TALBOT COUNTY, GA - BIOGRAPHIES Lennard Family Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by: Dean J. Lennard djl10126@att.net Table of Contents page: http://www.usgwarchives.net/ga/talbot.htm Georgia Table of Contents: http://www.usgwarchives.net/ga/gafiles.htm LENNARD FAMILY (A work in progress) James Clark Lennard, his brother, Francis, and their wives settled in Talbot County some time before 1830 (both listed in the 1830 census). The first documented account of James and Francis are in the will of William Ellis of Baldwin County (Baldwin County, Will Book A probated Jan. 1824). William Ellis, a minister and also a farmer/landowner, lists in his will his children by his first wife, the six children by he and his wife, Polly (nee Clark Lennard), and the four children of Polly by her first husband (unknown)– James Lennard, Francis Lennard, Nancy Smith and Susan DuBose. Family lore noted James (gg grandfather of this author) as having come from Virginia and this is supported in the1850 and 1860 census where he stated Virginia as his state of birth. Using his stated age at the time of both censuses would make his date of birth as 1796. Ellis family data indicates Polly and William were married on 16 June 1803 so James and Francis lost their natural father at a very early age. The Ellis family has documented William Ellis as having been a resident of Lunenburg Co. Virginia and it is assumed that Polly likely lived in the same area prior to the presumed death of James’ father for whom no records have yet been found. On 18 Nov. 1823 James Lennard married Mary Dean and, on 24 Dec. 1824 Francis married her sister, Unity Dean, daughters of William and Jane (nee Sessions) Dean of Baldwin County. The officiating minister at the wedding of James and Mary as documented on their marriage license was Henry Hand, a Baptist minister (more on Henry below). Family lore also claimed James Lennard was in the War of 1812 with Jackson at the battle of New Orleans. This has not been substantiated but may be a reason or basis for his obtaining land in Talbot County possibly in a lottery. William Dean, the father of Mary Dean Lennard died in 1819 and his wife, Jane (also listed as Janie), married Henry Hand (cited above) in 1821 and they too subsequently moved to Talbot County. Henry purchased land in the 17th district in 1833. A bio sketch of Henry Hand is listed in the Talbot County Bio’s on this site. The will of Jane (Janie) Hand, which is on, file in Talbot County Will Book A names James and Francis as her executors. Although Francis first settled in Talbot County along with James, he and his family subsequently (sometime after 1840) moved to Randolph County. James and Mary Lennard had seven surviving children (no record of any others who may have died in childhood or at birth) as listed below: ? Virginia A. (b1828) married James F. Marshall 11 Nov 1845 ? Missouri (b1830) married Columbus Agustus Boynton 17 Aug. 1848 ? Joseph M. (b 1833) married ? ? James Monroe (b1838) married Mary Susan Carter ? Mary Elizabeth (b1841) married James M. Stinson ? William Dean (b1845) married Gertrude Worthy ? Francis Marshall (b1850) married Laurie Annie Gould William Dean and James M. both served in the Civil War (William -27th Ga. Battalion, James -3rd Regiment, Ga. Calvary) and James reportedly lost a leg. James Clark Lennard is listed as serving in the 15th Battalion, Ga. Calvary (State Guards). Joseph M.’s service is unknown. A transcript of the Talbot County signers of the Amnesty Oath (30 Sept 1865) lists William D. Leonard (however signed Lennard). The war experience of James’s son, Francis Marshall, who was only a young boy at the time, was recounted by his son, Gardner Gould Lennard, in the following: "My father, Francis Marshall Lennard, was the youngest of James Clark Lennard's children. He was only 14 years old when the Civil War ended. Father told me how a Yankee Corporal's Guard overran the plantation during the war, while his mother, Mary Dean Lennard, was sick in bed. He said he had hidden in the woods when he saw them approaching, and when they stayed quite awhile, he slipped back and saw them setting fire to his mother's bed, to try to make her tell where the gold was hidden. The Master- Sergeant put the fire out, but they relit it three times, when he drew his sword and said, ”If she has any gold she is not going to tell, and the next man that sets fire to that bed, I'll cut his head off!" Leaving, they set fire to the cotton shed in the rear, and burned up 100 bales of cotton. My father never got over his hatred of the Yankees on account of this tragic impression in his youth.” Mary apparently died not long afterwards for James Clark married Harriet Gray in 1866. Besides being a farmer, he is found as a witness on numerous Talbot Co. legal documents (land transfers, etc.) with the title JIC. James died in 1874 and his estate was settled among his children. His probated will is on file at the Talbot County Courthouse (it is the intent of the author to transcribe it and post it on this web site in the future). Francis M. Lennard studied engineering then earned a medical degree using funds he got when his brother William bought out his interest in the family farm and subsequently settled in Texas. He married Laurie Annie Gould and died in about 1937. James M. Lennard married Mary Susan Carter of Talbot County and died in Columbus, Georgia in 1908. William Dean’s wife, Gertrude, died in 1881 and he (believed to be the last of the Lennards in Talbot County) subsequently moved to Fort Pierce, Florida to live with his son, Robert Worthy Lennard, and family. He died there in 1922 and is buried in Riverview Memorial Park. Dean J. Lennard 2/28/03