JOHN R. LEONARD, one of the best known and most prominent citizens of the borough of Washington, is a native of the county, having been born in Morris township, December 7, 1821. He is of Teutonic descent, his great-grandfather, John Leonard, having come from Germany to America many years ago. John Leonard, grandfather of John R., was born in Ohio, where he married Nancy Huffman, of Washington county, Penn., and one of their sons, John, became the father of John R. Leonard, the subject of this sketch. Grandfather Leonard died in Ohio. John Leonard, son of John and Nancy (Huffman) Leonard, was born in Washington county, Penn., where he was reared and educated. He settled in Morris township, and here married Rebecca, a daughter of John Robertson, of same township, and ten children were born to them, as follows: Jesse, killed at Chattanooga, Tenn., during the war of the Rebellion; John R.; Ann, deceased wife of Jackson Delong; Abigail, married to Jesse Delong, and died in Ohio; Elizabeth, deceased wife of Conrad Maloy; Emeline, who died at the age of four years; Benjamin F. and James W., both in Noble county, Ohio; Sarah, wife of Aaron Delong, in Portage county, Ohio; and Margaret, widow of James E. Ray, of Greene county, Penn. After marriage Mr. and Mrs. Leonard remained in Morris township a year or two, and then moved to Ohio, where they died, the mother in 1871, at the age of seventy-three years, and the father in 1872, aged seventy-seven years; he had been a soldier in the war of 1812. John R. Leonard, whose name opens this memoir, was but an infant when his parents moved to Ohio, where, in Warren and Trumbull counties he learned the trade of a carpenter, at which he worked some forty-six years. On July 5, 1845, he returned to Washington county, Penn., and settled on a farm in Morris township, which he operated, at the same time carrying on his trade. He built many of the best houses in that and East Finley townships, besides some in Greene county, on the boundary line. On January 22, 1846, Mr. Leonard married Miss Matilda, daughter of Stacy Farabee, of Morris township, and two children were born to them, both of whom died in childhood, the one at the age of five years, and the other at the age of six months. Mrs. Leonard was called from earth June 3, 1891, and March 16, 1892, Mr. Leonard was united in wedlock with Mrs. Henrietta Farabee, widow of Benjamin Farabee (deceased in November, 1884), by whom she had three children, as follows: Laura Belle, who was twice married, first to Simeon Clarke, and after his death to William Chambers; John Franklin and Homer. Mrs. Leonard was born in Allegany county, Md., a daughter of Aaron and Rachel (Coleman) Hixenbaugh. She is a member of the Methodist Protestant Church. On September 222, 1869, Mr. Leonard came to Washington borough, taking up his residence in the house where he is yet living, and which he had built. Here he continued at his trade until his final retirement, doing a great deal of contract work, besides building some eight houses for himself in various parts of the borough. In 1847 he joined the M. E. Church, Mt. Zion, but a few years ago he identified himself with the Methodist Protestant Church, of which he is now trustee, class-leader, assistant superintendent of Sunday school, and a teacher of the Bible class. At the time of his joining Mt. Zion Church, there were forty-five members, and when he visited it last winter he found he was the only one living of those forty-five. Politically he is a lifelong Democrat. Mr. Leonard is a typical self-made man, having risen by sheer industry, perseverance and economy, from comparative poverty to a condition of enviable affluence, and is highly respected in the community in which he lives, now enjoying the income of his hard-earned competence.

Text taken from page 794 of: Beers, J. H. and Co., Commemorative Biographical Record of Washington County, Pennsylvania (Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co., 1893). Transcribed May 1997 by Karen Souhrada of Pittsford, NY as part of the Beers Project. Published June 1997 on the Washington County, PA USGenWeb pages at http://www.chartiers.com/.

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