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Robert
Bacom Leonard |
Robert Bacom Leonard was born on May 8, 1855 in Fayette County, PA, the youngest of 11 children of Benjamin and Sarah (Harbaugh) Leonard. His middle name also has been spelled "Beckum" and "Beckun" in public records.
Courtesy Mindy Leonard
Robert never married, and as a bachelor lived alone on a small farm three miles from Ohiopyle along the Farmington Road, a tract that had been cleared decades earlier by his father.
He made a living as a farmer and trapper for many years.
In April 1886, Robert is known to have helped his aunt Catherine (Harbaugh) Rowan by signing his name as a witness on a government affidavit. The purpose was for her to obtain a "Mother's Pension" due her dead son, Robert's first cousin Leonard Rowan, who had lost his life in the Civil War.
When the federal census enumeration was made in 1900, Robert was marked as living by himself in Stewart Township. Among his neighbors were his sister Mary (Leonard) Potter and her husband George Perry Potter.
The 1920 United States Census shows that his home was along Belle Grove Road.
Little else is known of Robert's life, except that he died just 12 days shy of his 67th birthday on April 27, 1922. Said the Connellsville Daily Courier, "He was taken ill after eating breakfast, with acute indigestion. He managed to summon assistance of neighbors but expired soon after they arrived." An examining physician noted that death was caused by "exhaustion from prolonged vomiting due to acute indigestion," with gall stones contributing to his nausea. Niece Sarah Rush, daughter of his brother Christmas Leonard, was the informant for his Pennsylvania death certificate.
His remains were laid to rest at Belle Grove Cemetery near Ohiopyle after a funeral service at Meadow Run Church. "A large number of persons attended," said the newspaper.
Belle Grove Cemetery
In the obituary, which was front-page news, the Daily Courier said he was "known for many years as a trapper" and that he "had lived practically all his life in the Ohiopyle community. He leaves numerous relatives in that section, including a brother, Reuben, and two sisters."
A decade later, the Daily Courier printed a short excerpt from that obituary in its "Looking Backward" column.
Robert is mentioned in the 1882 book, History of Fayette County, Pennsylvania, authored by Franklin B. Ellis, and in the 1947 book, Harbaugh History, written by Joseph Lewis Cooperider.
Copyright © 2001, 2006, 2008, 2011, 2014, 2022, 2025 Mark A. Miner