Thomas Leonard

Photo is of ironworks on Pontypool, Monmouth, England. That is where the Lennard family was from and that was the profession of Thomas and of his immigrant sons.

This Thomas Leonard did not immigrate to America, most of his children did, and little is known about him other than his given name. Thomas Lennard was NOT the son of Sampson and Margaret Fiennes. That is a common incorrect belief that is found all over the Internet, as well as in vanity genealogies from the past century. Thomas Lennard, the son of Sampson and Lady Margaret Fiennes, died unmarried and without children. That Thoms Leonard has a profile here Thomas Leonard, of England with his family group. The connection was disproven in 1933 by Donald Lines Jacobus in an article in The American Genealogist (uploaded at the Source Tab). Also see the 2 articles from http://www.bradsport.com/, one of the most comprehensive sites for Leonard Genealogy.

It is unclear when and by what source these two men began to be confused. One of the earliest mentions is in the 1851 "Genealogy Memoir of the Leonard Family" by William Reed Deane (see page 6). https://www.google.com/books/edition/A_Genealogical_Memoir_of_the_L...
But that source says that it has not been proven but only "has been said", and on page 7, it also states that this Thomas did not immigrate to America. Supposedly, Leonards from Massachusetts had traveled to England in the late 1700s to find a connection but were unsuccessful. So, there had been a long history of that claim.

It might have been a 1908 publication entitled Stephen Banks Leonard (see uploaded 1933 TAG article). It might have been the more widely cited 1911 Publication of the Annals of the Leonard Family, by Fannie Leonard Koster, which makes wildly unproven declarations of relations to the Darces, indicating that the father of the 11 children was this profile. She does, however, state on page 61 (pdf p 95) that Thomas Leonard, the father of James and Henry of Taunton, did not leave England (as she properly noted the burial in 1638 in England), but she states that James and Henry arrived in 1652 - although they were working at the Saugus Iron Works in the 1640s.

https://www.familysearch.org/library/books/viewer/375118#page=96&vi...

It should be noted that many online trees, Find A Grave, and other publications incorrectly state that the Thomas who is conflated with this profile died in Tauton, MA in 1638, using the death date of this profile in England. The Find A Grave profile, however, as of 10/17/2022 includes a scan of page 604 of the History of Bristol County, Massachusetts, which makes the incorrect claim about the ancestry of the Leonards of Tauton descent from Leonard Lord Dacre.
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/60380372/thomas-leonard

The locations and dates of birth and death for Thomas Lennard (Leonard) are unknown as of 10/17/2022. It is known that he was engaged in the manufacture of iron at Pontypool, in co. Monmouth (once belonging to Wales but, when the boundary between England and Wales was later changed, Monmouth became a part of England). He married a woman named Elizabeth, who some sources say had a maiden name of White, but no source or documentation has been found. Much of the family information is from a listing provided by a descendant. See uploaded article at the Source Tab from The American Genealogist in 1977 "Leonards of Monmouthshire and Somersetshire, England, by Alice Allen Everett.

Thomas and Elizabeth are thought to have had 11 children as follows:

1. Henry Leonard, eldest son, called "the father of the American Iron Industry," since he persevered in that calling, and his foundries were perpetuated for centuries. Born at Pontypool circa1618, as in his deposition taken in 1655 he says he is aged 37 or thereabouts, being then of Hammersmith (Lynn).
2. James Leonard, b. ca 1620, because living in Taunton, he is recorded as having died there before 1691, aged 70.
3. Margery Leonard, bap 16 Mar 1624/25 at Cleobury Mortimer, England, married Henry Samson of Ireland.
4. May/Mary bap and buried 12 Sep 1627 at Cleobury Mortimer, England.
5. William bap and buried 30 Nov 1628 at Cleobury Mortimer, England.
6. William Leonard, remained in England.
7. John Leonard, perhaps remained in England.
8. Philip Leonard, who was at Marshfield in 1678 and afterwards of Duxbury, died in July 1708 at Taunton. He married Lydia, who died 13 November 1707, and they had an only daughter, Phebe Leonard, who was married 6 November 1694 to Samuel Hill of Duxbury.
9 Joan Leonard, did not come to America.
10 Sarah Leonard, bap. 23 Feb 1633/34 at Publow, Somersetshire, England and died at New Salem, MA.
11 Thomas Leonard, bap. 20 Apr 1636 at Publow, Somersetshire, England, and who was drowned at Piscataway, NJ.
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