Source: Portrait & Biographical Album of Whiteside County, IL
Originally published 1885 Chapman Bros., Chicago, IL
Transcribed by: Brandi McLoughlin

Jacob F. Leonard, Justice of the Peace, Notary Public and insurance agent at Tampico, was born April 10, 1838, in Greene Co., Pa. John Leonard, his father, was a native of the same State, and a farmer. He died when his son was six months old. The latter was brought up by his mother, Hannah (Reinhart) Leonard, who was born in Pennsylvania and was of German lineage. She married again and came to Illinois in 1851, settling in Bureau County. She is still living in that county, and is married to her third husband, William Adams, a farmer in Fairfield Township. Mr. Leonard was a resident of Green County until he was 14 years of age, when in 1852 he came to Bureau County. He remained there a few years and went to Kansas, settling in an unorganized part of the State, which is now Chase County. In the summer of 1860 he went to Pike’s Peak, and after a brief stay came back to Kansas and soon after to Illinois. He resided for a time with his mother, in Bureau County, attending school. He was married Sept. 18, 1863, in Bureau County, to Martha A. Hayes. She was born Feb, 18, 1847, in Putnam Co., Ill., whence her parents removed to Henry County. Three children have been born to her and her husband, and they are all deceased- Leroy H., Archa B., And Millroy. Feb. 8, 1865, Mr. Leonard enlisted in Co. E, 148th Ill. Vol. Inf., under the command of Captain Stubbs. The regiment was assigned to the Army of the Tennessee under Col. H. H. Wilsie. Mr. Leonard was in no active engagements, and was discharged Sept. 5, 1865, after the close of the war. He returned to Bureau County and became interested in farming, which he followed there until 1875. In that year he settled at Tampico and has been interested to some extent in the business of an insurance agent. In 1877, he was elected Justice of the years. He owns 280 acres of land in Bureau County, and considerable property in the village of Tampico. He is a zealous and uncompromising Republican, and has served as a Village Trustee. He is a Quartermaster in the local post of the G. A. R. at Tampico, and belongs to the Blue Lodge, Masonic Order.