Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1892, volume 3).djvu/683

Rh one of the leaders of the independent Republican movement in Pennsylvania. He is now (1887) com- missary-general of Pennsylvania. He has written largely for biographical publications, and is pre- paring genealogies of the Leach and Manning families in the United States. — His brother, Frank Willing, lawyer, b. in Cape May, N. J., 25 Aug., 1855, was educated in public and private schools, studied law, and in 1877 was admitted to the bar in Philadelphia. He has been active in politics in Pennsylvania, has filled the office of secretary to numerous state conventions, in 1881-'2 was secre- tary to the independent Republican state com- mittee, and in 1885 was chosen secretary to the Republican state committee, which position he still holds. Since he was seventeen years old he has contributed largely in both verse and prose to peri- odicals. He contributed several chapters to Scharff and Westcott's "History of Philadelphia" (3 vols., Philadelphia, 1883), and has now (1887) in prepara- tion " The Signers of the Declaration of Independ- ence : their Ancestors and Descendants."

LEACH, Lawrence, colonist, b. in England in 1589: d. in Salem, Mass., in 1662. He was one of the " planters " that came over with Rev. Francis Iligginson in 1629, was a man of repute in Eng- land, and is said to have descended from John Lc Leche, surgeon to King Edward III. At Salem he engaged extensively in the farming and milling business, his large plantation and mills being lo- cated in what is now Beverly. The mills were of such importance that the adjacent towns caused public roads to be opened to them. He was active in public affairs, was one of the twelve jurymen who at Boston (1630) served on the trial of the first capital case that was heard in Massachusetts, and for many years represented Salem in the legis- lature. He assisted in the formation of the first church that was organized at Salem. — His son, Robert, became one of the founders of Manches- ter, Mass., and one of its largest landed proprietors. — Giles, believed to have been his youngest child, and the only one born in this country, was a founder of Bridgewater, Mass., owning one of the " fifty- six proprietary interests " of the town.

LEACH, Sheperd, manufacturer, b. in Easton, Mass.. 30 April, 1778; d. there, 19 Sept., 1832. His father, Abisha Leach, was a member of the "com- mittee of correspondence and safety" in 1775, and afterward served in the Revolutionary army. His business was that of a manufacturer of iron, in which the son was early instructed and by which he became widely known. In 1802 he purchased his father's forge and furnace, and a few years later became the proprietor of the Easton furnaces. He was ambitious to control the iron business in New England, and purchased all the foundries of which he could get possession. In 1823 he was running seven furnaces in Easton besides several in other Massachusetts towns, at which time and up to the time of his death his operations in the iron trade were probably more extensive than those of any other man in New England. He possessed large wealth, of which he gave liberally to be- nevolent objects. He was commissioned captain of militia in 1804, colonel in 1816, brigadier-gen- eral in 1819. and major-general in 1827, which office he held until his death.

LEACH, William Turnbull, Canadian educator, b. in Berwick-on-Tweed, Scotland, 2 March. 1805: d. in Montreal. Canada, in November, 1886. He graduated at the University of Edinburgh, studied theology, and in 1831 was ordained a minister of the Presbyterian church. Shortly after- ward he became pastor of St. Andrew's church at Toronto, Canada. In 1834 he took an active part in the movement to establish Queen's college at Kingston. In 1837-8 he served as chaplain to the 93d Highlanders, and in 1841 united with the Church of England and became the first incum- bent of St. George's, Montreal, which rectorship he filled for nearly twenty years, resigning it to de- vote his whole time to his educational duties in connection with McGill college. The congregation was then the strongest of the Anglican church in Canada. He also filled for some time the office of rector of Lachine. With McGill college he was prominently identified for twenty-seven years, fill- ing the posts of professor of the faculty of arts, of the Molson chair Of English literature, and of mental and moral philosophy. In 1854 he received the dignity of canon of Christ church cathedral, and in 1865 he was appointed archdeacon of Mon- treal. At the time of his death he held the offices of vice-principal of McGill college and dean and emeritus professor in the faculty of arts. He was an eloquent and able preacher. Dr. Leach was a member of the council of public instruction. for the province of Quebec. He had received the de- grees of D. D., D. C. L., and LL. D. His lectures on English literature are under revision for publi- cation by Rev. Edwin Gould, of Montreal, and by his son, David S. Leach, a lawyer of that city.

'''LEACOCK. Hamble James''', missionary, b. in duff's Bay. Barbadoes, 14 Feb., 1795; d. in Sierra Leone, Africa, 20 Aug., 1856. His father was a wealthy slave-owner. The son was educated at Codrington college, Barbadoes, studied theology, and took deacon's orders in 1826. While acting as assistant priest of St. John's church he aroused the hatred of the whites by freeing his slaves and by extending the privileges of the church to all the slaves in the parish. He was soon afterward trans- ferred to the island of St. Vincent, and then to Nevis, where he became pastor and rural dean of St. George's church, Chariest own. While there he opposed polygamy successfully; but in 1835 a diffi- culty with the bishop and other causes led him to remove to the United States, where he settled in Lexington, Ky. He secured a livelihood by teach- ing till 1836, and then held various pastorates. He preached again in Barbadoes from 1848 till 1855, when he went to Africa as a missionary, be- ing the first volunteer to the West Indian church association for the furtherance of the gospel in western Africa. He landed at Freetown, Sierra Leone, on 10 Nov., 1855, and founded a mission station at Rio Pongas, afterward opening a school for boys, which became a great success. As a re- sult of his labors a large missionary field was opened. See his biography by his friend, Rev. Henry Caswall, I). D. (London, 1857). LEAKE, Walter, senator, b. in Virginia about 1760; d. in Mount Salus. Hinds co., Miss., 17 Nov., 1825. He fought during the Revolutionary war, and afterward removed from Virginia to Hinds county, Miss., where he practised law. He was elected U. S. senator from that state, and served from 11 Dec, 1817, till 1820, when he resigned. Immediately afterward he was appointed a judge of the circuit court, and so continued till 1821, when he was chosen governor of Mississippi, which office he held till 1825.

LEAMING, Jeremiah, clergyman, b. in Middletown. Conn., in 1717; d. in New Haven, Conn., in September, 1804. He was graduated at Yale in 1745. and officiated as lay-reader in the Episcopal church in Norwalk, Conn. In 1747 he went to London to obtain orders, there being no bishop at that date in this country. Having been ordained