Ten Most Wanted

Every family has its own elusive relatives, be they in-laws or outlaws, and mine is no exception. So here's a list of my Ten Most Wanted pieces of family history. If YOU can provide any insight, there just might be a reward in it for you!

#1. & 2. Charles and Lydia Leonard Shafer... of Delaware and Marion Counties, Ohio, then Cherokee and Chautauqua Counties in Kansas. They met and married in Delaware County in 1856, migrated to Cherokee County in 1870 or so, and were last seen in Chautauqua County in 1885. No apparent record of them dying there. So where ARE they? See Lydia's History.

#3. Dr. Shafer... of unknown wherabouts. An elusive "Dr. Shafer" paid a timely visit to Leonard family historian Jennie Leonard Hutchinson in the early 1930s. Timely because he had come to see the orginal two-story log cabin that housed four generations of Leonards in Washington County, Pennsylvania. The cabin was demolished a few years later, but he probably took pictures that may STILL exist today! Jenny never gave his first name, but said he was one of Lydia's sons.

#4. "Indian Joe" Leonard... of Caddo County, Oklahoma. Actually, "Indian Joe" is just my own private pet name for Joseph Leonard (1837-1925), by far the most colorful Leonard I've run across to date. He married an Indian maiden, claimed to know the Two Bills (Buffalo and Wild) and General George Armstrong Custer. Got into LOTS of trouble with the US gov't. There must be a picture of him somewhere?

#5. Isaac Leonard... of Washington County, Pennsylvania. One of only two siblings who stayed behind when the rest of the family "Went West" in 1855. Isaac seemed to have trouble remembering his birthday and by the time he died in 1914, claimed it was exactly the same as brother Daniel's! And yet, there's no mention of TWINS in all the Leonard documentation. Isaac had offspring, I just haven't tracked them down.

#6. Mary Jane Leonard Strine... of Marion County, Ohio. Mary Jane met and married John Strine and had the good sense (taking the conservative view) to stay in one county for the rest of her life. You would think one of her descendants would have pictures, wouldn't you? I gotta get out there and LOOK for one!

#7. Thomas L. Leonard... of Loraine County, Ohio (near Cleveland). Same deal. Thomas and wife Mollie (Mattie) Thornburg raised a whole passel of kids (at least eight) in their many decades on the shores of Lake Erie... grandson Walberg Brown was a famous muscian/conductor. Sure which I could find a descendant who might have pictures of Thomas & Mollie.

#8. William Henry Leonard... of Cherokee County, Kansas. I actually know quite a lot about ol' William... except what he looks like. Pictures anyone?

#9. William and Mary Van Ort Leonard... Yeah, this one's a complete long shot, given that William and Mary were never very wealthy and portraits and/or photos were fairly expensive even at the time of their deaths... but I sure would like to know what they looked like.

#10. You... That's right, you are at the top of my most wanted list (despite being listed last). What good would a family history be if you had no one to share it with? And I assume you must be a relative of some kind or you wouldn't have shown up here. So contact me so we can stay in touch!