Seventh Generation

2255. John LEONARD was born on 21 Mar 1823 in Newark, Essex Co., NJ. He died on 6 Oct 1906 in Oneida Community, Lenox, NY. John is mentioned as being at the Oneida Community in the 1850 and 1880Censuses.

"John Leonard was born in Newark, NJ, on March 21, 1823, one of sevenchildren of Ephraim Leonard and Nancy Martin. The LLeonards trace theirAmerican ancestry back to the 1600's and originally came from Pontypool,Wales. John received the doctrine of holiness while a member of the FreeChurch under Charles Fitch (probably at Newark) and became identifiedwith the Newark Perfectionists. At about the age of 19 he joined thePutney Association with his brother, Stepehn R. Leonard, and he joinedthe Oneida Community on May 13, 1848. John Leonard had no children andremained in the Community for 32 years as a carpenter and cabinetmaker.He had no Community children nor a marriage prior to the breakup when hemarried Frances Hillerman who had joined the Community in the late1860's. He was a secretary to the Business Board and died on October 6,1906, at the age of 83. He is buried in the Community Cemetery." From"The Oneida Family: Genealogy of a 19th Century Perfectionist Commune,"published by the Oneida Community Historical Committee in 1985.