Heber J. Grant was the seventh prophet and president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He was known for guiding the Church through some of its toughest times including the Great Depression and World War II.
Heber J. Grant was born on November 22, 1856, the son of Jedediah M. Grant and Rachel Ridgeway Ivins Grant. His father died only nine days after his birth. Heber and his mother had very little, but his mother worked hard to provide for him. As a young boy, Heber had the opportunity to meet Brigham Young. After that initial meeting, Brigham Young invited the boy (about six at the time) to come visit him whenever he liked. Heber J. Grant said of his friendship with Brigham Young,
- I learned not only to respect and venerate him, but to love him with an affection akin to that which I imagine I would have felt for my own father, had I been permitted to know and return a father’s love (Preston Nibley, The Presidents of the Church, 13th ed., pp. 218–219).
At just fifteen, Heber was ordained to the office of Seventy. He finished school at 16 and was hired to work for a bank. In 1877, Heber married Lucy Stringham. She died in 1877 and he remarried two women in 1885. He was the last Church president to practice plural marriage, and by the time he became president, only one of his wives was still living. He eventually had ten daughters and two sons; both sons died as children. He was a devoted father, and when he was not home because he was traveling on Church business, he would send letters to each child.
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