Fourth Generation

183. Judge, Major Zephaniah LEONARD²⁴⁴ was born on 18 Mar 1703/4 in Taunton, Bristol Co., MA. He was born on 18 Mar 1703/4. He died on 23 Apr 1766 in Taunton, Bristol Co., MA. He was buried in Plains Cemetery, Taunton, Ma. Zephaniah was appointed Judge of the Court of Common Pleas in 1761 andserved there until he died.

Zephaniah and his wife lived in Raynham, and most of the records aboutthe family are in the Raynham VR's.

Zephaniah is the Leonard who asked his great-aunt, Hannah Leonard Dean torecount the ancestry of the Leonards as she knew it.

Zephaniah, Capt. James Leonard, and the Leonard Lawsuits. Following is apiece in the Leonard genealogy written by ECL and GML, pages 112-115 oftheir manuscript.

"When Stephen Leonard went to New Jersey, he left his eldest son,Zephaniah, at Taunton to live with his grandfather, Capt. James Leonard.Stephen probably thought that there would be small chance for his boys ifhe remained in Taunton. Deacon Samuel Leonard was clerk and agent of theold works at Raynham and had boys of his own to advance in life. TheWhittinton Works had been bought by his brother who had moved there andbuilt a house. The saw mill Capt. James Leonard had already bought andhad placed Seth Leonard there as owner and manager. He still had theright to the West Hearth in the forge (Raynham Forge) in which Stephenhad worked, which could afford an opening for Zephaniah who commencedworking life at 17 years. No doubt he acquired the bloomers art, for hewas a smart, intelligent fellow. His father went to New Jersey and soonafter moved his family there. Zephaniah soon became efficient about hisgrandfather's premises, his property, and his business. When he was 21years old, Zephaniah found a helpmate in a girl whom he had known a longtime. He married the girl, Hannah King, April 24, 1724 when she was just19.

On March 4, 1725/6, Capt. James Leonard made his will and gave half thehouse, farm, and lot and orchard on the opposite of the road and next toForge Pond, about 7 acres, excepting the blacksmith's shop, to his wife,which was all to go to Zephaniah upon her death, together with theblacksmith's shop and all the tools. Zephaniah was to pay to each of hisaunts, Sarah Hodges and Elizabeth Hall 75 pounds. He gave to his sonStephen (Zephaniah's father), the other part of his homestead togetherwith other lots. Capt. James Leonard, Zephaniah's grandfather, died twoyears after the date of his will, leaving Zephaniah practically incontrol of the homestead. Zephaniah's grandmother kept the homestead asa tavern, in the management of which Zephaniah had control. She died in1738, and Zephaniah came into possession of it. He had already in 1727bought his father Stephen's share of the homestead, all that was given tohim in his father's will.

All these years he had worked the west hearth of Raynham Forge. Theproduction seems to have fallen off for in 1695/6 each hearth made 14tons of iron. In 1721 each hearth made about 11 tons, and up to 1721 theiron made in the west hearth was credited to Capt. James Leonard. In1733 Zephaniah is credited with 9 tons, 9 cwt, 3 qu. 6 lbs. In 1735 heis credited with 8 tons, 16 cwt., when all credits to him cease. DeaconLeonard is afterward credited with making from 20 to 25 tons at bothhearths.

Trouble had evident been brewing between Deacon Samuel Leonard andZephaniah and probably arose from the occupancy of the west hearth. Atany rate a quarrel arose and the Deacon obtained a vote of theProprietors authorizing him to employ such a person at the west hearth ashe should deem best. It seems that Zephaniah had dug ore in the mineswamp and dingle on land which belonged to him and sold it, whereas thecompany claimed exclusive right to all the mining there. Ostensibly forwithholding the receipts of this ore from the company, the Deacon oustedZephaniah, and a long controversy arose that continued in court andchurch until Zephaniah's death in 1766.

Zephaniah made several efforts to be reinstated at the Forge, but withoutavail. A friendly law suit was commenced to test the ownership of theore, but in the meantime lengthy communications passed between the Deaconand Zephaniah. These letters are long and tedious to read.

In the meantime the friendly suit was progressing, but there was anotherdeal going on of more importance to the old Raynham ironworks. Zephaniahwas a young man with plenty of push in him, and whilst negotiations withthe Deacon were going on, he was laying an anchor to windward. In 1735he purchased part of the old saw mill on Mill River in Taunton belongingto Jonathan and Joseph Barney, together with its privileges. He madesubsequent purchases there and in 1739/40 erected a forge which he calledHopewell. From certain memoranda illusions Zephaniah managed to get holdof the mine or ore about there and in Raynham, which compelled the oldcompany to go to Littleworth some eight miles away for stock. During thecontroversy with Zephaniah, Deacon Samuel Leonard with his son Samuel,also a Deacon, were buying up the shares of the old company until theyhad obtained a majority of the stock and controlled the company. TheDeacon died in 1745, and his son Deacon Sam died in 1749. The managementthen when into the hands of Deacon Elijah Leonard, who seems to have beena good old soul, but had no business capacity. The result was that theRaynham works fell into debt and finally in 1770 was sold and turned intoanother forge.

The Hopewell Forge under the management of Zephaniah flourished, and hebecame a prosperous man. He was a major in the Militia and in 1761 wasappointed a Judge of the Court of Common Pleas. The muster roll of hiscompany is in existence. The law suit between Samuel Leonard andJonathan Dean, agents for the Raynham Forge, and Zephaniah Leonard,wherein Zephaniah Leonard sued them for pulling down fences, enteringupon land, and digging 12 tons of ore, it seems that Zephaniah got thecase and 10 shillings damage and the costs. The case was appealed, andthe the next Court the judgment was reversed, whereupon Zephaniah broughta writ of error and at the next Court the judgment was rendered forZephaniah. Then Deacon Sam and Jonathan Dean petitioned the Governor,alleging that Zephaniah was always interfering with the honest intentionsof the grant to Raynham Forge and would dig ore in his lands within thelimits of said grant. Zephaniah answered the petition to the Governor.There were several affidavits attached to the case.

The following statement from one Anne Smith, who was the daughter ofThomas Crossman and Johanna Leonard, daughter of Thomas Leonard. Theysay that Josiah Smith was in the French War in 1754-5; that the regimentwas disbanded; and when Mr. Smith reached Boston, he was taken sick,brought home on a litter Thursday, and died the following Sunday. Hiswife caught the disease -- spotted fever --and died two days short ofthree weeks within her husband's death. "Some months before their death,I had come up to take the oversight of Major Zephaniah Leonard's tavern." It seems that Zephaniah Leonard continued the tavern some years afterhis grandmother's death. He was a man of thrift and most respectablecharacter. His boys turned out well, and his youngest son, SquireSamuel, as he was called, was the father of the manufacturing interestsin Taunton. Thus, Zephaniah and his wife trod the path of life togetheruntil the summons came to both of them on the same day, April 23, 1766,when they both died. They are buried in the Plains Cemetery in Tauntonunder an elaborate monument. Raised some two or three feet from theground the slab rests upon four pillars and upon the great stone there iscut the emblem of a coffin and the epitaph which was proposed by the Dr.Rev. Fobes. Tradition says that he was presented with a beaver hat forthe epitaph, which reads as follows:

Parentibus optimus bene meretibus
Zephaniah Leonard Esquire who died April the 23rd A.D. 1766
To dust and silence so much worth consigned
Sheds a sad gloom o'er vanities behind
Such our pursuits Proud mortals vainly soar
See here the wise, the virtuous are no more
How mean ambition, how contemptuous hate
How dim the tinsel, the glories of the great
Even Leonard's undistinguished fall and
Death and hovering darkness hide us all.

Judge, Major Zephaniah LEONARD and Hannah KING were married on 24 Apr 1724 in Taunton, Bristol, MA.¹⁸⁰ Hannah KING¹¹⁷ (daughter of John KING and Alice DEAN) was born on 28 Feb 1704/5 in Raynham, Bristol, MA.¹¹⁶ She was born on 28 Jul 1705. She died on 23 Apr 1766 in Taunton, Bristol Co., MA. She was buried in Plains Cemetery, Taunton, Ma. From Sanford's "Genealogy of the Families of Kings," 1865, about Hannah:"...She married Zephaniah Leonard of Taunton. As they were happy inlife, in death they were not divided, but were both buried in the samegrave. He was judge of the Court of Common Pleas from 1761 till hisdeath. By this marriage she was the mother of Captain Joshua Leonard, adistinguised man in church and state, who lived on a large plantationnear Raynham Forge; of Colonel Zephaniah Leonard, who was High Sheriff ofthe County thirty years, and his son Horatio thirty five years; ofApollos Leonard of Hopewell, a graduate of Yale, 1765, who wasdistinguised for this talents and usefulness; of Samuel Leonard, Esq. ofHopewell, Taunton, the first who set up iron manufactures in Taunton andwas the first man in commercial business, and was the father of GeorgeLeonard, M.D. and Ezekiel Leonard, the merchant. Thus she was the motherof four of the most eminent that this part of the country has produced.A renowned woman was Hannah King, and as Spurzheim says, everyrespectable man must have had a likely mother. As John Quincy Adams whenGovernor Briggs informed him he had just finished reading the letters ofMr. Adams' mother and admired them, said, that whatever excellences hepossessed he derived from his mother, it must follow that the superiorexcellences of these four Leonards show their mother to have been noordinary woman..." Judge, Major Zephaniah LEONARD and Hannah KING had the following children:

+502	i.	Capt. Joshua LEONARD.
503	ii.	Mary LEONARD245 was born on 22 Sep 1726 in Raynham, MA.246 She died on 19 Sep 1748 in Boston, Suffolk., MA.247 She was buried in King Cemetery, Raynham, MA.115
504	iii.	Prudence LEONARD248 was born on 23 Mar 1728/29 in Raynham, MA.246 She died on 1 Jan 1730/31 in Raynham, MA.246 She was buried in King Cemetery, Raynham, MA.115
+505	iv.	Silence LEONARD.
+506	v.	Anna LEONARD.
507	vi.	Abigail LEONARD249 was born on 31 Jan 1733/34 in Raynham, MA.126 She died on 4 Nov 1739 in Raynham, MA.126 She was buried in King Cemetery, Raynham, MA.115
+508	vii.	Col. Zephaniah LEONARD.
509	viii.	Phebe LEONARD250 was born on 18 Nov 1738 in Raynham, MA.251 She died on 9 Nov 1739 in Raynham, MA.115 She was buried in King Cemetery, Raynham, MA.
510	ix.	Abigail LEONARD was born on 8 Nov 1739 in Raynham, MA.185 She died on 9 Nov 1739 in Raynham, MA.252
511	x.	Prudence LEONARD253 was born on 4 Aug 1740 in Raynham, MA.126 She died on 12 Jun 1752 in Raynham, MA.126
+512	xi.	Abigail LEONARD.
+513	xii.	Apollos LEONARD.
514	xiii.	Phebe LEONARD254 was born on 16 Jul 1746 in Raynham, MA.126 She died on 17 Jun 1752 in Raynham, MA.115 She was buried in King Cemetery, Raynham, MA.
515	xiv.	Silas LEONARD255 was born on 5 Apr 1748 in Raynham, MA.126 He was born on 8 Apr 1748. He died on 15 May 1752 in Raynham, MA.256 He was buried in King Cemetery, Raynham, MA.115
+516	xv.	Samuel LEONARD.
+517	xvi.	Solomon LEONARD.