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FRANK LEONARD, who is farming in section 2, Union township, was born at Marion, Ohio, October 4, 1857, a son of Lewis and Maria (Hilderbrandt) Leonard, both of whom were also born in that state. He was one of their ten children, and nine of the number are now living. Lewis Leonard wsis an old-time railroad engineer, running out of Massillon, Ohio, from 1860 to 1867, and then going to Marion, Missouri, thirty miles west of Quincy, Illinois, he turned his attention to farming and the operation of a portable saw mill engine. Coming to Benton county, Iowa, in 1870, he purchased a farm in Eldorado township, but in 1878 left there for St. Louis, Missouri, where he was engaged in saw mill work. He was killed in 1877, when forty-four years of age, while on a business trip to Texas. He was a natural mechanic, and was never content unless engaged in mechanical pursuits. His widow is now living at Chamberlain, Texas, at the age of seventy-three years.
The boyhood days of Frank Leonard were spent on a farm, receiving in the meantime a common school training, and agriculture has been his life-long vocation. Following his marriage he farmed on rented land until 1892, and then purchased his present homestead, but the land was then unimproved. With the passing years he has placed his farm under a valuable state of cultivation and has also added to its boundaries until it now contains two hundred and forty-nine acres, while in addition he owns and operates two threshing outfits and a corn sheller. He has perhaps inherited his love of mechanics from his father, for he delights in handling and operating machinery. He has served as a school director, and is a Republican in his political affiliations.
On the 23d of September, 1878, Mr. Leonard was married to Cynthia Long, who was born in Fayette county, Pennsylvania, in 1854, a daughter of Daniel and Susannah (Flickinger) Long. Daniel Long, born in Pennsylvania May 13, 1813, died on February 25, 1890, and his wife, born in the same state February 3, 1817, died October 14, 1882. They were the parents of five children, and three of the family are now living. Four children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Leonard, namely: Grace, the wife of Christian Backman, and they are living in Minnesota; Bertha, wife of Luke Backman, of Van Horne; and Clifford and Nellie, both at home. Mr. Leonard is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America, lodge No. 36 at Van Horne.
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