Sullivan County PA Archives Biographies.....Leonard, William H. 1841 - ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/pafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com February 6, 2008, 11:13 pm Author: Thomas J. Ingham (1899) WILLIAM H. LEONARD, a prosperous farmer of Cherry township, is among the many loyal citizens of the grand old Keystone state who gave the best years of their early manhood to the cause of their country. and his record as a veteran of the Civil war is one of which he is justly proud. He was born at Nichols, Tioga county, New York, July 18, 1841, and is the son of Chauncey and Mary (Gould) Leonard, also natives of Tioga county. When fourteen years old our subject started out in life for himself, working on farms and in the lumber camps until 1861. At that time the whole country was in a state of excitement over the attack on Fort Sumter and the call of the president for volunteers, to which old and young responded with an enthusiasm which has never been equaled in the history of any nation. On October 21st of that historic year young Leonard, then in his twenty-first year, enlisted at Owego, New York, and was enrolled in Company H, Sixty-fourth New York Volunteer Infantry, Second Brigade, Second Division, Second Army Corps, as a private, later being made corporal of his company. He took part in a number of famous battles, among them those of Seven Pines, the seven-days fight at Malvern Hill, the memorable disaster of Bull Run, Antietam and White Swamp. In November, 1863, he was sent to the hospital at Harper's Ferry, Virginia, suffering from chronic diarrhea and rheumatism, and was not able to rejoin his regiment until in February, 1864, when he was sent to the convalescent camp, and soon after was granted an honorable discharge. During his service in the army Mr. Leonard received many slight wounds, to which he paid no attention, keeping up with his comrades and discharging his duties as if nothing had happened. He was a brave soldier and continued the fight until nature rebelled and he was compelled by physical weakness to retire to private life. For two years after his discharge he was disabled and obliged to refrain from any heavy work. In 1882 he removed to the farm on which he is now living, and which he has under a fine state of cultivation. Mr. Leonard is a Republican in politics and a prominent ember of Post No. 388, G. A. R., at Dushore. In recognition of his sacrifice of health in the cause of his country he receives a pension from the government. Mr. Leonard was married in Tioga county, New York, December 25, 1874, to Miss Emily Friess, and the children born of this union are: Virginia F., born April 14, 1877, now the wife of Aaron Stiff, and living at Owego, New York; Chauncey J., born August 10, 1881, lives with his parents; Cleveland G., born July 19, 1884.Mr. and Mrs. Leonard have also taken as one of their family Fayette E. Klump, the daughter of George and Jessie (Knox) Klump, who was born in Forest county, Pennsylvania, November 15, 1886. She is a bright, pretty child, and well repays the care and affection lavished upon her. The parents of Mr. Leonard were natives of Tioga county, New York, where the father carried on farming and where he died in 1884, at the age of sixty-five years, his wife passing away in 1885, aged sixty-seven years. They are buried at Riverside cemetery, Tioga county. Both were members of the Baptist church. The father was a Democrat in politics. The children of the family were as follows: Nathaniel, living in Owego, New York; George, who was a soldier in the Civil war, lives in Tioga Center, New York; William H., our subject: Silas lives at Nathans, Pennsylvania; Sarah married Rodney Taylor and is deceased; John, deceased; Allen, living in Owego, New York; Emily married Young Wright and lives in Michigan; Jane became the wife of S. D. Holliday, an attorney at Etha, New York; Frank is a carpenter at Athens, New York; Charles, deceased; James, who served in the Civil war, died at the navy yards in Washington, D. C., in 1862. The paternal grandfather was Nathan Leonard, of North River, New York. The Leonards are of Scotch descent. Emily (Friess) Leonard was born in Paris, France, April 3, 1850, and is a daughter of James and Fanny (Rush) Friess, of Switzerland, who were married in Paris and came to America in 1851. They located in New York city, where they resided for nearly two years, then removed to Bradford county, Pennsylvania, and in 1859 came to Sullivan county and settled on the farm where they resided for the remainder of their lives. Mr. Friess was a glass-cutter and also a physician and veterinary surgeon, and became a successful farmer, his death occurring in 1871 at the age of sixty years; that of his wife in 1870, at the age of forty-seven years. They are buried in Zion church cemetery, Cherry township. Their children were as follows: Emily, wife of our subject; Cecelia F., the wife of James White, of Williamsport, Pennsylvania; and Otto, who died in infancy. Additional Comments: Extracted from: History of Sullivan County Pennsylvania by Thomas J. Ingham Compendium of Biography The Lewis Publishing Company Chicago: 1899 This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/pafiles/ File size: 5.6 Kb