Walter Leake
Walter Daniel Leake (May 20, 1762 – November 6, 1825) was a judge, U.S. senator, and governor of Mississippi. He served as a United States Senator from Mississippi (1817–1820), as a justice in 1821, and as third Governor of Mississippi (1822–1825). He was the first Governor of Mississippi to die in office.
Walter D. Leake | |
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3rd Governor of Mississippi | |
In office January 7, 1822 – November 6, 1825 | |
Lieutenant | David Dickson Gerard Brandon |
Preceded by | George Poindexter |
Succeeded by | Gerard Brandon |
United States Senator from Mississippi | |
In office December 10, 1817 – May 15, 1820 | |
Preceded by | Position established |
Succeeded by | David Holmes |
Personal details | |
Born | Albemarle County, Colony of Virginia, British America | May 20, 1762
Died | November 6, 1825 63) Hinds County, Mississippi, U.S. | (aged
Political party | Democratic-Republican |
Biography
Early life
Walter Leake was born on May 20, 1762, in Albemarle County in the Colony of Virginia.[1] He was the son of Captain Mask Leake and nephew of Rev. Samuel Leake (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.
Career
He served in the United States Senate from 1817 to 1820. He was appointed to the Mississippi Supreme Court in 1821,[2] and went on to serve as the Governor of Mississippi from 1822 to 1825.[1]
Personal life
His daughter, Susan Wingfield Leake, married Henry Goodloe Johnston of Spotsylvania County, Virginia in 1807 and was an ancestor of Haley Barbour.[3]
Legacy
Leake County, Mississippi, as well as Leakesville, Mississippi are named for him.[4]
References
- Thomas H. Somerville, "A Sketch of the Supreme Court of Mississippi", in Horace W. Fuller, ed., The Green Bag, Vol. XI (1899), p. 505.
- Franklin Lafayette Riley, School History of Mississippi: For Use in Public and Private Schools (1915), p. 380-82.
- The Virginia magazine of history and biography, Volume 11 (Google eBook) (Virginia Historical Society, 1903)
- Gannett, Henry (1905). The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States. U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 183.