PRE-AMERICAN ANCESTRY of our LEONARD IRONWORKERS

 

On 2 Feb. 1732/3 Hannah (Leonard) Deane, a daughter of James & Mary (Martin) Leonard of Taunton, Mass., dictated to her grand-nephew Zephaniah Leonard an account of the English origin of our Leonards of ironworking fame (fig. 1).[1]

 

First, let us summarize what data we have on the pre-American lives of the children of Thomas & Elizabeth (White) Leonard.  (Note that I have added to the nine children identified by Hannah Deane, two children who died shortly after birth. Also note that Hannah listed the six sons and three daughters in the same order as determined below):

 

Child #1:  HENRY LEONARD (ca. 1618 – ca. 1695)

 

The earliest documented records of his presence in America appear in the Salem Quarterly Court Records & Files, 26:4:1649:[2]

 

§         “Wittnesses ag^t Pray strike Pinion & Tho: Billington & Jn^o Dimond, Jn^o Vinton, Henry Leonard, Jos Jyarks, Nich^s Pinion, Tobiah Saunders, Jn^o Dimond & his man” fined ten shillings at ye Iron works for a common swearer.

 

§         Henry Leonard’s wife and John Vinton’s wife fined for scolding, etc., by the worshipful Capt. Robert Bridges.

 

Also in the 1649 Saugus Ironworks account book kept by Richard Leader’s clerk, Thaddeus Riddan, Henry Leonard was paid 14 shillings for a hat.[3]

 

In the “Lynn Iron Works” manuscripts, £13/09/11 was listed “Soemuch being a debt deue from Hennery Leonnard alloued him upon arbitration.”[4] It is not clear if this entry was made in 1650 or 1651. (See my companion article, “The Establishment of the Ironworking Industry in America”).

 

On 27 Oct. 1655 “Henry Leonard of Hammersmith (i.e. Saugus) of the age 37 or thereabouts” made a deposition regarding a heap of spoiled coal at the Braintree Forge about 9 years previous.[5] This would indicate that Henry was born ca. 1618 and that he was in Braintree by 1646.  This latter date correlates with the 1645 date for the start of the Braintree ironworks.[6] Note, however, that Lewis & Newhall claim that Henry was in Lynn by 1642 and that the first iron foundry was in successful operation in Lynn (i.e., Saugus) as early as 1643.[7]

 

No specific record of Henry in England or Wales has been discovered.  However, it appears fairly certain that Henry and his brother James were ironworkers at Bilston, Staffordshire, shortly before their emigration (see #2, James Leonard, below).

 

Child #2:  JAMES LEONARD (ca. 1620 – 1691)

 

The first documented records of his presence in America appear in the “Lynn Iron Works” papers:[8]

 

§         To: James Leonnarde p 15 dayes

Worcke about y^e finnerey Chimneye,

and other worcke in y^e forg^e                                                £1-13-00

 

§         To: ditto Leonarde p dressing his

bellows, 3 times                                                                  £1-10-__

 

§         To: Ditto.  Soe much alloued him for^r

breingeinge his goods from Prouidence:                               £2-00-00.

 

(See my companion article, “The Establishment of the Ironworking Industry in America”).

 

It is deduced that these payments were made in 1651.  Note that James was paid £2/-/- for bringing his goods from Providence.  Does this indicate that James first resided in Roger Williams’ Providence, Rhode Island, with John Throckmorton?  On 10 Jan. 1644/5 in Providence 25 acres of land were granted to a number of inhabitants.  Signatures of 35 persons by mark or signature, including the mark of a James Leonard, were on the document but James Leonard’s name had been crossed out.[9]

 

Was it our James Leonard who was one of 14 persons transported to Virginia by Robert Bennet for which Robert obtained a patent for 700 acres on 20 June 1635/18 Apr. 1637?[10] As early as 1623 an ironworks was started in Jamestown Colony but it was destroyed when attacked by Indians.  Later attempts were made to reconstruct an iron industry and workers were brought over from England but this attempt failed.  G. Marston Leonard posed the question, “Could it be possible that James Leonard was sent over as an ironworker and returned to England, as many did return?”  G. Marston goes on to report that Elisha C. Leonard had a note that Susanna Leonard (Nathaniel⁶, Elkanah⁵, Elkanah⁴, Elkanah³, Thomas², James¹) said that the first wife of James was Jennie/Jeannie Martin and that among Virginia patents there is a record of a Huguenot family by the name of Martyn who had a daughter by the name of Jeanne.[11]

 

According to the Leonard family bible, Thomas Leonard, the eldest son of James, was born 3 Aug. 1641.[12] This date leads us back to Kinver, Staffordshire, where on 8 Aug. 1641 Thomas Leonard, son of James & Jane/Jean Leonard, was baptized. Evidently the first wife of emigrant James Leonard was named Jane (not Mary as has been previously reported).

 

Kinver is located on the Stour River, 7 miles SW of Dudley (fig. 2). A 1775 map of Staffordshire shows water mills and forges along the Stour River at Kinver.[13]  Immediately across the river is located Whittington.  Is this why James Leonard in 1666 named his “forge or bloomerie with one hearth” on the Mill River in Taunton, Mass. “Whittington Iron Works?”[14] 

 

James Leonard, the second child of James, was born ca. 1643.  He died 1 Nov. 1726 in his 84^th year.[15] Unfortunately no records have been found to indicate where in England this birth occurred.

 

Probably James and his young family (and his older brother Henry) were ironworkers in the Bilston, Staffordshire, area prior to their emigration.  Bilston became a center of the “Black Country” iron industry (fig. 2).  Apparently the Leonards left a claim to the ownership of some heavily mortgaged ironworks there. Caroline Leonard Goodenough wrote that some of them removed to the iron mining district of Wales – later Monmouthshire, England – from whence James & Henry Leonard came, leaving their forges in England “plastered with mortgages” not only at Pontipool but also at Belston, Stafford County.[16] Years later (ca. 1821?) an ironworker in Bilston by the name of James Leonard sent a letter to “James Leonard iron worker in or near Taunton, Massachusetts, New England,” stating that extensive iron works situated there belonged to the Leonards. Charles Richmond, Esq. of Taunton, investigated the legal situation in Bilston.  The outcome was that the New England Leonards decided not to undertake the expense of an extended suit.[17]

 

One of the shareholders in John Winthrop’s “Company of Undertakers of the Iron Works in New England” was Thomas Foley (1617 – 1677). He and his brothers were probably the foremost ironmasters in the Black Country at that time, owning iron and mine works as far afield as Monmouthshire.[18]  Their father, Richard Foley, started the family fortune with an iron works near Stourbridge (3 miles E of Kinver). Could he have been involved in the recruitment of the Leonard brothers when Winthrop was having a difficult time conscripting experienced ironworkers?

 

Child #3:  MARGERY LEONARD (1624/5 - ?)

 

Margery was baptized 13 Mar. 1624/5 in the Parish Church of Cleobury Mortimer, Shropshire, daughter of forgeman Thomas & Elizabeth Leonard.[19] Here we have the earliest record of a child of Thomas & Elizabeth (White) Leonard.

 

Cleobury Mortimer is a small village on the Rea River about halfway between Kidderminster and Ludlow (fig. 2).  An old map (date unknown) shows an Upper Forge and a Lower Forge on the river.

 

According to Hannah Deane’s account, Margery married Henry Samson, Lt. Gov. (?) of the City of Galway (?), Ireland (fig. 1).

 

Child #4:  MAY/MARY LEONARD (1627 – 1627)

 

May/Mary was baptized 12 Sep. 1627 in Cleobury Mortimer, died in 1627.  She was a daughter of Thomas Leonard.[20]

 

Child #5:  WILLIAM LEONARD (1628 – 1628)

 

William was baptized 30 Nov. 1628 in Cleobury Mortimer, buried there in Nov. 1628.  He was the son of Thomas & Elizabeth Leonard.  Thomas was listed as “of the forge, fyner” (i.e., one who was in charge of a hearth where cast iron was made malleable).

 

Child #6:  WILLIAM LEONARD (ca. 1630? - ?)

 

Hannah Deane reported that William never left England.  A William Leonard was born in 1630, married Mary Coxe 22 Jan. 1653/4 in Crewcorne Parish, Somersetshire. (Crewkerne is about 33 miles south of Pensford/Publow).[21]

 

Child #7:  JOHN LEONARD (? - ?)

 

Hannah Deane reported that John never left England.  There was a John Leonard who settled in Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1636.[22]  He came from Bilston, Staffordshire.[23]

 

Child #8:  PHILIP LEONARD (ca. 1630 – 3 July 1708)

 

All that Hannah Deane reported was that “Philip lived at Marshfield and died at Taunton.”  From Winifred L. Holman’s work:[24]

 

§         Sgt. Philip Leonard born in England ca. 1630.

 

§         Payment made to “hennery and phillipe lennard for seeking after scott” six shillings, December 1652. (Superior Court of Judicature, File 225.) (“Gifford and Undertakers of the Ironworks,” paper 11, case heard 1654.)

 

§         On 5 June 1678 “Phillip Leanard of Marshfield, in the jurisdiction of New Plymouth nailer.”

 

§         On 12 July 1708 “Samuel Hill, son in law of Phillip Leonard Late of Duxborrough in the County of Plimouth, was appointed administrator of Philip’s estate. Samuel had married Philip’s daughter Phebe in 1694.[25]

 

§         Philip was a resident of Marshfield living on the line between Marshfield and Duxbury.

 

§         On 27 Jan. 1671/2 Peregrine White[26] and Philip Leonard took the inventory of the estate of Ralph Chapman, Sr., late of Marshfield.

 

Thus Philip did not die in Taunton as reported by Hannah Deane.  He had, however, lived there in the 1657-1669 time frame.

 

Probably Philip emigrated with his older brothers Henry and James.

 

Child #9:  JOAN LEONARD (ca. 1632 - ?)

 

According to Hannah Deane, Joan never left England.

 

Child #10:  SARAH LEONARD (1634 – 1720)

 

Sarah Leonard was baptized 23 Feb. 1633/4 in Publow Parish, Somersetshire, daughter of Thomas Leonard.[27]

 

The villages of Publow and the adjacent Pensford are in the northeast corner of Somersetshire (about 6 miles SSE of Bristol) (fig. 2) on the Chew River.  In the 1700s, several copper mills were located there.  One of the Publow mills had previously been an iron or plate mill described as a “frying-pan works.”[28] Iron ore of good quality was mined nearby.[29]

 

In 1676 Sarah married (1) Robert Fairbanks in Ireland.  They were Quakers.  They departed Dublin 16 Sep. 1677 aboard the “Mary.”  Sarah married (2) John Thompson.  In her will of 23 May 1720 Sarah Thompson of Elsenburgh, Salem, Co., New Jersey, names her “kinsmen Henry Leonard of Cape May and Thomas Leonard of East Jersey” and children of  “brother James Leonard.”[30] This confirms that Sarah was a sister of Henry and James (#1 & #2 above).  It also confirms Hannah Deane’s statement that Sarah died at New Salem.

 

Note that the Quaker record of the marriage of Sarah Leonard and Robert Fairbanks states that she was “borne in Spencefield in Summerset shire.” Spencefield was a mistake for Pensford.  Lewis Cook had half-solved this error in 1834 when he advised that “Spencefield” should be “Spenceford.”[31]

 

Child #11:  THOMAS LEONARD (1636 - ?)

 

Thomas was baptized 20 Apr. 1636 in Publow Parish, Somersetshire, son of Thomas & Elizabeth Leonard,[32] probably died 1682-3.

 

The only other clue we have is Hannah Deane’s statement that Thomas was drowned at Piscataway.

 

With this small base, we have four possible amplifications:

 

• Among those transported 24 July 1635 on the “Assurance de Lo” from Gravesend to Virginia was Thomas Leonard, aged 18 years. Thomas later removed to New Jersey.  His wife’s name was Katherine.  Thomas drowned in 1682.[33] But note that our Thomas Leonard was not baptized until 1636.

 

• Thomas Leonard was called “of Woodbridge” (i.e., adjoining Piscataway, N.J.)  His wife’s name was Catherine.  He came from “N.H.” (New Haven, Conn.?).[34]

 

• Will abstract (A:22):  10 May 1682, Thomas Leonard of Wood bridge, wife Katherine and kinsman Hallick Codriath sole heirs.  Legatee:  Thomas Cromwell.  Executor: Halick Codriah.  Witnesses: Henry Greenland of Piscataway, Middlesex Co., Samuel Moore, John Gilman.  Proved 1 Jan. 1682/3.[35]

 

• According to O.B. Leonard of Plainfield, N.J., Thomas “may be the one whose name is found at Southampton, where he was admitted to the Connecticut colony a freeman in 1658, and subsequently moved to Woodbridge, New Jersey, in which township he was living when he took the oath of allegiance to King Charles II, at Elizabeth, in 1665, Feb. 19.  In the office of the Register of Colonial Deeds at Trenton, is found a transfer dated July 26, 1677, for sixty acres of land in Woodbridge, from Thomas Leonard to John Jones.  There is also on record in the same office, a copy of his last will, made 19 May 1682, proved 1 Jan. 1683, wherein his wife’s name is mentioned as Katherine.  No further trace is discovered of him or his heirs, if he had any issue.  Whether it was he who was drowned at Piscataway, is not definitely known, though there is a tradition among the New England family that one Thomas Leonard thus met his death.”[36]

 

So did Thomas emigrate to Virginia, New Haven, Conn., or Southampton, Conn. (or N.Y.?), and when?

 

 

Now, on to the father of the above 11 children.

 

Father THOMAS LEONARD (? - ?)

 

The earliest record we have of father Thomas is 13 Mar. 1624/5 when he was listed as the father of Margery (child #3) in Cleobury Mortimer, Shropshire.  Henry, his first child, was born ca. 1618.

 

We also know that his wife’s maiden name was Elizabeth White and that Thomas was a forgeman in Cleobury Mortimer, Shropshire, 1624-1628 and he was living in Publow Parish, Somersetshire, 1633-1636.

 

That is the extent of our documented knowledge of  Thomas.

 

Probably Thomas ended up in the Pontypool area of Monmouthshire (now Gwent), perhaps working for the Hanbury family.

 

Philip Hanbury came to Paneg (1 mile from the Pontypool ironworks) ca. 1608, possibly to supervise the ironworks which his uncle Richard Hanbury, the goldsmith, had acquired.[37]

 

Stanley G. Leonard of Pontypool wrote the following two articles which were published in the Pontypool “Free Press” before 1977:

 

-         “Local Links with Early United States Iron Industry”

 

-         “The Early Iron Men of America.”

 

I have been unable to find these articles.  Rev. Tarie Carlyon of St. John’s Church, Wainfelin, has advised me that Mr. Leonard has died. Perhaps these articles would shed some light on the activities of Thomas and his family in the Pontypool area.

 

A review of Probate Indices, Diocese of Llandaf, revealed only one Leonard document of appropriate date.  It is the will and inventory of Thomas Leonard, yeoman, of  Trevethin.  Trevethin is 2 miles N of Pontypool (fig. 2).  This will was proved 28 Feb. 1658.  The 11 Feb. 1658 inventory amounting to £30/11/02 was signed by Morgan Leonard, Alexander Jenkin and F. O. Thomas.[38] However, none of the above 11 children were mentioned in the will and it is concluded that it is not the will of our Thomas.

 

 

Let us now proceed back in time to Thomas Leonard’s father, Henry Leonard.

 

Grandfather HENRY LEONARD (? - ?)

 

All we have here is Hannah Deane’s statement that Thomas Leonard’s father was Henry Leonard.

 

Three possible clues are:

 

1. Thomas [not Henry] Leonard (born 23 May 1577, married Lydia White, died 1638) of Pontypool was a son of Sampson Lennard, (1540 – 1611), and Margaret, Baronese Dacre.[39] This line has been discounted by Donald L. Jacobus[40] and others.

 

2. In the Chester City Council Meetings a Henry Leonard is mentioned in the following two items:[41]

-         “June 2, 1618 ordered that Henry Leonard should have the use of £100 of the City’s money on payment of the 5 per year interest to set 51 poor people to work in fustian making.  He also to set 25 people to work on knitting and 25 at clothing.”

-         “Feb. or April (old) 19, 1618/19: Ordered that if the Company of Mersers and Ironmongers would not take £100 on conditions offered by Henry Leonard within the next fortnight they were to refer themselves the Mayor and his Brethren for such action as was thought fit.”

Note that fustian = cotton fabric and mercer = one who deals in the textile fabrics.

 

The only Henry Leonard listed in the Chester Freemen’s Rolls 1392-1805 is on 18 Sep. 1615 when a Henry Leonard, weaver, son of Thomas Leonard, shoemaker, is listed as “defunct.”[42] Probably this Henry and his father Thomas were not ironworkers.  The only Leonard ironworker appearing in this list was a John Leonard, smith, 1601-2.

 

Also note that the French Huguenots were renowned for their expertise in fine fabrics.

 

3. W. D. John & Anne Simox reported that James & Henry Leonard about 1646 left the Hanbury ironworks at Pontypool and migrated to the New England colonies. They were “descendants of John Leonard (Lyonarde), a Frenchman who arrived in England in 1514 and had constructed some of the early water-driven blast furnaces in the Wealden district of South-east England.”[43] Unfortunately, no documentation is offered.

 

Of the above three leads, I strongly favor #3.  In this connection see:

-         Brian G. Awty, “The Continental Origins of the Wealden Ironworkers, 1451-1544” (The Economic History Review, 2^nd series, vol. xxxiv, #4, Nov. 1981)

-         Brian G. Awty, “Aliens in the Ironworking Areas of the Weal: The Sussex Rolls, 1524-1603 (Wealden Iron Research Group Bulletin, 1984), 2^nd series, 4:13-17 & 23 & 73

-         Brian G. Awty, “Provisional Identifications of Ironworkers among French Immigrants Listed in the Denization Rolls of 1541 & 1544 (Wealden Iron Research Group Bulletin, 1979), 2-10.

-         Ernest Straker, Wealden Iron (1931)

-         Henry Cleere & David Crossley, The Iron Industry of the Weald (1995).

 

The current belief is that the French ancestor of the above Leonard line is Henry Leonard, alias Quintin (baptized 1 Jan. 1561/2 at Etchingham), not his brother John (baptized 29 Jan. 1547/8 at Frant).  The father of Henry & John was Martin Lenard, alias Quintin (buried 2 Mar. 1591/2 at Burwash), finer, and the grandfather was Quintin Leonard.  The above Henry Leonard Quintin had a son [-?-] Lenard baptized 22 Feb. 1590/1 at Fletching.  Note: I believe all of the above localities are in Sussex (fig. 3).[44]  See my Quintin Leonard descendancy chart at http://worldconnect.genealogy.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?db = bartstam.

 

Was the above [-?-] Lenard our grandfather Henry Leonard??

 

Revised

May 3, 2006