The Honorable Elijah Leonard : a memoir, by Leonard, Elijah, 1814-1891; published by Emeline W. Leonard (1819- ), in 1894, can be read below.
Elijah Leonard describes his grandfather as Samuel Leonard, also known as "Black Sam", who married Mary Williams. Samuel died in 1824. He had lived with Elijah's father and family in Constantia, New York, prior to his death. He was an iron worker, like his ancestors, who he claims came from Wales to the United States about 1650. According to the United States Gazetteer, "Samuel Leonard rolled the first shovel ever done in America". Elijah explains that his father ran away from home before completing his apprenticeship and "going through Vermont made his way west to the vicinity of Lake George and Champlain, where he no doubt engaged in manufacturing iron, as that locality was then and is now famous for its iron production".
Elijah's mother was Polly Stone, born March 25, 1793. She married in 1811 and she and her husband purchased a farm near Syracuse, New York. Elijah's brother Delos Leonard was born in Constantia. He also had two other brothers, Lyman and Louis. In 1829 their father took charge of a furnace in Normandale, Canada, and the family moved there in 1830. In 1875, Elijah admitted his sons, Frank and Charles, into partnership.
For more Leonard history, see the Leonard page.
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