Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 06.djvu/387

 LEACH

LEAKE

LEACH, De Witt Clinton, lepieseutative, was born ill Clarence, Erie county, N. Y., Nov. 23, 18"i2; son of Jeshurun and Tlieoda Leach; grand- son of Samuel Leach, a Revolutionary soldier; great grandson of Samuel Leach, who was killed in the French and Indian war; and a descendant of Lawrence Leach, who came from England to .Stiein, Mass., in 1629. He removed to Genesee county, Mich., with his parents in his young manhood, and was a representative in the Mich- igan legislature, 1849-50; member of the consti- tutional conventions of 1860 and 1867; state libra- rian. 18j)-57, and editor of the Lansing Republi- can for several years. He was a Republican rep- resentative from the fourth Michigan district in the 3jth and 36th congresses, 1857-61; and was Indian agent for Micliigan, 1861-65. In 1861 he removed to Traverse City, and purchased the Grand Traverse Herald, which he published and edited for nine years. He later removed to Springfield, Mo., where he published the Patriot Advertiser, but subsequently returned to Traverse City, and edited the Xorfhwest Farmer.

LEACH, Frank Willing, lawyer and editor, was born in Cape May, N.J., Aug. 26, 1855; sou of the Rev. Joseph Smallidge and Sophia (Ball) Leach; grandson of Lemuel and Elizabeth (Smallidge) Leach, and a descendant of Giles Leach. He studied law with his brother. Col. Josiah Granville Leach, in Philadelphia, and was admitted to practice in 1877. He served the Re- publican party as secretary of state and national conventions, and as secretary and chairman of executive committees, 1881-96, and the city of Philadelphia as auditor of the comptroller's office, 1883, chief clerk, 1884:, secretary of the sinking fund commission, 1884, and chief deputy sheriff, 1891-95. He was married, Feb. 18, 1890, to Hes- sey Matilda, daughter of Thomas Snowden Wie- gand, of Philadelphia. He was elected a mem- ber of various patriotic, scientific and literary organizations. He contributed biographical sketches to "Scharf and Wescott's History of Philadelphia" (1883), and in 1901 had nearly com- pleted his compilation: The Signers of the Dec- laration of Independence, their Ancestors and Descendants.

LEACH, James Madison, representative, was born at Lansdowne, N.C., Jan. 17, 1815; son of William and Nancy (Brown) Leach: grandson of William Leach, and a descendant of Hugh Leach who emigrated from the north of Ireland about 1740. He received a classical education; was admitted to the bar in 1842. and practised in Lexington, N.C. He was married, June 24, 1846, to Eliza, daughter of the Rev. Archibald D. Montgomery, of Lexington, N.C. He was a member of the house of commons, 1848-58; and a Whig representative from the sixth North

Carolina district in the 36th congress, 1859-61. He opposed secession till the secession of his state, when he joined the Confederate army and served as lieutenant-colonel of the 21st (formerly 11th) regiment, North Carolina infantry, for one year, and then resigned and served as a representative in the Confederate congress, 1864-05. He was elected a state senator for two terms after the war and was a representative from the fifth North Carolina district in the 42d and 43d con- gresses, 1871-75. He was a presidential elector at large on the Democratic ticket in 1876 and in 1880. He died at Lexington. N.C, June 1, 1891.

LEAKE, Joseph Bloomfield, soldier, was born in Deerfield, N.J., April 1, 1828; son of Lewis and (Lydia) Leake, and grandson of Levi Leake. He removed with his parents to Cincinnati in Novem- ber, 1836; to Davenport, Iowa, in November, 1856, and to Chicago, 111., in November, 1871. He was graduated from Miami, A.B., 1846, A.M., 1849, and was admitted to the bar, Jan. 16, 1850. He was a representative in the Iowa legislature, 1861-62; and was elected a state senator for four years in 1862, but after serving one session he re- signed to join the U.S. army as a captain in the 20th Iowa volunteers. He was lieutenant-colonel of the regiment, 1862-65, and was brevet ted colonel and brigadier- general, U.S. V., March 13, 1865. He was again elected state senator in 1866, served as chairman of the judiciary committee and resigned in 1861 to practice law. He was attorney of Scott county, Iowa. 1866-71; president of the board of education of Davenport, Iowa. 1868-71; U.S. attornej' for the northern district of Illinois, 1879-84, and attorney for tiie board of education of Chicago, 111., 1887-91, after which time he practised law in Chicago.

LEAKE, Shelton Farrar, representative, was born in Albemarle county, Va., Nov. 30, 1812. He was admitted to the bar in 1835, and settled in practice at Charlottesville, Va. He was ap- pointed commissioner to the Sandwich Islands by President Tyler, but declined to serve. He was elected a representative in the Virginia state legislature in 1842; was a Democratic represent- ative from the sixth Virginia district in the 29th congress, 1845-47; a presidential elector on the Cass and Butler ticket in 1848; lieutenant-gov- ernor of Virginia in 1851, and was an unsuccessful Independent Democratic candidate for governor of Virginia against Henry A. Wise in 1855. He was an Independent Democratic representative in the 36th congress, 1859-61. He was married to Rebecca Gray, a niece of Governor James Barbour and of Justice Philip Pendleton Barbour.

LEAKE, Walter, governor of Mississippi, was born in Albemarle county, Virginia, about 1760. He served in the Revolutionary war, became a lawyer, and was appointed territorial judge of