Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1892, volume 3).djvu/717

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.
LEGGETT
LEIDY
679

it was given the name of its patron, although, with his fellow-trustees, he opposed the change. As a result of this opposition, the charity-school obtained an independent charter, and remained distinct from the college till 1849. Lord Dartmouth was secre- tary of state for the colonies from 1770 till 1775.


LEGGETT, Mortimer Dormer, soldier, b. in Ithaca, N. Y., 19 April, 1831. He removed, in youth, with his parents, who were Friends, to Ohio, was graduated in medicine at Willoughby, Ohio, in 1844, and in 1846 organized the first system of union free schools in the state. He was admitted to the bar in 1845, and was professor of plead- ings and practice in the Ohio law college from 1855 till 1858, when he became superintendent of schools in Zanesville. At the beginning of the civil war he raised the 78th Ohio infantry, of which he was appointed colonel in January, 1862, and which he led at Fort Donelson, Shiloh, where he was wounded, and at Corinth. In June of this year he commanded a brigade, and captured Jack- son, Tenn., defended Olivia, Tenn., against a large- ly superior force, and was slightly wounded. In November, 1862. he was commissioned brigadier- general of volunteers. He was severely wounded at Champion Hills, and again at Vicksburg, com- manded the 3d division of the 7th corps in Gen. Sherman's march to the sea, and in July, 1864. was brevetted major-general. On 21 Aug., 1865, he was commissioned major-general of volunteers, and on 28 Sept. resigned. In 1871 he was ap- pointed U. S. commissioner of patents.


LEGGETT, William, author, b. in New York city in 1802 ; d. in New Rochelle, N. Y., 29 May, 1839. His father, Maj. Abraham Leggett, was a soldier of the Revolution. The son was educated j at Georgetown college, D. C, and in 1819 removed with his father to Illinois. He entered the navy as a midshipman in 1822, but resigned in 1826, and became editor of the " Critic," a weekly literary journal which was soon united with the "New York Mir- ror." In 1829 he be- came an editor of the " New York Evening Post," and was at- tached to that journal till 1836. At the out-

set he stipulated with

William Cullen Bryant, the senior editor, that he should not be required to write political articles, as he had neither taste nor fixed opinions regarding politics; but before the year had passed he appeared to have found his true vocation in discussing them, and wrote vigor- ous editorial articles in favor of free trade and against the U. S. bank. In 1835 the meetings of the Abolitionists in New York were dispersed by mobs. Leggett denounced these proceedings, and defended the right to free discussion in re- gard to slavery as well as all other subjects. Re- tiring from the " Post," he began the publication of " The Plain Dealer" in 1836, which attained a large circulation, but was discontinued in less than a year through the failure of its publisher. After this, his health being greatly enfeebled, Mr. Leggett left literary work and retired to New Rochelle, N. Y. He " was appointed in 1839 by President Van Buren diplomatic agent to Guatemala, but died before the day of sailing. Mr. Leggett was remarkable among the journalists of his day as an unflinching advocate of freedom of opinion for his political opponents as well as for his own party. Mr. Bryant wrote the poem to his memory begin- ning " The earth may ring from shore to shore." He describes Leggett as fond of study, delighting to trace principles to their remotest consequences, and as having no fear of public opinion regarding the expression of his own convictions. It was the fiery Leggett that urged on Bryant to attack Will- iam L. Stone, a brother editor, in Broadway. Soon afterward he fought a duel at Weehawken with Blake, the treasurer of the old Park theatre. To the surprise of all New York, Leggett selected James Lawson, a peacefully disposed Scottish- American poet, who was slightly lame, as his sec- ond ; and when asked after the bloodless duel for his reasons, he answered : " Blake's second, Berke- ley, was lame, and 1 did not propose that the d— d Englishman should beat me in anything." His writings include " Leisure Hours at Sea " (1825); "Tales of a Country Schoolmaster" (1835) ; " Na- val Stories "(1835); and "Political Writings," edit- ed, with a preface, by Theodore Sedgwick (1840). See " lirvant and His Friends," by James Grant Wilson (New York. 1886).— His nephew, William Henry, botanist, b. in New York city, 24 Feb.. 1816 ; d. there in April, 1882, was the son of Abra- ham Alsop Leggett. He was graduated at Colum- bia in 1837, and after travelling through Europe followed the profession of a teacher till his death. He was one of the earliest members of the Greek club, an association of college graduates that was formed for the study of that language, and was devoted from early life to the science of botany, in which he became an authority. He founded the " Torrev Botanical Bulletin," and was its sole editor and publisher from 1870 till 1880. Mr. Leggett was a member of the New York academy of sciences and of the Philadelphia academy of natural sciences.


LEGRAND, Pierre (leh-gron'), French buc- caneer, b. in Dieppe, France, about 1620 ; d. there in 1670. He was the first buccaneer on the isl- and of Tortugas, and became famous by his auda- cious capture of the vice-admiral of the Spanish fleet near Cape Tiburon, on the western shore of Santo Domingo, which he performed with a small boat manned by twenty-eight men. His vessel was leaking, and he was rendered desperate by want of provisions. After reaching the Spanish vessel, Legrand cut a hole in the boat by which he had come, so that his followers were forced to take the ship or die in the attempt. The vessel soon sur- rendered, an immense booty was divided among the buccaneers, and Legrand, with his share, returned to France, where he remained till his death.


LEIB, Michael, senator, b. in Philadelphia, Pa., in 1759 ; d. there. 22 Dec, 1822. After receiv- ing a common-school education, he studied medi- cine, practised in Philadelphia, and occupied sev- eral offices of trust, including a service of several vears in the state legislature. He was elected to congress as a Democrat in 1798, re-elected for the three succeeding terms, and served till 1806, when he resigned. In 1808 he was a presidential elector on the Madison and Clinton ticket. In the same year he was elected to the U. S. senate in place of Samuel Maclay, who had resigned, and was in office till 1814, when he was appointed postmaster at Philadelphia, Pa.


LEIDY, Joseph, naturalist, b. in Philadelphia, Pa., 9 Sept., 1823; d. there, 30 April, 1891. He acquired a knowledge of mineralogy and botany,