Person Page 1,815

Eunice Sikes was born in 1733.

Harvey Van Horn was born on 1 November 1791 in West Springfield, Hampden County, Massachusetts. He died on 16 October 1846 at age 54 in West Springfield, Hampden County, Massachusetts.

Polly Van Horn was born about 1793 in West Springfield, Hampden County, Massachusetts.

Orpha Van Horn was born about 1795 in West Springfield, Hampden County, Massachusetts.

Benjamin Leonard Van Horn was born in 1805 in Springfield, Hampden County, Massachusetts. He died on 29 March 1865 at age ~60 in Waterloo, Jackson County, Michigan.

Sydney Van Horn was born on 13 March 1798 in Springfield, Hampden County, Massachusetts. He and Amelia Curtis were married about 1820. He died in July 1884 at age 86 in Troy, Bradford County, Pennsylvania.

They had 5 children: Harvey, Lester G., Leonard, Lyman, and Lester G.

Amelia Curtis was born in 1801. Sydney Van Horn and she were married about 1820. She died in 1870 at age ~69.

Hannah Halsey Cooley was born on 16 February 1810 in West Springfield, Hampden County, Massachusetts.

Henry Cooley was born on 18 August 1811 in West Springfield, Hampden County, Massachusetts.

Elvira Stevens Cooley was born in 1813 in Southwick, Hampden County, Massachusetts. She died on 10 June 1888 at age ~75 in West Springfield, Hampden County, Massachusetts.

Gideon Leonard Cooley was born in 1816 in West Springfield, Hampden County, Massachusetts. He and Harriet A. ("Hattie") Hull were married in 1840. He died in 1887 at age ~71 in Nelsonville, Athens County, Ohio.

In the 1880 Census, Gideon and Hattie were living in Athens. Gideon was a grocer. Gideon Leonard Cooley lived in Nelsonville in York Township, Athens, Ohio, in 1860.

Harriet A. ("Hattie") Hull was born in 1820 in Ohio. Gideon Leonard Cooley and she were married in 1840. She died in 1898 at age ~78 in York Township, Athens, Ohio.

Walter Clyde Leonard was born on 27 September 1875 in Wortham, Texas. He and Zoa Reid were married in 1892 in Texas. He died on 4 September 1945 at age 69 in Tyler, Smith County, Texas.

The following is from the family history as written down by Margaret Martha Higginbotham Jones for her son, Lowell (referred to by her as Sonny):

Our dear Uncle Walter…mother’s only brother…I’ve already mentioned just how much we loved him and his family. (My brother Jack was also named after him –“Walter Jack”); how we always went to their home for our family reunions. He and my mother were so close and enjoyed each other so much…both their “natures and dispositions” were like Grandpa Leonard’s…and how they loved grandpa! They were both very sentimental about their childhood and growing up at the old farm place and loved their own families…they especially loved old things. My mother kept house with most of Grandma Leonard’s old furniture and Bess still has a few old pieces in use even today. (As I have stated before, both their little girls died young –Esther and Marguerite). When Uncle Walter’s family visited us it was always a very special occasion, and mother would cook the best meals and the biggest you ever ate. We kids loved their two boys –Ray and Reid. Ray was the oldest and fought in World War I and was taken prisoner by the Germans in the Battle of the Argonne Forest. When he saw so many Leonard names on businesses in Germany he was afraid to give his right name fearing his captors would think he’d defected to the American side and would be killed. For this reason he stayed in prison for months and months in Germany and came so near dying from mustard gas which the Germans used during the war. When the war was over he tried to convince them that his name was really Leonard instead of the one given, telling them the reason he did so. However, they didn’t believe him, although they did keep checking with our government and were finally convinced that he was telling the truth. Ray was released to the Veterans Hospital in Houston, Tex. where he stayed for months. These were such worried and anxious years for Uncle Walter and Aunt Zoa…besides all of us. Finally the day came that Uncle Walter could bring him home. However, Ray was never the same after going through this terrible experience. Before he went to war, he always loved to come to our home more than any cousin we had (and we had plenty around). We girls loved him even though he’d pick up little snakes and wrap them around his finger…he’d have us running and screaming.
Reid as a little boy wore long curls below his shoulders. Aunt Zoa wouldn’t let Uncle Walter have them cut off until he was 5 yrs. old. He sure was an ornery little boy…perhaps those long curls had something to do with it. The last time I saw Reid and his wife, Mae, was at the family reunion picnic in 1938. Sonny, you were 2 ½ yrs. old and had long curls, but we did cut your hair that summer. They had two boys. I heard they moved to Austin, Texas, and wrote them there after we came to Calif. but my letter was returned with “no such name listed in the directory”. Ray died at 65 yrs. old during the 1950’s. Uncle Walter dropped dead on the street of Tyler, Tex. with a heart attack in Sept. 1945. He was 70 yrs. old and buried in Tyler. Aunt Zoa died a few years later. She was living with a sister in Dallas and I don’t know if they buried her there or in Tyler. If Reid is living (and his boys) he’s the last of the Leonard’s. I might add that Uncle Walter was superintendent of the Cotton Mill in Tyler for years and they also had a dairy on their 160 acre farm. Aunt Zoa and the boys helped with it.


The following is from the family history as written down by Margaret Martha Higginbotham Jones for her son, Lowell (referred to by her as Sonny):

Uncle Walter married Zoa Reid and they lived in the “Indian Territory” at Ada, Okla. (before it joined the States) for years. Then they moved back to Texas, to Tyler, built a pretty ole home on 160 acres. Mother loved him so much and naturally all of us kids did too. They had two boys and two girls (the girls died young). For years we gathered at their home for a “family reunion” on mine, dad’s and Mary Leon’s birthdays, Jul. 26. When all of us kids grew up & married and some having from 3 to 4 kiddoes made a big crowd. When Tootie (your dad) and I married we went once or twice. Then when you were 2 yrs. old, Sonny, you & I went together –think it was 30 of us that year (1938). All close kinfolks. We all talked it over and decided it would be our last one. I believe it was truly our happiest one.

Zoa Reid was born in 1876. Walter Clyde Leonard and she were married in 1892 in Texas. She died on 19 August 1952 at age ~76 in Dallas, Dallas County, Texas.

Mary Lois Leonard was born on 12 November 1879 in Pisgah Ridge, McCulloch County, Texas. James Leon Higginbotham and she were married on 15 October 1896 in Limestone County, Texas. She died on 23 November 1835 at age -44 in Tehuacana, Limestone County, Texas.

The following is from the family history as written down by Margaret Martha Higginbotham Jones for her son, Lowell (referred to by her as Sonny):

My dear sweet mother (your Grandmother Higginbotham)…she was so kind and gentle. I can never remember her even giving us a “spanking”, except Effie –she did have to “whip” her sometimes because she was “so sassy”, high tempered, defiant and would slap and boss us children around and mother was forced to discipline her. Effie was our dad “in all her ways”. We were left alone with mother most every summer while dad was preaching at his Big Meetings. This was a truly happy time in our lives because we were all so afraid of dad, we could relax and have fun with mother. She always seemed so brave to us…never seemed to worry here that we were all alone. She kept a gun loaded by her bedside which I’ll never forget. I always got to sleep with her as I had such bad cramps in my skinny legs, and she’d rub them out. I also had such terrible nightmare dreams; she’d awaken me gently and tell me everything was alright. I have so many, many cherished memories of our sweet mother. One thing she used to say that would sure hurt us children…when she’d be dressing to go some place, she’d look in the mirror and say, “You ole ugly Black Dutchman” (you’ll remember I’ve said that Grandpa Leonard was of German Ancestry). We thought mother was SO pretty when she was all dressed up and we just couldn’t understand why she’d say this. Her hair was so black and her eyes so blue (I could write so many, many wonderful things about her…also how miserable dad made her with his temper fits).

James Leon Higginbotham was born in 1871. He and Mary Lois Leonard were married on 15 October 1896 in Limestone County, Texas. He died in 1942 at age ~71.

Alice Maude Leonard was born on 18 November 1881 in Wortham, Texas. She died on 15 April 1815 at age ~0 in Fort Worth, Connecticut.

Annie Myrtle (Margaret) Leonard was born on 6 March 1885 in Wortham, Texas. Benjamin T. Darsey and she were married. She died on 10 March 1958 at age 73 in Waxahachie, Ellis County, Texas.

Benjamin T. Darsey was born in 1884. He and Annie Myrtle (Margaret) Leonard were married.

Susan Matilda Hines was born in 1838. Samuel Sevier Leonard and she were married on 13 April 1856. She died in 1880 at age ~42.

Amy Elizabeth Leonard was born in 1857. She died in 1916 at age ~59.

Mary Matilda Leonard was born in 1858.

William Marshall Leonard was born in 1859. He died in 1866 at age ~7.

Matilda Elmira Leonard was born in 1864.

Maranda Leonard was born in 1869.