Leggroan, Hyrum

Biography

“Hyrum Leggroan, the clever colored halfback of the Granite High school football squad will captain the 1910 aggregation of pigskin chasers when the season rolls around again,” the Salt Lake Herald announced in December 1909. [1] Leggroan’s unanimous election as team captain that year reflected the central role he played on Granite High’s football team as well as the high esteem with which his teammates held his athletic abilities. He was re-elected to the same position the following year, or at least a Salt Lake Telegram reporter guessed that he likely would be: “Apparently Captain Hyrum Leggroan stands a good chance of carrying away the plum as he is about the most popular man to be found at the institution,” the Telegram noted. [2] When Hyrum attended Granite High during the early decades of the twentieth century he was one of only a few black students at the predominately white Salt Lake City school.

Hyrum, the eldest son of Henry Alexander and Esther Jane James Leggroan was born and reared in Mill Creek, a farming community southeast of Salt Lake’s downtown. His parents, both LDS, farmed there for more than fifty years. Hyrum and his siblings contributed significantly to the never-ending work which farm life entailed. The farm was the family’s primary source of income and the children were thus integral to its success. [3] Hyrum certainly learned from experience that hard work was necessary in cultivating a self-sustaining farm.

Hyrum came from hearty Mormon pioneer ancestry. His grandparents on both sides, also Mormon, were ranchers and farmers. His great grandmother, Jane Elizabeth Manning James, who arrived in Utah in 1847 as a devoted LDS convert, worked in the households of Joseph Smith and Brigham Young. Hyrum was less than one month shy of his nineteenth birthday when his great-grandmother passed away in April 1908. It was a notable event in the Salt Lake Valley as the then leader of the LDS Church, Joseph F. Smith, spoke at her funeral. It is hard to imagine that Hyrum was not there and likely gained a deeper appreciation for his prominent pioneer heritage.

When the Wilford Ward was established in 1900, in the new Granite Stake, Hyrum and other Mill Creek residents worshipped in the chapel that his Aunt and Uncle Amanda and Samuel Chambers helped to finance. He was baptized as a child and remained a member of the Church his entire life. [4]

Hyrum’s athletic prowess made him a popular student at Granite High School. The Butte Miner called Hyrum, “A wonder. Fast, aggressive, elusive and in the game constantly, he has the making of a football marvel.” [5] Not only was he a star football player, he played basketball and baseball for the school teams as well. One of the semi-pro baseball teams of his day wanted to recruit him, but he remained in high school. [6] As the grandson of slaves, he was the first in his family to receive a high school diploma. His talents were not limited to the playing field as he “discussed several phases of modern science” at his graduation exercises. [7]

In 1912 Hyrum married Nancy Caroline Leggroan or “Carrie” as she was called. [8] Carrie, the daughter of George and Sina Green Bankhead, was born in Wellsville, Utah. Her father was brought to Utah as a slave of John and George Bankhead. At the time they married, Carrie was not a member of any church, but joined a Seventh Day Adventist congregation in 1929. [9] She remained in the Adventist faith, and Hyrum retained his LDS membership. They had three daughters and one son. One daughter, Sina, died as an infant. Mildred, their oldest daughter, and their son Douglas received baby blessings in the Wilford Ward, and Mildred, at least, was baptized. [10] No baptism record has been found for Hyrum’s youngest daughter, Donna, who was born almost twelve years after her older sister, Mildred. When she sat for an oral history in 1977, Hyrum’s wife, Carrie, said that Mildred’s grandparents (Henry and Esther Jane James Leggroan) had taken Mildred to the Tabernacle to be baptized. [11] The baptism would have taken place before Carrie became an Adventist.

Hyrum registered for the draft during World War I and World War II but was never called to serve. [12] He continued to play organized baseball as an adult. Even in his forties, the local newspaper took notice of his athleticism: “The old saying that ‘you can judge an athlete by his legs’ was strongly substantiated Tuesday, when Hy Leggroan, an old-timer, stole home to bring his D. & R. G. W. mates an 8-7 verdict over Sugarhouse.” [13]

City government interested Hyrum in 1945. He ran in the primary election for one of two city commissioner seats, and then as a write-in candidate. The incumbents retained their seats, but Hyrum garnered 367 votes in the primary. [14]

Hyrum found work with the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad in Salt Lake. The railroad provided employment during the Great Depression and throughout the rest of his life. [15] While he worked as a hostler moving locomotives in and out of service facilities Hyrum came to the rescue of a vacationing woman who fell forty-three feet from a viaduct and had her hand pinned under a train engine’s wheel. When he witnessed the accident, Hyrum signaled to the engineer to stop the train. Commenting on the incident to a reporter he said, “It’s an awful sensation to see something like that.” [16]

In August, 1954, Hyrum died of lung cancer. He was sixty-five years old and still employed by D. & R. G. W. Railroad. His wife lived until the age of one hundred. She did not remarry and remained his widow for thirty-six years. She attested to his religious affiliation by saying that Hyrum was always a Mormon, even if he did not attend meetings as an adult. He was “buried a Mormon.” [17] Hyrum rests next to his wife in Elysian Burial Gardens, in Mill Creek, Utah. [18]

By Tonya S. Reiter

Primary Sources

Bankhead, Henrietta Leggroan. Oral interview by Florence [Leggroan] Lawrence. Salt Lake City, Utah, 1977. Transcript. Helen Zeese Papanikolas Papers, 1954-2001. Ms0471. Box 2, folder 3. Special Collections. J. Willard Marriott Library. University of Utah, Salt Lake City.

“Boys Deserve Credit.” The Butte Miner (Butte, Montana), 26 Nov 1901.

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Record of Members Collection. Miller Ward, Part 1, 1907-1935. CR 375 8, box 4218, folder 1, item 84. Church History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah.

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Record of Members Collection. Miller Ward, Part 2. CR 375 8, box 4219, folder 2, item 514. Church History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah.

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Record of Members Collection. Wilford Ward, Part 1, 1907-1941. CR 375 8, box 7640, folder 1, image 31. Church History Library, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah.

“City Candidates Campaign in Primary Race.” Salt Lake Tribune (Salt Lake City, Utah), 15 October 1945.

“Class of Sixteen to Finish at Granite,” Salt Lake Telegram (Salt Lake City, Utah), 8 May 1911.

“Colored Football Star to Lead Granite Team.” Salt Lake Herald (Salt Lake City, Utah), 2 December 1909.

“Engine Severs Woman’s Hand in Mishap.” Salt Lake Telegram (Salt Lake City, Utah), 7 March 1946.

“Game Little Granite Team is Playing Under Heavy Odds,” Salt Lake Telegram (Salt Lake City, Utah), 7 November 1910.

“Granite Defeats Jordan,” Salt Lake Herald (Salt Lake City, Utah), 22 October 1910.

“Granite Expects to Make Good Showing,” Salt Lake Telegram (Salt Lake City, Utah), 15 October 1910.

“High Jinks at Granite Saturday.” Salt Lake Telegram (Salt Lake City, Utah), 7 December 1910.

Leggroan, Celia Bankhead and Carrie Bankhead Leggroan. Oral interview by Ronald Coleman. Salt Lake City, Utah 1977. Transcript. Helen Zeese Papanikolas Papers, 1954-2001. Ms 0471, box 2, folder 8. Special Collections. J. Willard Marriott Library. University of Utah, Salt Lake City.

Leggroan, Hyrum. United States World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918. Salt Lake County, Utah. Washington D. C.: National Archives and Records Administration. Family History Library, microfilm 1,983,910. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah.

Leggroan, Hyrum. United States World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942. Salt Lake County, Utah. St. Louis, Missouri: National Archives and Records Administration. Record Group 147, Roll 38.

“Leggroan.” Presiding Bishopric stake and mission census, 1914-1935. Granite Stake, Miller Ward. 14 Dec 1914, 27 Oct 1925. CR 4 311. Church History Library, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah.

“Leggroan Will Remain with Granite High Nine.” Salt Lake Tribune (Salt Lake City, Utah), 11 April 1911.

“More than 210 County School Graduates to be Give Diplomas.” Salt Lake Telegram (Salt Lake City, Utah), 4 June 1907.

“Prospects for Eleven Good at Granite High,” Salt Lake Herald (Salt Lake City, Utah), 18 September 1910.

“Sixteen Students to Receive Diplomas.” Salt Lake Tribune. (Salt Lake City, Utah) 9 May 1911.

“Railroad Team Triumphs Over Federal Reservemen.” Salt Lake Telegram (Salt Lake City, Utah), 3 September 1926.

“Salt Lake City Primary Favors Incumbents.” Salt Lake Telegram (Salt Lake City, Utah), 24 October 1945.

“Telling Play of Leggroan Beats Sugar.” Salt Lake Telegram (Salt Lake City, Utah), 22 July 1931.

Utah. County Marriages, 1887-1937. Hyrum Leggroan and Carrie Bankhead, 26 June 1912. Database, FamilySearch. Microfilm 429,080. Family History Library. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah.

Utah State Board of Health. Bureau of Vital Statistics. Certificate of Death. Leggroan, Hyrum. File No. 1560. Registrar’s No. 1571. Utah State Archives. Salt Lake City, Utah.

United States. 1900 Census. Utah, Salt Lake County, Mill Creek.

United States. 1910 Census. Utah, Salt Lake County, Wilford (Mill Creek).

United States. 1920 Census. Utah, Salt Lake County, Precinct 3.

United States. 1930 Census. Utah, Salt Lake County, Precinct 3.

United States. 1940 Census. Utah, Salt Lake County, Precinct 3.

Secondary Sources

Leggroan, Hyrum. FindAGrave.com.

Documents

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