Silas Leonard was born in Rhode Island in 1747.  During the Revolutionary War he served under General Horatio Gates and fought in the famous battle of Saratoga won by the Americans and a turning point in the War.  He was also part of a regiment that guarded the coastline and later traveled to Boston to join General Sullivan’s brigade at Winter Hill.  He was discharged from service on January 4, 1782.  

Silas Leonard married Mary Hackett in 1774, and the family moved to Stockbridge Massachusetts after the War in 1786.  Around 1796, the family moved to Parma, settling at the northwest corner of Burritt Road and Hill Road.  Within the year, Silas went to the salt works at Onondaga to chop cord wood and was unfortunately killed by the falling of a tree limb.  He is buried at Atchinson Cemetery on Hill Road along with his wife Mary, several children and grandchildren.