ELKANAH LEONARD, the second practicing lawyer in Middleboro, was born in 1703. The house in the "Tack Factory Neighborhood," Lakeville, in which he lived is still standing, and although it has seen many changes, it still retains much of its original appearance.
Mr. Leonard was a man of unusual ability, and acquired a reputation as a successful lawyer in southeastern Massachusetts. The Rev. Dr. Forbes, speaking of him, says: "He possessed strong powers of investigation, a sound judgment, and an uncommon brilliancy of wit, and his inventive powers were not surpassed, if equalled, by any of his time. His assistance in the defense of criminal prosecutions was much sought for, and his abilities were never more conspicuous than in these defenses."
He represented the town of Middleboro in the years 1735 to 1743, with the exception of 1738, when the office was filled by John Bennett. He held the office of his Majesty's justice of the peace from 1736 until his death, and was one of the selectmen from 1733 to 1742. He was major of the first regiment of Plymouth County militia. In 1740 he was interested in the famous land bank which proved so disastrous to all had invested. Some thirty years before his death, his mind became so impaired that he was obliged to give up all professional labor. He died July 24, 1777, in the seventy-fourth year of his age, and was buried in the cemetery of the Taunton and Lakeville Congregational Society, a brown stone marking the place. He was a member of the First Church under the half-way covenant.
