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Facts and Events
"Where you can find iron works, there you will find a LEONARD."[4]
Henry Leonard, with his brother James, distinguished himself in the ironworks of Lynn and Braintree, Mass. About 1670 Henry established a bloomery at Rowley Village (near Salem). Although the endeavor was a technological success, Henry fell heavily into debt and in 1673 he and his family moved to Monmouth Co., N.J. where he and his sons built a forge at Tinton Falls.[4]
Henry and James Leonard undoubtedly began their careers in ironworks in England, including at Bilston, Staffordshire. They apparently lived in Pontypool, Wales for a time as well, before emigrating.[5]
- the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia
The Taunton Iron Works (also known as Leonard Iron Works) was located on the banks of the Forge River in what is now Raynham, Massachusetts. It was the first iron works established in Plymouth Colony, and only the third in New England. Much more successful than earlier works at Saugus, and Braintree, it operated for a remarkable period of two hundred and twenty years, from 1656 to 1876.
References
- John Sparhawk Wurts, in Jordan, John W. (John Woolf). Colonial and revolutionary families of Pennsylvania: genealogical and personal memoirs. (New York: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1911)
3:1676.
" ... Henry Leonard, an iron merchant of Pontypool, Wales, who came to Lynn, Massachusetts, in 1626 [incorrect, probably 15-20 years later], and later removed to New Jersey, where he was associated with Louis Morris in building, near Freehold, in 1675, the first iron works in the Middle States."
- ↑ Newhall, James R., and Alonzo Lewis. History of Lynn, Essex County, Massachusetts: including Lynnfield, Saugus, Swampscot, and Nahant. (Lynn, Massachusetts: Printed for James R. Newhall, 1865)
pp. 206-7.
states that Henry was at Lynn in 1642
- ↑ Genealogical Memoir of the Leonard Family, in The New England Historical and Genealogical Register. (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society)
5(1851):414.2.
"Henry, aged 37 in 1655; wife Mary in 1650; a wife living in 1675. He was at Lynn 1642 [citing Lewis, History of Lynn]; of Braintree 1652, and probably earlier; of Taunton 1652, of Hammersmith (Lynn) 1655, freeman of Mass. (of Lynn) 1668, of Rowley Village 1674. He afterwards went to New Jersey."
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Barton, Bill. Leonard Siblings Henry, James, Philip, Sarah & Thomas in America & Some of their Descendants.
This article has a fairly extensive discussion of Henry and James Leonard, citing many documents. There are over 300 references.
'On 6 Jan. 1793 Rev. Perez Forbes wrote, "Where you can find iron works, there you will find a LEONARD." ' [citation: Rev. Perez Forbes, “Topographical Description of Raynam” (Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society, 1810), 3:175.]
Brief summary of Henry's involvement in ironworks: Henry Leonard, with his brother James, distinguished himself in the ironworks of Lynn and Braintree, Mass. About 1670 Henry established a bloomery at Rowley Village (near Salem). Although the endeavor was a technological success, Henry fell heavily into debt and in 1673 he and his family moved to Monmouth Co., N.J. where he and his sons built a forge at Tinton Falls.
"An undocumented source indicates that Henry’s wife’s maiden name was Mary Russell and that they were married in Lynn. If this is true, then the next assumption might be that she was a sister or daughter of Ralph Russell. This Ralph Russell was a less-experienced forge helper with Henry and James Leonard at Hammersmith (the name of the ironworks at Lynn). [citation: E. N. Hartley, Ironworks on the Saugus (1957), 100-109 and Richard S. Dunn, Puritans & Yankees: The Winthrop Dynasty in New England (1962), 87-90.]"
- ↑ Barton, Bill Pre-American Ancestry of our Leonard Ironworkers.
"No specific record of Henry in England or Wales has been discovered. However, it appears fairly certain that Henry and his brother James were ironworkers at Bilston, Staffordshire, shortly before their emigration. ...
According to the Leonard family bible, Thomas Leonard, the eldest son of James, was born 3 Aug. 1641 [citing NEHGR 32(1878):270]. This date leads us back to Kinver, Staffordshire, where on 8 Aug. 1641 Thomas Leonard, son of James & Jane/Jean Leonard, was baptized. Evidently the first wife of emigrant James Leonard was named Jane (not Mary as has been previously reported)."
- Goodenough, Caroline Louisa Leonard. Memoirs of the Leonard, Thompson, and Haskell families: with their collateral families of Alden, Andrews, Bell, Bourne, Brooks, Brown, Bryant, Chipman, Cooke, Crossman, Goodell, Goodenough, Gorham, Hall, Hathaway, Hicks, Hinckley, Hodges, Howland, Jenny, Kingsley, Lincoln, Merrick, Otis, Packard, Paine, Pearl, Phillips, Price, Smith, Sturtevant, Swift, Thomas, Wadsworth, White, Wood and many others. (Yellow Springs, Ohio: C.L. Goodenough, 1928)
pp. 13-14.
"Henry Leonard ... left Massachusetts in 1674 to found the iron industry in New Jersey, lured by the iron ore found there in large quantities. One of James Leonard's sons, Stephen Leonard, also settled in New Jersey, and from there the iron industry spread into Pennsylvania."
- Taunton Iron Works, in Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia.
- Brad. Origins of the Massachusetts Leonards.
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