Mary Eleanor Comfort Leonard (January 22, 1856 – August 4, 1940) was an American educator and one of the three founders of the

Delta Gamma Delta Gamma (), commonly known as DG, is a North American women's fraternity. It was established in 1873 at the Lewis School for Girls in Oxford, Mississippi. It has 151 collegiate chapters and more than 200 alumnae groups. The organization's exe ...

women's fraternity.

Early life

Mary Eleanor Comfort was born in

Kosciusko, Mississippi Kosciusko ( ) is a city in Attala County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 7,402 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Attala County. History Shortly before the War of 1812, David Choate, a French trader along with his wi ...

in 1856 She was one of four children of Eliza Love (née Durham) and Daniel Benjamin Comfort II. After her mother died in 1859, her father married her maternal aunt, Georgia Brown Durham, resulting in eleven half-brothers and sisters. Leonard was educated at home. She attended the Lewis School for Girls in

Oxford, Mississippi Oxford is the List of municipalities in Mississippi, 14th most populous city in Mississippi, United States, and the county seat of Lafayette County, Mississippi, Lafayette County, southeast of Memphis, Tennessee, Memphis. A college town, Oxford ...

for three years. In 1873, she was one of the three founders of the

women's fraternity, along with Anna Boyd Ellington and Eva Webb Dodd. The fraternity's purpose was to "do good".Stevenson, Frances Lewis (Winter 1955).
The Beginning
. ''The Anchora of Delta Gamma''. 72 (2): 2 – via Google Books. Comfort later remembers, "We went to a local jeweler and had our pin made–the dear little letter H, which stood for Hope, for we hoped great results and have not been disappointed..."

Career

After college, Leonard was a school teacher in Tennessee for two years, along with her husband. Starting in 1890, she taught in Kosciusko, Mississippi for sixteen years.

Honors

* Delta Gamma commissioned a portrait of Lenoard by Helen Humphreys Lawrence. It was dedicated on April 18, 1941, and hangs in the fraternity's Memorial House at the

University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi (Epithet, byname Ole Miss) is a Public university, public research university in University, near Oxford, Mississippi, United States, with a University of Mississippi Medical Center, medical center in Jackson, Miss ...

.Stevenson, Frances Lewis (Winter 1955). "Founders' Portraits Hung in Oxford". ''The Anchora of Delta Gamma''. 72 (2): 92-93 – via Google Books. * Delta Gamma installed a memorial tablet on Leonar's grave. * In 1924, Delta Gamma established The Mary Comfort Leonard Fellowship which supports a member's graduate-level studies.Stevenson, Frances Lewis (Winter 1955).
The Mary Comfort Leonard Fellowship
. ''The Anchora of Delta Gamma''. 72 (2): 137 – via Google Books. It was first awarded in 1930 and came with $500.

Personal life

While at the Lewis School, she met Charles Henry Leonard, who was a student from Memphis at the nearby

who became a teacher. The two married in and moved to Tennessee; her husband was originally from

Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Mem ...

. They had three children: Charles Cecil Leonard, William Comfort Leonard, and Herbert T. Leonard. Later, the couple moved to

Marion County, Florida Marion County is a county located in the North Central region of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 375,908. Its county seat is Ocala. Marion County comprises the Ocala, Florida Metropolitan S ...

when his health failed; he died in February 1889. After her husband's death, she returned to Kosciusko, Mississippi where she lived on South Jefferson Street, Comfort was a member of the Twentieth Century Club and taught a children's Bible class at the First Presbyterian Church in Kosciusko. From 1873 to 1874, she served as the secretary of the Delta Gamma Grand Chapter. She attended several Delta Gamma conventions and was present when her granddaughter, Mary Elizabeth "Betty" Leonard, was initiated into the ''Alpha Psi chapter'' at the

in February 1938. Three of her great-granddaughters also became members of Delta Gamma. Comfort died in 1940 in Kosciusko, Mississippi at the age of 84 years. She was buried in the city cemetery in Kosciusko.

References

1856 births 1940 deaths People from Kosciusko, Mississippi Schoolteachers from Mississippi Delta Gamma founders {{DEFAULTSORT:Leonard, Mary Comfort 20th-century American educators 19th-century American educators 20th-century Presbyterians 19th-century Presbyterians 19th-century American women educators