The line is nebulous and can only be pieced together on the basis of a number of guesses, surmises and at worst speculations. I present it here in the hope that it may provide useful information to some Leech cousin, or better yet lead to some creative correction, comment, suggestion, criticism or whatever from you, dear reader. Send such to
Leeches came to this country from Strabane in County Tyrone. This is evidenced by the will of Dr. John Leech, recorded in 1790 in Charleston, SC.
In the early 18th century in Ireland a number of Presbyterian
ministers with members of their congregations moved to America. One of
these was from Strabane:
In 1720 Isaac Taylor, minister at
Strabane went to America with some of his congregation. This
assertion appears on page 27 of Ulster Immigration to Colonial America
by R.J.Dickson.
William Boyd's story is well known:
In 1718 Rev. William Boyd of Ireland brought to this country a
petition of a group of Scotch-Irish for admittance to the New World.
Among the signers were Leech John and Leech Wm V.D.M.of H? Other
signers included Adam Dickey, James Alexander, John Black, John, Hugh,
and William Blair, Thomas and James Jr. Moor, Knox, Given, Millar,
Young, Love, Craig, Nesmith, Caldwell, Roe, Thompson, Hunter, King,
Campbell, Ross, Kennedy, Blair, Stewart, Black, Boyd, Kerr, and
Wilson, and others whose surnames appear repeatedly in the Leech
family history in both the Carolinas, Alabama, and Tennessee.
Most of these families entered this country in the Philadelphia area. They are found in Pennsylvania west of Philadelphia, in Augusta County, Va., in the Salisbury area of N.C. and in the York-Chester area of S.C. Others continued southwesterly, some of course as far as California.
The Leeches are found in all of these places. It is likely that members of the family also came directly to Charleston. The will of Dr. John Leech of Charleston, recorded in 1790, states he was from Strabane. He left 1/3 of his estate to brother David Leech and 2/3 to Ann and Eleanor Hughey, both of Cumberland, Pa. He also left medical books to David, and these books are mentioned in later documents of the York and Chester Co. family. The family as a clan seems to have immigrated to Pennsylvania and/or Maryland early in the 18th century. Elements of it moved west and south with hordes of Scotch Irish kinsmen. .....
The 1724 tax list for the Nanticoke Hundred of Somerset Co., Md. included David Leach, and in his family Mark and David, Jr. Among his neighbors were many Caldwells, Callaways, Collins, Givans, Hart, Henry, Jackson, Lackey, Olliver, Robinson, and Scott. Of special interest were the names John More, with Phillips and John, John More in the forest, and William Moore. There seems a good possibility that the descendants of David Leech and one or more of these More [Moore] families were found together some 60 years later in what became York Co. SC. Most of the names mentioned here are also represented in early 19th century York Co.
In a book of Somerset Co. deeds I found only one Leech entry:
Patience Leach received a deed of gift from Margrett
Kennedy.
(Lib SH 1727-31). This is very interesting in light of the fact that
Sopphia Kennedy later married James Leetch in Mecklenburg Co. NC.
The Leech family appears to be part of a group of Scotch-Irish who began settling in Somerset Co. MD in the 17th century; some of them made their way up to Cecil Co near the Pa line. (At that time the MD-PA line was undecided.)
The Leech's were accompanied in this migration by HARRIS, GIVENS, ALEXANDER, WALLACE, Polk, Knox, Brevard and probably some other families. Members of all these families went south to Mecklenburg NC and York SC.
The Alexander family has been obliquely related to LEECH in several states. The account of their migration may suggest similar movement of the Leech family from Somerset to Cecil, PA, NC, and SC.
In 1725 James Alexander was a ruling elder of the New Castle Presbytery, and later of the Philadelphia Synod. It was in First Presby Church in 1745 that William Leech married Mary Ross.
Another James Alexander (b.1749) married Elizabeth Ross in 1772.
Theophilus Alexander was an elder in a Presbyterian Church called "The Rock" in the "New Munster" tract of Cecil Co. (now part of Chester Co. PA). In 1751 he received 15 shillings from the estate of David Leech, formerly of Cecil Co. Theophilus was perhaps the son of James Alexander and Margaret McKnitt.
In a book entitled Colonial Soldiers of the South by Murtie June
Clark on pages 6-9 there is a 1739 roster of the Cecil Co. Foot
Company commanded by Capt. John Veazey. Here are some of the names
which suggest various familial associations:
29 Henry Hendrixson
(Is he the ancestor of the James Hendricks of Lafayette Co. MS whose
daughter, Ella B. married James M Leech in 1877??)
43 Charles
Leech
59 Nathaniel Alexander (This name reappears in relation to
the Leech family in NC and in SC.)
109 William Boyd (perhaps
related to Rev. Boyd)
114 David Looch
(The following year
David Leech was listed.)
In 1747 David Leech settled in Lancaster Co., Pa (100a in Manahen). A Thomas Leech claimed land the same year in Warrington Township of Lancaster. The following year Ezekiel Mucklehenny surveyed land in Drumore Township of Lancaster.
In 1747 there was a warrant made out to David Leech in Lancaster Co. (in what later became Tyrone Twp of Adams Co.) with an accompanying plat. Immediately southeast of the Leech tract on this plat appears the name of Robert McIlhenny. These are our first clues of the relationship between these two families which was to eventuate in the marriage of David Leech, Esq of York Co. and Prudence McElhaney, the ancestors of the writer.
Shortly after the PA warrants David Leech died. In 1749 the estate
of David Leitch, late of Cecil Co. decd, was appraised by Richard
Lewis and Robt Evens. Nearest of kin were Eliz X Leech and John X
Leech
Administrator John Ricketts also died and the administration
was completed by his widow. The proved inventory contents totaled 45
15 5.
In 1751 David Leach had an account in Cecil Co. Probate Records
Liber 30, folio 73 also Book 7, folder 21.
In 1751 Mary Ricketts, admin of John Rickets who was admin of David
Leach of Cecil, planter, decd 45 15 5
to spend:
To Thomas
Ricketts 6 and 12
to Thomas Jacobs 9 and 7
to Joseph
Wallace 3 and 4
to Andrew Barnot 1 and 8
to George Lawson 2
and 3
to John Ricketts 4 and 16
to Zebulon Hollingsworth 1
and 9
to Samuel Adair 2 and 4
to Theophilus Alexander 15
shillings
to John Rickets 19, 5 and 3 3 and 4
to
Aramanta Mackey 5 and 12
"representatives gone to the back
country....."
inventory included carpenter's tools, bed and
furniture, 3 cows and 2 calves, 3 horses, 11 sheep, 14 swine, plow,
spinning wheel, etc.
cash due from Benj Thomas and Thomas
Scott.
Here is a list of surnames which appear in Cecil Co. MD:
Adair (found in Cecil, York and Lawrence)
Alexander
(found in Cecil, York and Lawrence)
Ross (found in Cecil,
York and Lawrence)
Brevard
Gillespie
McKnitt
Leech (found in Cecil, York and Lawrence)
Polk
McWhorter (found in Cecil, York and Lawrence)
Harris (found in Cecil, York and Lawrence)
McElheny
Moore (found in Cecil, York and Lawrence)
Cowan
Black (Alexander in Cecil; cf Col Soldiers p. 13)
Barnet
Barry (Berry)
Reese
Sharpe
Thomas
Scott
Potts
Wilson (found
in Cecil, York and Lawrence) Rev. Thomas Wilson, colleague of Rev.
James Alexander of Raphoe, received a grant in or near New Munster???
Many of these names later appear to York Co. SC and in Lawrence Co. AL.
Rev. John Cuthbertson was a Covenanter and pastor of the Octoraro Presby Church in PA. in the 1750's. He kept a journal, extracts of which were published as Register of Marriages and Baptisms Moore, who lived on Pennypack Creek 15 miles from Philadelphia, is often mentioned in the journal:
In 1754 the minister was at the home of Walter Moore and baptized Sarah, Elizabeth Leech, and Mary, all of them daughters of Walter Moore . (Walter Moore's house appeared to be two miles from White Marsh Church.
On the same page of the abstracted journal we read that on Dec. 12, 1758 he married John Moore and Margaret Ayres. On the next page: in 1759 he rode 31 miles to Chester, Darby, Philadelphia--left B. Leech." The following day he baptized Anne, daughter of John Wallace.
Back on page 201 is a notation that he rode 20 miles to and from Frankford with Brother Leech's child dead. (Cuthbertson had married Sarah, one of Walter Moore's daughters, so we may assume that "Brother Leech" was his wife's brother-in-law. Of course the minister habitually used the term 'brother' referring to his 'brothers in Christ'.)
(Unfortunately I have not found the first name of 'brother Leech' in the book. Nor have I had any success in identifying Walter Moore; but I did find a Walter Moore with Alexander Moore and other Moores buried at Bethel cemetery near the Leech property in SW York Co. SC. That Walter lived 1798-1861.)
Various members of the Leech family settled successively in the counties immediately west of Philadelphia and in Augusta Co., Va, from which they spread further into western Va., W.Va, and the states south. In the middle of the 18th Century thousands of Scotch Irish and German settlers peopled the Carolinas, coming largely from Augusta Co. Among them were a number of my ancestors.
In 1762 John Leech patented 226 acres on the east side of the Catawba River at the western edge of the existing settlement. The same year he purchased 200a just below the "Governor's line" in what later became Mecklenburg Co. Two years later he sold this second property, and in 1781 he sold the first.
Linda Boyd Lawhon in http://genforum.genealogy.com/leach/messages/279.html described the 1805 Wilson Co. TN will of John Leech leaving 600 acres of property in Rowan Co. NC to sons William and Thomas Leech and daughters Martha, Margaret, Elizabeth and Isabel (or to their descendants). Elizabeth and Isabel married John and William Boyd respectively.
1. John Leach (ca 1730-1806), is said to have married Margaret Courtney in 1752 in PA and left his will in Wilson Co., Tn. It was proven in 1807 and recorded in Book B on page 146. His estate was probated in 1809. His exors were his son William Leach and his neighbor Ezekial Alexander. (The relationship of this John Leach to the family of David Leech of York Co. SC is unclear.)
John Leach's daughter Martha married Alexander Witherspoon, and their daughter, another Martha, born about 1793, married another John Boyd. They lived in Rutherford Co. TN.
I have found certain information about an early marriage of
William Leech (perhaps two of them).
1.Marriage Records of First
Presby Church in Philadelphia (in a book at Greenville):
*1745
Leech William Pa Phila. license to marry Mary Ross.
Other researchers assert that a William Leech married Charlotte Wolfe, and this couple is given as the ancestors of the upstate SC Leech family. As will be set forth below David Leech Esq had a brother named William Leech who married Margaret Sadler and lived in York Co.
A certain William Leech is to me at this point a shadowy figure remembered on the basis of one record: he died in back country Carolina ca 1753, and administration was granted to James Kilpatrick by the court of Anson County, N. C., which at that time had jurisdiction over the entire area. That's all the records tell about the man. (Anson Co. at that time included what later became York Co. SC.)
We know more about James Kilpatrick: in 1754 he took out many patents of land on and around Turkey Creek in what later became York County, SC. After the Revolution Capt. David Leech acquired many acres on Turkey Creek. One of his land grants appears to be a S.C. confirmation of a 1754 N.C. patent.
This link between the two names leads to the supposition that David Leech may have been the son or other relative of the William Leech who died in 1753.
It is said that in 1754 David Leech, Sr. acquired a patent on Turkey Cr. in Anson Co. It was renewed in 1786 for 646 acres. (Annie Laurie Griffith p. 4)
In 1796 David Leech's estate was in York Co. SC court. Administrators were Andrew Huey and Dr. Samuel Huey, who entered into bond and took the oath prescribed by law.
The 1796 appraisal of David Leech estate was made by Andrew Love, Sam Ewens, and John Stinson and included silver spurs, pistol, Bible, lots of medical books, negro boy and girl, sworn before Wm Love, JP. There is an extensive inventory of 10 pages (abstract in The Carolina Genealogist page 53-5 County Records York County Estates (In Clemson I think) Copy in David Leech folder (This record suggests that the medical books may have come from Charleston brother Dr. John Leech, and may have gone to Capt. David's nephew, Dr. David Leech. 1796 is too early to be inventory of Dr. David Leech of Chester.)
The names Kilpatrick and Leech continue to appear close to one another in York County, SC, further west in SC and later in Franklin Co., Tenn., but I have found no record setting forth a direct relationship except for the one mentioned above.
In 1789 the will of Dr. John Leech was written, and proved in Charleston the following year. He gave his origin as Strabane, Ireland. If as we suppose, he was the kinsman of David Leech of York County, then Strabane may be the point of origin of our family. Second, Dr. John Leech left one third of his estate to brother David. Our man in York County seems the most likely candidate. Third, he named Ann and Eleanor Hughey, both of Cumberland, Pa. to inherit the rest. From this we may assume that he, and perhaps the rest of the family came through Cumberland, which was indeed the primary jumping off point for the Scotch-Irish moving into the back country from Pennsylvania to Georgia. Finally, Dr. John Leech's executor was his "brother" , Robert Miles. Once again we find the Miles family located close to and otherwise related to the York County Leeches.
The relationship between David Leech and the SC upcountry Hueys/Hugheys, his exors, certainly points toward the connections suggested here. A later David Leech in Chester County (d. 1820) was also a doctor, and perhaps Dr. John's book had come into his possession.
If Dr. Leech was the brother of David Leech, the patriot, of York County, perhaps John Leech of Spartanburg was the brother of David Leech, the elder, thought to be the father of Capt. David Leech. In 1769 and 1770 he acquired property in the Tyger River area of Spartanburg Co. One of these tracts is adjacent to Richard Sadler, and David Leech was one of the chain bearers. In 1770 David Leech also got land there as did Henry Leech (perhaps another brother).
(A woman named Griffith wrote extensively about the descendants of John Leech of Spartanburg. She believed that he was the son of David. His children largely migrated to Kentucky, but some of them later settled in North Mississippi near the Alabama line.)
Some of the descendants of John Leech of Spartanburg, in particular the family of his son, John, have been described in the web site of Steven Leech.
David Leech (1740?-18??) appears to be the most prominent of the York County Leech clan. A Revolutionary soldier he was given the name of captain, and with the formation of York County in 1786 he became a member of the original county court; he was later elected to the state legislature. He was most often identified as David Leech, Esq.
Before the war David Leech had property on Fishing Creek in the southeastern part of York County. He appears to have acquired this property from James Moore and in 1779 he made it over to John Moore. One may suppose that there may have been a familial relationship.
1779 Leech David, tanner of Camden District SC York, deed to John Moore, Jr. planter of 126a both sides of south fork of Fishing Creek, adj Charles Beatty's land, being part of grant to James Moore, 21 Dec, 1763, and conveyed to Leech, and now in possession of John Moore. wits: John McElheney, Jr. and Jacob Rickard. (p. 568 of Some SC County Records, Vol 2. York Co Deed Book A.)
I stumbled across data from Kershaw court records that appear to
bear on the two above families. From Mr. Caldwell, posting to the
rootsweb moore mailing list on 6 May 1999:
will of John Moore,
filed in Kershaw Co. Court in 1781:
John Moore --
Est. Admr. Samuel Moore; bond dated Aug 20, 1782, sureties, Isaac
Ball, James Mitchell; Apprs. James Moore, William Mitchell, William
Adair, Sr. and William Adair., Jr. File shows paper as follows:
"In case of death of John Moore doth bequeath as follows, viz.,
all my real and personal estate to my brother Samuel Moore, to
distribute as he sees cause. Given under my hand this 9 day of July,
1781." (sd.) John Moore, and
witnessed by David Leech and Isaac Ball. Proven Aug 23, 1781.
Looks like these two gentlemen must have gotten around.
But another file gives the place as Camden District. Did
Mr. Caldwell just get it confused?
In 1770 he had made over some of it to a family connection, Richard Sadler, also a Captain of the Revolutionary forces. David Leech married Prudence Mackhanne (McElhaney) in 1774 according to the DAR entry of Miss Gladys Vickers Cauble (94551).
After the war David Leech moved a few miles west and acquired some 1000 acres on Turkey Creek. This land appears to be near or perhaps identical with land acquired on Turkey Creek in the 1750's by James Kilpatrick, administrator of William Leech. (Those records are found in Anson Co.)
In 1792 he divided this estate among several of the younger generation. His sons David and John Leech obtained shares, as did another David Leech, named "Jr.", son of William, said to have married the older David Leech's daughter, Eleanor. Other property went to Joseph Leech. (Fri 06-20-97 It seems likely from further study that this may have represented at least partially the division of old William Leech's estate, which had been administered by James Kilpatrick beginning 1754. David is thought to have had two brothers: William and Joseph.)
In 1799 John Leech, James Mc???, and John Black signed bond for $500 to make inventory of the estate of David Leech, Jr. (copy on file).
Here are the children of David and Prudence McElheney Leech
as listed by Mr. Hart of York Co.:
David Leech died after 1816 (actually earlier)
James
(1780-1816) FBG (will names siblings)
David (Hart has
nothing.)
Eleanor
(md David, son of Wm Leech)
William
(Hart has nothing.)
Joseph (Hart has nothing.)
John (Hart has nothing.)
"others in New York")
In addition DAR records indicate that David's daughter, Martha
married Dr. James Oliver, MD. He was son of another Rev. patriot,
Alexander Oliver and Mary Slaughter, his wife.
(The relationships among the Leech families in York Co. are unclear to the present writer, who feels that much work still needs to be done in this area. However a circumstantial determination has been made that the man listed as John here is the John Leech who went to Lawrence Co. AL. about 1818.)
In 1812 David Leech Esq of York Co. SC entertained Franics Asbury, with brandy and the Bible (Francis says in his journal (Dec. 8) that he took only one.)
However David Leech was numbered among the "first bench of elders" of Bullock's Creek Presby. Church of York Co., along with John Dickey, Joseph Feemster...Alex Dowdle...John Feemster, John King , Henry Dowdle. ( Rev. Geo. Howe, Hist. of the Presby Church in SC, p. 511)
The 1816 will of James Leech (b. 1781), gives some information about his siblings (James is buried at the Leech Family Burial Ground in sw York Co. as is Prudence, his mother.):
1816 Leech James SC York decd; appraisor John
King!!!! also Wm Givens and James Scott (Scott and James Leech
together in Augusta County.)
Exors: John and Wm Leech
Siblings: David, Eleanor, Wm, and Joseph plus others in New York.
"John Leech and my dear Sister Eleanor be fully remunerated for
their trouble care and kind attention to me." (In 1836 Eleanor Leech
was the widow of John Leech of Lawrence Co. AL.)
Excludes
his "dear brother and sister in New York" from his modest estate as
the SC group are more necessitous.
Provides headstones for
deceased mother and deceased father.
We have already met Dr. John Leech of Strabane, Sunbury, and Charleston. Dying in 1789, he left 1/3 of his estate to his brother, David. We assume that was the elder David Leech of York. Two other Dr. Leeches appear in the upstate around the turn of the century.
Dr. David Leech died in York County in 1796. Intestate, his administrators were Andrew and Dr. Samuel Huey. The estate records indicate he was a doctor. His inventory includes a number of medical books which apparently showed up 20 years later in the inventory of the second Dr. David Leech, this one in Chester. (Note the name similarity in the estate records of Dr. John Leech in Charleston and Dr. David Leech in York. Both had close relationship with the Huey/Hughey family.)
The second Dr. David Leech appears to have moved from southern York County to northern Chester Co (likely a very short distance) around 1809, when he acquired property from Esq Clayton Rogers, who had married a daughter of Isaac Sadler before 1785. The property was on Turkey Creek; very likely Dr. David already had property on Turkey Creek, above the county line. He seems to have moved down nearer the mouth of Turkey Creek and engaged in medical practice, primarily in Chester, but also with some York County patients.
(In 1805 Andrew Hughey and another David Leech were on Indian Creek in Franklin County, Ga. David Leetch had had property in Franklin County as early as 1789, and he may have been the man disposing of his property in York County (largely to his family connections) in 1792.)
William Leech was another patriot, who married Margaret Sadler, sister of the Richard Sadler who became successively York County tax collector, County trustee and High Sheriff. William died in 1791. In his will he referred to himself as "late of Pennsylvania". He left all his estate to his wife, Margaret Leech and named her brother Richard Sadler as executor. He mentioned, but did not name his children.
David Leech, Jr. is described elsewhere as the son of William. He married his first cousin, Eleanor Leech.