Biography

11/29/1767 - 05/01/1864

Colonel John Boyd Leech (D23) Crawford, Erie, Venango, Mercer, Venango and Warren Counties 1825-1828 (National Republican23) Crawford, Erie, Venango, Mercer, Venango and Warren Counties 1828-1829

Early Life:

Colonel John Boyd Leech, born November 29, 1767, York County, Pennsylvania Province, British Colonial America; son of Thomas and Phoebe Leech; married, Jane Morrison, children, David, Thomas, William, Joseph, John, Samuel, Phoebe, James, Morris, Joshua, Jane, Asbury; unsuccessful campaign, Commissioner, Somerset County Pennsylvania, 1795; unsuccessful campaign, Pennsylvania State House of Representatives, 1808; veteran, War of 1812; Justice of the Peace; unsuccessful campaign, Pennsylvania State House of Representatives, 1819; unsuccessful campaign, Pennsylvania State House of Representatives, 1821; unsuccessful campaign, Pennsylvania State House of Representatives, 1822; elected, Democrat, Pennsylvania State House of Representatives, 1823-1824; unsuccessful reelection campaign, 1824; elected, Democrat, Pennsylvania State Senate, 1825-1828; elected, National Republican, Pennsylvania State Senate, 1828-1829; early trustee, Allegheny College, Meadville, Pennsylvania; died, May 1, 1864 (aged 96 years, 5 months, 2 days), Salem, Mercer County, Pennsylvania; interment, Old Salem Church Cemetery, Mercer County, Pennsylvania.

Pennsylvania Politics: 

Unsuccessful campaign, Commissioner, Somerset County Pennsylvania, 1795.

Unsuccessful campaign, Pennsylvania State House of Representatives, Mercer and Venango Counties, 1808.

Unsuccessful campaign, Pennsylvania State House of Representatives, Crawford, Erie, Mercer, Venango and Warren Counties, 1819.

Unsuccessful campaign, Pennsylvania State House of Representatives, Crawford, Erie, Mercer, Venango, and Warren Counties, 1821. 

Unsuccessful campaign, Pennsylvania State House of Representatives, Mercer County, 1822.

Elected, Democrat, Pennsylvania State House of Representatives, 1823-1824; unsuccessful reelection campaign, 1824.

Elected, Democrat, Pennsylvania State Senate, 23rd district, Crawford, Erie, Venango, Mercer, Venango and Warren Counties, 1825-1828.

Elected, National Republican, Pennsylvania State Senate, 23rd district, Crawford, Erie, Venango, Mercer, Venango and Warren Counties, 1828-1829.

Legacy:

Son, Morris Leech, Democrat, Pennsylvania House of Representatives Mercer County, 1850; Democrat, Pennsylvania House of Representatives Mercer, Venango, Warren Counties, 1851. 

Donated, land for the Old Salem Methodist Church, land for where the cemetery is located; steward, trustee, sexton of the Old Salem Methodist Church as well.

Cited:

Cox, Harold. "Senate Members "L"". Wilkes University Election Statistics Project. Wilkes University.

History of Mercer County, 1888, pages 1138-1139.

A New Nation Votes (tufts.edu)

John Boyd Leech (1767-1864) - Find a Grave Memorial