Farmington from a ruptured appendix.
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This four-page typescript biography from the Margaret Steed Hess collection was written in 1852 by Laduska's granddaughter, Lucy Sanders Hess. Lucy describes Laduska as being of an 'average height, rather heavy set, and [having] black hair.' Laduska was illiterate until she was motivated to learn to read and write in order to receive and send letters. She was a good cook, but modest, and entirely devoted to her husband. The manuscript briefly mentions Laduska's family history and also describes the cold winter of 1849, when Thomas had gone to California to search for gold.
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1836-1925