Stockwell, Leonard Mellen, 1798-1881

Leonard Mellen Stockwell (1798-1881), the oldest of nine children of Enoch and Nancy (Fechem) Stockwell, was born on 5 August 1798 in Sutton (now Millbury), Mass. In 1828 he married Orilla Sessions (1806-1853), daughter of Ebenezer and Sally Sessions of Union, Conn. They had five children, only two of whom lived to adulthood: Francis Fayette (1834- ) and Mary (1845- ), who married James O. Sesman ( - ). After the death of his first wife, Stockwell hired Hannah W. Ellis ( -1877), a maiden lady from Sutton, to keep his house. They married in April 1854.

Stockwell left home "...[w]hen he became of age ..." but, due to parental opposition, without having learned a trade. From 1816 through early 1851, he worked mostly as a farmer and occasionally as a day-laborer. He moved often during that time and lived in Shutesbury, Worcester, Charlton, Sutton, and Millbury, Mass. In 1843, Stockwell and his father-in-law struck a deal that consisted of Stockwell and his family moving to Barker, Chenango Co., N.Y., to work Sessions' land and care for him in his old age. This turned out to be unsuccessful and by November 1844 Stockwell was back in Worcester. In 1851, Stockwell moved permanently to Millbury and remained there until his death on 18 February 1881.