Welcome, welcome, welcome!

(Please bear with us, as we attempt to restore Leonard Family Legends & Legacies to it's origianl condition. Rest assured all the data is still here, it's just a little messy at the moment.)

Welcome, friends, to an entirely re-designed Leonard Family History Web site! It features an all-new Leonard family database, a spiffy new design, and believe it or not, some new Leonard family history.

It's all 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, you can always find your way back by clicking Home in the left column or the logo in the upper left corner of any page.

All that said, we're still working on a few bugs, so please bear with us. We're also working on a Leonard Family blog (web log, for those not familiar), so the far-flung members of the Leonard families can stay in touch. Give us another few days for the blog.

As for me, my name is Rick... Leonard, that is. And I got into Leonard family history for the legends. I stayed for the legacies.

My interest in geneaology began with the stories my grandfather used to tell... the stories about the old wagon trail in the woods on our Iowa family farm, the two mysterious strangers that came riding in at sunset, the overnight stay and the payment that arrived several days later.

As I got older and began to investigate these and other stories I'd heard as a child, I began to see the bigger picture... the picture of a 26 year-old kid, alone on a vast open prairie, struggling to eek out a living against considerable odds.

That kid was my great-great grandfather, and it's entirely possible that he did encounter Frank and Jesse James.

I discovered his eight fascinating brothers and sisters, one of whom rubbed elbows with the likes of General George Custer, Wild Bill Hickok, and Buffalo Bill Cody.

I discovered that his ancestors, and therefore mine, included the Mayflower Pilgrims.

And I discovered how many of us descend from that same set of remarkable trailblazers. We are the legacy.

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

Sincerely,
Rick Leonard