Another Tale of Love and Marriage #3

Priscilla Stokes Leonard

Attitudes towards love and marriage have changed quite a lot since the early 1800s. Researching my family I have discovered a few trends. Looking at census records I discovered a not so surprising trend, that a young widow with children tended to remarry while older widows moved into the household of one of their children. 

Family surnames in my family tree tend to appear and reappear across families. Choices for spouses in these rural areas where farms were large and tended to be settled in family groups were limited. I can not say with any certainty why they intermarried but I have my theories. 

Today's post is the story of Priscilla Stokes Leonard. It is a story through her records only but an interesting one none the less. To find records for women during this time in history we have to search through the records of her spouses. 

Priscilla was born Abt 1796 to Thomas Stokes and his wife (unknown presently) in Franklin County, North Carolina. We know her approximate date of birth from the 1850 census. From Thomas Stokes will filed in 1850 in Franklin County, North Carolina we know that Priscilla is his daughter. 

 

We know that Priscilla married John A. Leonard abt 1814. John's father was Fredrick Leonard Sr. Frederick's father was John Leonard (the Elder). Remember this information for later.

Priscilla and John had four children; Martha Ann, Nancy Thomas, William A, and Elizabeth. 

John passed away abt 1835.

Priscilla was left to raise four young children. So, what did she do? She remarried. But here is where the tale gets interesting. Who did she marry? William Leonard.

On December 9, 1836 Priscilla married William Leonard.

Let me tell you a bit about William Leonard.William was born in 1760 in Prince George County, Virginia. He served in the Colonial army during the Revolutionary War. From records we get the following information. He was drafted February 1781 and served three months under Captain James Denton, who was also from Bute County, North Carolina and probably related to my 5 times great grandfather Jesse Denton. I am still working on that line. When Priscilla applied for Land Grant Pension as William's widow, James Collins was one of the gentlemen that testified that William had served. James Collins is also my 5 times great grandfather! Although some are hard to read, I am including a few documents below concerning the Revolutionary War service. 

This was William's second marriage. In 1792 he married Catherine Murphy. Catherine passed away in 1802. William and Catherine had five children;; John L born in 1780, Vandeo Van born in 1794, Cherry Ann born in 1795, William L born in 1796 and Sarah (AKA Sally) born in 1794. 

William's children were all very close in age to Priscilla. 

There is more to this story which I will go into more on another post. However, there is one more detail that I would like to go into. Who was William's father? Why, it was John Leonard (the Elder).

Priscilla married her first husband John's Uncle who was according to census records 40 years her senior. 

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you have enjoyed this Tale of Love and Marriage.

Pattie