George Leonard was my great grandfather and he left a lasting impression on his family. There aren't many memories that could be shared about him and his children's feelings for him varied....some thought he was wonderful while others don't like to think about him. You have to wonder how his early life shaped the man he became.
George was born in Suffolk, New York in the winter of 1884. His mother, Amelia, had entered the Yaphank Almshouse in January of the same year. She came from a poor Irish family and is found working in the Brush household at the age of 18. The Brush family were very influential in Huntington and employed many of those who lived in the area. On later documents in George's life, Amelia reveals his father to be Warren Brush, the brother of the man she was working for. This information is later proven through my DNA to be true.
The Yaphank Almshouse was established in 1871 in Suffolk County, Long Island. The purpose of this building was to house the homeless of the area as well as the old,sick, poor and those who were unable to care for themselves. Along with the Almshouse, the property housed the Suffolk County Children's Home and a Potter's Field. According to "Yaphank As It Is and Was, It's Prominent Men and Their Times" by L. Beecher Homan, "The Almshouse was a lovely building with graveled walks, floor to ceiling windows, and steam heat. It was considered a state of the art facility."
The first seven years of George's life are unclear. There is no understanding of where he spent that time. George wasn't even originally named George, he was named Daniel and then it seems his mother changed her mind.
Once George turned seven, there were a couple of traumatic changes in his life. George lost his sister, Agnes, at the age of six weeks to an accidental suffocation by their mother. After Agnes' death, Amelia could no longer care for George. He was placed in the St. John's Orphan Asylum in Brooklyn. George spent 11 years among other boys who had been given up. By all accounts, St. John's seemed like a decent place run by Franciscan Brothers and Catholic nuns.
After his discharge from St. John's in 1911, we are unsure of what he did. He does not appear on any known census nor in any newspapers or official papers that I could find.
What we do know is that at some point between 1900 and 1910, he falls in love with Ellen Russell. According to family stories, George was attracted to Ellen's great legs. He had seen her at her place of work, McCreary's Department Store and they lived within close proximity to each other. It was a very New York City beginning to their relationship.
On May 20, 1911, George and Ellen were married at the St. John's Evangelist Roman Catholic Church on East 55th Street in Manhattan. In a moment of history meeting current day, St. John's was the chapel that served my high school, Cathedral High School: they are actually housed in the same building.
Over the rest of George's life he holds many different jobs, he is noted as a gas meter repairman, a cabbie for the Black & White Cab Co., it also appears as if he was a building superintendent at one point. During their marriage, George and Ellen had 10 children, 7 boys and 3 girls. Sadly, only 9 of those children out lived their parents. In 1913, Margaret died from bronchiopneumonia.
George Leonard passed away on February 19, 1941 from a heart attack with a contributing factor of hypertension. His funeral took place in his home in Queens with his family around him.
Great-Grandpa George was easily the most intriguing member of the family I've had to discover to date. It took me over two years to finally discover everything I could about him. It was a very slow going journey - I had to start with later portions of his life and go backwards. It took time and money but most of all it took perseverance. I took many shots in the dark that I didn't know if they would pan out.
At the end of it all, I learned that my Great-grandfather dealt with many things in his life and managed to pull through. It helped me understand where my stubbornness came from, my need to get through things. I guess it was his traits that kept me going on my search into his life.