Isaac Learned

Return to main file

John Leonard (say 1615–1676)

Sarah Heald (say 1620–1711)

John Leonard was born say 1615. He was killed by the Indians in early 1676. [1] He married Sarah Heald on 12 (9) 1640 in Springfield. [2, 1:19]

Sarah Heald was born say 1620. “Mrs. Sarah Tilton the Relict of the Peter Tilton Esq was Sicke and died November. 23. 1711” in Springfield. [2, 1:123] She married first John Leonard. She married second as his second wife Benjamin Parsons on 21 February 1676/[7?] in Springfield. [2, 1:23] Deacon Benjamin Parsons was “Sicke and died” on 24 August 1689 in Springfield. [2, 2:1692] He married first Sarah Vore on 6 (8) 1653 in Springfield. [2, 2:1681] She died on 1 January 1675 I Springfield. [2, 1:64] The widow Sarah Parsons married the “worshipful Peter Tilton, Esq.” on 3 November 1690 in Springfield. [2, 2:1685]

The origins of John Leonard and Sarah Heald are unknown. Sarah bore 15 children and outlived three husbands.

Sarah exhibited the inventory on her late husband’s estate on 29 March 1676. John died intestate and Sarah sued to recover her rights of dowry on 4 March 1698/9. She referred to herself as Sarah Tilton alias Parsons alias Leonard. A distribution was agreed upon on 8 April 1718 and approved on 23 May. It mentions John Leonard and his relict Sarah, deceased, Joseph Leonard, deceased, Benjamin Leonard, Josiah Leonard, deceased, Sarah Keep, Mary (Mercy) Bliss, Martha [illeg.]ibe, Lydia Bedotha, Hannah [illeg], Rebecca Billing, Rachel Hancock and Deborah Looss [?]. [3]

Children of John Leonard and Sarah Heald:

i. John Leonard was born on 25 (6) 1641 at “about ten a clocke in the forenoone” in Springfield. [2, 1:9] He died on 22 (4) 1648 in Springfield. [2, 1:60]

ii. Joseph Leonard was born on 17 (1) 1642/3 in Springfield. [2, 1:9] He died on 20 (3) 1643 in Springfield. [2, 1:60]

iii. Joseph Leonard was born on 20 (3) 1644 at “about 9 of the clocke in the forenoone” in Springfield. [2, 1:10] He may be the Joseph, husband of Sarah, who “had his deaths wound by a Carts overturning upon him which was August 9th 1716 he died the sam[e] Day.” [2, 1:127] He married first Elizabeth Lyman on 29 March 1683 in Springfield or Northampton. [2, 1:24; 2:1651] She was “Sicke & died” on 6 July 1689 in Springfield. [2, 1:68] Joseph married second the widow Ann Newbury on 16 January 1689/[90?] in Springfield. [2, 1:25] Ann, the widow of Joseph was “Sicke & died” on 16 January 1690/[1?] in Springfield. [2, 1:26] Joseph married third Rebecca Dumbleton on 2 March 1692/3 in Springfield. [2, 1:26] Rebecca Leonard, the wife of Joseph, was “Sicke & died” on 16 February 1693/[4?] in Springfield. [2, 1:69] He may have married subsequently Sarah Unknown.

iv. Sarah Leonard was born on 13 (10) 1645 in Springfield. She died on 26 March 1676. She married John Keep.

v. Mary Leonard was born on 14 (7) 1647 about daybreak in Springfield. [2, 1:12] She died on 1 January 1724. [4] She married Samuel Bliss on 10 November 1665 in Springfield. [2, 1:22] Samuel was the son of Thomas and Margaret Bliss. [5] He died on 23 March 1720. [4]

vi. Martha Leonard was born and baptized on 15 (2) 1649 in Springfield. [2, 1:12] She married Benjamin Waite on 8 June 1670 in Hartford. [2, 1:22]

vii. Lydia Leonard was born on 2 (8) 1650 in Springfield. [2, 1:13] She drowned on 18 March 1682 in Springfield. [2, 1:65] She married first John Dumbleton on 18 March 1674/5 in Springfield. [2, 1:22] John was killed by the Indians in November 1675. [2, 2:1689] Lydia married second Joseph Bodurtha on 2 October 1678 in Springfield. [2, 2:1683] Joseph married second Hannah Marshfield on 24 July 1684 in Springfield. [2, 2:1651]

viii. John Leonard was born on 10 (7) 1652 in Springfield. [2, 1:14] He died on 13 March 1662/3 in Springfield. [2, 1:62]

ix. Benjamin Leonard was born on 5 (7) 1654 in Springfield. [2, 1:15] He died on 21 December 1724. [1] He married Sarah Scott on 9 February 1679 in Springfield. [2, 1:23] Sarah, the widow of Benjamin died on 2 December 1751 in Springfield. [2, 1;509]

x. Abel Leonard was born on 22 (5) 1656 in Springfield. [2, 1:15] He was “Sicke & died” on 10 March 1689/90 in Springfield. [2, 1:68] He married Mary Remington on 4 March 1686/7 in Springfield. [2, 1:24] She married second Samuel Bodurtha in July 1691. [1]

xi. Josiah Leonard was born on 28 (1) 1658 in Springfield. [2, 1:16] He was “Sicke & died” on 15 February 1688 in Springfield. [2, 1:67] He married Sarah Dumbleton on 19 December 1678 in Springfield. [2, 1:23] Sarah was the daughter of John Dumbleon. [1] The widow Sarah Leonard married second Thomas Root on 25 January 1692 in Springfield. [2, 1:26]

xii. Hannah Leonard was born on 19 (12) 1659 in Springfield. [2, 1:17] She died in November 1681 in Jamaica, Long Island. [LSB] She married Daniel Denton on 24 April 1676 in Springfield. [2, 1:23] He died in 1703 in Jamaica, Long Island. [6]

xiii. Rebecca Leonard was born on 26 (3) 1661 in Springfield. [2, 1:18] She married Thomas Miller on 1 December 1681 in Springfield. [2, 1:24] He was killed by the Indians on 5 October 1695. [1] He was shot by the Indians during an attack on Springfield in King Philip’s War and died on the spot. [7]

xiv. Deborah Leonard was born on 1 (10) 1663 in Springfield. [2, 1:18]

xv. Rachel Leonard was born on 8 November 1665 in Springfield. [2, 1:19] She married Thomas Hancox on 17 March 1684/5 in Springfield. [2, 1:24] Thomas died on 11 July 1734 in Farmington, Connecticut. [8]

Endnotes:

1. Constance Leonard, John Leonard of Springfield, Mass., and Some of His Descendants (Springfield: n.p., 1929).

2. Vital Records of Springfield, Massachusetts, to the Year 1850, 3 vols. (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2003).

3. “Hampshire County, MA: Probate File Papers, 1660-1889,” database with images, AmericanAncestors > Box 88 > 31.

4. Willard S. Allen, “Longmeadow (Mass.) Families,” New England Historical and Genealogical Register, vol. 31 (1877): 418.

5. “The Frost Family,” New England Historical and Genealogical Register, vol. 5 (1851): 168.

6. Kevin Paul Thompson, Leaf, Stem, Branch and Root (n.p.: n.p., 2010), 335.

7. George Madison Bodge, Soldiers in King Philip’s War (Morristown, NJ: Digital Antiquaria, 1906), 179.

8. “Connecticut: Vital Records (The Barbour Collection), 1630-1870,” database with images, AmericanAncestors > Farmington, p. 65.

Revised 04-Jun-2023