Leonard Cummings Baxter was born on a farm near Geneseo, Henry Co., Illinois on 14 July 1860, the son of Abram and Hannah Elizabeth (Westlake) Baxter. He came to Crawford County, Kansas with his parents and family in 1872, settling on a farm four miles east of Pittsburg. At the age of 21, Leonard left his family farm and joined with his oldest brother Sylvester W. in the lumber business. In the fall of 1881, Sylvester Baxter sold his business to the Long-Bell Lumber Company out of Columbus, Cherokee Co., KS. The two brothers became managers of the local Long-Bell Lumber yards in Pittsburg which were located at on the southeast corner of Fifth and Broadway on a lot leased to the company by Sylvester Baxter.

About 1884, Leonard left Pittsburg and moved to Fresno, California where he stayed for a few years before returning to Pittsburg in 1888. In October of that year, Long-Bell rehired him as the local yard manager in Pittsburg. He also managed the Long-Bell lumber yard in Hennessy, Oklahoma for about 5 years between 1894 and 1899 when he moved back to Pittsburg and became manager once again. The Long-Bell lumber company began in 1875 by R. A. Long with a location in Columbus, Kansas. The main office was located in Kansas City with the lumber mills in Longview, Washington. In about 1890 the lumber yard moved to the northeast corner of Fifth and Locust where Bowlus used to be. The business closed in about 1960.

Leonard married Ida Belle Kelley on 16 Dec. 1889 in Cherokee, Crawford Co., KS, Ida was born on 16 Sept 1870 in Clinton Co, Missouri. Leonard was active in the Masons, the Modern Woodsmen and the Maccabee fraternity. He had a home at 1009 N. Fourth Ave. (now N. Grand). They had six children Myrtle B. Baxter, McCray (1890-1945), Abram Lester (1891-1967), Sylvester Westlake (1893-1964), Ruth Patricia (1897-1968), Milton Solomon (1899-1982) and Ester Corresta Baxter, Selby (1904-1952). Leonard Cummings Baxter died 24 May 1920 at his home in Pittsburg and Ida died 31 May 1942. They are both buried, along with their children, in the Highland Park Cemetery in Pittsburg.