Memoir of JosiH Granville Leach, Third President of the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania

PUBLICATIONS OP THE GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY OP PENNSYLVANIA. Vol. IX. . No. 1 MARCH, 1924. MEMOIR OF JOSIAH GRANVILLE LEACH, THIRD PRESIDENT OF THE GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY OF PENNSYLVANIA. BY FRANK WILLING LEACH, S At the ripe age of four score years, less two months, Colonel Josiah Granville Leach, for years a leading member of the Philadelphia Bar, passed from mortality to immortality, May 27, 1922. This event occurred at his residence, 2118 Spruce Street, Philadelphia, where he had lived over half a century. His birth had taken place at Cape May Court House, New Jersey, July 27, 1842. Though a native of the- State mentioned , all of his traceable ancestors, for eight generations, and embracing fully fifty lines, were Massachusetts pioneers, who came to the New World from England prior to 1700, played more or less prominent roles in the domestic developments of their day and generation , and founded families whose present-day representatives are to be met in all sections of the United States. Of the latter, many have attained eminence in public affairs or other walks of life. In the direct male line, he traced his descent from Giles Leach , who, in 1656, is found at Weymouth, where he had grants of land . Subsequently, in 1662, he removed to Bridgewater, where he became the owner of a fifty-sixth proprietary interest, and the founder of the well-known Bridgewater fam ily of his surname. i a i | - I - Copyright The Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania PGM Vol IX 1924 Memoir of Josidh Granville Leach, 2 In Mitchell’s “ History of Bridgewater / ’ one of the most reliable of the local histories of Massachusetts, published in 1840, reference is made to Lawrence Leach, one of the founders of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, at Salem, who came to America in 1629 The names of four sons of Lawrence Leach are given by the historian, who adds: “ Perhaps Giles above was also his son or grandson 7 7 While it is altogether probable that Mitchell ’s suggestion was founded upon fact, the subject of this memoir was never willing to claim descent from Lawrence Leach , because of the lack of positive proof Giles Leach, if a son or grandson of Lawrence Leach , was a native of Massachusetts, otherwise he was of English birth, and himself an emigrant colonist. He was living at Bridgewater as late as December 31, 1702, having filled, during his lifetime there, many official posts, ecclesiastical and state Colonel Leach was also descended from Francis Cooke ( who, it may be noted, was likewise the ancestor of former President and now Chief Justice William Howard Taft ) , one of the Mayflower passengers who landed at Plymouth in 1620, hav ing been the seventeenth Signer of the famous “ Compact ” which became the Magna Charta of the Colony. Bradford says of Francis Cooke that “ he expended considerable estate in promoting the interests of Plymouth Colony. f f Among other of his ancestors was William Manning, of Cambridge, where, about 1638, he purchased an estate. His only adult son, also William Manning, and a Leach ancestor, was prominent in Cambridge affairs, a merchant, largely en gaged in navigation, and member of the First Church, as mes senger of which he went to England, in 1669, to invite the Rev Uriah Oakes to become its pastor He, in conjunction with Deacon John Cooper, was, in 1672, selected by the Overseers of Harvard College to supervise the erection of the building known , until its destruction by fire, in 1764, as Harvard Hall . It occupied' the site of the present edifice bearing the same designation. Another of his progenitors was John Washburn, from Bengeworth , in Worcestershire, where he was church warden of its parish church in 1625, and where his children had, previously, been baptized. He was of Plymouth Colony in 1632, settling at Bridgewater in 1665, becoming the ancestor of many distin guished sons, bearing the same patronymic, active in the public life of America . . P . . G S - - , . . - . Copyright The Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania PGM Vol IX 1924 3 Memoir of Josiah Granville Leach. Another Plymouth Colony ancestor was Nathaniel Tilden of Scituate, who, baptized at St. Mildred ’s Church, Tenterden, County Kent, England, in 1583, was mayor of his native town in 1622, and justice some years later At Scituate, to which he came in 1634, he was a ruling elder of its church, town officer and a man of affairs generally. Of his male descendants, Samuel J. Tilden , governor of New York and Democratic candidate for the presidency of the United States in 1876, is the most distinguished Still another emigrant ancestor was the Rev. Ralph Wheeloek, a graduate of Clare Hall, Cambridge University, where he had the degrees of A.B. in 1626 and A.M. in 1631 He was one of the dissenting clergy, who left England for America in 1637, when the tide of persecution ran highest. He settled first at Watertown, later at Dedham , and, finally, at Ifedfield , of which he was the founder. Here he became select man , representative to the General Court, etc Without entering in greater detail it may be stated that the subject of this memoir was also descended from Jeremiah Flora, Samuel King, Experience Mitchell, Thomas Lapham, Francis Curtis, Anthony Besse, William Smallidge, Joseph Green, Hezekiah Broad, Joseph Bacheller, Robert Goodale, John Perham, John Shipley, Robert Fletcher, William Hailstone, Walter Powers, Ralph Shepard , John Ball, Robert Keyes, William Child , Thomas Dimmock, Gershom Eames, William Cheney, John Thurston, Robert Mason , Joseph Clark, Samuel Morse, James Allen , Alexander Lovell, Thomas Dyer, John Frairy, Isaac Steams, John Houghton, John Farrar, John Whitcomb, Lawrence Waters, John Stodder, Samuel Richardson, Bartholomew Pierson , John Perrin, and Thomas Flagg. Colonel Leach was of Revolutionary as well as of Colonial stock, three of his four great -grandfathers having performed military service during the War for Independence: Ensign Lemuel Leach , Private Joseph Smallidge and Corporal Israel Manning, who participated in the Lexington Alarm and the battle of Bunker Hill. His father, the Rev. Joseph Smallidge Leach, born in Shutesbury, Massachusetts, March 30, 1816, died at Cape May, August 9, 1892 He became a clergyman of the Baptist faith, and, in accordance with a custom of that period among clergymen, assumed also the role of pedagogue. It was this . r . . P - S . G Si . Copyright The Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania PGM Vol IX 1924 4 Memoir of Josiah GramiUe Leach. latter role which led him, in 1840, New England teachers being then greatly in demand, to remove to and settle in Cape May County, New Jersey, originally at Cape May Court House, and a year or two later at the present Cape May City, then known as Cape Island , and also as the most celebrated summer resort in the United States. For some years the elder Mr. Leach taught school in various parts of Cape May County, meanwhile acceptably performing his ecclesiastical functions at the different points where he was located. In 1855 he entered the field of journalism, conducting the Cape May Ocean Wave from that time until 1863, when he engaged in mercantile pursuits. During his lifetime the Rev. Mr Leach held many posts of prominence in the town of his adoption , Cape May, including those of Recorder, member of City Council , justice of the peace, superintendent of Public Schools, chosen freeholder, postmaster, etc. To the people of its Baptist Church he preached forty years without compensation, serving also as deacon , church clerk, superintendent and teacher of its Sunday School. The early education of the son was acquired under the im mediate supervision of his father and other educators, including private tutors, the best that could be secured in South Jersey. In 1855, when the son was but a youth of thirteen, the purchase of the Ocean Wave was made ( the paper had been founded only three months previously ) , and, at an early period thereafter, the son persuaded the father to allow him to become an assistant on that journal. This was a fortunate occurrence for the boy, as it gave him an entrance to the field, that of journalism , which in so many instances has equipped young men with an education hardly surpassed by that acquired at the leading colleges and universities He was still a youth in his teens when the father, who acted as Editor, allowed the son to assume complete direction of certain of the departments of the journal aud to exercise a wide discretion in the character of the material supplied by him. ndeed , for a certain period , it was the young man ’s practice to furnish for the columns of the Ocean Wave a series of weekly letters from Washington and Philadelphia , written in Cape May, but based upon a very careful reading and analysis of news found in the columns of the Washington and Phila delphia exchanges. , S P . G - . - Copyright The Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania PGM Vol IX 1924 . Memoir of Josiah GranviUe Leach . 5 The young journalist became a ready writer, and his productions were widely read and commented upon. This train ing proved of great value to him in after years, when he entered upon a line of work which he followed with great energy and success for a considerable period, historical , biographical and genealogical research. During the early stages of the Civil War , indeed , until he sold the Ocean Wave , in 1863, Joseph S . Leach was an ardent supporter of the Lincoln administration , and of the Union cause generally , both through the medium of his editorials and by means of personal service. - The son cooperated with his father in this regard to the largest possible degree, devoting much time to organizing Soldiers ’ Aid Societies, whose primary objects were to provide clothing and hospital stores for the sick and wounded. Not content with this kind of service, young Leaeh , in 1862, enlisted in the 25th New Jersey Volunteers, Infantry , whose commander was that gallant soldier and Christian gentleman , Andrew Derrora, of Paterson, New Jersey, and served with that regiment until its tour of duty was concluded . The regiment was recruited September 18, 1862, aud was honorably discharged and disbanded June 20, 1863. 'hough but twenty years old the young soldier ’s obvious abilities and high character were at once recognized by his superior officers, and he was appointed sergeant-major, being later promoted to second lieutenant. By his efficient and honorable service throughout the period of his enlistment , he won the admiration and affection of his comrades and the approbation of those in authority over him. One of his promotions resulted from his gallant conduct at Fredericksburg, the principal engagement in which his command participated. On the occasion of the Regiment ’s Reunion at Paterson, December 13, 1887, the twenty-fifth anniversary of the battle of Fredericksburg, “ Lieutenant ” Leach in his response to the toast, ‘ ‘ The 25th New Jersey Volunteers, ” gave a stirring chronological history of the command the camp at Beverly, the reception at Philadelphia, and the prominent events with which it had any connection concluding his address with a few well-chosen words of appreciation for Colonel Derrom whose example had been so great an inspiration to his men. Among the nine months ’ regiments sent to the field from New Jersey none performed more signal service, or made a finer record , than the 25th . G S P - — — Copyright The Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania PGM Vol IX 1924 6 Memoir of Josiah Granville Leach. " The military training acquired in youth proved valuable to Mr. Leach in his after life, quite as much so as did his jour nalistic training This was especially marked in hia carriage in general He always bore himself with a military air, which was not laid aside even when he had reached the threshold of four score years A quarter of a century after his Civil War service, in 1887, he renewed, for a period, his military connection, Governor Beaver having commissioned him Commissary General of Pennsylvania, with the rank of Colonel The duties of this post he discharged in sueh a manner as to win the approval of the Governor and of the Adjutant General, Daniel H. Hastings, who, not long afterward, became Governor himself . The latter ’s promotion to the gubernatorial office was largely due to certain services rendered by him at Johnstown immediately after the devastating flood of 1889, and to the credit he received therefor. Colonel Leach, in his official capacity as Commissary General, was also at Johnstown during the re habilitation period, and likewise rendered efficient and credit able service. Immediately after his Civil War service the young man established himself in Philadelphia, with a view to studying law. He had always entertained a strong preference for the legal profession, and determined many years previously that nothing should deter him from engaging in it. He chose as his preceptor Byron Woodward, then and until his death a leading practitioner, with offices located on Fifth street, south of Walnut, in those days the legal center of the city. Besides his work and studies with Mr. Woodward, the young man matriculated at the Law School of the University of Pennsylvania. The degree of LL:B. was conferred upon him by this institution in 1866, and on March 17, 1866, he was admitted to the local bar. During his student days he had been, in accordance with the practice then prevailing among those seeking admittance to the Bar, a member of the Law Academy of Philadelphia. That he was one of the leaders in the Academy, now over a century old, is shown in his election as Secretary of the organization in 1865, a year prior to Ins admission to the Bar. He appears, moreover, to have been influential in securing the election to office of certain of his colleagues. The late Gover nor Samuel W. Penny packer, in his AUTOBIOGRAPHY , says: . . . u P . S - G . - Copyright The Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania PGM Vol IX 1924 Memoir of Josiah Granville Leach. 7 “ Leach introduced me into the Law Academy, and at his G S — — P suggestion, while yet a student in 1865, was elected its Assistant Secretary. I therefore owe to Leach my first professional recognition. * * A year later, 1866, Pennypaeker was advanced to the Secretaryship, in succession to Leach, and became President in 1868. During this early period both Leach and Pennypaeker were members of another and somewhat similar organization, now non-existent, the Bancroft Literary Union. The membership of this organization embraced many bright young Philadelphians, largely law students or fledgling attorneys, who, through the medium of the debates and oratorical contests indulged in, acquired an equipment for subsequent forensic displays in professional life at the bar or otherwise. The young advocate was one of the leaders of this institu tion. One of his associates and it was at one of these gatherings they first met was Samuel W . Pennypaeker, who subsequently became President Judge of one of the Courts of Common Pleas, and later, 1903-1907, Governor of the Commonwealth. Another member was Leon Abbett , Governor of New Jersey, 1884-87 . John I. Rogers, later a leading attorney at the local Bar, was likewise a member. Prom his admission to the Bar until a short time prior to his decease, embracing a period of fifty-six years, he was actively engaged in the practice of his profession . Indeed he may be said to have died, as he desired , in harness. Though, at times, as the years rolled onward , he became interested in public affairs, in historical research, and other and allied concerns, he never permitted these or any allurements to entice him from his chosen life- work , the Law. In a memorial sketch of Colonel Leach, appearing in the a Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography for 1923, ” from the pen of his long-time friend and fellow-advocate, the late Judge Norris S. Barratt, the latter thus expressed himself : i < At the Philadelphia Bar he was not known as a trial lawyer. The forum did not appeal to him. He devoted himself to Orphans ’ Court work, conveyancing, drawing wills and managing estates, which is now done almost exclusively by title and trust companies. . . . * ‘ He never undertook any criminal work . It was distasteful to him, and I imagine if he had gone into the criminal court Copyright The Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania PGM Vol IX 1924 8 . Memoir of Josiah QmnviUe Leach. he would have felt so strangely that he would almost have asked to be introduced, . . . “ Among the things not generally known of him were his many ready kindnesses to his clients, both rich and poor, . It can be said of few attorneys in active practice, as can be said of Colonel Leach, except perhaps Mr. Cadwalader, unless we remember the Binneys, the Tilghmans, the Bawles, the Sergeants, Ingersolls and Gerhards in their time, that they have rendered legal services to five generations of one family, settling the estates of generation after generation, and invest ing the proceeds of the estates of those who followed , remain ing meanwhile the friend, advisor and counselor of all. ? > . - - P The above is a fairly accurate portrayal of Colonel Leach as a legal practitioner . He had an instinctive abhorrence of litigation, and believed that, the majority, of all law suits were unjustified, and could have been avoided if attorneys had been unselfish and just to their clients. It was his practice to take a case into court only as a last resort. If the opposite party evinced the slightest disposition to make concessions, he invariably advised his clients to com promise and settle out of court. This course generally meant smaller fees for him , but it also meant greater peace of mind and an easier conscience At an early age he evinced a deep interest in politics and in public affairs as a whole This was even so in his boyhood days, at Cape May. It is shown in his early writings for the Ocean Wave, in which, among other things, the young journalist, then only eighteen years of age, discussed the Lincoln campaign in his 1‘Letters from Washington.’ 5 Indeed, during this historic political battle the young man made speech after speech in behalf of the Republican standard bearer , His first presidential ballot was that cast in 1864, when he voted for Lincoln , then a candidate for re election. As may be assumed from these brief facts, he espoused and supported the principles of the Republican party, and usually voted that ticket, universally so in presidential years, though sometimes voting for independent candidates for local and S - G . . - . - state offices. In 1875 he received a nomination to the Legislature, lower house, to fill a vacancy in the 7th Legislative District, otherwise the 7th Ward. He was elected by a large majority in November of that year, took his seat in January following, and served with credit until the end of his term. Copyright The Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania PGM Vol IX 1924 Memoir of Josiah Granville Leach. 9 During the Spring of 1875 he beeame president of the 7 th Ward Republican Club* At a meeting of this organization he made an address in eulogy of James G. Blaine, whom he proposed as a candidate for the presidential nomination the following year. This was the first public suggestion of Blaine for the presidency anywhere in the United States. The proposal was taken up and commented upon pretty generally throughout the country, and the candidacy of the Maine statesman soon became a reality. The result is history. Mr. Blaine, at the Cincinnati Convention, in June, 1876, led upon the first six ballots, but, xipon the seventh, Rutherford B. Hayes was named, he receiving 384 votes to 351 for the popular candidate. Upon the conclusion of his legislative term, in 1876, Mr. Leach declined a renomination , but announced his candidacy for the State Senate, 6th Senatorial District, comprising the 7th, 8th and 9th wards. He made a gallant canvass for the nomination, but the overwhelming power of the Gas Trust, then the dominant local political machine, was employed against him, and his opponent, Colonel Aaron K. Dunkel, was declared the. nominee, by a narrow margin, though Mr. Leach 's friends and adherents maintained that a majority of the legally elected delegates were favorable to their candidate. Strong in his admiration for Mr. Blaine, Mr. Leach again advocated his nomination in 1880, but, as students of political history are aware, the outcome of the memorable struggle at Chicago, in June of that year, was the nomination of James A. Garfield, an eleventh-hour selection for the important post. Though disappointed a /t the defeat of his favorite, Mr. Leach threw himself heartily into th e contest for Garfield and Arthur, and organized a marching unit, Company H, made up of young men prominent in the social life of the city, which was attached to the Young Republicans of Philadelphia, an organization which came into being that year, and, for a long period thereafter, was a recognized factor in the political history of Philadelphia. Its president that year was Hampton L Carson, afterwards Attorney General of Pennsylvania, while his successor was Edwin S. Stuart,, subsequently Governor of the Commonwealth The two years which followed, 1881 and 1882, were years of great political unrest in Philadelphia and in Pennsylvania generally, which was manifested in the independent candi G S P " . . - Copyright The Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania PGM Vol IX 1924 10 Memoir of Josiah Grawv&le Leach. . dacy of Charles S Wolfe, of Union County, for State Treasurer, in the year first named, and that of John Stewart, after ward Chief Justice of Pennsylvania, for Governor in 1882. Upon both occasions Mr. Leach supported and voted for the independent tickets, as a protest against machine politics which then dominated the State In 1889, during the opening stages of the administration of President Benjamin Harrison, the post of Appraiser of Mer chandise for the Port of Philadelphia was tendered to Colonel Leach. Though the offer came to him as a surprise, he accepted it, and discharged in an able manner the duties of that responsible post for a period of four years - . - . G S P This was Colonel Leach ’s last direct identification with public affairs, though throughout the remainder of his career he continued to manifest a deep interest in the governmental policies of the nation at large. Perhaps no citizen scanned the pages of the newspapers of the day with a more searching interest than he, particularly on all matters bearing upon the material and political welfare of his fellow-citizens and of Americans as a whole. His patriotism was of a high order, and he was unsparing in his denunciation of anything having a tendency to promote discord or unrest among the American electorate, or a disposition to break down the high standards of a national life. He noted with deep concern the drastic changes in population, resulting from the unchecked immigrational tide which was sweeping into and over the country, and realized that the America of his advancing years was not the America of his youth. With these adverse ‘developments his Americanism in creased. Indeed love for his country became with him a dominating force and was chiefly responsible for his intimate iden tification with certain of the leading patriotic and hereditary societies of the country an identification which led him, during his last thirty or more years, to devote all his spare energy to historical research, especially along biographical and genealogical lines. His fundamental object in these latter-day pursuits was the development of a keener spirit of patriotism in the nation, the checking of the manifest tendency to minimize the heroic achievements of the founders of the Republic, their contemporaries and descendants, and the creation of a wider and more intelligent study of and love for American history. He was one of the fifteen founders of the Pennsylvania - — Copyright The Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania PGM Vol IX 1924 Memoir of Josiah Granville Leach. 11 Society of Sous of the Revolution, which was instituted April 3, 1888, and incorporated September 29, 1890 ; served as a Manager from 1888 to 1890, as Historian from 1890 to 1912, as Vice-President from 1912 to 1919, and as President from 1919 to 1921. In the latter year he was made Honorary President, the office being created for that purpose. He was one of the founders of the General Society Sons of the Revolution, April 19, 1890, and served as a delegate to that body from the Penn sylvania Society almost continuously for nearly a third of a century later. He was a charter member of the Society of Mayflower De scendants in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, which was organized July 1, 1896. Tpon that occasion he was named as Historian of the Society, which post he held uninterruptedly until his death He was also one of the founders of the Gen eral Society of Mayflower Descendants, which came into being at Plymouth, Massachusetts, January 12, 1897, when he was made one of the General Board of Assistants and later one of the Deputy Governors General, one or the other of which positions he held during the remainder of his life. In 1885 he became a member of The Historical Society of Pennsylvania, was appointed Historiographer thereof in November, 1887, served as such during the balance of his life, and was ever zealous in the advancement of its membership and work and ideals He was, with four others, responsible for the organization of The Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania, February 13, 1892, at which time he was made Vice-President, in 1913 he was elected to its presidency, and this office he held at his decease. To none of his varied interests did he give more unsparingly of himself than to this, to none a greater affection. With genuine satisfaction he watched its growth from five to considerably more than five hundred ; believing meanwhile in its present mission , and in that of its future, as a stabilizing - . S P - G . iF | ! and Americanizing foree. He was, likewise, largely responsible for the establishment of the Colonial Society of Pennsylvania, April 25, 1896 ; served as a Councillor from 1896 to 1914, when he was elected a Vice President, becoming President in 1921. He was admitted to membership in the New Eugland Historic Genealogical Society in 1896, with which his connection was uninterrupted throughout the rest of his life. M - Copyright The Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania PGM Vol IX 1924 12 Memoir of Josiah Granville Leach. A P His membership in the Society of Colonial Wars in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania began in 1895 and ended with his death, at which time he was serving as Chairman of its Membership Committee, When the Old Planters Society of Massachusetts came into being, at Salem, in 1899, he was among its founders, and he served as one of its Councillors from 1899 to May 27, 1922. . Concerning his interest and membership in cognate associations, tending toward the development of a spirit of Americanism , Judge Barratt, in his previously-referred-to memoir, said : 1 ‘His belief in the importance and efficiency of the patriotic hereditary societies was fixed and immovable upon the principle that, like produces like, and the descendant of a racehorse once started would run true to form . He thought no better agency existed wherein and whereby minds could be turned to the study of history and the development of man kind. Under this influence he had seen men and women gain in self -respect and in appreciation of the things of the spirit. Indeed, I may almost say this whole subject was a half -religion with him, increasing with years as his strength to icarry on ’ diminished .’’ To Colonel Leach belongs the honor of first suggesting the setting aside of June 14th as “ Flag Day ” The initial cele bration took place in Philadelphia, where the first flag had been made, following the action of the Continental Congress, June 14, 1777. Writing in his diary , May 8, 1892, he said : “ I met Mrs, Thomas McKean [ whose husband was a descendant of Thomas McKean , Signer of the Declaration of Independence] today and suggested to her that a good work for the Colonial Dames |she being then a Vice-President of the Pennsylvania Society ] to take in hand would be that, of having the 14th of June known as flag or ensign day, and the American flag displayed from every home on that day I told her the Dames could undertake no more patriotic work, and, that I believed, if they would start the movement, it would succeed.” At a meeting of the Pennsylvania Society of the Colonial Dames, held April 25, 1893, Colonel Leach ’s suggestion was affirmatively acted upon , the following resolution being adopted : - . - G S i i . Copyright The Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania PGM Vol IX 1924 Memoir of Josiak Granville Leach. 13 “ Resolved, that the Society of Colonial Dames of Pennsylvania respectfully request the Mayor and all others in author- ity in this City, and all private citizens, to display from their residences, public offices and places of business our National emblem on June 14th ; and that this day may hereafter be known as ‘ Flag Day’/ 5 His suggestion bore abundant fruit on June 14, 1893, the first “ Flag Day/ ’ when the Pennsylvania Society of Sons of the Revolution , in conjunction with that of the Colonial Dames, supervised the ceremonies incident to the observance of the new patriotic holiday. The idea struck a popular chord throughout the country, until “ Flag Day ” became a national institution. His predic tion, as set forth in . his diary entry, that “ the movement would succeed , ” was fully verified and he must have derived peculiar satisfaction from the fact that he was the originator of the patriotic custom. A well-known contributor to one of Philadelphia 's leading newspapers, writing upon the subject two years since, said : P - Philadelphia, birthplace of the flag, was also the birthplace of Flag Day, as it is now observed throughout the coun try. It was due to a suggestion of the late Colonel J. Granville Leach, and the furthering of this suggestion by the Pennsylvania Society of Colonial Dames of America, that June 14 was inaugurated as Flag Day. . . . It has been said that Colonel Leach did a great service to the country when he inaugurated Flag Day.” S i i G - As previously indicated, his patriotic principles, and his fondness for the America of his sires, led him, as he reached middle-age, to make an intensive study of early American history and biography, and eventually to enter upon a literary life, in addition to his professional career at the Bar. The first volume of Appleton 's Cyclopedia of American Biography, the best work of its kind , came from the press a little more than a third of a century ago. Upon reviewing it carefully he discovered that many Pennsylvanians, who had attained distinction in various ways, and were deserving of a place in this volume, had been entirely overlooked. In response to his vigorous protest, the Appletons requested him to supply sketches of such subjects as might otherwise be passed by, which he proceeded to do, spending the following year, or Copyright The Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania PGM Vol IX 1924 14 Memoir of Josiah Granville Leach. more, in writing biographies of hundreds of citizens of the Keystone State who were leaders in thought, speech and action in their time, but who had been largely forgotten with * the lapse of years His services in this behalf were purely gratuitous, and were rendered solely because of his desire that these history makers of his adopted state should be adequately set forth to the readers of this standard work Thereafter his writings covered a wide range, chiefly, however, biographical and genealogical The most important of his productions were : ' Memoranda Relating to the Ancestry and Family of Hon Levi Parsons Morton ” (1894 ) ; “ Memorials of the Reading, Howell, Yerkes, Watts, Latham and Elkins Families ” (1898 ) ; “ Genealogy of Harry Alden Richardson ( 1901) ; “ History of the Bringhurst Family, with Notes on the Clarkson, De Peyster and Boude Families (1901) ; “ History of the Girard National Bank of Philadelphia ” (1902 ) ; “ History of the Penrose Family of Philadelphia ” (1903) ; “ Chronicle of the Yerkes Family with Notes on the Leech and Rutter Families ” (1904 ) ; “ Some Account of the Tree Family ” (1908 ) ; “ Some Account of Captain John Frazier and His Descendants, with Notes on the West and Checkley Families ” (1910 ) He edited “ The Journal of the Rev. Silas Constant (1903) ; “ Annals of the Sinnott, Rogers, Coffin, Corlies, Reeves, Bodine and Allied Families ” (1905) ; “ John Readington of Topsfield , Massachusetts, and Some of His Descend ants, with Notes on the Wales Family ” (1909 ) . Among his contributions to historical and genealogical publications may be named : “ Colonel Charles Read of New Jersey ” (1893) ; “ Humphrey Morrey, First Mayor of Philadelphia ” (1894) ; “ Commodore John Hazlewood, Commander of the Pennsylvania Navy during the Revolution ” (1902 ) ; 11 Members of the Assembly of the Three Lower Counties upon Delaware ” (1914 ) ; “ The First Provincial Council of Pennsylvania and Its Members ” (1915) ; “ Some Account of the Pawling Family of New York and Pennsylvania ” (1918 ) ; Quistconk the Indian Name of Hog Island ” (1918 ) ; “ Memorials of the Kneass Family ” (1919 ) . Besides his published writings, he left extensive manu scripts, some of them comparatively complete and ready for publication : “ The Chronicle of the Bement Family, ” “ History of the Leach Families of Massachusetts, ” “ Historical . . . J . S P J ? . G 7 7 f i ( - Copyright The Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania PGM Vol IX 1924 Memoir of Josiah Granville Leach. - 15 « Outlines of certain South Jersey Families : Carll Eldridge, Matthews, Parsons, Foster, Hand, Hughes, Learning and Whill din. “ The Pennsylvania Line, ” ete. Among these papers is an “ Autobiography , ’ * embracing his memoirs for three score years. He also left much valuable memoranda, chiefly regarding notable characters in the early life of the Province of Pennsylvania, all based upon original and personal research. Colonel Leach was essentially a domestic man. To him, his home was always the most inviting place. Club life did not appeal to him. His association was with men who thought deeply, worked hard , and produced results, men of literary tastes, members of the Bench and Bar, and those interested in giving of their best to the public service. He was a serious-minded man. His sense of humor was not highly developed. Direct of thought, plain of speech, caring nothing for the abstractions of intellectual speculation, he was ill at ease where small-talk prevailed. Life to him was not an accident, or a bit of haphazard by-play. It was real, earnest and purposeful, and developed in him a spirit of helpfulness, for which many had cause to be grateful. The writer of this memoir has confined himself almost entirely to statement of fact. There has been no attempt at eulogy. In closing, however, it may be pertinent to quote a few paragraphs from the previously cited paper from the pen of Judge Barratt. “ His charity was of such a generous character that one might venture to say it was disproportioned to his in come. . . . “ I should say two of the facts I have admired in him were his conservative ideas as to the making of money, and his devotion to his friends in life, and their memory after they had passed into the beyond. . . . “ Like President Roosevelt, Colonel Leach held the thought that the most uncomfortable truth, is, in the long run , a safer companipn than the pleasantest falsehood. . . . “ Muddled thinking and inaccurate writing, especially ex ploiting that as history which never happened, annoyed } G S P - - - . him. , . * ‘ The strongest factors in his life were, I think, his love for work and his love for his fellowmen. His industry was unceasing ; his desire to help others unbounded. . . i * If Colonel Leach had failings, as all human beings have, . Copyright The Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania PGM Vol IX 1924 16 Memoir of Josiak Granville Leach. - | I do not recall them, I can think only of acts which merit — praise, and high praise Semper Fidelis.” His funeral service was held at St. Peters’ Church, Philadelphia, with which he had long been identified. He was buried in the family lot in the churchyard of the Cold Spring Presbyterian Church, Cape May, the oldest God ’s Acre in South Jersey. He married, October 5, 1866, Elizabeth Tudor Whilldin, daughter of Captain Wilmon Whilldin, an extensive owner and operator of Delaware River steamboat property three-quart ers of a century ago Like her husband, she was a member of the Society of Mayflower Descendants, by right of descent from John Howland, one of the Mayflower company, and a signer of the famous Compact on shipboard , in Plymouth Harbor in1620. Mrs. Leach predeceased her husband only five months, dying January 19, 1922. Of the children of this union, four survived their parents, Joseph Granville Leach, Wilrnon Whilldin Leach , M D , Meredith Biddle Leach and Annie Adele Leach. G S .. P . Copyright The Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania PGM Vol IX 1924 ABSTRACTS OP NEW JERSEY COMMISSIONS, CIVIL AND MILITARY, FROM LIBER A . A. A. OP COMMISSIONS IN THE SECRETARY OP STATE 'S OFFICE AT TRENTON. CONTRIBUTED BY MBS, HARRY ROGERS. —— , . { Continued from Volume V I I I page 251 ) . Charter for the Incorporation of Burlington, p. 225, Province of New Jersey. Set. 1733 Dec. 1. BE IT REMEMBERED that, at Northampton in 7 the County of Burlington in the Province of New Jersey in America the first Day of December in the year of our Lord one thousand seven Hundred and Thirty three before me Reveil Elton, Esquire, one of the Justices of the Peace in the County of Burlington personally came and appeared John Wills, Esquire, one of his Majesty 's Council aged about Seventy four years. He being one of the People called Quakers on his Solemn Affirmation according to Law did then and there before me declare and affirm that, at Northampton in the Kingdom of Great Brittain, He the Affirmant well knew and was acquainted with one George Elkinton born in Millington in Warwickshire or Oxford Shire whose £f at hers Name was Joseph Elkinton a Dweller in the same Town of Millington. This affirmant says he remembers that the said George Elkinton at a Suitable age was put out an apprentice to one Thomas Phillips of Sbatwell or Satchwell who was by Trade a Blacksmith a maker of edge Tools is also made at some Times Smith Anvils. And fur ther this affirmant says that after the said George Elkinton had Served out his apprentiship with bis sair Master he went & set up his Trade of a Black smith at a place called St. James 's End near to/ the west End of the Bridge called the West Bridge and on that aide the Road belonging to Dallington Parish, where he continued and followed for some Time his said Employment . AND FURTHER thia Affirmant says that in the year of our Lord one thousand Six Hundred and Seventy Seven this af G S P 1734 May - - firmant 's ffather Daniel- Wills who then lived aft Northampton in Great Britain aforesaid and there was in the Practice of Physiek, Chemistry and Surgery having amongst many others heard much of the New Settlements in America took up a Resolu V P , - ( 171 Copyright The Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania PGM Vol IX 1924 Abstracts of New Jersey Commissions . tion of removing there with his Family which Pur pose being known and talk V! of amongst his acquaintance in and about Northampton aforesaid several young men there offered themselves to goe over to America with this affirmant 's Father in the Quality of Servants for four years ( the usual time of Servitude in such Cases ) and amongst others the said George Elkinton being well acquainted with this Affirmant 's ffather offered himself for one, and was so deaireous of going as to lease of his Business in which he had been for some Time there Setled to execute this new adventure And this affirmant says that this affirmants father accordingly accepted of the said George Elkinton to goe with him in the Quality aforesaid and the said George in pursuance of this Agreement and Purpose indented himself a Servant for ffour years with this affirmants ffather, and this affirmant says that in the said year 1677 this affirmant 's ffather and family having then the said George Elkinton with him embarked for America on Board the Ship Kent, one Gregory Marlow commander and on the fourteenth I>av of August in the said year arrived in ye River Dela ware That eo on after arrival this affirmant 's Father with his Family Setled at Northampton, in the said County of Burlington, in which place the said George Elkinton Served out his Time with the afore said four years very Honestly and faithfully and being a black Smith was of great use and Benefit to the inhabitants thereabouts in those Infant Timed in a County then a Wilderness. And this affirmant further says at the Determination of the said four years Service with his Father, He the affirmants Father gave to the Said George Elkinton as a Re compenee for his ffaithful Service One hundred Acres of Band to Settle upon, and afterward Settled, and this affirmant says some Time after his the said George 's Settlement of the Said Land he in termarried first with one Mary Bingham by whom he had no. Issue, and after the Decease of sd Mary, he married to his Second Wife one Mary Core a Widow Woman by whom he had Issue to witt ffour Sons and Two Daughters, his sons were first Joseph who, after having been many years marryed in the County of Burlington, died and baa left Issue be hind him five daughters who are all now Living, Second George who also after having been Marryed several years dyed, and has left Issue Oue Son and a Daughter Third Joshua who dyed under agw and without Issue not having been marryed. ffourth Thomas Aged about Thirty years is marryed and , P . mf S . - p G 18 - - . - . Copyright The Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania PGM Vol IX 1924 Abstracts of New Jersey Commissions . 19 has Issue three Children is the only surviving' Son of the said George Elkinton the Father. Also the tiro Daughters of the said George Elkinton the Father have both Issue, each of them diverse child ren. This Affirmant says he has often heard the said George Elkinton the ffather mention the name of Holbeck a Sawyer that lived in the said Town of Mollington as this affirmant remembers. This Afirmant says that the said George Elkinton the ffather ever in his life Time behaved and demeaned himself as an honest careful indust ryous Man, was in good Repute and Esteem with his Neighbours and all others of his . Acquaintances That he de parted this Life in or about the Month of October in the year of our Lord one thousand Seven Hundred and Thirteen Sign 'd John Wills Affirmed before me p 229. Revell Elton Province of New Jersey, Set * . . - . P . . . BE IT REMEMBERED that at Northampton in the County of Burlington in the Province of New Jer - S sey in America the first Day of December in the Year of our Lord one thousand seven Hundred and thirty three, before me Revel Elton one of the Justices of the Sovereign Lord the King, assign 'd to keep the Peace etc. in the County of Burlington aforesaid, personally came and appeared Hugh Sharp, Esqr one of his Majesty 's Justices of the Peace for the County of Burlington aforesaid and one of the Judges of the Court of Common Pleas for the same County, Aged about sixty five years, born in the Town of Northampton in the Kingdom of Great Britain being one of the People called Quakers od his solemn Affirmation according to Law did them and there before me testify and declare to be true that he first came from Great Britain aforesaid into this Province of New Jersey in the year of our Lord one thousand seven Hundred and one and Settled at "Willingborough near Northampton in the County of Burlington aforesaid where this Affir mant Bays he well knew and was acquainted with one George Elkinton who be ng a Neighbour to the Affirmant had frequent Converse with the said! George who often told this Affirmant that he was boro at a place or village called Millington in War wickshire or Oxfordshire that after he was out of his Apprentiship he set up his Trade of a Blacksmith in the Kingdom of Great Britain also near to or at a Place called St. James End near Northampton Affirmant aays that he the said George Elkinton has G . - > - . Copyright The Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania PGM Vol IX 1924 20 Abstracts of New Jersey Commissions . S P often told to this Affirmant that he came over a Servant to Doctor Daniel Wills at the Time of the said Wills ' coming into the County, which Wills this Affirmant says was a Doctor in Northampton La Great Britain aforesaid and there practised Phyaiek, Chemistry and Surgery. AND this affirmant further says that the said Greorge Elkinton Marryed to his Second Wife one Mary Core a Widow Woman by whom the said George has Issue ffour Sons and two Daughters, hie Sons were first Joseph who Livedmany years a Mar rye d Man in the said County of Burlington is since deceased, and has left Issue ffivo Daughters now Living. Second George who also marryed, afterwards dyed and has left Issue, One Son and One Daughter both now living. Third, Joshua who dyed within Age without Issue not having been Marryed. ffourth, Thomas who is now living and is the only surviving Son of the said George Elkinton the if at her. ALSO this Af firmant says that the said two Daughters of the said George Elkinton are both now Living, havv been some Years Marryed Women, have each of them Issue, divers Children. Hugh Sharp.* Affirmed before me, p. 230. Revell Elton. Province of New Jersey, Sc*. * Hugh Sharp, born in Northampton, England , 3 July , 1693 ; died in Wll- G Ilngborough township , Burlington County , New Jersey , in January, 1742. He married 11 November, 1702, Rachel , widow of Matthew Allen , and daughter of Thomas French by bis wife Jane Atkina , who was baptized at Whltton , Northamptonshire, 3 April , 1664 , » and died after 5 October , 17 41. Mr. Sharp was a member of New Jersey Assembly , 1768, 1709, 1710 and a Justice of the peace and of the Courts of Burlington County, under commissions of 28 March, 1719, and 7 April , 1720. See Publications, vol. vlll , pp. 140, 141. - — ( To be continued . ) Copyright The Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania PGM Vol IX 1924