If you look really, really closely, you’ll notice that I’m simply re-writing the post I used to introduce this site more than a year-and-a-half ago. Ahem.

It (the site, that is) features a Leonard family database (still in the old template), a spiffy new design, and… ta-da… this wonderful new blog. If you could bear with me for just a few days, I’ll get everything upgraded, standardized, and working the way it was designed.

Now, you may ask, “What’s a blog?” Blog is short for Web log and it’s simply a Web page where you and I can share family history directly. Sorta like email, except everybody can read it. (Post a Comment on this post, where everyone can read it… or Drop Us a Line for actual email, that comes only to me.)

This is where I’ll post an occasional thought, discovery, or question… and you can let me know what you think. You’ll also find Comments links at the bottom of most Featured Articles… you can add your thoughts to those posts as well.

Here’s how it works… Scroll to the bottom of the page and click the “Comment(s)” link… The blog will ask you for a name (what you’d like us to call you) and a valid email address (which no one but me will see). Once that’s done, you can forget it ever asked. Go ahead, give it a try!

Now, on to the Leonard Family Legends & Legacies… These are a few of the details I’ve collected over the years… about my particular branch of the Leonard family tree. We date back to the Mayflower, moved on to southwestern Pennsylvania for several generations, then off to Ohio and on to virtually every state in the union from there.

All the info is available from the left-hand column, if you’re anxious to dive into the deep end of the pool… or you can stick around the shallow end (right here) to read the featured articles in the right-hand column. Either way, all I ask is credit where credit is due, as I have tried to do when sharing information so freely given to me.

And if you get lost… you can always find your way back to this lovely spot by clicking Home in the left column or the logo in the upper left corner of any page.

I hope you find something of interest at Legends & Legacies, and I hope you’ll let me know if you do.

Sincerely,
Rick Leonard

So here’s the proposal… leave us a comment with your first name, who you’re descended from, and what part of the country you’re in. Any particluar areas of interest at the moment? I, for one, tend to bounce from one subject to another depending on who’s called or e-mailed most recently. One thing I can tell you for sure, most of us ARE related, it’s just a question of how far back we have to go to find the link.

I realize that some of you are shyer than others and I don’t want anyone to be uncomfortable, so if you’d rather, just e-mail me: Rick (at) rickleonard.net. I really enjoy being able to “hook people up” (so to speak and get your minds out of the gutter)… when they’re living near each other and/or researching the same immediate family.

So that’s it. That’s all I’ve got for now and here’s what my own comment would look like, if I, uh, didn’t own this blog…

“My name’s Rick and I’m an alco… wait. Let me start over. I’m Rick and I descend from Solomon(1) through Isaac(2), Benjamin(3), Caleb(4), Caleb, Jr.(5), Daniel(6), William(7), Daniel(8), Guy(9), and my grandparents. I live in a Seattle suburb but focus most of my research on Iowa and southwest Pennsylvania. I focus mostly on my great-great grandfather Daniel(8), but I’ve learned a LOT about him by researching his eight siblings Edmund(8), Isaac(8), Lydia Ann(8), William(8), Joseph(8), Mary Jane(8), James Herron (8) and Thomas(8). One of my goals is to collect pictures of each of them, which isn’t easy, given that they scattered to six states in the 1800s. That’s not to say I’m not interested in the rest of the family, I am… there are some real characters back there! Feel free to contact me at Rick (at) rickleonard.net.”

If you feel like including an e-mail address that’s fine but it might be better to keep it private and I’ll ask you when somebody wants contact. I have most of your addresses already anyway.

When all is said and done, I’ll collect all the info and post it on a separate page, over there in the right-hand column, so we’ll all have reminders of who’s who, and where, and when.

Cheers, y’all!
Rick