Fourth Generation

302. Silas LEONARD³⁸⁷ was born in 1746 in Lyme, New London Co., CT. He died in 1796 at the age of 50 in Parma, Monroe Co., NY. He was buried in Leonard-Atchison Cemetery, Hilton, NY.³⁸⁸ There was a Silas Lenard who 9 March 1761 applied in Lyme, CT, as a minor between the age of 14 and 15 choosing to live with his uncle, Isaac Hall, as guardian until he was 21. Does this mean his mother died shortly before this date?

He told his children they originally came from Leeds, England, to RI and through CT to MA to NY (DAR Mag. 1917:353).

He was killed by the falling of a tree at Onondaga or at Hilton/Parma while clearing land.. He lived first in Canaan, CT, and later in Stockbridge, MA. In 1796 he went to Parma, NY, with his sons Jonathan, Silas, and Lewis, (see History of Monroe County, NY), joining the Atchinson family from Tolland County, CT. Silas and family were the second family to settle in the Phelps & Gorham Purchase. In 1798 after Silas had died, his son Jonathan went back to Canaan and brought his mother and sisters Lucy and Thankful to live in Parma (see History of Monroe County, NY), per ECL.

He was a soldier in the Revolutionary War, serving under General Gates at Saratoga, and witnessing the surrender of Burgoyne. The records show a Silas, a soldier in a regiment from CT (Boston Transcript, Oct 3, 1917, May 15, 1916, and August 21, 1916). He served as a corporal in Capt. Jonathan Calkins' company, Col. Latimer's regiment. (DAR)

Descent from Seth to Dorothy Leonard Stansbury checks against descent chart from Dorothy Leonard Stansbury. Information on the Internet has Silas marrying Persis Henshaw Hincher rather than Mary Hackett, and his son Jonathan marrying Persis Henshaw. Dorothy's genealogy is in the stacks at NEHGS. She was quite a thorough researcher and made a trip to England to view the early Leonard ironworker sites.

Grassy Hill Congregational Church (NE of Laysville in the Town of Lyme) or Hamburg Congregational Church (which?) indicates early marriage of Silas Leonard and Mary Hacket 1 September 1774.

Also, a Silas Leonard enlisted 3 August 1781, discharged 4 January ?, "short levies," Second Regiment, Col. Swift, per Vol. XII, Revolutionary War, CT Historical Society Collections.

Kathleen Rodegeb, a descendant of Silas, sent info on the Parma Cemetery via e-mail 4 February 2006. Silas' tombstone indicates a death date in 1796 according to the e-mail, but ECL info has him moving to Parma in 1797.

Silas LEONARD and Mary HACKETT were married on 1 September 1774 in Lyme, New London Co., CT.³⁸⁹ Mary HACKETT, daughter of Elijah HACKETT and Prudence RICHMOND, was born on 3 April 1755 in Lyme, New London Co., CT. She died on 23 September 1833 at the age of 78 in Parma, Monroe Co., NY.³⁹⁰ She was buried in Leonard-Atchison Cemetery, Hilton, NY.

Silas LEONARD and Mary HACKETT had the following children: