Reuben Wells Leonard (1860 - 1930)

Born 21 Feb 1860 in Brantford, Brant, Canada West

Ancestors

Husband of Kate (Rowlands) Wells — married 11 Oct 1889 in Kingston, Frontenac, Ontario, Canada

Died 17 Dec 1930 at age 70 in St. Catharines, Niagara, Ontario, Canada

Biography

Reuben Leonard is Notable.

He was son of Francis Henry Leonard and Mary Elizabeth Catton,^[1] one of seven children. He married Kate Rowlands in Kingston, Ontario on 11 Oct 1889.^[2] They had no children, but a nephew, Arthur Leonard Bishop, became their ward and heir to the Leonard fortune.

At age 16, Leonard graduated from secondary school and enrolled in Ottawa Normal School to earn a teaching certificate.^[3] Leonard graduated in 1883 from the Royal Military College of Canada in Kingston after studying civil engineering, and awarded the bronze medal in a class of 23 cadets. He also took mineralogy and metallurgy at Queen’s University.^[3]

He served in the militia during the North-West Rebellion of 1885, as captain in charge of troop transportation.^[3] Later he was an officer in the Corps of Guides, joining in 1904, eventually becoming lieutenant-colonel in September 1915.^[4]

He was involved in railway and hydroelectric projects in central and eastern Canada, including a stint as engineer for the Canadian Pacific Railway.^[4] One of his most prominent jobs was the 1892-93 construction of the Niagara Falls generating plant.^[3] Through these activities, he was an early success story in the Cobalt Camp of northeastern Ontario, with Coniagas Mines Ltd, serving as president from 1906 to 1930.^[5] This included a smelter in Thorold, Ontario operated under the Coniagas Reduction Company.^[3] To get his ore from the mine in northeastern Ontario to the Niagara Peninsula, he was driving force with the Temiskaming and Northern Ontario Railway. In 1911, was appointed chairman of the Transcontinental Railway Commission by Prime Minister Robert Borden and tasked to oversee railroad construction from Moncton, N.B., to Winnipeg.^[3]

He built a large Tudor-style home on seven acres, Springbank, which overlooked the old Welland Canal in St. Catharines.^[4]

He was appointed to boards of governance at the University of Toronto, Wycliffe College in Toronto, Ridley College in St Catharines, the School of Mining and Agriculture and Queen’s University in Kingston, and the Khaki University of Canada. He was a member of the Canadian Society of Civil Engineers, Canadian Mining Institute, American Institute of Mining Engineers and Institution of Civil Engineers (London, England). He served a year as president of the Engineering Institute of Canada in 1919-20 and was appointed in 1920 to the Canadian Battlefields Memorials Commission.^[4][6]

In the 1920s, Colonel Leonard presented to Queen's University the title to in extensive block of land on the lakeshore, since known as the "Leonard Field" in recognition of the distinguished war service of Queen's students.^[7]

The Leonard Foundation serves as the most significant legacy of the man and his times. In 1990 the Ontario Court of Appeal held that the terms relating to race, religion, nationality, and gender were contrary to law. As originally set up in the 1920s, bursaries were made available to students who were white, British subjects, and Protestant, where no more than one-quarter of the moneys could be awarded to females. Today, the foundation awards students of all races, religions, and genders, based on the need for assistance.^[8]

He was a member of several clubs including the Rideau Club in Ottawa.^[6]

Reuben Wells Leonard developed a neurological disorder in the mid-1920s that may have been Parkinson’s disease.^[3] He is buried in Victoria Lawn Cemetery, St. Catharines, Ontario.^[9]

1861 Brantford, Brant, Ontario.^[10]

Household Role Sex Age Birthplace

Frank Leonard Head M 33 Upper Canada Coal & WD

Mrs Leonard Wife F 31 Lower Canada

Henry Leonard Son M 5 Upper Canada Office Clerk

Mary Leonard Daur F 3 Upper Canada

Reuben Leonard Son M 1 Upper Canada

1881 Brantford, Brant, Ontario.^[11]

Household Role Sex Age Birthplace

F. H. Leonard Head M 50 Ontario Coal Dealer

Elizabeth Leonard Wife F 50 Quebec

Henry F. Leonard Son M 24 Ontario Office Clerk

Mary E. Leonard Daur F 22 Ontario

Reuben W. Leonard Son M 21 Ontario Student

Richard Leonard Son M 20 Ontario Store Clerk

Clara Leonard Daur F 17 Ontario Student

Edith Leonard Daur F 15 Ontario

Dora Leonard Daur F 12 Ontario

Gertrude Leonard Daur F 10 Ontario

Mary Catton MiL? F 91 England

Sources

1. ↑ "Ontario Deaths, 1869-1937 and Overseas Deaths, 1939-1947," Reuben Wells Leonard, 17 Dec 1930; citing St. Catharines, Lincoln, Ontario, Canada, 23401, Registrar General. Archives of Ontario, Toronto
2. ↑ "Ontario Marriages, 1869-1927," Reuben Wells Leonard and Kate Rowlands, 11 Oct 1889; citing registration , Kingston, Frontenac, Ontario, Canada, Archives of Ontario, Toronto
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6} Susanna McLeod. 13 Dec 2016. "Ideology guided his generosity". Kingston Whig Standard.
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3} Bruce Ziff, “LEONARD, REUBEN WELLS,” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 15, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–
5. ↑ Leonard, Reuben Wells (1860-1930). Queen's Encyclopedia. Queen's University.
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1} Charlesworth, Hector Willoughby. 1919. "A cyclopædia of Canadian biography : brief biographies of persons distinguished in the professional, military and political life, and the commerce and industry of Canada, in the twentieth century". Toronto. Hunter-Rose Company. pp268-269.
7. ↑ Queen's Alma Mater Society. Queen's Journal 1959-1960: Col 87.. Kingston: Queen's University. p 238.
8. ↑ Bruce Ziff. 2000. "Unforeseen Legacies: Reuben Wells Leonard and the Leonard Foundation Trust". University of Toronto Press
9. ↑ https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/148627030/reuben-wells-leonard
10. ↑ 1861 Census Canada. Library and Archives Canada.
11. ↑ 1881 Census Canada. Library and Archives Canada.