In a break with tradition for which I should apologize, this bibliography highlights only the more useful sources for this family history of James Leonard descendants, with some helpful hints as to where to go and what to look for. I assume that the family searcher is computer-literate and will use search engines like Google to locate and read information if once pointed in the right direction. Anyone can easily develop a huge bibliography these days with the help of the Internet. The problem is to determine which are most informative, relevant, and useful.
The following are, for the most part, not available on-line. One of the purposes of this book is to raise awareness of them and their contents, particularly for those instances where reference to them might aid in solving genealogical problems.
Elisha Clark Leonard (1819-1894) and George Marston Leonard (1880-1959), “James Leonard of Taunton, MA, Ironmaster, typescript with handwritten notes inserted. This appears to be a work under continuous revision from the 1840’s, when Elisha Clark Leonard started it, until his grandson, George Marston Leonard, died. It is in three volumes: Volume I covers the first five generations of descendants; Volume II covers the sixth, seventh, and eighth generations; and Volume III covers the ninth generation on. Hard copies are available at the New England Historical Genealogical Society library in Boston, the Old Colony Historical Society in Taunton, and on microfilm at the Church of Latter Day Saints Genealogical Library in Salt Lake City. The Leonards gathered their information from town vital records, direct contact and correspondence with Leonard descendants and genealogists, family histories, some publications such as the NEHGS Register, and occasional newspaper clippings. Most entries are not individually annotated as to source.
George Marston Clark (1880-1959) created a series of hand-drawn charts of the various branches of the Leonard family paralleling the information in the above typescript. These charts are available at the Old Colony Historical Society in Taunton.
Elisha Clark Leonard and George Marston Leonard’s papers were also donated to the Old Colony Historical Society by George Marston Leonard’s wife. These include notes regarding the New Jersey descendants of Henry Leonard, notes concerning the descendants of William Leonard and Sarah Bolton, and other supporting materials.
Harriotte Leonard Standish and Ruth Leonard Badger, “The Leonard Dictionary,” typescript, appears to have been finished about 1940 by Ruth. It consists of three volumes of Leonards arranged alphabetically by given name. Volumes I and II are of males, while Volume III is of females. The entries usually focus on one person or one generation of a family and include one or more sources of the information. They are like pieces of a puzzle, and it’s left to the reader to put them together in family groupings. Copies of The Leonard Dictionary are at the Old Colony Historical Society and the Genealogical Library in Salt Lake City. The latter on are microfilm, but with current technology, can be readily transferred to computer-readable jpg’s.
Charles M. Thatcher, “Thatcher Genealogy Papers,” handwritten manuscript, 1900 to 1920. Charles M. Thatcher was a lifelong resident of Middleboro who compiled genealogical notes on 16 families of Middleboro and surrounding towns from gravestones and gravestone records. These are available on microfilm from the Genealogical Library in Salt Lake City.
Journal of Stephen Rose Leonard, 1848, contributed by Nora Leonard Roy.
William W. Barton (Bill Barton), “The Establishment of the Iron Industries in America,” typescript, 2006.
William W. Barton, “Pre-American Ancestors of Our Leonard Ironworkers,” typescript, 2006.
William W. Barton, “Leonard Siblings Henry, James, Philip, Sarah, and Thomas in America and Some of Their Descendants,” typescript, 2006. These have been posted on the Internet at http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~bart/LEONARD1.htm, /LEONARD2.htm, and /LEONARD3.htm. Bill passed away recently, and it is hard to know how long they will continue to be posted. These articles are among the best-researched on the origins of the James and Henry Leonard family and are highly recommended to anyone interested in the subject.
Brian K. Awty, various typewritten and handwritten research notes supplied by Mr. Awty and Bill Barton. Mr. Awty’s published work appears frequently in the journals of the Wealden Iron Research Group in England, of which he is a past president. His final work was published posthumously by the Wealdon Iron Research Group and is listed as Adventures in Iron, http://www.wealdeniron.org.uk
Fanny Leonard Koster, “Annals of the Leonard Family,” privately printed, 1911. While some of what’s written in this book challenge one’s credibility (i.e., descent of the Leonards all the way from Adam and Eve) and some is just plain wrong (i.e., descent from the Dacre Lennards), this book is an important source of information about the descendants of James Leonard. It is supposed to come with a set of genealogical charts, but neither of the copies of the book I purchased had the charts with them. I eventually got a set from another Leonard researcher. The main problem with both the book and the charts is that the source of information is not given, so the family researcher is left to his/her own devices in seeking verification and further information.
Manning Leonard, “Memorial: Genealogical, Historical, and Biographical, of Solomon Leonard, 1637, of Duxbury and Bridgewater, Massachusetts, and Some of His Descendants,” Auburn, NY: Knapp, Peck & Thomas, 1896. The descendants of Solomon and James lived in close proximity, used the same given names, and are always a potential if not actual source of confusion for the Leonard family searcher. I have all of Manning’s Leonards in my data base as a major step toward eliminating that confusion. Elisha Clark Leonard contributed to Manning Leonard’s research, and there are a substantial number of Leonards who are descendants both of Solomon and James. Y-dna testing has proven that Solomon and James were not related.
John Adams Vinton, “The Giles Memorial; Genealogical Memoirs of the Families Bearing the Names of Giles, Gould, Holmes, Jennison, Leonard, Lindall, Curwen, Marshall, Robinson, Sampson, and Webb...” Boston: Henry W. Dutton & Son, 1864. Pages 280 through 310 cover the descendants of John Leonard, 1636, of Springfield, MA. After the first two or three generations, the descendants of John Leonard began to mix with descendants of James, Solomon, and Henry in western MA, NY, and NJ and by the 1800’s, all over the United States. We don’t yet have a direct male descendant of John whose y-dna has been tested, so we don’t know if John’s line is related to Solomon or James and Henry or neither. Again, all of this material is in my data base to avoid confusion among the Leonard descendants.
William R. Deane, “Genealogical Memoir of the Leonard Family,” NEHGS Register, 1951, 5:404. This was one of the first family genealogies to appear.
“Record from the Leonard Family Bible,” NEHGR 1878, 32:270.
Alice Allen Everett, “Leonards of Monmouthshire and Somersetshire, England,” The American Genealogist, Vol. 53, pp. 101-104. This is available on the NEHGR web site, www.AmericanAncestors.org.
Catalog of Members of the First Church of Middleborough, 1854. By its cross-referencing among members across generations, this book is particularly valuable for genealogists. It is also included as an appendix in Thomas Weston’s “History of Middleboro.”
Margaret Harris Stover, “Vital Records of Raynham, MA,” The Mayflower Society, 1997. This and other publications, particularly the Silver Books, of The Mayflower Society are very thorough and helpful. There were no Leonards on the Mayflower, but the Leonards arrived early and frequently married into Mayflower families.
Charles M. Thatcher, “Old Cemeteries of Southeastern Massachusetts,” 1880. This book can be downloaded from the Middleboro Library web site.
Robert E. Bowman, “Glimpses into the English and Continental Origins of Certain Braintree and Saugus Ironworkers of about 1650,” The Essex Genealogist, May 2000, pp. 1-16.
Tod Shacklet, “The Leonards of Lynn: A Case Study of the Integration of Outsiders into a Puritan Community,” manuscript, 9 June 1997. This research paper may be available on line.
The Internet seems to be expanding to encompass all digitally available data, but CD’s have been valuable in the past because they are quickly searchable. Some information will probably continue to be available only on CD’s. And some of these CDs may have proprietary and outdated programs to access them. Included below are CD’s that have been helpful in checking Leonard family data:
CD #203 Family Tree Maker: “The Complete Mayflower Descendant, Vols. 1-46 & Other Sources”
Genealogical Publishing Co., Jacqueline Ladd Ricker, “The Ricker Compilation of Vital Records of Early Connecticut” (the Barbour Collection), 2006.
SCD CC1, CC2, and CC3, NEHGS, “The Corbin Collection, Vols. 1, 2, and 3” 2005
CD-BR, NEHGS, “Bible Records from the NEHGS Manuscript Collections,” 2001
CD-TY, NEHGS, “New England Marriages Prior to 1700 (Clarence A. Torrey),” 2001
NEHGS, Plymouth Court Records, 1686-1859
The New York Genealogical & Biographical Society, “Worden’s Index to the New York Genealogical & Biographical Record, 1870-1998”
CDventure, Inc., “Vital Record of Rhode Island 1636-1850 (Arnold Collection),” 1998
Broderbund, Family Tree Maker’s Family Archives, “Mortality Index: United States 1850-1880,” 1997
Search Research Publications Corp., “Early Vital Records of Bristol County, Massachusetts to about 1850,” 1998
Search Research Publications Corp., “Early Vital Records of Bristol County, Massachusetts,” 2nd edition, 2002.
CD #169 James Savage, “Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England”
CD #526 Genealogy.com, “Massachusetts Genealogical Records 1600s-1800s”
CD #502 Broderbund, “Genealogical Records: Massachusetts Town, Probate, and Vital Records, 1600s-1900s,” 1999
Genealogical Publishing Co., Massachusetts and Maine Families, 1650’s-1930’s
Genealogical Publishing Co., Connecticut Local and Family Histories, 1600’s-1800’s
Genealogical Publishing Co., Genealogies of Connecticut Families
NEHGS, Genealogies of the Families of Braintree, Mass. 1640-1850
Genealogical Publishing Co.: Early New York Families, 1600’s-1900’s
CD #157 Genealogical Publishing Co, Family Tree Maker’s Family Archives, “Early New York Families,” 2000.
CD #402 Broderbund, Family Tree Maker’s Family Archives, “Marriage Index: New York #2, 1740s-1880s,” 1997
CD #160 Broderbund, Family Tree Maker’s Family Archives, “Index to Upstate New York Source Records,” 199
CD #238 Broderbund, Family Tree Maker’s Family Archives, “Genealogical Records: New York, 1675-1920”
CD #401 Broderbund, Family Tree Maker’s Family Archives, “Marriage Index: Selected Areas of New York, 1639-1916,” 200l.
CD #183, Genealogical Publishing Co., Family Tree Maker’s Family Archives, “Early Settlers of New York State 1760-1942,” 1997
Most family histories, particularly those over 100 years old, are available on line through Google Books or Ancestry.com or can be purchased in reprint from the New England Historical Genealogical Society. There are errors in almost all family histories, particularly because more and better information has become more easily discoverable and accessible since they were published. But these family histories are a good starting point.
Charles B. Gerard, “Descendants of Ralph Chapman,” Newburgh, NY, 1876
David Brainerd Hall, “The Halls of New England, Historical and Genealogical,” 1883
Benjamin F. Wilbour, “Little Compton Families,” Little Compton: Little Compton Historical Society, 1967
Betty Dean Andringa, Kenneth Wayne Olds, and Marion Deane Cooper, “Dean/Deane Family History, 1999
Caroline Leonard Goodenough, “Legends, Loves, and Loyalties of Old New England,” 1911.
Dorothy Chapman Saunders, “Bristol, RI’s Early Settlers,” 1992.
Eben Swift, “William Swift and Descendants through the Sixth Generation,” Yarmouth, 1923
Frederick Clifton Pierce, “Field Genealogy,” Chicago, 1901
George Andrews, “Genealogy of the Andrews Family of Taunton and Stoughton,” Rochester, 1887
George H. Swift, “William Swyft of Sandwitch and Some of His Descendants,”
Heman Howard, “Descendants of John Howard of Bridgewater, MA from 1643 to 1903,” 1903
John Arnold Byram, “Byrams in America,” 2nd ed., Baltimore, MD, 1997
Ruth Eddy, “The Eddy Family in America,” 1930
Sanford, “Genealogy of the Family of Kings,” 1866
Rt. Rev. William Andrew Leonard, “Stephen Banks Leonard,” New York, 1909
Thomas J. Lothrop, “The Nicholas White Family 1643-1900,” Taunton, 1902.
William Andrew Leonard, “Stephen Banks Leonard of Owego, Tioga County, New York,” 1909.
While histories usually aren’t all that helpful in establishing genealogical relationships, they do provide information circumstances that influenced the actions of our forebears. The following books make it easier to understand how the Leonards fit into early Massachusetts, why some moved west after the Revolutionary War, and what befell them as they did so.
Samuel Hopkins Emery, “History of Taunton from Settlement to the Present Time,” Syracuse, 1893
William F. Hannah, “A History of Taunton, Massachusetts,” Taunton: The Old Colony Historical Society, 2007. Leonards figure prominently in the early chapters.
Ralph Davol, “Two Men of Taunton in the Course of Human Events, 1729-1829,” Taunton: Davol Publishing Co., 1912. Note that this book is about two descendants of James Leonard: Daniel Leonard and Robert Treat Paine.
Thomas Weston, “History of the Town of Middleboro, MA,” Boston, 1906. This book has more useful genealogical information than most histories, including many generations of the members of the First Church of Middleboro.
Nathaniel Philbrick, “Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Commonwealth, and War,” New York: Penguin Group, 2006
Nick Bunker, “Making Haste from Babylon: The Mayflower Pilgrims and Their World,” New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2010. This book delves into the circumstances in England that led the Pilgrims and others to seek the freedom of the New World.
James Deetz and Patricia Scott Deetz, “The Times of Their Lives: Life, Love, and Death in Plymouth Colony,” New York: W. H. Freeman & Co., 2000.
Eric B. Schultz and Michael J. Tougias, “King Philip’s War,” Woodstock: The Countryman Press, 1999. James Leonard and his sons were close to the family of King Philip and seem to have played an ambivalent role in this war of survival. Understanding events in upstate New York during the 1700’s can be very helpful if your ancestors migrated through there during that period or in the early 1800’s.
Fred Anderson, “The War That Made America: A Short History of the French and Indian War,” New York: Penguin Group, 2005. The French and Indian War, 1755-1763, contained the seeds that led to the Revolutionary War.
Alan Taylor, “The Divided Ground: Indians, Settlers, and the Northern Borderland of the American Revolution,” New York: Vintage Books, 2006
Alan Taylor, “William Cooper’s Town: Power and Persuasion in the Frontier of the Early American Republic,” New York: Vintage Books, 1995. This excellent book provides insights into why so many Leonards moved west to New York with its rampant land speculation and within a generation or two continued west.
James Moore Swank, “History of the Manufacture of Iron in All Ages and Particularly in the United States from Colonial Times to 1891,” Philadelphia: The American Iron and Steel Association, 1892. Swank’s work is particularly helpful in exploring the European origins of ironmaking.
Robert B. Gordon, “American Iron 1607-1900,” Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996. This more recent book does not mention the Leonards, but does offer a reasonably thorough discussion of the evolution of iron refining in the United States.
Robert E. Bowman, “Glimpses into the English and Continental Origins of Certain Braintree and Saugus Ironworkers of about 1650,” The Essex Genealogist, May 2000, pp. 1-16.
Samuel Smiles, “Industrial Biography: Iron Workers and Tool Makers”, Jefferson Publication, 2015
Dud Dudley, Metallum Martis: Or, Iron Made with Pit-coale, Sea-coale &c. and with the Same , J.N.B, 1665, J.N.B. on openlibrary.org
Brian Awty, “Adventure in Iron The Blastfurnace and Its Spread from Namur to Northern France, England and North America, 1450-1650: A Technological, Political and Genealogical Investigation,” Wealden Iron Research Group, 2019; edited by Hodgkinson, Jeremy and Whittick, Christopher. Available from: http://www.wealdeniron.org.uk
www.ancestry.com. This superb web site is an example of continuous improvement over time, such that one can now build one’s ancestral tree on line, complete with referenced sources. It contains a wide range of genealogical sources. Still, one must proceed with caution in using information. There are many with the given name and surname of your ancestor, and the match you think you’ve found may not be the person you think it is. Particularly useful are the indexed censuses from 1790 to 1930, plus some state censuses taken at other times. This is a subscription site.
www.americanancestors.org (previously NewEnglandAncestors.org). This is the web site of the New England Historical Genealogical Society and is an invaluable resource for research relating to the New England states. Membership in the NEHGS is required for full use of the site.
www.familysearch.org. This site has a huge, worldwide data base of genealogical names and materials reflecting the Church of Latter Day Saints’ longstanding efforts to encourage family research. This site is free.
www.footnote.com. This web site contains the Revolutionary War pension files, among other historical resources. This is a subscription site.
www.worldfamilies.net/surnames. This site can be helpful in defining the y-dna patterns running in families. This site is free.
www.midlib.org/diglib/digcoll.htm. This site of the Middleboro, MA, library contains their reconstructed VR’s (the records were destroyed by fire about 1900), Charles Thatcher’s “Cemeteries of Southeastern Massachusetts,” and an index to many years of the local Middleboro newspaper. This site is free.
www.godfrey.org. This is the web site of the Godfrey Memorial Library in Middletown, CT. The library contains a huge amount of genealogical material available by paid subscription. Particularly noted are access to a wide variety of old newspapers and to the American Genealogical Biographical Index (AGBI). The Library has most of the AGBI-indexed materials and offers a copy service at modest cost.