I’ve joined Amy Johnson Crow’s “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks” challenge (https://www.amyjohnsoncrow.com/52-ancestors-in-52-weeks/) where we write about one ancestor a week. I’m late getting started but have caught up this weekend. Here is week one: “I’d like to meet.” (Actually I have several ancestors that this applies to, but James is one of my longest-standing brick walls, so I chose him.)

I’d most like to meet my third great-grandfather, James Leonard, who was born in about 1769-1770 in South Carolina and died before 5 January 1855 in Cherokee County, Georgia. Grandpa James is one of my brick wall ancestors who continues to elude my research efforts.

James married a woman named Tabitha (I think her maiden name may have been Wilkes, and that’s one thing that I would ask James about). Together, James and Tabitha had the following known children: Effie, Isaac T., John William, Solomon D., Wilkes Timothy, and Jesse James.

I would ask James who his parents and siblings were. Based on DNA matches to me, my two full siblings, and three paternal first cousins, I think that James was likely related to Davis (1750-1820), Ellenor (1760-1815), and Jonas (1765-1837). Based on a deed, I think other siblings were Rebecca (1763-?), another sister who married John Strickland, Polly (died after 9 February 1798), and Wonderful (died before 9 February 1798). There are still age gaps between several of the proposed siblings so there may have been others who died young. DNA matches include descendants of William Leonard and John P. Leonard who went to Alabama, so they may have also been siblings of James.

If this proposed family group is correct, then based on the deed mentioned above Thomas Leonard was probably their father. There is a naming pattern: James named a son Isaac T., his middle initial may have been Thomas. The “D” in Solomon’s name may have stood for Davis. John William may have been after two of James’s brothers.

However, if my theory that Tabitha was a Wilkes is true (and I have DNA matches through each of these Wilkes men), there is also a naming pattern in her family. A Tabitha Wilkes of the right age and place had these brothers: John A., Isaac (named for their father), Solomon Branch, and Jesse, among others. Since this Tabitha’s father was also named Isaac, it would be very natural for James and Tabitha to name a son Isaac Thomas for each of their own fathers. Each had a brother named John, but only James had a brother William. Tabitha had brothers named Solomon and Jesse. Since James and Tabitha named a son, Wilkes, it seems likely that they would have named other children for their family members.

I am working on a Leonard DNA project to connect James to his proposed siblings, but one conversation with James could knock down this brick wall. #52Ancestors