From the book "Clara Temple Leonard 1828-1904", we find that Nehemiah graduated from Brown University and went to Springfield to study law. He had an older brother named Elisha, who was living in Springfield with his family. The book says "Mr. Leonard is of a very different ancestry from Miss Chapman, hers being English and his wholly of pure Pilgrim descent. Mr. Leonard was the third son of Nehemiah and Hannah (Clark) Leonard. He was born in New Bedford, Mass., January 8, 1825, where Mr. Leonard, Sr., was engaged in the whaling business, the great industry of New Bedford at that period. Mr. and Mrs. Leonard were strict, old fashioned Baptists, and their children were all brought up rigidly in that creed."