Seventh Generation

2324. Rev. Stephen Rose LEONARD was born on 3 March 1820 in Newark, Essex Co., NJ. Stephen R. Leonard, b. 1820 in NJ, was a member of the Oneida Colony in Lenox twp, Madison Co., NY. He was head printer. His brother John, 3 years younger, was a cabinet maker and painter there. Per 1850 Census. In the 1880 Census, Stephen Rose Leonard was a bee keeper for the Colony.

"Stephen and Fanny were among the earliest members of the Oneida Colony when they joined on 19 July 1848. They remained members of the Oneida Community until it dissolved in 1881, and they stayed there, living at the Mansion House for the rest of their lives. Charlotte was their only child, and she had two sons, John Humphrey Noyes II (father was John Humphrey Noyes, leader of the Oneida Community, and Stephen Rose Leonard (father not identified, but definitely not John Humphrey Noyes." per Nora Leonard Roy, 18 Jan. 2007.

"Stephen Rose Leonard was one of seven children of Ephraim Leonard and Nancy Martin, born March 3, 1820 at Newark, NJ. A brother, John, also joined the community. Their ancestors were iron workers in Massachusetts and New Jersey, originally coming from Pontypool, Wales. He became interested in the doctrine of holiness and partially identified with the Newark Perfectionists while a member of the Free Church under Charles Fitch in 1839. He confessed Christ in 1841 in New Haven (with John H. Noyes?) and joined the Putney Association in March of 1843. Stephen married Fanny M. White, who was already a member of the Putney Association, on April 3, 1845, and they had one child: Charlotte Miller Leonard, born October 5, 1846. Stephen and Fanny Leonard joined the Oneida Community on July 19, 1848, coming from Putney. He had been, and would continue to be, the head printer of the Association, moving to the Brooklyn Commune when the printing operation moved there. He also operated a printing business advertised in the Community publications. Stephen wrote of his early experiences in THE CIRCULAR, and when the Wallingford (CT) Community closed, after many cases of malaria, he served as caretaker until the property was sold. In later years, "grandfather Leonard" became a beekeeper at Oneida with Jonathan Burt, the hives being near the later Allen residence. He kept his own genealogical records and journals, some of which are still kept up by his great grandchildren. Stephen R. Leonard died at the age of 72 on December 26, 1892, of acute indigestion. His family remains in the Community." From "The Oneida Family: Genealogy of a 19th Century Perfectionist Commune," Oneida Community Historical Committee, 1985.

GML: "Rev. S. R. Leonard lived in Poultney, VT. and W. Kenwood, NY."

The original colony in the Putney area suffered hostility from the locals and felt the need to move on to Lenox township in Madison County, NY. "Until 1881 the Onieda Comjunity members practiced Bible Communism under the leadership of J. H. Noyes. One of the goals of Bible Communism was to crush selfishness, allowing each person the way to gain heaven on earth. The institution of marriage between one man and one woman was abolished, and members were encouraged, within the norm of heterosexuality, to have sexual relations with one another freely. When it came to having children, however, a committee had to give a couple permission to go ahead and try to have a baby together. Stephen and Fanny's daughter, Charlotte, gave birth to a son, John Humphrey Noyes, Jr., on 18 November 1870. The baby's father was John Humphrey Noyes. Two years later, Charlotte had another son, named Stephen Rose Leoanrd, born 18 November 1872. Charlotte had had sexual relations with four different men during the month in which Stephen was conceived, and so his father's identity was never verified. Many years later, this became a matter of great concern to Stephen, when he fell in love with Dorothy Barron, daughter of Beulah Hendee and John Humprehy Noyes. Stephen and Dorothy would marry only if they could be absolutely certain that John Humphrey Noyes was not Stephen's father. Stephen asked his mother and the men who were still alive who had engaged in sexual relations with her early in 1872. John Humphrey Noyes was one of the men with whom she had had sex, and he had long since died, but Charlotte assured Stephen that Noyes had not ejaculated when he and she had sex. In the end Stephen and Dorothy married, and the identity of Stephen's father was never established beyond any doubt, but Stephen was often mistaken for George Allen. George's father was one of the men with whom Chalotte had had sex early in 182. Stephen was tall and lean like George, and their faces were very similar." Per Nora Leonard Roy via e-mail, 29 June 2009.

Fanny Maria WHITE⁶⁸⁵, daughter of Alfred WHITE and Tabitha TISDALE, was born on 3 April 1822 in Poultney, Rutland Co., VT. She died on 22 April 1902 at the age of 80 in West Kenwood, NY.

Rev. Stephen Rose LEONARD and Fanny Maria WHITE had the following children: