Tenth Generation

6654. Walter Bradford LEONARD¹²⁵⁴ was born on 4 February 1887 in Bristol, RI. Graduated: A.P. Hoyt Grammar School, East Providence, RI on 26 June 1901 . He died on 26 March 1956 at the age of 69 in Cranston, Providence Co., RI. He was buried on 29 March 1956. Lot #5439, section 19, north side of Acorn Avenue and 83 ft. west of the junction of Acorn and Elmwood Avenues, North Burial Ground, Providence, RI Order of birth: Third child born . Parents were residing in Bristol in 1888. Verification of birth from copy of birth certificate and also checking the VR's of Bristol. In the 1900 Census, the family was living at 703 North Broadway in East Providence. Parents John and Mary had been married 19 years and had 3 children: John H., Jr, 18, a stenographer, Charles D, 16, an apprentice pharmacist, and Walter B., 13, a school boy. John was a laborer in a furniture store.

Walter graduated from grammar school in 1901 in East Providence. He gave the impression his family was very poor as he was growing up. He didn't go to high school, but began working as an office boy at age 15 for American Emery. By the time he married at 19, he was a salesman. He later became a Vice President of American Emery, responsible for manufacturing. He lost his job as the company downsized in the Great Depression. He then became a salesman for American Emery and also for the Blanchard Company in Boston and later yet had a small diamond tool business. American Emery Wheel Works was located at Richmond Square, 375 Waterman St., Providence. President was W. E. Richmond.

When registering for the World War I draft on June 5, 1917, Walter B. Leonard 2nd was living at 135 Reservoir Avenue, Providence, with his wife and one child. He was born February 4, 1887, in Bristol, RI, and was working as Asst. President of American Emery Wheel Works on Waterman Street in Providence. He was of medium height and slender build, with light blue eyes and dark brown hair.

The family was living with Edith's father, Ernest, at 135 Reservoir Avenue, Providence, at the 1920 Census, along with Edith's sister Lillian (Pat). Walter is listed as a Vice President of American Emery. In the 1930 Census, family is listed as living at 135 Reservoir Avenue, Providence, District 5, with Ernest Regester, next to Arthur B. and Lillian Dodge and near the John Regester family.

The family lived at 148 Grace Street in Cranston from sometime in the 1930's until the late 1940's and summered at Quonochontaug, RI from the early 1900's to the 1930's. He and Edith were living on Grace Street when he registered for the World War II draft. At that time, he was 55 years old and working for the Blanchard Machine Co. at 64 State Street, Cambridge, MA, where he was an abrasion engineer. Walter was an avid salt water fisherman.

Marriage to Edith Anne Regester February 27, 1906, in East Providence, R.I. verified AC/VR.

According to his death certificate, he died in the State Infirmary in Cranston of hypertensive cardiovascular disease following the fracture of his right femur in an accident 15 February 1956. He apparently fell, injuring his right hip. At the time he was residing at 313 Washington Street in Providence.

The origin of the name Bradford in the family warrants some attention. My grandfather, Walter Bradford Leonard, said that the Bradford came from the family of Governor Bradford. William Bradford was Deputy Governor of RI in the late 1700's and an earlier William Bradford was governor of Plymouth Bay Colony in the 1600's. But there is no direct genealogical line to the Bradford family in the Leonard genealogy of our branch. So the story becomes a bit more complicated and hypothetical. It seems that Abigail Diman Munro, wife of Abraham Leonard, was named after her aunt, Abigail Munro (1770-1851) who married Jeremiah Diman, thereby becoming Abigail Diman. Her daughter, Margaret Diman (1809-1894), who was a second cousin and contemporary of Abigail Diman Leonard, married Allen Taylor Smith Bradford, grandson of Gov. William Bradford. Allen Taylor Smith Bradford had a relative, Walter Bradford, who died in 1837 at age ? (check) and an uncle, John, son of Gov. Bradford, who married Jemima Wardwell. They had a son Walter Bradford, born 13 August 1809, who married Sarah W. Macomber 19 June 1845, and died 25 June 1858. Abigail Diman Munro Leonard's son, John Henry Leonard (1823-1879), who was a contemporary and distant cousin of Walter Bradford, named one of his sons Walter Bradford Leonard in 1867 after one of these earlier Walter Bradfords. It would appear the middle name Bradford was adopted into our branch of the family due to admiration for some of these family relations by marriage.

Walter Bradford Leonard II did not acknowledge that Walter Bradford Leonard I was his uncle; his story was that when the two Walter Bradfords discovered they had the same name, he adopted the "II" to keep their mail from being mixed up.

Walter Bradford LEONARD and Edith Annie REGESTER were married on 27 February 1906 in East Providence, RI.⁴¹⁸³ Edith Annie REGESTER, daughter of Ernest William REGESTER and Sarah Lillia EMPSON, was born on 14 November 1888 in East Providence, RI.⁴¹⁸⁴ She died on 24 May 1954 at the age of 65 in Cranston, Providence Co., RI. She was buried on 27 May 1954. Lot #5439, section 19, north side of Acorn Avenue and 83 ft. west of the junction of Acorn and Elmwood Avenues, North Burial Ground, Providence, RI Her birth certificate calls her Edith Annie, as does her marriage certificate. In adult life she used Ann as her middle name. She was the 2nd child born of her mother. Her father was 27 and a silver chaser. Her mother was 24. Maiden name is listed as Emerson (incorrect; it was Empson). She was 17 when she married, and her husband was 19.

Her nickname was Doll, apparently all the way from childhood. Her husband referred to her as Doll. I, her grandson, called her Nana Doll.

She was 64 when she died, according to her obituary. She had been a resident of Cranston for 15 years (1954). She was active in women's club circles and for 11 years was treasurer of the Auburn Library Club. She was vice chairman of the Cranston Chapter, American Red Cross and had charge of the chapter's outside activities during World War II. She was a member of Cranston Garden Club and the Elmwood Women's Club. Two sisters are mentioned in the obituary: Mrs. Lillian Dodge of Cranston and Mrs. Marion Kersch of California, and a brother, Lawrence Regester, of Ft. Lauderdale, FL. She died of breast cancer. She was buried in North Burial Ground, Providence, with her husband in her father's plot. At time of death, she was residing at 24 Beacon Circle, Cranston, R.I.

Walter Bradford LEONARD and Edith Annie REGESTER had the following children:

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Charles Bradford LEONARD was born on 25 February 1906 in Providence, RI. He died Cardiopulmonary arrest, artherosclerotic heart disease on 25 June 1998 at the age of 92 in Englewood, FL. He was cremated on 27 June 1998 in Southeastern Crematory, Punta Gorda, FL. Charles was buried in July 1998 in Colonial Garden, Lot #50, Grave 1, Highland Memorial Park, 1 Rhode Island Avenue, Johston, R.I.. He was described as 5'7". His body just plain gave out at age 92. He fell and broke his hip (second time). Hospital repaired hip, but he never recovered and died within a month. He couldn't swallow, eat, or take fluids. He was educated in Brown University, Ph.B, 1929. He graduated from Brown University, 1929. He took additional course work at Rhode Island College and Harvard University.

He worked for Brown and Sharp Manufacturing Co. in the accounting department, 1930-32, then became a teacher and Assistant Principal, Valentine Almy School, Cranston, R.I., 1932-38, Superintendent of Schools, Little Compton, RI, 1938-48, and Superintendent of Schools, Scituate, RI, 1948-63. He retired at the relatively young age of 58 because, he said, "longevity doesn't run in the Leonard family" and he wanted to enjoy a few years in the sun. At Valentine Almy and J.F. Wilbur schools, he concentrated on building up the athletic programs and later developed expertise in building schools. While Union Superintentdent of Scituate and Foster, he led the construction of the first consolidated elementary school in Foster, the Isaac Paine School (Foster had one-room schools scattered around town until that time). While in Scituate, he led the building of the town's first high school.

He married (2) Etta Anthony, a neighbor, a few years after his first wife, Dolores, died unexpectedly. He and Etta moved to Florida in 1966, buying a small cottage in Grove City (Englewood) for $11,000. Etta died unexpectedly of cancer in 1981. He did not remarry, although had a constant companion, Mae Malcomsen, who predeceased him in 1996 at age 96. That seemed to take the will to live out of him, and he died two years later after a broken hip operation.

Resided: 84 Summer Street, Cranston, RI, 1934-36; 61 Waldron Ave., Cranston, RI, 1936-38, South of Commons, Little Compton, RI, 1938-48, Westcott Road, North Scituate, RI, 1949-50, Rockland Road, North Scituate, RI, 1950-65, Grove City, Florida, 1966-98.

Birth Certificate: Book 18, page 297. Shows father, Walter B., born in Bristol, R.I., age 19, occupation: travelling salesman; mother, Edith A., born in East Providence, age 17, residing at 135 Reservoir Avenue, Providence, R.I.

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ii.

Owen Dodge LEONARD was born on 16 May 1922 in Providence, RI.⁴¹⁸⁵ He died on 10 December 2008 at the age of 86 in Scituate, RI. Owen played the saxophone in high school. He held a variety of jobs as a youth, including working as a floor walker for Cherry & Webb in Providence. He was a salesman for Narragansett Brewery for many years until the firm was sold. He was named their outstanding salesman in 1965. The family lived at 102 Normandy Drive in Oaklawn during the 1950's and 1960's. He and Jean moved to Florida for a year or so in the late 1960's, didn't like it, and moved back to their home at 15 Colonial Road in N. Scituate, RI. He also worked as a consumer advocate in the RI Attorney General's office in the 1970's and later for the RI National Guard before retiring in 1991.