Walter Leake

Template:Short description Template:For Template:Redirect Template:Use mdy dates Template:More citations needed Template:Infobox officeholder Walter DanielTemplate:Fact Leake (May 20, 1762Template:Spaced ndashNovember 17, 1825) was an American lawyer, planter and politician. After serving in the American Revolutionary War and in the Virginia House of Delegates, he moved to the Mississippi Territory where he became a judge, and after statehood a United States Senator from Mississippi (1817–1820), as a circuit court judge in 1821, and as third Governor of Mississippi (1822–1825). He was the first Governor of Mississippi to die in office.<ref>Appleton's Cyclopedia vol.3, p.647 </ref> A relative, Walter D. Leake, served in the Virginia House of Delegates for many terms beginning in 1842 and also represented Goochland County in the Virginia Secession Convention long after this man's death.

Early life

Walter Leake was born on May 20, 1762, in Albemarle County in the Colony of Virginia to the former Patience Morris and her husband Capt. Mark Leake.<ref name="Green Bag">Thomas H. Somerville, "A Sketch of the Supreme Court of Mississippi", in Horace W. Fuller, ed., The Green Bag, Vol. XI (1899), p. 505.</ref> His uncle Rev. Samuel Leake, was a (Princeton University graduate and a member of the first Board of Trustees of Hampden–Sydney College), an ancestor of Senator John McCain of Arizona. Walter Leake was descended from John Leake.

Virginia career

A private, Leake served in the American Revolutionary War in a North Carolina regiment, including in the Battle of Yorktown according to Marquis de Lafayette.<ref>The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 11, No. 4 (Apr., 1904), pp. 417-419 (3 pages)</ref> He served briefly in 1784 as a corporal under Major Lewis. In 1804 and 1806 Albemarle County voters elected him to separated terms in the Virginia House of Delegates where he first replaced Jefferson kinsman Peter Carr and then was replaced by Carr, serving first alongside Willliam Waller Hening and then alongside Hugh Nelson. In between he was replaced by Jacksonian Democrat Joel Yancey (who would later become a Congressman).<ref>Cynthia Miller Leaonrd, The Virginia General Assembly 1619-1978 (Richmond: Virginia State Library 1978 pp. 235, 243</ref><ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Cynthia Miller Leonard, The Virginia General Assembly 1619-1978 (Richmond: Virginia State Library 1978) pp. 235, 243</ref>

Mississippi judge and legislator

Leake was appointed a judge in the Territory of Mississippi in 1807, and he settled in Claiborne County. He would serve as a delegate to Mississippi's Constitutional Convention of 1817 for this county.<ref name=":0" /> Leake also served as a United States Senator for the State of Mississippi from 1817 to 1820. While in the Senate, Leake served as Chairman of the Committee on Indian Affairs.<ref name=":1">Template:Cite web</ref> In 1820, Leake was appointed United States Marshall for the District of Mississippi,<ref name=":1" /> and then was appointed to fill a vacancy on the Mississippi Supreme Court in 1821,<ref>Franklin Lafayette Riley, School History of Mississippi: For Use in Public and Private Schools (1915), p. 380-82.</ref> and went on to serve as the governor of Mississippi from 1822 to 1825.<ref name="Green Bag"/>

Governor of Mississippi

On August 6, 1821, Walter Leake was elected the 3rd Governor of Mississippi. He faced attorney and state legislator Charles B Green in the general election.<ref name=":2">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> During his first administration, Leake signed a law to eliminate debtor's prisons in Mississippi and attempted to promote a law to abolish dueling. Leake oversaw the expansion of Mississippi's road system, extending roads from the state's new capitol, Jackson, to other settlements in Mississippi. In the 1823 gubernatorial election, Leake was reelected, defeating former Congressional Delegate William Lattimore and Lieutenant Governor David Dickson.<ref name=":2" /> Leake died in Mount Salus, Mississippi (now named Clinton) on November 17, 1825, while serving as Governor of Mississippi.<ref name=":1" />

Personal life

Leake married Elizabeth Wingfield.<ref>1903 Sons of American Revolution application of Hugh Johnston</ref> Their daughter, Susan Wingfield Leake, married Henry Goodloe Johnston of Spotsylvania County, Virginia, in 1807 and was an ancestor of Haley Barbour.<ref>The Virginia magazine of history and biography, Volume 11 (Google eBook) (Virginia Historical Society, 1903)</ref>

Legacy

Leake County, Mississippi, as well as Leakesville, Mississippi, are named for him.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

See also

• List of Mississippi Territory judges
• List of justices of the Supreme Court of Mississippi