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Arah Leonard

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Arah Leonard

Birth	:	24 Aug 1823 Hamilton, Madison County, New York, USA
Death	:	24 Apr 1912 Fort Dodge, Webster County, Iowa, USA
Burial	:	Dayton Cemetery, Dayton, Webster County, USA
Coordinate	:	42.2675000, -94.0755000
Plot	:	lot 33
Description	:	The Life Story of Arah Leonard January 25, 1894, Dayton, Iowa The subject of this sketch was born in Hamilton, Madison County, New York, seventy-one years ago, on the 24th day of August 1823. On his father's side he came of English stock, his ancestors having emigrated to this country before the Revolution. Some branches of the family spelled their name "Lenhart". On his mother's side, he traces his ancestry to the Mohawk Dutch. His father was by trade a clothier, and emigrated from Massachusetts to the Empire state of New York, where about the date of the... Read More	The Life Story of Arah Leonard January 25, 1894, Dayton, Iowa The subject of this sketch was born in Hamilton, Madison County, New York, seventy-one years ago, on the 24th day of August 1823. On his father's side he came of English stock, his ancestors having emigrated to this country before the Revolution. Some branches of the family spelled their name "Lenhart". On his mother's side, he traces his ancestry to the Mohawk Dutch. His father was by trade a clothier, and emigrated from Massachusetts to the Empire state of New York, where about the date of the birth of his son Arah, he became the proprietor of an inn in Hamilton Center. His house was important as all the public business of the township, including trainings and elections, were held at this center, and as his inn was the only public house there, it was of necessity largely patronized. Hamilton Village, three miles distant, was a town of considerable importance, not only because of its trade, but because of a Baptist College of national repute that was located there. To this school, Baptists from all over the country, North and South were in the habit of sending their sons. The Center however, was where the great gatherings were held. School privileges in the common branches were as good then as now, and in these branches, Arah became quite proficient. That he did not go farther was a fault of his own, as he had the opportunity of receiving an academic course. His brother, the Hon. DeWitt Leonard, who died recently in Wisconsin was a scholar of more that local not, having been elected township Superintendent at the age of eighteen. In those days the immense aggregation of capital in manufacturing was unknown. Each home was a factory in miniature. Although his father kept an inn, he remembers that the cloth of the household was manufactured there, by those whose business it was to go from house to house. The shoemaker was also in the habit of going from house to house plying his trade. Mr. Leonard ante-dates the railroad, and was eight years old when Peter Cooper invented the first successful railroad locomotive, and he had reached young manhood's estate before there was a railroad in New York. When he was a lad of fourteen his brother helped him drive a lot of horses to the Boston market, expecting to get work in the city, such as high education fitted him for. He was not very successful and wrote home that he had secured work in a depot. The word "depot" was too much for the Center, not a person there could tell what it meant. The temperance question had not been born when Arah Leonard was a boy, and it was the thought no disgrace for him to attend his father's bar. In fact in those days in Inn was a cross between a hotel and a saloon, and the interest of the latter predominated. Everybody drank (that is the men) and while there were drunkards then, Mr. Leonard does not believe there was any more drunkeness then than now. Whiskey was only twenty-five cents a gallon, and was really better than the villainous drugs which pure whiskies are now made to send men to the poorhouse or to the madhouse. When he was a young man the law required that every able bodied man between the ages of eighteen and forty-five should muster, and spend three days in training. There were five militia companies in Hamilton Township, four of which were uniformed and the fifth was called the barefooted company. Mr. Leonard's military experience was confined to one year's training in the latter company. In those days they trained in the County seat for a few days. Training and election days were of great profit to the Inn, not as much for what men ate as what they drank. The majority brought their lunch with them, but went to the bar for their drinks. Only the leading men of the community would be expected to dine at the Inn. The politics of today are tame by the side of those in Harrison's and Jackson's time. The students in the college were as a rule Whigs, and their right to vote in Hamilton was questioned. Elections were very exciting, it was not unusual to see eight hundred voters in Hamilton Center. He remembers at one election the people determined the students should not vote. This was accomplished by the crowds gathering by the polls in such a dense mass, that the young gentlemen could not reach the boxes, and when one did, his vote was challenged, and he was compelled to swear it in. The room in the Inn where the polls were counted was twenty foot square and the crowd became so great that the floor gave away. Some people have expressed doubts as to which political party Mr. Leonard was a member. We have it in strict confidence that he remembers shouting for Jackson, the first time he was a candidate for President. He was at the time only six years old. He remained a Democrat until 1865, when he cast his first Republican vote for John C. Fremont. From that time until long after the war he remained with the Republican party, leaving that organization to join the "Green-back" party. At twenty-one years of age he went with his brother to Ohio, where he remained several years, the first three of which he worked in a distillery, and then his father, having lost his property through signing the bond of a friend, he and his brother rented a large farm, and invited their parents to come and live with them. While there his father and brother died of a malignant fever that was sweeping the county. Having accumulated some property the family removed to Greene County, Wisconsin where in 1848 they located three land warrants on government land. On the way they passed through the growing city of Chicago, then having a population of about 16,000, near which they refused to purchased land as fine as the world ever saw for five dollars an acre. Mr. Leonard won't deny he made some mistakes. The Wisconsin land was mostly burr oak grubs and it took hard labor to subdue it. While working for Mr. Day who owned a distillery, he became acquainted with the niece of his employer, Miss Mary M. Day, who later became his wife. She was a lady of fine cultivated tastes and fine personal appearance as well as great good sense. The marriage was a very happy one. The fruit of this union was four sons and one daughter. One son died in infancy and the only daughter, Nellie, wife of S.M. Daughenbaugh did not long survive her marriage. She left one son, Leonard Richart, who makes his home with his grandfather. The sons were Numa, Albert, and Arah. The hardships of pioneer life can hardly be appreciated by those who have not passed through them. Hauling their grain more than half way across the state to Milwaukee, Wisconsin was one the incidents. He relates that on one of these trips he was driving two yolk of cattle hitched to a load of wheat. On a long narrow turnpike across a pond, the cattle all of a sudden took to the water. Instantly the wagon was upset and the sacks of wheat dumped into the water waist deep. To get the wagon out and the grain reloaded was a job that was anything but pleasant. When he arrived at the market the dealer said it was the finest wheat he had seen on the market. When it was being emptied into the mill, he came out and said it seemed to be a little damp. "Well", said Mr. Leonard, "We have had a great deal of water since leaving home." The wheat brought the top of the market, about fifty-five cents a bushel. In 1862, with his brother, he went into the mercantile business, but after losing quite heavily, sold out in just the wrong time, as from that time to the end of the war, almost all who continued in business, reaped fortunes. In 1865 he sold his Wisconsin property and removed to Iowa, settling on land which he still owns in Dayton township. The first three years were as near failures in crops as Iowa has ever experienced. Mr. Leonard, with hundreds of others who emigrated to Iowa in the fall of 1865 got the full benefit of the grasshopper scourge that came in the fall of 1866, and destroyed the crops of 1867. Mr. Leonard early turned his attention to raising stock and was for several years one of our heaviest stock buyers. In this way he got his first considerable start. He has been honored by his neighbors by being elected two successive terms as County Treasurer, and has held several offices of less note, the latest being Mayor of Dayton. His greatest misfortune was in the loss of his wife, who died in 1889 after great suffering. In the fall of 1891, he married Electa Waterbury, and together they are spending the sundown of life, honored and loved by all who know them.

frequently asked questions (FAQ):

Where is Arah Leonard's memorial?
Arah Leonard's memorial is located at: Dayton Cemetery, Dayton, Webster County, USA.
When did Arah Leonard death?
Arah Leonard death on 24 Apr 1912 in Fort Dodge, Webster County, Iowa, USA
Where are the coordinates of the Arah Leonard's memorial?
Latitude: 42.2675000
Longitude: -94.0755000

Family Members:

Spouse

Mary Margaret Day Leonard

(1832 - 1889)

Children

Numa Galusha Leonard

(1854 - 1932)

Arah Leroy Leonard

(1867 - 1944)

Flowers:

Nearby Cemetories:

1. Dayton Cemetery
Dayton, Webster County, USA
Coordinate: 42.2675000, -94.0755000

2. Christ the King Catholic Cemetery
Dayton, Webster County, USA
Coordinate: 42.2601929, -94.0727539

3. Bass Cemetery
Dayton, Webster County, USA
Coordinate: 42.2966995, -94.0149994

4. Swedish Lutheran Church Cemetery
Dayton, Webster County, USA
Coordinate: 42.2175000, -94.1065000

5. Oak Grove Cemetery
Lehigh, Webster County, USA
Coordinate: 42.3438988, -94.0475006

6. Hardin Township Cemetery
Hardin Township, Webster County, USA
Coordinate: 42.2411003, -93.9708023

7. Linn Cemetery
Pilot Mound, Boone County, USA
Coordinate: 42.2045330, -93.9970230

8. Lawn Cemetery
Boone County, USA
Coordinate: 42.1771011, -94.0867996

9. West Lawn Cemetery
Lehigh, Webster County, USA
Coordinate: 42.3616982, -94.0678024

10. McGuire Bend Cemetery
Dayton, Webster County, USA
Coordinate: 42.3410000, -93.9880000

11. Runyan Cemetery
Pilot Mound, Boone County, USA
Coordinate: 42.1749992, -94.0015030

12. Pilot Mound Cemetery
Pilot Mound, Boone County, USA
Coordinate: 42.1636200, -94.0282600

13. Vegors Cemetery
Webster County, USA
Coordinate: 42.3177986, -93.9421997

14. Lost Grove Cemetery
Harcourt, Webster County, USA
Coordinate: 42.2583008, -94.2331009

15. Hooks Point Cemetery
Hamilton County, USA
Coordinate: 42.2944530, -93.9199090

16. Oakwood Cemetery
Stratford, Hamilton County, USA
Coordinate: 42.2942009, -93.9182968

17. Hartman Cemetery
Lehigh, Webster County, USA
Coordinate: 42.3666397, -93.9835627

18. White Cemetery
Boone County, USA
Coordinate: 42.1777992, -93.9636002

19. Border Plains Cemetery
Border Plains, Webster County, USA
Coordinate: 42.3917000, -94.0448000

20. Ober and Scott Cemetery
Duncombe, Webster County, USA
Coordinate: 42.3841390, -93.9982856

21. Union Cemetery
Boxholm, Boone County, USA
Coordinate: 42.1369019, -94.0852966

22. Renner Cemetery
Boone County, USA
Coordinate: 42.1380420, -94.1256570

23. Otho Cemetery
Otho, Webster County, USA
Coordinate: 42.4025002, -94.1153030

24. Schlicht Cemetery
Fraser, Boone County, USA
Coordinate: 42.1444200, -93.9780100