Arthur Russell Leonard & Alveretta Sincerbeaux

Arthur Russell Leonard was born May 25, 1876, in Locke, Cayuga County, New York. He was a son of Charles Russell Leonard and Mary (Brown) Leonard. He appears to have grown up in Locke, as he was counted on the census in Locke in 1880 and in 1892.

He was a young man of 21 years when his brother, Lewis Leonard, died in 1897. Lewis was my 2nd great-grandfather, which makes Arthur my 2nd great-granduncle. Our relationship has been confirmed through DNA matches with several of his descendants.

After Lewis died, Cora (Sherman) Leonard, Lewis's widow, married a man named Arthur Leonard in 1898, but after reviewing the evidence, I don't believe it was Arthur Russell Leonard who she married.

Arthur married to Alveretta Sincerbeaux on December 24, 1903, at Auburn, Cayuga County, New York.

By 1910, the couple was living in Scipio, Cayuga County, New York, and had already had four children, two of whom died young. Four year old Bertha and baby Harold were their two living children in 1910. Arthur was working as a farm laborer. In 1915, they were counted on the census in Lansing, Tompkins County, with a new addition to the family, Dorothy. By 1920, they were in Locke, with Bertha, Harold, and Dorothy, along with a four year old daughter, Alice, and 14 month old son, William Leonard. Arthur was still a farm laborer. In 1925, they were back in Lansing, and Arthur was working as a "Wood & Iron Worker". Only Bertha was missing from the home. She had married Fred Boyer in 1924, and the newlyweds lived in Genoa in 1925.

Arthur and Alveretta had five known children, in addition to the two who died before 1910. From census records and other paper trails, following is what I've learned about them. If you have any corrections or additions, please comment below or contact me to let me know.

1. Bertha M. Leonard (1905-2004), born July 4, 1905. She married first to Fred Boyer on April 2, 1924, in Tompkins County, New York, and they lived in Lansing in 1930. Bertha married second to John Mitnik (1897-1958), an immigrant miner born in Trheviste, Austria, Hungary. He had married first to a Hungarian woman named Bertha, and had a son named John born in Czechoslovakia in 1921. John's obituary says he was survived by a stepdaughter, Mrs. Betty Perkins of Genoa, two stepsons, Robert and Charles Boyer of Selma, Alabama, and five grandchildren. After John died, Bertha married her third husband, Herman Schmidtman, at the age of 56. They were married in 1962 and lived in Ithaca. She died at the age of 99, on July 2, 2004. Bertha and Fred Boyer had three known children:

   1. Robert Francis Boyer (1926-2002) of Selma, Alabama.

   2. Betty Boyer (1925-2013), wife of Francis Perkins and later Hilliard.

   3. Charles Boyer (1928- ) of Selma, Alabama.

2. Harold Augustus Leonard (1910-1994), born April 4, 1910, in Cayuga County. He married first to Margaret Chilson on August 19, 1931, in Richford, New York. They reportedly had two children: a. Robert Leonard (1932-2009) b. Vena Leonard (1933-1991) He married second to Lola F. Barnes after 1938 and they lived in East Pompey, Onondaga County, in 1940. They reported that he had lived in Marathon, Cortland County, in 1935, while she had lived in Homer. She may have also lived in Cincinnatus at some point. They lived in East Homer in 1963, when his mother died. Margaret died in 1992 and Harold died two years later, on March 25, 1994. Lola died Jan. 17, 2007, in Cortland. Harold and Lola rest in East Homer Cemetery in Homer. They had seven known children:

   1. Harold A. Leonard (1944-2019)

   2. Richard Leonard

   3. Robert Wesley Leonard

   4. Nancy Ann (Leonard) Smith,

   5. Elsie (Leonard) Ferro (1942-2017)

   6. Carolyn (Leonard) Aldrich

   7. Beverly (Leonard) Sprouse

3. Dorothy Jane Leonard (1913-2008), born Sept. 1, 1913, in Scipio, Cayuga County, New York. She lived with her married sister, Bertha Boyer, in Lansing, in 1930. She married Warren M. Mastin (1903-1977) very soon after, on Nov. 15, 1930, in North Lansing and they lived in Lansing in 1940. They lived in Genoa in 1959 and were still there wen her mother died in 1963. Dorothy died at the age of 94, on April 26, 2008, in Ithaca. Dorothy and Warren Mastin had five known children:

   1. Gertrude (Mastin) Bosworth (1931-2022), who married Ray S. Bosworth (1929-2018) and had five known children including John Edward Bosworth (1959-1973), and Cynthia (Bosworth) Fishburn (1955-2021).

   2. Warren Mastin, Jr. (1932-1969), born Nov. 18, 1932, in Genoa, and was still there in 1950. He married Phyllis J. Mancuso in 1958 and died Jan. 27, 1969, in Rochester.

   3. Esther I. Mastin (1934-1993), born Dec. 8, 1934, in Genoa, and was still there in 1950. She married Ernest LaVerne Stedge (1932-2002) and lived in Waverly, Tioga County, New York.

   4. Donald G. Mastin, of Genoa, Cayuga, New York.

   5. Gerald Mastin, who married Marjorie A. Lanpher in 1963.

4. Alice Mildred Leonard, born March 9, 1916, in Lansing. She married Charles Monroe Dingy (1917-1988), in Venice, New York, on Nov. 22, 1936. Charles enlisted in the U.S. Army on June 25, 1945, and was discharged four months later, on Oct. 19, 1945, about six weeks after the end of World War II. They lived in Preble, Cortland County, in 1950, and in Wolcott in 1963. Charles and Alice had seven known children:

   1. Shirley (Dingy) Sincerbeaux

   2. Emma Jean (Dingy) Guthrie

   3. Francis Dingy

   4. Rosalie (Dingy) Snyder

   5. Marjorie L. (Dingy) Griffin

   6. William Charles Dingy

   7. Kenneth Dingy

5. William Robert Leonard, born Oct. 22, 1918, in Ithaca, married Myleta Irene Perry on Dec. 11, 1938, in Genoa. They lived in Moravia when he registered for the draft in 1940. He was 6-feet tall, 173 lbs., had brown eyes, brown hair, and a dark complexion. He lived in Cortland when his mother died in 1963. William and Myleta lived in Preble, Cortland County, in 1950. Myleta died Dec. 16, 1980, in Harnando, Florida. William and Myleta had five children at the time:

   1. William Daniel Leonard (1939-2001)

   2. James Eugene Leonard (1944-1989)

   3. Mary I. (Leonard) Rogers

   4. Howard A. Leonard

   5. Dorothy M. Leonard

Arthur died on October 12, 1961, and is buried in Bird Cemetery, in Locke. His obituary says he was 84, but if he was born May 25, 1876, he lived 85 years. Alveretta died June 15, 1963, at the age of 82. According to her obituary, in addition to her five children, she was survived by 28 grandchildren and 38 great-grandchildren. Arthur and Alveretta can be seen here in this portrait, along with their obituaries:

Arthur's obituary, printed in the Cortland Standard, Fri., Oct. 13, 1961:

"ARTHUR LEONARD, 84, LOCKE, DIES. LOCKE - Arthur Leonard, 84, a long time area resident, died Thursday at Cortland Memorial Hospital where he was a medical patient for two days. Mr. Leonard worked as a blacksmith for many years and did general farming. He is survived by his wife, Alberetta Sincerbeaux Leonard, and five children, Mrs. Bertha Mitnik of Ithaca, Harold Leonard of East Homer, Mrs. Dorothy Mastin of Genoa; Mrs. Alice Dingy of Wolcott, and William Leonard of Cortland. Funeral services will be Saturday at 2 at the Booth Co. Funeral Home in Groton, Rev. Duane Bell, pastor of the Milan Baptist Church of Locke, officiating. Interment in Bird Cemetery, Locke. Friends may call at the funeral home this evening from 7-9."

It's amazing how many descendants can result from one marriage over the course of a hundred years. It brings to mind a poem on a coffee mug I bought over twenty years ago for my oldest child's first school fund raiser:

Hats off to Arthur and Alveretta Leonard and their many descendants!

Stay tuned for more! Click here to learn more about the Leonard family.

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