Fifth Generation

726. Capt. Asa LEONARD was born on 30 Jan 1759 in Lyme, New London Co., CT.⁶⁷⁹ He died on 24 Mar 1836 in Berkshire, Tioga Co., NY.⁶⁸⁰ He was buried in Brown Settlement Cemetery, Berkshire, Tioga Co., NY. On Jedidiah's death, he may have been sent to live with an uncle Abiel onhis mother's side. One source, W. B. Gay's "Historical Gazetteer ofTioga Co, NY 1895-1888," Syracuse, 1887, states on p. 121 that Asa wasthe son of Abiel Leonard of CT, but no documentation of that has beenfound and the evidence all points to his having been the son of Jedidiah.

He was a soldier in the Revolutionary War. He served more than 3 yearswith the Continental Army.

On February 23, 1791, four young men from Stockbridge, Elisha Willson,Capt. Abram Brown, Isaac Brown, and Daniel Ball left Stockbridge with oxteams and sleds, loaded with goods, westward to brave the trials anddifficulties to pioneer life. Two of the party had been in the corps ofsurveyors who, in 1786 and 1790, had marked the trail and had selectedthe Newark Valley as the place they would settle.

Asa, Olive, and their family dwelt in Stockbridge, and afterwards in WestStockbridge. Asa worked by the month in Stockbridge in the marblebusiness. In February 1793 Capt. Asa Leonard and his son Solomon set outwith the Slossons to settle in Berkshire, Tioga Co., NY. Capt. Asa andhis son went further up the Newark Valley, to lot 344, where theyeventually settled. Asa had paid 109 pounds in cash for the lot. Asahad started for the town in 1793, but a Choconut (now Union), NY, theillness of his wife compelled him to stop at his brother-in-law's andthen to return to Massachusetts. So it was not until 1797 that hispermanent settlement was made. See "History of Tioga, Chemung, Tomkins,and Schuyler Counties, New York, pp. 124 to 129, for the history of earlyBerkshire.

Asa was a tanner, currier, and shoe maker in partnership with EbenezerCook, under the name of Leonard and Cook, his brother-in-law (Ebenezer'swife was Elizabeth Churchill, sister of Asa's wife).

Asa was appointed a lieutenant in the New York Militia in 1797. Thatyear, the commander-in-chief of the New York militia thought it proper toform a militia in the county of Tioga, and Asa was appointed a lieutenantin Capt. Isaac Brown's company. In 1800 Capt. Brown died, and Asa wasappointed to succeed him. In 1804, Asa resigned.

There is this little piece from page 279 of the October 1928 edition ofthe New York Genealogical and Biographical Society Record that pertainsto Asa's will:

"Asa's will dated 12 December 1834, proven 20 Jan 1837, wife Olive;grandson George Griffing; three fifths of the estate equally to Levi andHenry Leonard and the heirs of Louis G. Leonar; ;my grnadchildren,minors, Charles T., Julius Y., and Harriet S. Leonard; my daughters PollyBall, Lucy wife of Josiah Ball, Anna Griffing, widow of Henry; Nancy,wife of Isaac Hitchcock, and Amanda, wife of John B. Royce.Grandchildren were childen of a son Asa, dec'd."

Berkshire was known as Brown's Settlement until 1808, when the territorycomprising Richford, Berkshire, and Newark Valley was formed from Owego(then called Tioga) and given the name it now bears, from BerkshireCounty, MA. The cemetery was on land donated by John Brown.

An Asa Leonard died 5 January 1845, age 69 (b. 1776), per HartfordCourant 18 Jan 1845. Relative of this Asa?

Capt. Asa LEONARD and Olive CHURCHILL were married on 11 Oct 1781 in Stockbridge, MA. Olive CHURCHILL was born on 20 Feb 1764 in West Stockbridge, Berkshire Co., MA.⁶⁷⁹ She died on 21 Aug 1844 in Berkshire, Tioga Co., NY.⁶⁷⁹ She was buried in Brown Settlement Cemetery, Berkshire, Tioga Co., NY. Capt. Asa LEONARD and Olive CHURCHILL had the following children:

+1538	i.	Solomon LEONARD.
+1539	ii.	Polly LEONARD.
+1540	iii.	Lucy LEONARD.
+1541	iv.	Anna LEONARD.
+1542	v.	Levi LEONARD.
+1543	vi.	Nancy LEONARD.
+1544	vii.	Louis Gigette LEONARD.
+1545	viii.	Henry LEONARD.
1546	ix.	George LEONARD was born on 5 Apr 1799 in Berkshire, Tioga Co., NY.679 He died on 23 Apr 1799 in Berkshire, Tioga Co., NY.679
1547	x.	Sabrina LEONARD was born on 28 Aug 1800 in Berkshire, Tioga Co., NY.679 She died on 22 Nov 1809 in Berkshire, Tioga Co., NY.
+1548	xi.	Amanda LEONARD.
+1549	xii.	Chester LEONARD.
1550	xiii.	Leonard LEONARD was born on 5 Jun 1807 in Berkshire, Tioga Co., NY.679 He died on 29 Jun 1807 in Berkshire, Tioga Co., NY.679