# Leonard Grover

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**Leonard Byron Grover** (December 9, 1833 – March 7, 1926) was a nineteenth-century [American](/source/Americans) comedic playwright, theatre manager, opera impresario, and sports promoter, best known for his association with President [Abraham Lincoln](/source/Abraham_Lincoln).[1]

His best known plays are *Davy Crockett* and *Our Boarding House*,[2][3][4] believed to be the origin of the phase "make no mistake".[5] *Our Boarding House* premiered to great success January 31, 1877, at the [Park Theatre](/source/Park_Theatre_(Brooklyn)) in Brooklyn, and was the launch of the comedy duo [Stuart Robson](/source/Stuart_Robson_(actor)) and [William H. Crane](/source/William_H._Crane).[1] His play *Cad, the Tomboy* was a big success for the actress [Carrie Swain](/source/Carrie_Swain) for whom he wrote that work.[6][7]

Grover established his own touring company, the Grover German Opera Company, which presented *[Faust](/source/Faust_(opera))* and *[Tannhäuser](/source/Tannh%C3%A4user_(opera))* in New York and Philadelphia.[1]

He also established [Grover's Theatre](/source/Grover's_Theatre) in Washington, D.C., where President [Abraham Lincoln](/source/Abraham_Lincoln) frequently attended performances with his [wife](/source/Mary_Todd_Lincoln) and Secretary of State [William H. Seward](/source/William_H._Seward). Grover was reported to have "saved Lincoln's life" outside the theatre; on one occasion after a performance, the president's carriage was surrounded by an angry mob and his driver was unable to move, and Grover jumped up, took the reins, and drove the president and his party to safety. He was told afterwards that the president felt he owed his life to Grover's quick thinking.[1]

The president's son, [Tad Lincoln](/source/Tad_Lincoln), was attending a performance of *Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp* at Grover's Theater on April 14, 1865, when his father was [assassinated](/source/Assassination_of_Abraham_Lincoln) a few blocks away at [Ford's Theatre](/source/Ford's_Theatre).[8]

In 1909, he wrote a lengthy piece for *[The Century Magazine](/source/The_Century_Magazine)* titled "Lincoln's interest in the theater."[9]

As a sports promoter, he organized the 1860 fight between English boxing champion [Jem Mace](/source/Jem_Mace) and American [John C. Heenan](/source/John_C._Heenan) at [44 Union Square](/source/44_Union_Square), as well as wrestling matches between Scotsman [Donald Dinnie](/source/Donald_Dinnie) and New Yorker [William Muldoon](/source/William_Muldoon).[1]

Grover was born in 1833 in [Springwater, New York](/source/Springwater,_New_York). He died in Brooklyn, aged 92.[1]

## References

1. ["Leonard Grover, Playwright, Dies; Saved Lincoln's Life"](https://www.newspapers.com/image/686563240/?terms=Leonard%20Grover%20playwright&match=1). *The Brooklyn Daily Eagle*. March 8, 1926. p. 13. Retrieved March 9, 2024.

1. [*Our boarding house \[in, Davy Crockett & other plays by Leonard Grover : Frank Murdock : Lester Wallack : G. H. Jessop : J. J. Mccloskey. Edited by Isaac Goldberg and Hubert Heffner\]*](https://searchworks.stanford.edu/view/8418058). Proquest LLC. 2019-09-08.

1. ["Theatre programmes"](https://www.loc.gov/item/2012658439/). *[Library of Congress](/source/Library_of_Congress)*

1. ["America's Lost Plays"](http://www.leabooks.com/Professional%20Books/English-American%20Studies/Lit-Series/America's%20Lost%20Plays.htm)

1. Partridge, Eric (2003-09-02). [*A Dictionary of Catch Phrases*](https://books.google.com/books?id=YcWHAgAAQBAJ&dq=make+no+mistake+leonard+grover&pg=PA302). Routledge. ISBN 9781134929993.

1. "Footlight Flashes". *[Boston Sunday Globe](/source/Boston_Sunday_Globe)*. August 27, 1882. p. 4.

1. "Carrie Swain as "Cad, the Tomboy"". *[Boston Daily Globe](/source/Boston_Daily_Globe)*. October 13, 1882. p. 2.

1. Hutchinson, Robert J. (2020-04-07). [*What Really Happened: The Lincoln Assassination*](https://books.google.com/books?id=39DVDwAAQBAJ). Simon and Schuster. ISBN 978-1-62157-886-4.

1. Grover, Leonard (1909). [*Lincoln's interest in the theater*](https://archive.org/details/lincolnsinterest00grov). The Century Company. Retrieved 10 March 2024.

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Leonard Grover](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonard_Grover) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonard_Grover?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.