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Walter Leake | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 3rd Governor of Mississippi | |
| In office January 7, 1822 – November 17, 1825 | |
| Lieutenant | David Dickson Gerard Brandon |
| Preceded by | George Poindexter |
| Succeeded by | Gerard Brandon |
| United States Senator fromMississippi | |
| In office December 10, 1817 – May 15, 1820 | |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | David Holmes |
| Member of theVirginia House of Delegates fromAlbemarle County, Virginia | |
| In office December 7, 1806 – December 1, 1805 Serving with Hugh Nelson | |
| Preceded by | Joel Yancey |
| Succeeded by | Peter Carr |
| In office December 7, 1804 – December 1, 1805 Serving with William Waller Hening | |
| Preceded by | Peter Carr |
| Succeeded by | Joel Yancey |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1762-05-20)May 20, 1762 Albemarle County, Colony of Virginia, British America |
| Died | November 17, 1825(1825-11-17) (aged 63) Clinton, Mississippi, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic-Republican |
Walter Daniel[citation needed] Leake (May 20, 1762 – November 17, 1825) was an American lawyer, planter and politician. After serving in theAmerican Revolutionary War and in theVirginia House of Delegates, he moved to theMississippi Territory where he became a judge, and after statehood aUnited States Senator fromMississippi (1817–1820), as a circuit court judge in 1821, and asthird Governor of Mississippi (1822–1825). He was the first Governor of Mississippi to die in office.[1] 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.
Walter Leake was born on May 20, 1762, inAlbemarle County in theColony of Virginia to the former Patience Morris and her husband Capt. Mark Leake.[2] His uncle Rev. Samuel Leake, was a (Princeton University graduate and a member of the first Board of Trustees ofHampden–Sydney College), an ancestor of SenatorJohn McCain of Arizona. Walter Leake was descended fromJohn Leake.
A private, Leake served in theAmerican Revolutionary War in a North Carolina regiment, including in theBattle of Yorktown according toMarquis de Lafayette.[3] He served briefly in 1784 as a corporal under Major Lewis. In 1804 and 1806Albemarle County voters elected him to separated terms in theVirginia House of Delegates where he first replaced Jefferson kinsmanPeter 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 DemocratJoel Yancey (who would later become a Congressman).[4][5][6]
Leake was appointed a judge in theTerritory of Mississippi in 1807, and he settled inClaiborne County. He would serve as a delegate to Mississippi's Constitutional Convention of 1817 for this county.[5] Leake also served as aUnited States Senator for the State of Mississippi from 1817 to 1820. While in the Senate, Leake served as Chairman of theCommittee on Indian Affairs.[7] In 1820, Leake was appointedUnited States Marshall for theDistrict of Mississippi,[7] and then was appointed to fill a vacancy on theMississippi Supreme Court in 1821,[8] and went on to serve as the governor of Mississippi from 1822 to 1825.[2]
On August 6, 1821, Walter Leake was elected the 3rd Governor of Mississippi. He faced attorney and state legislator Charles B Greenin the general election.[9][10] During his first administration, Leake signed a law to eliminatedebtor's prisons in Mississippi and attempted to promote a law to abolishdueling. Leake oversaw the expansion of Mississippi's road system, extending roads from the state's new capitol,Jackson, to other settlements in Mississippi. In the1823 gubernatorial election, Leake was reelected, defeating former Congressional DelegateWilliam Lattimore andLieutenant GovernorDavid Dickson.[9] Leake died in Mount Salus, Mississippi (now namedClinton) on November 17, 1825, while serving as Governor of Mississippi.[7]
Leake married Elizabeth Wingfield.[11] Their daughter, Susan Wingfield Leake, married Henry Goodloe Johnston ofSpotsylvania County, Virginia, in 1807 and was an ancestor ofHaley Barbour.[12]
Leake County, Mississippi, as well asLeakesville, Mississippi, are named for him.[13]
| U.S. Senate | ||
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| Preceded by Position established | U.S. senator (Class 1) from Mississippi 1817–1820 Served alongside:Thomas H. Williams | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Governor of Mississippi 1822–1825 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Justice of the Supreme Court of Mississippi 1821–1822 | Succeeded by |
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| Class 2 | ||
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