Reuben Wells Leonard
Encyclopedia
Lieutenant-Colonel
Reuben Wells Leonard was a soldier, civil engineer, railroad and mining executive, and philanthropist.
at the Royal Military College of Canada
in Kingston, Ontario
, student # 87. He graduated from RMC
as the silver medallist in a class of 23 cadets.
. He left temporarily to serve as a transport officer in the Northwest Rebellion of 1885. In the period from 1886 to early 1906, he was involved mainly in railway and hydroelectric projects in central and eastern Canada. Among these, he worked on the construction of the first Niagara Falls
power station, in 1892–93. A grubstaking venture in northern Ontario in 1905 led to the acquisition of a mineral-rich claim in the centre of Cobalt, Ontario
. These mines, which contained cobalt
, nickel
), silver
, and arsenic
, made him wealthy.
, to Winnipeg, Manitoba.
, he served in Europe with the Corps of Guides. He was promoted Lieutenant-Colonel in September 1915.
Reuben Leonard was a philanthropist, and made monetary donations not only to Queen's but also to the Girl Guides of Canada
, Scouts Canada
, the University of Toronto
, the Art Gallery of Ontario
, and many other organisations. He also established the Leonard Foundation in 1916, educational trust to provide financial assistance for children of ministers, soldiers, teachers and engineers. He gave generously to support the war effort.
. He was appointed to boards of governance at the University of Toronto
, Wycliffe College in Toronto, Ridley College in St Catharines, Ontario the School of Mining and Agriculture and Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario
and the Khaki University
of Canada.
Reuben Wells Leonard and his wife Kate built a stately home, Springbank, which overlooked the old Welland Canal
in St Catharines. They did not have any children.
Leonard Reef, St. Joseph Channel, Algoma, Ontario was named in honour of 87 Lieutenant Colonel Reuben Wells Leonard (RMC 1883), Chairman, National Transcontinental Railroad. Leonard Reef, St. Joseph Channel, Algoma District, Ontario
was named in his honour. 46o 18' 19" North 84o 4' 10" West There is also a Leonard Township in the Timiskaming District, Ontario.
, nationality
, and gender
were contrary to law.
Lieutenant colonel
Lieutenant colonel is a rank of commissioned officer in the armies and most marine forces and some air forces of the world, typically ranking above a major and below a colonel. The rank of lieutenant colonel is often shortened to simply "colonel" in conversation and in unofficial correspondence...
Reuben Wells Leonard was a soldier, civil engineer, railroad and mining executive, and philanthropist.
Education
Following a short stint as a teacher in Brant County, he studied civil engineeringCivil engineering
Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including works like roads, bridges, canals, dams, and buildings...
at the Royal Military College of Canada
RMC
RMC may refer to:* Radio Monte Carlo, a radio station operation in France, Monaco and Italy* Randolph-Macon College, in the United States* Ravenshaw Management Centre, a premier management institute, Cuttack, India* Rawalpindi Medical College, in Pakistan...
in Kingston, Ontario
Kingston, Ontario
Kingston, Ontario is a Canadian city located in Eastern Ontario where the St. Lawrence River flows out of Lake Ontario. Originally a First Nations settlement called "Katarowki," , growing European exploration in the 17th Century made it an important trading post...
, student # 87. He graduated from RMC
Royal Military College of Canada
The Royal Military College of Canada, RMC, or RMCC , is the military academy of the Canadian Forces, and is a degree-granting university. RMC was established in 1876. RMC is the only federal institution in Canada with degree granting powers...
as the silver medallist in a class of 23 cadets.
Career
He worked as an engineer for the Canadian Pacific RailwayCanadian Pacific Railway
The Canadian Pacific Railway , formerly also known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a historic Canadian Class I railway founded in 1881 and now operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, which began operations as legal owner in a corporate restructuring in 2001...
. He left temporarily to serve as a transport officer in the Northwest Rebellion of 1885. In the period from 1886 to early 1906, he was involved mainly in railway and hydroelectric projects in central and eastern Canada. Among these, he worked on the construction of the first Niagara Falls
Niagara Falls
The Niagara Falls, located on the Niagara River draining Lake Erie into Lake Ontario, is the collective name for the Horseshoe Falls and the adjacent American Falls along with the comparatively small Bridal Veil Falls, which combined form the highest flow rate of any waterfalls in the world and has...
power station, in 1892–93. A grubstaking venture in northern Ontario in 1905 led to the acquisition of a mineral-rich claim in the centre of Cobalt, Ontario
Cobalt, Ontario
Cobalt is a town in the district of Timiskaming, province of Ontario, Canada, with a population of 1,223 In 2001 Cobalt was named "Ontario's Most Historic Town" by a panel of judges on the TV Ontario program Studio 2, and in 2002 the area was designated a National Historic Site.-History:Silver was...
. These mines, which contained cobalt
Cobalt
Cobalt is a chemical element with symbol Co and atomic number 27. It is found naturally only in chemically combined form. The free element, produced by reductive smelting, is a hard, lustrous, silver-gray metal....
, nickel
Nickel
Nickel is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Ni and atomic number 28. It is a silvery-white lustrous metal with a slight golden tinge. Nickel belongs to the transition metals and is hard and ductile...
), silver
Silver
Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...
, and arsenic
Arsenic
Arsenic is a chemical element with the symbol As, atomic number 33 and relative atomic mass 74.92. Arsenic occurs in many minerals, usually in conjunction with sulfur and metals, and also as a pure elemental crystal. It was first documented by Albertus Magnus in 1250.Arsenic is a metalloid...
, made him wealthy.
Railway
In 1911, Robert Borden made him chairman of the National Transcontinental Railway Concern, the forerunner of the Canadian National Railways. He oversaw the construction of the line from Moncton, New BrunswickMoncton, New Brunswick
Moncton is a Canadian city, located in Westmorland County, New Brunswick. The city is situated in southeastern New Brunswick, within the Petitcodiac River Valley, and lies at the geographic centre of the Maritime Provinces...
, to Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Military service
He joined the Corps of Guides in 1904. During World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, he served in Europe with the Corps of Guides. He was promoted Lieutenant-Colonel in September 1915.
Philanthopy
In 1916, he established a philanthropic foundation and gave extensively to educational institutions, churches (low-church Anglican), hospitals, and other causes.Reuben Leonard was a philanthropist, and made monetary donations not only to Queen's but also to the Girl Guides of Canada
Girl Guides of Canada
Girl Guides of Canada - Guides du Canada is the national Guiding association of Canada. Guiding in Canada started in 1910 and was among the founding members of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts in 1928. As of 2006, the association had 116,206 members.-History:Mary Malcolmson...
, Scouts Canada
Scouts Canada
Scouts Canada is a Canadian Scouting association that, in affiliation with the French-language Association des Scouts du Canada, is a member of the World Organization of the Scout Movement...
, the University of Toronto
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...
, the Art Gallery of Ontario
Art Gallery of Ontario
Under the direction of its CEO Matthew Teitelbaum, the AGO embarked on a $254 million redevelopment plan by architect Frank Gehry in 2004, called Transformation AGO. The new addition would require demolition of the 1992 Post-Modernist wing by Barton Myers and Kuwabara Payne McKenna Blumberg...
, and many other organisations. He also established the Leonard Foundation in 1916, educational trust to provide financial assistance for children of ministers, soldiers, teachers and engineers. He gave generously to support the war effort.
Governance
Following the armistice, he served a year as president of the Engineering Institute of Canada in 1919-20. In 1920, he was to the Canadian Battlefields Memorials CommissionCanadian Battlefields Memorials Commission
The Canadian Battlefields Memorials Commission was a special commission established by the House of Commons of Canada, on the recommendations of the British Battle Exploits Memorials Committee...
. He was appointed to boards of governance at the University of Toronto
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...
, Wycliffe College in Toronto, Ridley College in St Catharines, Ontario the School of Mining and Agriculture and Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario
Kingston, Ontario
Kingston, Ontario is a Canadian city located in Eastern Ontario where the St. Lawrence River flows out of Lake Ontario. Originally a First Nations settlement called "Katarowki," , growing European exploration in the 17th Century made it an important trading post...
and the Khaki University
Khaki University
Khaki University was a Canadian educational institution set up and managed by the general staff of the Canadian Army in Britain 1917-19 during the First World War and again 1945-46 in the Second.-History:-Founders:...
of Canada.
Family
Lieutenant-ColonelLieutenant colonel
Lieutenant colonel is a rank of commissioned officer in the armies and most marine forces and some air forces of the world, typically ranking above a major and below a colonel. The rank of lieutenant colonel is often shortened to simply "colonel" in conversation and in unofficial correspondence...
Reuben Wells Leonard and his wife Kate built a stately home, Springbank, which overlooked the old Welland Canal
Welland Canal
The Welland Canal is a ship canal in Canada that extends from Port Weller, Ontario, on Lake Ontario, to Port Colborne, Ontario, on Lake Erie. As a part of the St...
in St Catharines. They did not have any children.
Honours
Queen’s University, conferred an honorary doctorate in October 1930.Leonard Reef, St. Joseph Channel, Algoma, Ontario was named in honour of 87 Lieutenant Colonel Reuben Wells Leonard (RMC 1883), Chairman, National Transcontinental Railroad. Leonard Reef, St. Joseph Channel, Algoma District, Ontario
Algoma District, Ontario
Algoma District is a district and census division in Northeastern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario. It was created in 1858 comprising territory as far west as Minnesota...
was named in his honour. 46o 18' 19" North 84o 4' 10" West There is also a Leonard Township in the Timiskaming District, Ontario.
Legacy
In 1923, he donated land to Queen’s University, on which Leonard Hall, and Leonard Field were named in his honour.Controversy
Under the Leonard Foundation terms, boursaries were made available to students who were white, British subjects, and Protestant and no more than one-quarter of the moneys could be awarded to females. The goal was to provide financial assistance to needy students who showed the promise of becoming leading citizens of the British Empire. A complaint filed against the Leonard Foundation under the Ontario Human Rights Code in 1986 prompted litigation. The Ontario Court of Appeal held in 1990, that the trust’s exclusionary terms relating to race , religionReligion
Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...
, nationality
Nationality
Nationality is membership of a nation or sovereign state, usually determined by their citizenship, but sometimes by ethnicity or place of residence, or based on their sense of national identity....
, and gender
Gender
Gender is a range of characteristics used to distinguish between males and females, particularly in the cases of men and women and the masculine and feminine attributes assigned to them. Depending on the context, the discriminating characteristics vary from sex to social role to gender identity...
were contrary to law.
External links
Books
- Bruce Ziff "Unforeseen legacies: Reuben Wells Leonard and the Leonard Foundation trust" (Toronto, 2000)
- 4237 Dr. Adrian Preston & Peter Dennis (Edited) "Swords and Covenants" Rowman And Littlefield, London. Croom Helm. 1976.
- H16511 Dr. Richard Arthur Preston "To Serve Canada: A History of the Royal Military College of Canada" 1997 Toronto, University of Toronto PressUniversity of Toronto PressUniversity of Toronto Press is Canada's leading scholarly publisher and one of the largest university presses in North America. Founded in 1901, UTP has published over 6,500 books, with well over 3,500 of these still in print....
, 1969. - H16511 Dr. Richard Arthur Preston "Canada's RMC - A History of Royal Military College" Second Edition 1982
- H16511 Dr. Richard Preston "R.M.C. and Kingston: The effect of imperial and military influences on a Canadian community" 1968 Kingston, OntarioKingston, OntarioKingston, Ontario is a Canadian city located in Eastern Ontario where the St. Lawrence River flows out of Lake Ontario. Originally a First Nations settlement called "Katarowki," , growing European exploration in the 17th Century made it an important trading post...
. - H1877 R. Guy C. Smith (editor) "As You Were! Ex-Cadets Remember". In 2 Volumes. Volume I: 1876-1918. Volume II: 1919-1984. RMCRoyal Military College of CanadaThe Royal Military College of Canada, RMC, or RMCC , is the military academy of the Canadian Forces, and is a degree-granting university. RMC was established in 1876. RMC is the only federal institution in Canada with degree granting powers...
. Kingston, OntarioKingston, OntarioKingston, Ontario is a Canadian city located in Eastern Ontario where the St. Lawrence River flows out of Lake Ontario. Originally a First Nations settlement called "Katarowki," , growing European exploration in the 17th Century made it an important trading post...
. The R.M.C. Club of Canada. 1984