Grave of Hiram Leonard.

[Tups]

Hiram Leonard, buried Cemetery of the Highlands, Central Valley, NY.

 

[Tups]

 

[Tups]

Apologies for the double image.

 

[mt_flyfisher]

I didn’t know, or had forgotten, that Leonard was originally from Bangor, Maine. I never had one of his bamboo rods, but I did have an E.F Payne rod at one time, who was one of Leonard’s rod making students. It’s interesting that there’s a canoe on top of his tombstone - it must be an Old Town one, which is located just a few miles upstream from Bangor.

Thanks for posting this. It brings back memories. I have breakfast most every week with a group of guys, most of who have fished together on and off for 60+ years. We lost one of our group a couple months ago who was originally from Bangor, Maine, and many of our group went fishing for Landlocked salmon there every year for 40+ years (I only went with them there for about 15 of those years).

Here’s more information about Leonard to supplement his grave: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H.L._Leonard

 

[Bamboozle]

Still the favorite bamboo rods in my quiver...

 

[Tups]

Mt.: HL Leonard was also famous for his canoe paddles, which may explain the unique gravestone canoe.

I don’t own any Leonard or Payne rods. Rather it is genealogy which brought me to the Cemetary of the Highlands. My people were neighbors of Leonard and company.

This Cemetary is the final resting place of some of the most accomplished rod makers associated with the Leonard name.

 

[hooker-of-men]

Mt.: HL Leonard was also famous for his canoe paddles, which may explain the unique gravestone canoe.

I don’t own any Leonard or Payne rods. Rather it is genealogy which brought me to the Cemetary of the Highlands. My people were neighbors of Leonard and company.

This Cemetary is the final resting place of some of the most accomplished rod makers associated with the Leonard name.

Now it makes sense! I was like: Damn, I like fly fishing a lot, but I'm not making any pilgrimages to see where these old farts are moldering 🤣

 

[Tups]

Hiram and Loman Hawes were nephews of HL Leonard, coming with him (Leonard) to Highland Mills from Maine

to open the shop in NY State. Leonard and Loman Hawes designed the first bamboo strip beveler, speeding up the rod making process dramatically. The beveler was a trade secret secured in its own room behind a locked door. For decades Hiram Hawes was the shop Forman and sole bevel operator. He was also the only man in the shop permitted to enter the beveling room. His brother Loman was a whiz with the metal lathe, creating all of Leonard’s ferrules and seats. They are both buried in the Leonard plot.

 

[Tups]

This is from memory. I can’t quite recall which nephew was the foreman/ beveler and which the ferrule fabricator. Not that it much matters.

 

[Tups]

According to Martin Kane in his book “Classic Rods and Rodmakers,” (1976), Hiram Hawes was the Leonard bevel operator. His brother Loman Hawes left the Leonard shop, striking out on his own in 1889. This is the same year several other exceptional rodmakers left the Leonard shop, including Ed Payne, Eustis Edwards, Fred Thomas and George Varney. Ed Payne and his son, the immortal Jim Payne, established their rod making shop nearby in Highland Mills. They too are buried in the Cemetary of the Highlands. Jim Payne is buried with his in-laws, the Barton family. This stone is difficult to read because of the undesirable aspect of the sun the hour of my visit.

 

[Bamboozle]

Hiram and Loman Hawes were nephews of HL Leonard, coming with him (Leonard) to Highland Mills from Maine View attachment 1641249182to open the shop in NY State. Leonard and Loman Hawes designed the first bamboo strip beveler, speeding up the rod making process dramatically. The beveler was a trade secret secured in its own room behind a locked door. For decades Hiram Hawes was the shop Forman and sole bevel operator. He was also the only man in the shop permitted to enter the beveling room. His brother Loman was a whiz with the metal lathe, creating all of Leonard’s ferrules and seats. They are both buried in the Leonard plot.

I believe Marc Aroner is still making rods on the last Leonard beveler that he bought at the auction after the H.L. Leonard rod company went out of business in the early 1980's.