Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 06.djvu/425

 LEISLER

LELAND

"West India Company in 1660, and was married, April 11, 1663, to Elsje Tymens, widow of Peter Van der Veen, whose extensive business he con- tinued and thus acquired considerable wealth. Their children were : Susanna, Catluuina, Jacob, Mary (who married, first Jacob Milbourn and

NEW YORK I N 1650 secondly Abraham Gouverneur), Johannes, Hes- ter, Francina and probably Margaret. On his re- turn voyage to Europe he was in 1678 captured by the Turks and had to pay a ransom of 2050 pieces of eight. On Sept. 10, 1684, he was commissioned a captain of militia in New York. News of the accession of William and Mary reached New York from Virginia in Februarj-, 1689, but was kept from the people by Lieutenant-Governor Nicholson. When, however, the news reached New York that Boston had revolted, New York city also rose in revolt. Leisler headed the demo- cratic citizens against the aristocratic adherents of James II., and was appointed lieutenant-gover- nor by the Committee of Safetj'. He accordingly issued writs for the election of a General Assem- bly, which assembly held two sessions, one in April, the other in October, 1690. The Roman Catholics formed common cause with the Jaco- bites, while the Dutch, the Huguenots, and the majority of the English sided with Leisler. He was made captain of the fort, with powers of a chief magistrate. He immediately seized Fort James and all the funds therein. He declared re- ligious toleration for all except the Papists. Col- onel Bayard and his followers fled to Albany and there set up an independent government. The municipal autliorities of the city of New York ac- knowledged tlie rule of William and Mary but de- clined to acknowledge the authority' of Leisler till compelled to do so in 1690. Governor Nichol- son sailed for England and Captain Ingoldsby was ordered to hold the government till the arrival of Colonel Henry Sloughter, who had been appointed by the Crown the new governor. Leisler refused to surrender the fort to Ingoldsby, but on the arrival of Sloughter, March, 1691. he peaceably gave up possession. Leisler and other leaders were arrested for treason, their estates were con- fiscated, and Leisler and ^lilbourn were con- demned and executed May 16, 1691.

LEITER, Benjamin Franklin, representative, was born in Leitersburg, Md., Oct. 13, 1813 ; sun of Samuel and Catliarine (Myers) Leiter, and a descendant of Jacob Leiter, who was born in Holland and immigrated to Maryland. He was educated chietly by his father ; and tauglit school in Maryland, 1830-34, and in Ohio, l«34-42. He settled in Canton, Ohio, and was justice of the peace ; mayor of Canton for ten years ; was ad- mitted to the bar in 1842, was a representa- tive in the state legislature, 1848-50, and speaker, 1849-50. He was a representative from the eighteenth district of Ohio in the 34th and 35th congresses, 1855-59, and served on tiie committee on Indian affairs. He continued the practice of law up to the time of his death, which occurred in Canton, Oliio, June 17, 1866.

LELAND, Charles Godfrey, author, was born in Philadelphia, Pa., Aug. 15, 1824; son of Charles and Charlotte Frost (Godfrey) Leland ; grandson of Oliver and Abigail (Perry) Leland. and a de- scendant of Hopestill Leland (born 1580 in York- shire, England), who settled in Weymouth, Mass., in 1623 ; and of Gen. Edward God- iviy, the first gover- nor of Maine, 1628; both Episcopalian royalists. Charles

Godfrey Leland con- tributed verses to periodicals as early as 1838. He attend- ed private schools in Philadelphia and Boston, Ma.ss., and was graduated at the College of New Jersey

in 1845. He pursued a post-graduate course in the universities of Heidelberg and Munich, and attended lectures at the Sorbonne and the College Louis-le-Grand, Paris, 1847-48. He took an active part as captain of barricades in 1848 ; was among the first to enter the Tuileries when taken, and was one of the Americans in Paris selected to congratulate the Provisional government of France, established bj' the Revolutionists in Feb- ruary, 1848. He studied law in the office of John Cadwalader in Philadelphia ; was admitted to the bar in 1851, and practised law in that city, 1851- 53. He was editor of the Ulnstvated Neics, New York city, 1853-55 ; assistant editor of the Even- ing Bulletin, Philadelphia, 1855-58, and editor of Fa ?i% Fa i>, 1858-61. In 1861 he contributed as editor articles to the Knickerbocker Magazine of New York, supporting the Union policy. He also established the Continental Magazine at Boston, Mass., and served as its editor while co-proprietor,