Leonard

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Leonard, Texas — so settle in. Settlers started drifting into this part of Fannin County back in the 1840s and 1850s, drawn to the open prairie around a place called Wildcat Thicket. Now that name alone ought to tell you something about the neighborhood.

The thicket had a reputation — fugitives and outlaws hid themselves in there, and the shadows were deep enough to swallow a man whole. Enter Solomon L. Leonard.

Born in 1811, he had plans to pull up roots from Missouri and move his life down to this Texas prairie, drawn by his sympathy with the Confederate cause. He never quite made it — he died in 1861, before those plans fully came to pass. But before he went, Solomon had accumulated holdings of ten thousand acres on that prairie.

Ten thousand. That is not a farm, friends. That is a kingdom.

And that kingdom had some dangerous neighbors. Bob Lee — born in 1834, died in 1869 — was a Confederate Army captain and a leader in the Lee-Peacock feud, one of the bloodiest post-war grudge matches Texas ever produced. Bob Lee met his end right there in Wildcat Thicket, ambushed by Union sympathizers.

The thicket collected its stories the hard way. Now, the Leonard heirs were sitting on all that land, and the world was about to come to them. In 1880, the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railroad came through.

And when a railroad comes through, towns happen. The Leonard heirs had a hundred-acre townsite laid out and they donated land for a depot, streets, a small park, and this very town square you're standing near right now. July 22, 1880 — mark that date.

A public auction was held right here to sell town lots. They threw a picnic alongside it, and that picnic has continued as an annual event ever since. First man to step up and buy a lot was a fellow named Mark Daniels, and the first thing Mark Daniels did with his new piece of ground was erect a saloon.

Which tells you something about frontier priorities. After that, Leonard filled in fast. A hotel.

A post office. A newspaper called The Graphic. By 1881 a schoolhouse was built, and the area churches moved into town.

The place was taking shape. Leonard was incorporated in 1889, and the town boundaries were extended one-half mile in each direction from the city hall building right on this square. From a thicket full of outlaws and a family's ten thousand acres of prairie, they built a town — and for years, Leonard has been the marketing center of the agricultural country all around it.

Not bad for ground that once swallowed fugitives whole.

What the marker says

Settlers began arriving in this area in the 1840s and 1850s. Solomon L. Leonard (1811-1861) planned to move here from Missouri because of his sympathy with the Confederate cause. Before his death, he accumulated holdings of 10,000 acres on the prairie around Wildcat Thicket, where fugitives and outlaws often hid. Bob Lee (1834-1869), a leader in the Lee-Peacock feud, and a Confederate Army captain, was ambushed in the thicket by Union sympathizers. In 1880 when the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railroad came through, the Leonard heirs had the 100-acre townsite of Leonard laid out. They donated land for a depot, streets, a small park, and this town square. On July 22, 1880, a public auction took place here to sell town lots. A picnic was held and continues as an annual event. Mark Daniels bought the first lot and erected a saloon. Soon there was a hotel, a post office, and "The Graphic" newspaper. By 1881 a schoolhouse was built and area churches moved into town. Leonard was incorporated in 1889 and the town boundaries were extended one-half mile in each direction from the city hall building on the town square. For years Leonard has been the marketing center of this agricultural area.