enabled him to subscribe freely to the improvement of Philadelphia and that" part of Delaware county in the neighborhood of "Avondale," his country residence. Mr. Leiper was one of the founders of the first troop of city light horse, better known as the Philadelphia city troop, and served with them as lieutenant during the Revolution at the battles of Princeton, Trenton, Brandywine, and Germantown. As treasurer of the troop, he carried the last subsidies of the French to the Americans at Yorktown. He also acted with his corps in quelling several civil insurrections and riots, notably in the whiskey riot of 1794, and in the attack on the residence of James Wilson in Philadelphia, when he was one of the seven troopers that charged and routed the mob of rioters. Mr. Leiper was a staunch Democrat, and was generally chosen chairman of all Democratic town-meetings, at one of which he was the first to nominate Gen. Jackson for the presidency. He was a presidential elector, director of the banks of Pennsylvania and the United States, commissioner for the defence of the city in the war of 1812, and a member, and ultimately president, of the common council of the city of Philadelphia. In 1809 Mr. Leiper had constructed, from his quarries on Crura creek to his landing on Ridley creek, in Delaware county, what was the first permanent tramway in America. The road was three fourths of a mile in length, and continued in active use until 1828, when it was superseded by a canal, after the plan made by Mr. Leiper, but not carried into effect until after his death. — His son, George Gray, b. in Delaware county, Pa., 3 Feb., 1780; d. there, 17 Nov., 1868, was graduated at the University of Pennsylvania in 1803. He represented Delaware county in congress from 1829 till 1831, and for many years served as lay associate judge of the Delaware countv circuit court.
LEISLER, Jacob, soldier, b. in Frankfort on
the Main, Germany; d. in New York city, 16 May,
1691. He came to this country in 1660 as a
soldier in the service of the Dutch West India
company. Leaving the army soon after his arrival, he
engaged in the Indian trade, and became a
comparatively wealthy man. While on a voyage to
Europe in 1678 he was captured by Moorish pirates,
and was compelled to pay a ransom of 2,050 pieces
of eight to obtain his freedom. Previous to this
voyage he was a resident of Albany, where he was
a magistrate, and had incurred the displeasure of
Sir Edmund Andros, the governor, by the
arbitrary and high-handed measures that he and his
associates had adopted to prevent the spread of
popery, the political bugbear of the day. Leisler
had also endeared himself to the common people
by befriending a family of French Huguenots that
had been landed on Manhattan island so destitute
that a public tribunal had decided they should be
sold into slavery in order to pay their ship-charges.
Leisler prevented the sale by purchasing the freedom
of the widowed mother and son before it
could be held. Under Dongan's administration in
1683 he was appointed one of the judges, or
“commissioners,” of the court of admiralty in New
York. In 1688 Gov. Dongan was succeeded by
Lieut-Gov. Francis Nicholson. In 1689 the military
force of the city of New York consisted of a
regiment of five companies, of one of which Leisler
was captain. He was popular with the men, and
probably the only wealthy resident in the province
that sympathized with the Dutch lower classes.
At that time much excitement prevailed among
the latter, owing to the attempts of the Jacobite
office-holders to retain power in spite of the
revolution
in England and the accession of William
and Mary to the throne. On a report that the
adherents of King James were about to seize the fort
and massacre their Dutch fellow-citizens, an armed
mob gathered on the evening of 2 June, 1689, to
overthrow the existing government. The cry of
“Leisler” was raised, and the crowd rushed to his
house. At first he refused to lead the movement,
but when the demand was reiterated by the men
of his regiment he acceded, and within an hour
received the keys of the fort, which had meanwhile
been seized. Fortunately for the revolutionists,
the fort contained all the public funds, whose
return the lieutenant-governor in vain demanded.
Four hundred of the new party signed an agreement
to hold the fort “for the present Protestant
power that reigns in England,” while a committee
of safety of ten of the city freeholders assumed the
powers of a provisional government, of which they
declared Jacob Leisler to be the head, and
commissioned him as “captain of the fort.” In this
capacity he at once began to repair that work, and
strengthened it with a “battery” of six guns
beyond its walls, which was the origin of the public
park that is still known as the Battery. Nicholson
and the council of the province, with the authorities
of the city, headed by Stephanus van Cortlandt,
the mayor, attempted by pacific means to prevent
the uprising, but without effect. Finally, becoming
alarmed for their own safety, the lieutenant-governor
sailed for England, and the mayor, with
the other officials, retired to Albany. To the latter
city, where the Jacobite office-holders still held
control, Leisler sent his son-in-law, Milbourne, in
November, with an armed force to assist in its
defence against the Indians, but he was directed
to withhold it unless Leisler's authority was
recognized. This was refused, and Milbourne
returned unsuccessful. In December a despatch
arrived from William and Mary directed “to Francis
Nicholson, Esq., or in his absence to such as for
the time being takes care for preserving the peace
and administering the laws in his majesty's province
of New York.” This Leisler construed as an
appointment of himself as the king's lieutenant-governor.
He therefore dissolved the committee
of safety, swore in a council, and assumed the style
of a royal lieutenant-governor and commander-in-chief.
In the spring of 1690, Albany, terrified by
an Indian invasion, and rent by domestic factions,
yielded to Milbourne. Amid distress and
confusion a house of representatives was convened,
and the government was constituted by the popular
act. After the massacre at Schenectady in
February, 1690, Leisler engaged with great vigor
in the expeditions against the French, and equipped
and despatched against Quebec the first fleet of
men-of-war that had been sent from the port of
New York. In January, 1691, Maj. Ingoldesby
arrived with the news of Henry Sloughter's appointment
as governor, and demanded possession of the
fort, which Leisler refused. On Sloughter's own
demand immediately upon his arrival in the following
March, he likewise refused to surrender it until he
was convinced of Sloughter's identity and the
latter had sworn in his council. As soon as the latter
event occurred, he wrote the governor a letter
resigning his command. Sloughter replied by arresting
him and nine of his friends. The latter were
subsequently released after trial, but Leisler was
imprisoned, charged with treason and murder, and
shortly afterward tried and condemned to death.
His son-in-law and secretary, Milbourne, was also
condemned on the same charges. These trials
were manifestly unjust; the judges were the
per-
