William B. LEONARD^{[1, 2, 3]}
1724 - 1805

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• Birth	17 Dec 1724	Taunton, Bristol Co., Massachusetts   [4]
  Gender	Male
  Died	Mar 1805	Pleasant Twp, Knox Co., Ohio   [3, 5]
  Death	1808	Knox County, Ohio
  Person ID	I119	Leonard
  Last Modified	22 Oct 2009

  
  

  Father	Benjamin LEONARD,   b. Between 1686 and 1690, Bridgewater, MA. ,   d. Jul 1749, Mendham, NJ
  Mother	Hannah PHILLIPS,   b. 1698,   d. 15 Feb 1733, Massachusetts
  Married	15 Aug 1715	Bridgewater, MA.
  Family ID	F00051	Group Sheet

  
  

  Married	15 Aug 1715	Bridgewater, Massachusetts
  Family ID	F00052	Group Sheet

  
  

  Family	Mary LOTT,   b. 1726, Northampton, Bucks, Pennsylvania, USA ,   d. 1800, Bet, Washington, Pennsylvania, USA
  Married	1745	Mendham, Morris County, NJ   [6]
  Children	1. Amos LEONARD,   b. Abt 1749, Mendham Twp, Morris Co., NJ ,   d. 26 Mar 1825, Solon, NY   2. Benjamin F. LEONARD,   b. 1747, Mendham Twp, Morris Co., NJ   3. Sarah LEONARD,   b. Abt 1751, Mendham Twp, Morris Co., NJ   4. Lot LEONARD,   b. 05 Oct 1754, Mendham Twp, Morris Co., NJ ,   d. 07 Nov 1847, Homeville, Greene, Pennsylvania, USA   5. Ziba LEONARD,   b. Abt 1756, Mendham Twp, Morris Co., NJ ,   d. 1814, Knox Co. OH   6. David LEONARD,   b. Abt 1762, Mendham Twp, Morris Co., NJ   7. Rachel LEONARD,   b. Abt 1760, Mendham Twp, Morris Co., NJ   8. Jesse LEONARD   9. John LEONARD,   b. 1755, Mendham Twp, Morris Co., NJ ,   d. 1813, Ellsworth, Trumbell (Mahoning) Co., OH
  Family ID	F00084	Group Sheet

  
  

• Notes

  Histsory of KNox County, Ohio IN THE summer and autumn .of 1999 a company, consisting of nine or ten families living in Green county, Pennsylvania, concluded to form themselves into a colony for the purpose of emigrating to the territory of Ohio, of which Knox county now forms a part. The patriarch, or the oldest man of the colony, was William Leonard, then in his eighty-third or eighty-fourth year. Previous to the time, when on an exploring expedition looking for land, in company with one or two others, he met with some men, owners of large tracts of military lands in this State, who conducted him to the place where Mt. Vernon now HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY. - 405 stands, then an unbroken wilderness, and showed him a tract of eight hundred and forty-seven acres one mile south of Mt. Vernon, on the Newark road, which he bought, paying for the same one dollar and fifty cents per. acre. He then returned to Pennsylvania to make arrangements for removal. These, for some reason, were not completed until about 1804, when the following persons started for their wilderness home: William Leonard and his oldest son, Amos Leonard; John Mills and family, Henry Haines and family, Ebenezer Brown and family, William Knight, Ziba Leonard, sr., and his son Benjamin, and Peter Baxter. They arrived here about the first of May, 1804. and commenced at once to improve the land above referred to. After the spring crop had been planted, and the cabins and shanties erected, a few of the emigrants went back to Pennsylvania to aid in removing the remainder of the colony. On the fourteenth day of November of the same year, they returned, bringing with them the family of Peter Baxter, Levi Harrod and family, and the family of William Knight. On the day of their arrival a daughter of Peter Baxter died, having been taken sick on the journey. She was the first white person known to have been buried in the county. With two or three exceptions the members of this colony were professors of religion. Those belonging to the Presbyterian church were William Leonard, Amos Leonard, Ziba Leonard, sr., Ebenezer Brown, Rachel Mills, wife of .John Mills; and Mary Knight, wife of William Knight. The history of Presbyterianism in this region probably begins with these settlers, they being the first of that denomination in the county. Although the Methodist and Baptist denominations had a few representatives in the colony, there was no sectarian feeling among them. By mutual agreement they were accustomed from the first to meet together for prayer and conference on the Sabbath and Thursday evenings at Ziba Leonard's, his home being the largest and most central. Their weekly meetings were somewhat peculiar, but very interesting. They were attended by the principal part of the colony. The religious services were followed by a supper, which was partaken of by all present. Early in the spring the little colony was re-enforced by the addition of the families of Abner Brown, sr., and Abner Brown, jr., from Green county, Pennsylvania, and of John and Jacob Cook, from Washington county. They were, however, without a minister of the gospel. There was not one living near enough to afford them even occasional preaching. This, of course, detracted much from their spiritual comfort, as well as subjected them sometimes to great inconvenience, as is evident from the following incident: During the summer (probably 1805) two. young men, Daniel Dimick and Amoriah Watson, millwrights by trade, came into the neighborhood, and entered into a contract with William Douglass, who had some time previous to this joined the colony, to build him a mill. They were here but a short time until they succeeded in forming a contract of a more tender and serious nature that of marriage-with two daughters of Ziba Leonard. The day for the solemnization of the marriage was fixed, and every preparation made, when on the evening before the day of the nuptials, it was discovered that there was no one who was properly authorized to solemnize marriages nearer than the town of New Lancaster, fifty miles distant, and reached only by a bridle path through the forest. The wedding of course could not be deferred. The proper official must be had, even if he should come from New Lancaster. Accordingly two men, Peter Baxter and Henry Haines, set out that very evening for that place. After riding all that night and all the next day, they returned about midnight of the second day with the necessary papers, a justice of the peace and his constable, and immediately upon their arrival the marriage ceremony was performed in the presence of the waiting assembly, which consisted of nearly all the settlers, together with a number of Indians. In the spring of 1805, the patriarch of the colony, William Leonard, who had been its religious leader, died, in his eighty-seventh or eighty-eighth year. He was a good man, and his loss was deeply felt. He was buried on his own land under the shade of a wide-spreading beech. His son, Amos Leonard, by common consent, became the leading person in the ecclesiastical affairs of the settlement. He was a very worthy, consistent man, and was for many years of great spiritual service to the people. 406 - HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY. The following spring and summer brought a large accession of emigrants from Green and Washington counties, Pennsylvania, among whom were other families of the Harrods and Browns, together with those of the Hunts, Dotys, and Boyles, settling mostly south of the Leonards, thereby extending the boundary of the colony to what was known as the Bell settlement. These families, together with that of James Loveridge, who settled north of Mt Vernon, constituted the additions to the Presbyterian element of the settlement during that year. The home of Jonathan Hunt, being more central, was chosen as the place for meeting on the Sabbath instead of Ziba Leonard's. About 1806 Rev. James Scott visited the new settlement and preached in the house of Ziba Leonard, sr., the first Presbyterian sermon preached in the county. In 1806 Mr. Scott preached a few sermons in Newark, and it was probably about that time that he visited this place. The town of Clinton had been laid out, and some improvements made in it. Mt. Vernon was laid out in 1805. Additions of families, principally from Pennsylvania, were frequently made. Among them were the Presbyterian families of James Colville and Robert Work. In the summer of 1806 or 1807, the members of the settlement concluded that the time had come for erecting a house of worship. Selecting a place for it on the road south of Hunt's, Amos Leonard cut the logs and the neighbors hauled and raised them. The logs of which the church building was made were unhewn, the roof was of clapboards, and the floor was the bare earth. Round logs laid on the ground constituted the seats. Two small poles of the proper height set in the ground, with a board pinned on the top of them, formed the pulpit, and a board laid on two pins driven into a log immediately behind the pulpit, made the seat for the minister. Thus rudely constructed and incomplete, was the house dedicated to the worship of God, probably the first house of worship in the county. The dedication service was undoubtedly performed by Father Scott. A part, perhaps the most, of those who worshiped in that house in the summer of 18o8, were organized into a church by the Rev. John Wright, of Lancaster. It was first called "Ebenezer," that being the given-name of the oldest man in the organization. --------------------------- Per Annie Harless 17 Dec 2007: Notes for WILLIAM LEONARD: William and his family and brother Caleb moved to Washington Co. PA in 1776. William located in Morgan Township in the vicinity of Jefferson (now Greene Co. PA) He then moved to Knox Co., OH. William was appointed by the King of England to be Justice of the Court of the Province of New Jersey. William's last will and testament was the first admitted and proven by the Knox Co. OH, Court of Common Pleas, on May 03, 1808. Will Book A, page 1. Will of William Leonard: (Left in original context) For the name of God, Amen. I William Leonard being of sound mind and memory, but weak in body and calling to mind the certainty of death have thought ________ to make this my last will and testament in manner following that is first my soul to God who is that he may have the same in mercy as for my wordly goods. That I am _________ of after my just debts and funeral expenses I bequeth in the following manner Vis: I give my daughter Rachel fifty-dollars, and the gift of my both real and personal that I am________ of _________son Amos. In witness_______ of _______ I have unto my hand and seal this fifth day of March one thousand eight hundred and six. his William X Leonard mark Witness: John Mills Thompson Mills Benjamin Brown William's Will was very difficult to read. It was handwritten and transcribed in the will book, with numerous marks that were covering words. I am unclear why the only children that were listed were Rachel and Amos, as many of his children were still alive at the time of his death. More about WILLIAM LEONARD: Church affiliation: Ten-Mile Presbyterian Military service: Revolutionary War, Teamster Morristown, NJ Will: March 05, 1806 Will Probate: May 03, 1808, Mt. Vernon, Knox Co. OH More about WILLIAM LEONARD and MARY LOTT: Marriage: Abt. 1745, Mendham, Morris Co., NJ




• Sources

  [S00241] Memorial, Genealogical, Historical, and Biographical, of Solomon LEONARD, 1637, of Duxbury and Bridgewater, Massachusetts, Manning LEONARD, (Name: 454 pp; 1896; Published on demand by Higginson Book Co., 148 Washington Street, Salem, MA. 01970;), GC 929.2 L553L., p68. [S00206] LEONARD Family History, G. Allan Vaughan. William B. Leonard (Benjamin, Isaac, Solomon) was born on December 17, 1724 at Dighton, Mass., the 4th child of Benjamin and Hannah Phillips LEONARD. [S00120] Descendants of William LEONARD (1724-abt 1806) by Anna Harless, Anna Harless, (Name: Self-published;). WILLIAM10 LEONARD (BENJAMIN9, ISAAC8, SOLOMON (JOHN SOLOMON)7, SAMUEL6, SAMUEL (LENNARD)5, JOHN (LENNARD)4, JOHN3 LENNARD, JOHN (ESQ.)2, GEORGE LEONARD/1) was born December 17, 1724 in Taunton, Bristol Co. MASS, and died Bef. May 03, 1808 in Knox Co. OH. He married MARY LOTT Abt. 1745 in Mendham, Morris Co., NJ. She was born 1726 in NJ, and died 1800 in Washington Co. PA. [S00120] Descendants of William LEONARD (1724-abt 1806) by Anna Harless, Anna Harless, (Name: Self-published;). WILLIAM10 LEONARD (BENJAMIN9, ISAAC8, SOLOMON (JOHN SOLOMON)7, SAMUEL6, SAMUEL (LENNARD)5, JOHN (LENNARD)4, JOHN3 LENNARD, JOHN (ESQ.)2, GEORGE LEONARD/1) was born December 17, 1724 in Taunton, Bristol Co. MASS, and died Bef. May 03, 1808 in Knox Co. OH. [S00206] LEONARD Family History, G. Allan Vaughan. The "Revolutionary War Veterans Buried In Knox County, Ohio" lists William... His burial place is listed as his farm in Pleasant Twp, same as stated in Hill's history. [S00206] LEONARD Family History, G. Allan Vaughan. William married at about age 21 in 1745 to Mary Lott at Mendham, Morris Co.