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Fifth Generation
442. Lt. Joseph
LEONARD465 was born
on 29 Jul 1732 in Middleboro, Plymouth Co., MA.466 He died in 1786 in Middleboro, Plymouth Co., MA.467 ECL: "He was a Lieutenant
in the Militia."
Referred to as Joseph Leonard 3rd in marriage by Benjamin Ruggles. Also,apparently,
in Bodge's soldiers who served in the Revolutionary War.Bodge lists at least
3 Joseph Leonards of Middleboro serving in theRevolution. Joseph Leonard 3rd
was a private in the 3rd Co. ofMinuteman, Capt. Amos Wade commanding. Joseph
Leonard 5th was also aprivate in the same 3rd Co. (as did Moses Leonard and Michael
Leonard).He was probably Joseph Leonard 3rd's son. They apparently served a
shorttime around Boston and marched to Marshfield at the time of the Lexingtonalarm.
There was also a Joseph Leonard, pvt., in the 3rd Co. of Infantryunder Capt.
William Tupper. This company also had a Joseph Leonard,corporal, a Benjamin
Leonard, sergeant, and privates Archippus, Perez,George, Samuel, Rowland, and
Ichabod Leonard as well as Jesse Bryant(father of Nathaniel Leonard's wife Betsey
Bryant). This company wasmobilized when a British fleet of 16 vessels appeared
off Newport, butwas dismissed when the fleet disappeared.
ECL/GML notes refer to Massachusetts Vital Records as source of birthdate for
Joseph and Joseph and Abigail's marriage date. They note analternative marriage
date of October 11, 1753, per Boston Transcript.
His eldest son, Joseph, was appointed to administer his estate. He diedin early
1786. "Court of Common Pleas - April 1785 - The followingpersons were empowered,
upon their petitions, to sell theirdecedents'real estate for payment of debts
and charges as listed. Each was orderedto post notification 30 days before the
sale and to account with thejudge of probate for the proceeds: 7. Joseph Leonard
IV, adm. JosephLeonard, Gent. (Middleborough): £137.11s. *Additional Information
fromAppellate Records, May 1786." Joseph Leonard IV had previously beenJoseph
Leonard V, but since Joseph Leonard I died in 1775, he had movedup a notch.
Many of Joseph's relatives, direct and by marriage, were members of theFirst
Church of Middleborough. These would include his grandmother,Charity Leonard,
his maternal grandparents Nathaniel Southworth and JaelBennet, his wife's father,
grandfather, and great-grandfather (BarnabusRaymond, John Jr., and John Sr.),
his son Nathaniel's wife, Betsy Bryant,her parents, Jesse Bryant and Mercy Shaw,
grandparents Jesse Bryant andSusannah Winslow, and great-grandparents Conant.
See The First Church ofMiddleborough, 1854, which lists its membership through
1854, repeated inan appendix of Thomas Weston's HIstory of Middleborough, 1905.
Many of Joseph's children have the same names as those of Joseph'sfather, Joseph,
but there's little or no information about them. The GMLcharts list Joseph,
Noah, Gideon, Hannah, Timothy, Abiah, Nathaniel,Fear, Abigail, and Remember.
In the Genealogical Register of Plymouth Families, under BenjaminSouthworth,
the following:
"Nathaniel, son of first Constant, m. 1672, Desire, d. of Edward Gray,and
had Constant, 1674, Mary, 1676, m. Joseph Rider; Ichabod, 1678;Elizabeth, m.
James Sproat; Nathaniel, 1684, m. Jael Howland; Edward,1688, m. Bridget Bosworth.
Nathaniel, Middleboro', son of above, hadFear, 1709, married a Leonard; Gideon,
Nathaniel, Samuel, and Hannah, m.a Sproat." Fear Southworth married Joseph
Leonard, the father of JosephLeonard, Jr. Joseph Leonard, Sr. did not have a
son Samuel, but did havea Gideon, Nathaniel, and Hannah (who married Robert Sproat)
among hischildren." This is an incomplete list of Joseph's children and
ispartially wrong (no Samuel). Also, this may be the origin of informationthat
Jael Bennet was a Howland (she was a Bennet).
The Problem of Multiple Joseph Leonards in Middleborough in the late1700's:
Quote from the Boston Transcript, January 27, 1919, piece by W.W.N.Y.#7174 published
March 24, 1919: "The Leonard family of Middleboro hasnever been written
up. It is an almost inextricable mixture of thedescendants of James (1) Leonard
of Taunton. The descendants of Solomon(1) Bridgewater are already published.
The descendants of James (1) ofTaunton are available in the very incomplete
chart of Mrs. Koster, butthe Middleboro line is almost entirely omitted. I have
secured allLeonards in Middleboro records up to 1800. As soon as I have themstraightened
out in families, I will send them to the Transcript, so thatthey may be available
to others who are interested in the Leonardfamily.
"First, however, I am anxious to straighten out the five Joseph Leonardswho
appear and I shall be grateful for any help or suggestions.
"First, we have the birh of Joseph, April 9, 1705, son of Elkanah. Thisis
surely Joseph (4), Elkanah (3), Thomas 2, James 1). He was born April9, 1705,
married first, April 9, 1729, Hannah (4) Pratt (Samuel 3, 2,Phineas1), second,
November 18, 1731 Fear (4) Southworth (Nathaniel 3, 2,Constant 1). By the first
wife there were evidently no children. Thechildren of Joseph and Fear were:
Joseph (5), born July 29, 1732;Timothy, born April 19, 1734; Hannah, born July
3, 1736; Abiah, born May8, 1728, and Gideon, born October 15, 1739.
"The next Joseph is known as Joseph Leonard, Jr., who was married March27,
1746 to Ruth (4) White (Benjamin 3, Ebenezer 2, Thomas 1). He surelywas not
a son of the preceding Joseph, and of course the terms senior andjunior in those
days referred more frequently to age than to familyrelationship. I have no knowledge
of the parentage of Joseph, Jr. Thechildren of Joseph and Ruth were as follows:
Hannah, born October 8,1746, died December 5, 1751, Benajah, born October 2,
1748, died Dec. 8,1751; Joseph, born September 14, 1752; Ruth, born Aug. 28,
1754; Betty,born July 22, 1756; Archippus, born December 4, 1758; Rowland, born
April24, 1761; Ichabod, born March 28, 1762; Benajah, born July 21, 1765, andHannah,
born Aug. 6, 1767. These names offer little clue, although thefact that Hannah
and Benajah were used before the names of the parentsand then were repeated later
when both children died shows that they wereused in honor of some revered person.
Elkanah (3) Leonard had an eldestson Elkanah (4), born Dec. 15, 1703, who married
at Taunton Oct. 21,1725, Elizabeth Tisdale. He came to Middleboro with his parents.
Hisfirst child born there was Elkanah (5), born December 30, 1727. I havewondered
if a son Joseph (5) might not have been born before that,perhaps at Taunton about
September, 1726, who would have been the Joseph,Jr., of Middleboro who married
in 1746 Ruth White. It was a very commonthing for uncle and nephew of the same
name to be called senior andjunior. This is, however, pure guess work to account
for a mystery. Iam especially anxious to know who Joseph Leonard, Jr., was who
marriedRuth White in 1746 and shall be grateful for any clue. Joseph (3)Leonard
(Isaac 2, Solomon 1), born about 1675, Joseph (3) Leonard(Benjamin 2, James 1),
born Jan. 22, 1692, and Joseph (3) (Joseph 2,James 1) are unaccounted for and
may have been grandfathers of a Joseph.
"Next comes Joseph Leonard, who married, May 7, 1752, Abigail 5 Raymond(Barnabas,
John 3, 2, 1). I have no record of his children. He wasquite surely Joseph
(5) (Joseph 4, Elkanah 3, Thomas 2, James 1), born asabove stated July 29, 1732.
He died October 11, 1793, aged sixty-three.(Note: wrong death date for this
Joseph -- he died abt. 1786.)
"Then we have two children recorded as children of Joseph (Second) andRuth:
Abigail, born March 2, 1770, and James, born May 13, 1772. Whowas Joseph, Second?
I suspect that he was the same Joseph, Jr., above,who married Ruth White, and
particularly as these two children fit on theend of his family as given above.
"Next we have another, Joseph Leonard, Jr., who married, November 20,1777,
Rebecca (5) Lyon (Jedidiah 4, Samuel 3, William2). He wasevidently the Joseph
above mentioned, born September 14, 1752, son ofJoseph and Ruth (White) Leonard.
The children of Joseph and Rebeccawere: Ruth, born June 3, 1778, Isaac, born
November 24, 1779, Molly,born Oct. 15, 1781; Druid, born April 5, 1784; Lucy,
born June 24, 1786;Rebecca, born May 30, 1788, died Dec. 22, 1791; Rebecca, born
Nov. 18,1791, and Hannah, born May 23, 1794.
"Finally we have the marriage of Joseph Leonard, December 3, 1778, toElizabeth
(6) Richmond (Joseph 5, 4, 3, John 2, 1). The Richmondgenealogy calls him Joseph
(3) Leonard, but the Middleboro records sayJoseph (4). The Richmond book states
that they moved away to New YorkState after having two children, Joseph and Betsey.
Betsey marriedNovember 7, 1801, Andrew Leonard, born March 3, 1774, son of Benjamin
andHannah (Pratt) Leonard. (W.W.N.Y. has the ancestry of this Josephwrong.
It was Joseph6, 5, 4, Elkanah3, Thomas2, James1.)
"According to the above, I have placed Joseph Leonard, Sr., and JosephLeonard,
Third. Will someone help with Joseph Leonard, Jr., JosephLeonard, Second, and
Joseph Leonard, Fourth? As soon as these areplaced, I will gladly contribute
all the Middleboro Leonard that I havecollected." W.W.N.Y.
Unfortunately, the confusion did not end with W.W.N.Y. Nor did he doanother
column to undo the confusion.
The six Josephs living in Middleborough in the late 1700's are:
- Joseph 1 1705-1775 m. 1731 Fear Southworth (Elkanah 3, Thomas2, James
1)
- Joseph 2nd or Jr. 1718-1813 m. 1746 Ruth White (Joseph 3,Benjamin 2,
James 1)
- Joseph 3rd 1732-1786 m. 1752 Abigail Raymond (Joseph 4, Elkanah3, Thomas
2, James 1) (Son of Joseph and Fear)
- Joseph 4th Sep 1752-? Maine m. Rebecca Lyon (Joseph4, 3, Benjamin2, James
1) (Son of Joseph and Ruth)
- Joseph 5th 1752-1844 m. 1777 Elizabeth Richmond (Joseph 5, 4,Elkanah
3, Thomas 2, James 1) (Son of Joseph and Abigail)
- Joseph th? 1730-1793 m. 1750 Huldah Dean (Joseph 4, 3, Jacob 2,Solomon
1) (He was 63 when he died) (Solomon Leonard line)
The presumption is that living Josephs of the same family were givensuffixes
in order of their births.
There are several problems that come up frequently. It would appear thatthe
Joseph Leonard who married Ruth White was the son of Joseph(3)Leonard, son of
Benjamin 2, James 1. There is a question as to who thewife of Joseph 3 in this
line was. Hannah Jennings appears to be wrong-- she married a Joseph(3) Leonard
(John2, Solomon1) of the SolomonLeonard line in Bridgewater. But if not Hannah
Jennings, who was hiswife? Also, if Ruth White was as WWNY has it -- dau. of
Benjamin White-- then she was born in Weymouth, MA, 25 September 1715, dau. of
BenjaminWhite and Ruth Reed. Ruth Reed died 5 May 1724, so she couldn't havegiven
birth to a dau. Ruth in 1725. So it probably was a different RuthWhite who m.
Joseph3 in this line.
OneWorldTree has numerous entries placing the wrong Joseph Leonard inthis line,
usually the one who married Ruth White (although this may havechanged recently).
ECL is quite definite about the parentage, marriage,and children of this Joseph
Leonard. If Joseph Leonard b. 1732 was theone who m. Ruth White in 1746, he
would have been only 14 at the time,rather unlikely. These presumably come from
the Mayflower Society'slisting the Joseph Leonard who married Ruth White in one
of their SilverBooks. Paul Bumpus at the Mayflower Society found Joseph listed
as#68563 in the James Chilton line, but the Mayflower Society had earliermismatched
Joseph's wife as Ruth White rather than Abigail Raymond, whichmay now have been
corrected.
There was another Joseph (5) Leonard (Joseph 4, 3, Jacob 2, Solomon 1) ofthe
Solomon Leonard line also in Middleborough. His children BetsyBriggs and Lucy
Leonard sold his homestead in Middleborough to JonathanLeonard of Middleborough
on May 6, 1796 after he died. His son Joseph inUnion, NY, signed off on the sale.
Land was sold to support his widow.This establishes his death date among the
Josephs. It was a differentJoseph Leonard than the Joseph who married Abigail
-- those aren't hisdaughters as listed by ECL. I don't a Betsy Leonard Briggs
in this database. I don't have any Betsy Leonards that fit. What I find that
fitsis that a Joseph Leonard of the Solomon Leonard line, wife Huldah Dean,married
31 January 1750 in Raynham, died in Bridgewater 11 October 1793.He had daughters
Betsey and Lucy, as well as a son, Joseph, who was born2 June 1754 in Middleboro
and died 1 Dec 1842 in Binghamton, NY. Otherchildren included Huldah Leonard,
Mary, Silas, and Jonathan. Betsey alsodied in NY.
The 1790 Census lists four Joseph Leonards living in Middleborough, plusAbigail,
wife of the Joseph who died in 1788. Abigail is listed ashaving 5 females in
the household. Nearby is Joseph Leonard (the one whomarried Elizabeth Richmond?),
with 2 males 16+ and 3 females, who mayhave been her son, Joseph. Also listed
nearby are Noah (another son),Zebulon, and Elkanah. Another Joseph Leonard's
household had 1 male 16+,2 under 16, and 6 females, listed next to Jesse Bryant's
household andPhilip Leonard (3 males 16+, 1 male under 16, and 4 females. The
Josephwho married Ruth White had a brother Philip and 10 children. AnotherJoseph
Leonard had a household of 7, 2 males 16+, 1 male under 16, and 3females. The
Joseph who married Rebecca Lyon had 8 children, 6 female ofwhich 4 were born
before 1791. There was another Joseph Leonardhousehold with 2 males 16+ and
1 female. Other Leonards listed in the1790 Census in Middleborough include Jonathan
(household of 5), Micah(household of 9), Perez (household of 5) listed next to
Zadock (householdof 10), Henry (household of 5), listed near Benjamin (household
of 14),Ephraim (household of 3), and Henry (household of 2), Samuel Leonard(household
of 3), Archippus Leonard (household of 4 -- listed near Josephand Philip) George
Leonard (household of 7).
Looking through the Plymouth Court cases, Joseph Leonard appears withreasonable
frequency, but it's hard to tell which was which from anidentification as "Joseph
Leonard, Gent., Middleborough." A JosephLeonard was a grand juror in 1713-14.
Joseph Leonard was a Tauntonbloomer in a case in the 1724-28 time frame. Joseph
Leonard, refiner ofiron, Middleborough, was involved in a couple of cases in
1769. JosephLeonard, Senior, gent., Middleborough, was involved in a case 28
Mar 1772over $30. Joseph Leonard III was in court over a note in 1781. JosephLeonard
was mentioned as a sheriff between October 1782 and October1785. Joseph Leonard
IV was empowered by the Court to sell property tosettle debts of 137 pounds of
Joseph Leonard, Gent., of Middleborough in1783-85. Joseph Leonard, yeoman, Middleborough,
attached Elijah Reed,yeoman, Middleborough, in 1783. Joseph Leonard III had
a deed of saleapproved by the Court in 1784. Joseph Leonard II was a Middleboromillwright
in a case 8 Sep 1797. Joseph Leonard II, yeoman,Middleborough, and Leonard Sears,
yeoman, Middleborough, were in court in1797. (Leonard Sears was married to a
daughter of Joseph III, AbiahLeonard). It will take a bit of doing to straighten
out which Joseph waswhich, particularly since the designations, I, II, III, and
IV changed asJosephs died or moved away.
It appears that a "yeoman" had to own some amount of land to justify
thetitle; a farmer working on leased land was a "husbandman;" a man
workingfor a wage such as a forgeman or bloomer was titled exactly that, andit's
unclear what a "gentleman" was (a profession not requiring manuallabor
or working for a wage?).
It's easy to understand why the Josephs are easy to confuse, withmismatches of
wives and children also occurring. I hope ECL/GML and Ihave it right in this
Leonard genealogy, but "don't take anything forgranted!"
Perhaps the names Noah and Remember, which don't occur in this line ofthe Leonard
family, were picked up from the Raymond side....
Benjamin Leonard of Solomon line bought 100 acres of land in Ashford, CT,of Joseph
Leonard of Middleborough, deed dated 16 May 1771. Which Joseph? Lt. Joseph
LEONARD and Abigail RAYMOND were married on 7 May 1752 in Middleborough, Plymouth,
MA.66 Abigail
RAYMOND468 (daughter
of Barnabus RAYMOND and Alice BENT) was born on 3 Oct 1732 in Middleboro, Plymouth
Co., MA.2 She died on 15
Jul 1810 in Middleboro, Plymouth Co., MA. Received quarter acre of
homestead farm of Benjamin Reed, 1790. She wasthe widow of Ens. Joseph Leonard.
In the 1800 Census she was living alone. Death date of 1810 isuncertain, not
listed in Middleboro VR's.
The Raymond Genealogy, p. 127: "Barnabas, 24, prob. son of John 10, m.Alice...,
and had at Middleboro, Mass.: Deborah, b. Aug. 1, 1729 (aDeborah m. John Cushman,
of Plympton, February 3, 1746). Abigail, b.October 3, 1732 (an Abigail m. Joseph
Leonard, 3rd, of Middleboro, May 7,1752. ..."). Lt. Joseph LEONARD and
Abigail RAYMOND had the following children:
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