Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1892, volume 3).djvu/719

Rh enabled him to subscribe freely to the improvement of Philadelphia and that" part of Delaware county in the neighborhood of "Avondale," his country residence. Mr. Leiper was one of the founders of the first troop of city light horse, better known as the Philadelphia city troop, and served with them as lieutenant during the Revolution at the battles of Princeton, Trenton, Brandywine, and Germantown. As treasurer of the troop, he carried the last subsidies of the French to the Americans at Yorktown. He also acted with his corps in quelling several civil insurrections and riots, notably in the whiskey riot of 1794, and in the attack on the residence of James Wilson in Philadelphia, when he was one of the seven troopers that charged and routed the mob of rioters. Mr. Leiper was a staunch Democrat, and was generally chosen chairman of all Democratic town-meetings, at one of which he was the first to nominate Gen. Jackson for the presidency. He was a presidential elector, director of the banks of Pennsylvania and the United States, commissioner for the defence of the city in the war of 1812, and a member, and ultimately president, of the common council of the city of Philadelphia. In 1809 Mr. Leiper had constructed, from his quarries on Crura creek to his landing on Ridley creek, in Delaware county, what was the first permanent tramway in America. The road was three fourths of a mile in length, and continued in active use until 1828, when it was superseded by a canal, after the plan made by Mr. Leiper, but not carried into effect until after his death. — His son, George Gray, b. in Delaware county, Pa., 3 Feb., 1780; d. there, 17 Nov., 1868, was graduated at the University of Pennsylvania in 1803. He represented Delaware county in congress from 1829 till 1831, and for many years served as lay associate judge of the Delaware countv circuit court.

LEISLER, Jacob, soldier, b. in Frankfort on the Main, Germany; d. in New York city, 16 May, 1691. He came to this country in 1660 as a soldier in the service of the Dutch West India company. Leaving the army soon after his arrival, he engaged in the Indian trade, and became a comparatively wealthy man. While on a voyage to Europe in 1678 he was captured by Moorish pirates, and was compelled to pay a ransom of 2,050 pieces of eight to obtain his freedom. Previous to this voyage he was a resident of Albany, where he was a magistrate, and had incurred the displeasure of Sir Edmund Andros, the governor, by the arbitrary and high-handed measures that he and his associates had adopted to prevent the spread of popery, the political bugbear of the day. Leisler had also endeared himself to the common people by befriending a family of French Huguenots that had been landed on Manhattan island so destitute that a public tribunal had decided they should be sold into slavery in order to pay their ship-charges. Leisler prevented the sale by purchasing the freedom of the widowed mother and son before it could be held. Under Dongan's administration in 1683 he was appointed one of the judges, or &ldquo;commissioners,&rdquo; of the court of admiralty in New York. In 1688 Gov. Dongan was succeeded by Lieut-Gov. Francis Nicholson. In 1689 the military force of the city of New York consisted of a regiment of five companies, of one of which Leisler was captain. He was popular with the men, and probably the only wealthy resident in the province that sympathized with the Dutch lower classes. At that time much excitement prevailed among the latter, owing to the attempts of the Jacobite office-holders to retain power in spite of the revolution in England and the accession of William and Mary to the throne. On a report that the adherents of King James were about to seize the fort and massacre their Dutch fellow-citizens, an armed mob gathered on the evening of 2 June, 1689, to overthrow the existing government. The cry of &ldquo;Leisler&rdquo; was raised, and the crowd rushed to his house. At first he refused to lead the movement, but when the demand was reiterated by the men of his regiment he acceded, and within an hour received the keys of the fort, which had meanwhile been seized. Fortunately for the revolutionists, the fort contained all the public funds, whose return the lieutenant-governor in vain demanded. Four hundred of the new party signed an agreement to hold the fort &ldquo;for the present Protestant power that reigns in England,&rdquo; while a committee of safety of ten of the city freeholders assumed the powers of a provisional government, of which they declared Jacob Leisler to be the head, and commissioned him as &ldquo;captain of the fort.&rdquo; In this capacity he at once began to repair that work, and strengthened it with a &ldquo;battery&rdquo; of six guns beyond its walls, which was the origin of the public park that is still known as the Battery. Nicholson and the council of the province, with the authorities of the city, headed by Stephanus van Cortlandt, the mayor, attempted by pacific means to prevent the uprising, but without effect. Finally, becoming alarmed for their own safety, the lieutenant-governor sailed for England, and the mayor, with the other officials, retired to Albany. To the latter city, where the Jacobite office-holders still held control, Leisler sent his son-in-law, Milbourne, in November, with an armed force to assist in its defence against the Indians, but he was directed to withhold it unless Leisler's authority was recognized. This was refused, and Milbourne returned unsuccessful. In December a despatch arrived from William and Mary directed &ldquo;to Francis Nicholson, Esq., or in his absence to such as for the time being takes care for preserving the peace and administering the laws in his majesty's province of New York.&rdquo; This Leisler construed as an appointment of himself as the king's lieutenant-governor. He therefore dissolved the committee of safety, swore in a council, and assumed the style of a royal lieutenant-governor and commander-in-chief. In the spring of 1690, Albany, terrified by an Indian invasion, and rent by domestic factions, yielded to Milbourne. Amid distress and confusion a house of representatives was convened, and the government was constituted by the popular act. After the massacre at Schenectady in February, 1690, Leisler engaged with great vigor in the expeditions against the French, and equipped and despatched against Quebec the first fleet of men-of-war that had been sent from the port of New York. In January, 1691, Maj. Ingoldesby arrived with the news of Henry Sloughter's appointment as governor, and demanded possession of the fort, which Leisler refused. On Sloughter's own demand immediately upon his arrival in the following March, he likewise refused to surrender it until he was convinced of Sloughter's identity and the latter had sworn in his council. As soon as the latter event occurred, he wrote the governor a letter resigning his command. Sloughter replied by arresting him and nine of his friends. The latter were subsequently released after trial, but Leisler was imprisoned, charged with treason and murder, and shortly afterward tried and condemned to death. His son-in-law and secretary, Milbourne, was also condemned on the same charges. These trials were manifestly unjust; the judges were the