John E. Leonard

John E. Leonard
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Louisiana's 5th district
In office March 4, 1877 – March 15, 1878
Preceded by	William B. Spencer
Succeeded by	J. Smith Young
Personal details
Born	John Edwards Leonard (1845-09-22)September 22, 1845 Fairville, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Died	March 15, 1878(1878-03-15) (aged 32) Havana, Cuba
Resting place	Middletown Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Relatives	John Edwards (granduncle)
Alma mater	Phillips Exeter Academy Harvard University
Profession	Politician, lawyer

John Edwards Leonard (September 22, 1845 – March 15, 1878) was a United States representative from Louisiana. He was the grandnephew of John Edwards, who also served in Congress. He was born in Fairville, Pennsylvania, into a Quaker family.

Leonard attended public schools and was later graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy, Exeter, New Hampshire in 1863. He earned a law degree from Harvard University in 1867. He studied law in Germany before he returned to the United States; he moved to Louisiana, where he was admitted to the bar in 1870 during the Reconstruction era and commenced practice at Monroe, Louisiana.

Leonard was appointed as the district attorney of the thirteenth judicial district of Louisiana in 1871 and 1872. He was elected associate justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court in 1876 before he resumed the practice of law in Monroe, Louisiana.

In 1876 he was elected as a Republican to the Forty-fifth Congress, serving from March 4, 1877, until his death the following year in Havana, Cuba. He was vacationing with several other Washington leaders and died on March 15, 1878. He was buried in the Friends’ (Hicksite) Cemetery of the Middletown Meeting House, Middletown Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania.

• List of United States Congress members who died in office (1790–1899)

• United States Congress. "John E. Leonard (id: L000247)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.