LEISLER
LELAND
"West India Company in 1660, and was married,
April 11, 1663, to Elsje Tymens, widow of Peter
Van der Veen, whose extensive business he con-
tinued and thus acquired considerable wealth.
Their children were : Susanna, Catluuina, Jacob,
Mary (who married, first Jacob Milbourn and
NEW YORK I N 1650
secondly Abraham Gouverneur), Johannes, Hes-
ter, Francina and probably Margaret. On his re-
turn voyage to Europe he was in 1678 captured by
the Turks and had to pay a ransom of 2050 pieces
of eight. On Sept. 10, 1684, he was commissioned
a captain of militia in New York. News of the
accession of William and Mary reached New
York from Virginia in Februarj-, 1689, but was
kept from the people by Lieutenant-Governor
Nicholson. When, however, the news reached
New York that Boston had revolted, New York
city also rose in revolt. Leisler headed the demo-
cratic citizens against the aristocratic adherents
of James II. , and was appointed lieutenant-gover-
nor by the Committee of Safetj'. He accordingly
issued writs for the election of a General Assem-
bly, which assembly held two sessions, one in
April, the other in October, 1690. The Roman
Catholics formed common cause with the Jaco-
bites, while the Dutch, the Huguenots, and the
majority of the English sided with Leisler. He
was made captain of the fort, with powers of a
chief magistrate. He immediately seized Fort
James and all the funds therein. He declared re-
ligious toleration for all except the Papists. Col-
onel Bayard and his followers fled to Albany and
there set up an independent government. The
municipal autliorities of the city of New York ac-
knowledged tlie rule of William and Mary but de-
clined to acknowledge the authority' of Leisler
till compelled to do so in 1690. Governor Nichol-
son sailed for England and Captain Ingoldsby was
ordered to hold the government till the arrival of
Colonel Henry Sloughter, who had been appointed
by the Crown the new governor. Leisler refused
to surrender the fort to Ingoldsby, but on the
arrival of Sloughter, March, 1691. he peaceably
gave up possession. Leisler and other leaders
were arrested for treason, their estates were con-
fiscated, and Leisler and ^lilbourn were con-
demned and executed May 16, 1691.
LEITER, Benjamin Franklin, representative,
was born in Leitersburg, Md., Oct. 13, 1813 ; sun
of Samuel and Catliarine (Myers) Leiter, and a
descendant of Jacob Leiter, who was born in
Holland and immigrated to Maryland. He was
educated chietly by his father ; and tauglit school
in Maryland, 1830-34, and in Ohio, l«34-42. He
settled in Canton, Ohio, and was justice of the
peace ; mayor of Canton for ten years ; was ad-
mitted to the bar in 1842, was a representa-
tive in the state legislature, 1848-50, and speaker,
1849-50. He was a representative from the
eighteenth district of Ohio in the 34th and 35th
congresses, 1855-59, and served on tiie committee
on Indian affairs. He continued the practice of
law up to the time of his death, which occurred
in Canton, Oliio, June 17, 1866.
LELAND, Charles Godfrey, author, was born in Philadelphia, Pa., Aug. 15, 1824; son of Charles and Charlotte Frost (Godfrey) Leland ; grandson of Oliver and Abigail (Perry) Leland. and a de- scendant of Hopestill Leland (born 1580 in York- shire, England), who settled in Weymouth, Mass., in 1623 ; and of Gen. Edward God- iviy, the first gover- nor of Maine, 1628; both Episcopalian royalists. Charles
Godfrey Leland con- tributed verses to periodicals as early as 1838. He attend- ed private schools in Philadelphia and Boston, Ma.ss., and was graduated at the College of New Jersey
in 1845. He pursued a post-graduate course in the universities of Heidelberg and Munich, and attended lectures at the Sorbonne and the College Louis-le-Grand, Paris, 1847-48. He took an active part as captain of barricades in 1848 ; was among the first to enter the Tuileries when taken, and was one of the Americans in Paris selected to congratulate the Provisional government of France, established bj' the Revolutionists in Feb- ruary, 1848. He studied law in the office of John Cadwalader in Philadelphia ; was admitted to the bar in 1851, and practised law in that city, 1851- 53. He was editor of the Ulnstvated Neics, New York city, 1853-55 ; assistant editor of the Even- ing Bulletin, Philadelphia, 1855-58, and editor of Fa ?i% Fa i>, 1858-61. In 1861 he contributed as editor articles to the Knickerbocker Magazine of New York, supporting the Union policy. He also established the Continental Magazine at Boston, Mass., and served as its editor while co-proprietor,
