Leonard Family of Springfield
The Giles Memorial, Genealogical Memoirs
by John Adams Vinton, 1864
"It has been supposed that John Leonard of Springfield, 1636, was a brother of James and Henry Leonard, already mentioned. There is a tradition among the Springfield Leonards that such was the fact. Indeed, we know that James Leonard had a brother John. We learn this from a statement made by Mrs. Hannah Deane, dau. of the said James, to Zephaniah Leonard, grandson of her brother James. This statement was made, Feb. 2, 1732-3, and by Zephaniah committed to writing; it was copied from the original manuscript, at Taunton, March 12, 1806, by Mary Leonard, grand-dau. of Zephaniah; and by her brother, John B.H. Leonard of Providence, communicated to Mr. W.R. Deane, already mentioned. It may be found in the Genealogical Register, Vol. VII, p. 72. In this authentic and valuable document, Mrs. Deane gives a particular account of her father's family connections. She says that the father of her father, Thomas Leonard, had sons Henry, James, William, John, Philip, and Thomas. Of these sons, Henry and James came to this country, and were connected with the iron-manufacture, as has already been mentioned. Philip, she says, also came to this country; lived at Marshfield, and died at Taunton. Thomas also came, and was 'drowned at Piscataway.' But William and John, she affirms, 'never came out of England.' This, of course, excludes John Leonard of Springfield from being a brother of James Leonard of Taunton. It is possible that she may have erred in this statement; the present writer leaves it for the reader to decide.
"It is stated by Rev. Dr. Perez Fobes of Raynham, whose wife was a descendant of James Leonard of Taunton, in an account of the Leonard Family, found in the Massachusetts Historical Collections, Vol. III, p. 173, that James Leonard had three brothers; and we presume he means to say, three who came to America. Mrs. Deane's statement gives us their names, viz. Henry, Philip, and Thomas. Of course, John Leonard of Springfield is excluded. Another fact is adverse to the supposition that he was a brother of James Leonard. It is this: James, Henry, and Philip Leonard, were iron-workers; so were many of their descendants. But John Leonard and his descendants were cultivators of the soil."