Photo courtesy of Olive Kennedy
Probate records have confirmed that Hannah's father was Isaac Leonard who was born in Montgomery County, New York, about 1780 and died in Jefferson County, New York, near the end of 1862 and whose will is recorded there.
It's her mother that's been the mystery here because she appears to have died before the 1840 U.S. Census and of course never appeared as more than a tick mark in those earlier censuses. From the death certificate of one of her other daughters, Cynthia (Leonard) Belcher, we learned that her name was Jemima White, always assuming that the information written there is correct. (I would like to confirm the name through other sources, but haven't been able to.)
Source: Seeking Michigan website, owned and operated by the Michigan History Foundation, all rights reserved
While this was a great breakthrough at the time, White is a very common surname and we haven't been able to trace that line back farther with any degree of certainty. (Nor have we been able to determine who Isaac Leonard's ancestors were.)
According to Porter Worden's Jones County, Iowa, obituary in 1891, Hannah predeceased him, dying in Nebraska in January of 1887 at the age of 74.
© 2014 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.
I am from Jemima Leonard's line ( Jemima Leonard Breezee(Peter) Worden(Ebenezer)). Since my ancestor was named Jemima maybe that helps link Jemima White more substantially to the family. I have no real information about either but my line was mixed in heavily with the Carpenters & Gardners who all seem to be neighbors.
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