Leonard, John
John LEONARD (? - 1676) and Sarah HEALD (? - 1711)
my 9g-grandparents
John LEONARD was born in England, probably before 1620. He appeared in Springfield as a single man in 1639. He married Sarah HEALD in Springfield, on 12 Nov 1640. They had 15 children, all born in Springfield. Sarah HEALD/HEATH/HEITH was also born in England, and died on 23 Nov 1711, in Springfield. John was killed by Indians in early 1676, during King Philip's War, probably in Jan or Feb 1675/6, as his estate was inventoried in Mar 1676.
John is said to have emigrated from Bilston, County of Stafford, England, in 1639, along with 2 brothers. [SLP, p. 32] Nothing seems to be known about Sarah before 1640, except that she was from England.
John's widow, Sarah, married twice more, and survived all 3 husbands, but all her children were from John. She married Deacon Benjamin PARSONS on 21 Feb 1676/77, and he died in Springfield, 24 Aug 1689. Next Sarah married Deacon Peter TILTON, in Springfield on 3 Nov 1690, and he died 11 Jul 1696 in Hadley, MA.
John was chosen surveyor on 26 Mar 1640, charged with maintaining the roads. His name appeared in other records, giving the impression that he was a citizen in good standing.
John LEONARD had a plot of land in the "Planting Ground" on the west side of the river, in what is now West Springfield. It was a narrow strip, 8 rods (132 feet) wide. He had a larger plot in the "Wet Meadow," and a thin strip in the "Wood Lots." Jonathan TAYLOR had s similar arrangement on the south side, and John DUMBLETON, who settled in 1650, had one plot on the north side, 10 rods by 50. [HMB]
Springfield was founded in 1636, as the northernmost settlement in Connecticut Colony, but joined with Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1640. It was part of Hampshire County, formed in 1662 in Massachusetts Bay Colony, in the part that became Hampden County, MA when it was formed in 1812. See my Springfield, MA page for more information.
Descendants
Sarah had 15 children in Springfield, all from her first husband, from 1640 to 1665. She must have been born in the early 1620s.
Joseph LEONARD, son of John and Sarah, was married 6 times, and had 9 children. He died at age 72, when a cart overturned on him.
Sarah LEONARD, daughter of John and Sarah, and her husband, John KEEP, and their 6-month-old child, Jabez, were killed by Indians on 20 Mar 1676, on their way back to Springfield, from Longmeadow, about 5 miles south of Springfield. That was about the same time that John LEONARD was also killed by Indians, perhaps in the same event.
I think [SLP, p. 32] has the wrong wife and children for Josiah.
1 Sarah HEALD b: England, d: 23 Nov 1711 in Springfield
+ John LEONARD b: England, m: 12 Nov 1640, d: 1676 in Springfield; killed by Indians
......2 John LEONARD b: 25 Aug 1641, d: 22 Jun 1648, age 8
......2 Joseph LEONARD b: 01 Jan 1642/43 in Springfield, d: 20 Jan 1643 in Springfield, age 19 days
......2 Joseph LEONARD b: 20 May 1644 in Springfield, d: 09 Aug 1716 in Springfield, age 72; killed in cart accident
...... + Mary FELLOWS b: Bef. 09 Feb 1650/51 in Hartford, CT, m: 24 Mar 1671/72, d: 29 Jan 1680/81 in Springfield
...... + Elizabeth LYMAN b: 06 Nov 1655 in Branford, New Haven, CT, m: 29 Mar 1683 in Springfield, d: 06 Jul 1689 in Springfield
...... + Rebecca DUMBLETON b: 04 Oct 1667 in Springfield, m: 02 Mar 1692/93, d: 16 Feb 1693/94 in Springfield
...... + Sarah KILBOURNE m: Bef. 1715
...... + Ann FORD d: 16 Jan 1690/91 in Springfield
...... + Margaret d: 01 Dec 1711 in Springfield
......2 Sarah LEONARD b: 13 Sep 1645 in Springfield, d: 20 Mar 1676 in Longmeadow, MA; killed by Indians
...... + John KEEP m: 31 Dec 1663 in Springfield, d: 20 Mar 1676 in Longmeadow, MA; killed by Indians
......2 Mary LEONARD b: 14 Jul 1647 in Springfield, d: 01 Jan 1723/24 in Springfield
...... + Samuel BLISS b: Abt. 1642, m: 10 Nov 1665 in Springfield, d: 23 Mar 1720
......2 Martha LEONARD b: 15 Apr 1649 in Springfield
...... + Benjamin WAITE m: 08 Jun 1670 in Hartford, CT, d: 29 Feb 1703/04 in Deerfield, MA; killed by Indians
......2 Lydia LEONARD b: 20 Oct 1650 in Springfield, d: 18 Mar 1683 ; drowned
...... + John DUMBLETON b: 02 Jan 1650 in Springfield, m: 18 Mar 1675, d: 27 Oct 1675 ; killed by Indians
...... + Joseph BEDORTHA b: 15 Mar 1648/49 in Springfield, m: 02 Oct 1678 in Springfield, d: Aft. 1707
......2 John LEONARD b: 10 Jul 1652 in Springfield, d: 13 Mar 1662 in Springfield
......2 Benjamin LEONARD b: 05 Sep 1654 in Springfield, d: 21 Dec 1724 in Springfield
...... + Sarah SCOTT m: 07 Feb 1679, d: 02 Dec 1751
......2 Abel LEONARD b: 22 Jul 1656 in Springfield, d: 10 Mar 1689/90 in Springfield
...... + Mary REMINGTON m: 04 Mar 1686/87 in Springfield, d: 27 Sep 1747 in Springfield
......2 Josiah LEONARD b: 28 Mar 1658 in Springfield, d: 15 Feb 1688/89 in Springfield
...... + Sarah DUMBLETON b: 05 Jan 1654/55 in Springfield, m: 19 Dec 1678 in Springfield, d: 03 Jan 1693/94 in Westfield, MA
......2 Hannah LEONARD b: 19 Feb 1659/60 in Springfield, d: Bef. 1718
...... + Daniel DENTON m: 24 Apr 1676
......2 Rebecca LEONARD b: 26 May 1661 in Springfield
...... + Thomas MILLER b: 01 Apr 1653 in Springfield, m: 01 Dec 1681, d: 05 Mar 1689/90 in Springfield; killed by Indians
...... + Samuel BELDING b: 08 Jan 1665 in Hatfield, MA, m: 30 Dec 1691
......2 Deborah LEONARD b: 01 Oct 1663 in Springfield, d: Aft. 1717
...... + Gabriel LUFF b: Jamaica, Long Island, NY (I think Jamaica, L. I. refers to the Jamaica that is now part of Queens.)
......2 Rachel LEONARD b: 08 Nov 1665
...... + Thomas HANCOCK b: 1645, m: 17 Mar 1685, d: 11 Jul 1734
+ Deacon Benjamin PARSONS m: 21 Feb 1676/77, d: 29 Aug 1689 in Springfield
+ Deacon Peter TILTON m: 03 Nov 1690 in Springfield, d: 11 Jul 1696 in Hadley, MA