Escambia County AlArchives Biographies.....Leigh, Norvelle R. May 31 1837 - living in 1893
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Ann Anderson alabammygrammy@aol.com May 22, 2004, 10:48 pm

Author: Brant & Fuller (1893)
   HON. NORVELLE R. LEIGH.-Of the many honorable men who have lived in Escambia
county, few have achieved a more favorable notice than Hon. Norvelle R. Leigh,
the present probate judge. Paternally, Judge Leigh is descended from the sturdy
German-Scotch immigrants that settled in Virginia in an early day, and in that
state his grandfather was born many years ago. Subsequently the family migrated
to South Carolina, in Beaufort district, of which state John D. Leigh, the
judge's father, was born in the year 1797. John D. Leigh was in early life a
merchant, and later followed the pursuit of agriculture, in which he was very
successful, having been a good business man, prosperous and thrifty. He was
twice married, first about the year 1823, in Conecuh county, to Susan Brantley,
who bore him two children, William B. and John D., both deceased. Mrs. Leigh
dying, Mr. Leigh in due course of time, formed a matrimonial alliance with Nancy
Robertson, daughter of a distinguished Baptist minister, who was engaged in his
sacred calling for over seventy years, and who died in 1857, at the advanced age
of ninety-four. Rev. Mr. Robertson was a native of Georgia, of Scotch descent,
and for some time was a resident of Covington, state of Mississippi. The issue
of John D. Leigh's second marriage, which was consummated about the year 1833 or
1834, was three children, namely: Norvelle R., Mrs. Amanda Bronson of Meridian,
Miss., and George M., a resident of Evergreen, this state. Mr. John D. Leigh
lived in Brooklyn, Ala., where he had located in 1820, until his death, which
occurred on the 28th day of December, 1848. Mrs. Leigh survived her husband a
number of years, dying January 10, 1879. Judge Leigh was born May 31, 1837; in
Brooklyn, Conecuh county, and was but eleven years of age when his father died,
which loss he keenly and deeply realized, and which early compelled him to rely
largely upon his own resources. His early educational training was limited to
the common schools of his native county, and at the age of fifteen he began life
for himself as a clerk in the mercantile house of Charles Williford, at Quitman,
Miss., in which capacity he was employed until 1855, pursuing his studies as
occasions would permit in the meantime. In July of 1855, he went to Milton, Fla,
and accepted a clerkship in a store kept by his brother, John D. Leigh, with
whom he remained until attaining his majority, at which time he purchased the
stock and followed the general mercantile trade until the breaking out of the
Civil war in 1861. Actuated by the spirit which animated so many of the brave
sons of the south, at the opening of the great internecine strife, the judge, on
the 17th of September, 1861, entered the Confederate service as member of a
company of mounted rangers, organized at the town of Milton, Fla, of which he
was elected second lieutenant, and which was reorganized eight months later for
three years' service or for continuance of service during the war. At the time
of reorganization, Mr. Leigh was chosen captain and as such served with
commendable ability until the cessation of hostilities, during which time his
company formed a part of the Fifteenth Confederate cavalry, and was designated
by the letter E. The principal service of this company was confined to the coast
between the Choctawhatchee and Mississippi rivers, and while not engaged in any
great battles, it participated in a large number of small fights and skirmishes,
in one of which fights, in the year 1864, nearly the entire command was
surrounded and captured. It so happened at the time of the capture, that Judge
Leigh was confined to the hospital on account of a serious indisposition;
consequently he escaped falling into the hands of the enemy. The command with
which he was identified was engaged in battle several days, after the surrender
of Lee at Appomattox, not having been apprised of that event, but, as soon as
the news was published, his company with others, at once lay down the arms of
warfare, and returned to their respective homes. For some time after quitting
the service, Judge Leigh was engaged in agricultural pursuits, near Belleville,
Conecuh county, where he carried on a farm belonging to his mother-in-law, but
in 1867 relinquished that calling and embarked in the mercantile and timber
business at Pollard, Escambia county, which he continued with varying success
until 1879, making and loaning a great deal of money during that interval. In
1880 he was complimented by receiving at the hands of his party the nomination
for probate judge, to which position, after one of the most exciting campaigns
ever held in the county, he was elected by a majority of seventeen votes over a
popular candidate. After discharging the duties of the office in a most
creditable manner for a period of six years, the people of the county, to show
their further appreciation of his services, re-elected him without any material
opposition. He was again re-elected in August, 1892, for six years, his opponent
receiving but 132 votes out of 2,000, a fact which sufficiently attests his
great popularity. The judge is possessed of refined and sympathetic manners, and
is a gentleman universally esteemed and admired by the people of Brewton and
Escambia county, irrespective of party affiliations. His official record has
been unimpeachable and his private character may well serve as a model for the
young man who has a commendable desire to wield a wholesome moral influence in
the world. The married life of Judge Leigh began on the 31st day of March, 1864,
in Belleville, Conecuh county, at which time and place Miss Kate, daughter of
John H. and Margaret Burnett became his wife-a most fortunate and happy union,
resulting in the birth of the following children, namely: Maggie, wife of David
M. Hand, of Birmingham; Katie, wife of E. S. McMillan, merchant of Brewton;
Norvelle R., a student at school, and John D. Leigh, who assists his father in
the office. Politically, the judge is a representative democrat of the old
school and in religion adheres to the Baptist creed, of which he has been for
many years an earnest and consistent member. He is a prominent member of the
Masonic fraternity, belonging to lodge No. 301, at Brewton. The judge and the
members of his interesting family now under the parental roof, reside in the
village of Alco, where he dispenses a genial old-fashioned hospitality in one of
the most beautiful and comfortable suburban homes in the vicinity of the county
seat.



Additional Comments:
from "Memorial Record of Alabama", Vol. I, p. 976-978
Published by
Brant & Fuller (1893)
Madison, WI

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