Richmond County NcArchives Biographies.....Leake, Thomas Crawford 1831 - 1913 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/nc/ncfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00001.html#0000031 March 2, 2008, 7:57 pm Author: Leonard Wilson (1916) THOMAS CRAWFORD LEAKE ESSENTIALLY a gentleman, courteous and considerate; an important manufacturer of useful, high-grade products, ranking high in the esteem and confidence of the profession and of the public generally; a keen, yet kind, business man of initiative and resource; an ardent sportsman with an intense love of the great, healthful out-of-doors; a real leader in the industrial development and progress of the South, such was, in brief, the late Thomas Crawford Leake, of Rockingham, North Carolina, whose portrait adorns a subsequent page. The advantages which he derived from a careful home discipline and from the thorough character of his school training were great, and his impulses toward irreproachable conduct and industrial activity were his inheritance from a long line of ancestors distinguished for their uprightness of life and their ability to do, and to do well, the real, useful work of the world. Of the ancient and honorable family of the Leakes (or Leaks, as the name is sometimes modernly spelled) from which the subject of this biographical sketch is lineally descended, much could be written. The name is found on record in the writs of the English Parliament and other documents as far back as the fourteenth century and is identified with the House of Scarsdale in the early part of the sixteenth century. One of the first members of the family of whom there is authentic record was Richard Leake, of the English Navy, who was born in 1629 and died in 1686. His son, Admiral Sir John Leake, born 1656, died 1720, was Master Gunner of England and, report says, was the "bravest man in the British Navy." Certain it is that he attained high rank and honor in his profession and that he greatly distinguished himself in the Mediterranean by "his relief and preservation of Gibraltar from the Spaniards and French in 1705." John Leake, who died in 1792, a son of the Admiral, became eminent as a physician and founded a hospital at Westminster. Stephen Martin Leake (born 1702, died 1773), a writer on heraldry and coins, was of the same family; and William Leake, a first cousin of the Admiral, left Nottingham, about 1685 and settled in Virginia. This William married Mary Bostick, made his home in what is now Goochland County, had issue, among others, Walter, who was born about 1704, and was the great-great-grandfather of Thomas Crawford Leake, the subject of this sketch. One of the same family, Nicholas Leake, son of Sir Francis Leake, Earl of Scarsdale, married Lady Frances, daughter of Sir Edward Rich, Earl of Warwick and Holland. These titles becoming extinct on the death of the Earl in 1759, Nicholas thereafter assumed, through the right of his wife, the arms of the House of Warwick in lieu of those of Scarsdale. Walter Leake, born about 1704, to whom reference has already been made, married Judith Mask, and died at the old homestead in Goochland, and was highly influential in the county. His third son, William, settled in Buckingham County, Virginia, married Judith Moseley, moved to North Carolina in 1761, and had issue one son, Walter, who was born November 30, 1761, in Anson County. This Walter married Hannah Pickett, who dropped the final "e" in the spelling of his name, took a creditable part in the battles of the Revolution, and died, at the age of 83, at Rockingham, North Carolina. Walter and his wife Hannah (nee Pickett) had issue as follows: William P. married Anne P. Wall. Walter F. married Mary Cole. Judith Moseley, married, first, William T. Cole; second, Thomas Steele. Nancy married Dr. John Coleman. Sarah married Rev. William Terry. Mourning P. married Colonel Charles Robinson. Francis T. married ____ Crawford. James P. married Jane Crawford. In glancing at the list of the numerous descendants of this Walter, one is impressed by the many men of prominence whose names therein appear. Mentioning a few only, reference must not be omitted to Colonel John Wall Leake of the Confederate Army, whose reputation for gallantry went so far afield; or to Walter Leake Steele of Richmond County, a popular member of the forty-fifth and forty-sixth Congresses; or to Walter R. and James A. Leake of Anson. A son of Walter Leake and Hannah Pickett, Francis T. Leake, settled in Kemper County, Mississippi, and was a cotton planter of prominence in that State. James Pickett Leake and his wife, Jane Wall Crawford, the parents of Thomas Crawford Leake, had no family but the one child who was born to them at Rockingham, May 2, 1831. A successful merchant and planter, his father was a man of energy and firmness of purpose, and enjoyed an enviable and more than local reputation. Yielding to the pressure in his home State he held office at various times; he was an adviser on public affairs of importance and was one of the Council of State during the administration of Governor Dudley. A long and useful life was his—his name standing for business success and for his unobtrusive practice of extending kindness and help to others. The mother, daughter of Thomas Crawford of Paris, Tennessee—a well-known manufacturer of that place—was a lady of gentle manners, refined tastes and devout life. On her son and only child she lavished all the maternal affection of her nature; his training, development and the proper molding of his character being her constant care. Naturally, under such circumstances, everything contributed to the mental, moral and physical welfare of the son. Certainly few boys have been blessed with a wiser father or a more devoted mother. He had, seemingly, every advantage that was good for him, including, while still very young, the benefits of travel to and from the various sections of the country, and, in accompanying the family to the cities and health resorts of the North and East, had many opportunities of acquiring the right kind of knowledge at first hand. He received his elementary education at the local schools near his home and completed his college course at the State University from which he graduated with credit in 1853. In January, 1855, Mr. Leake married Miss Martha Poythress Wall, daughter of Mial Wall and sister of the late Henry Clay Wall of Richmond County, a lady of many attainments and of unusual beauty of character. For a period of more than forty years she was devoted to the welfare of her husband and of the children with whom she was blessed. Profound was the grief at her death on January 7, 1898, she being survived by eight of her nine children. Until the period of the Civil War, Mr. Leake led the life of a planter, was the owner of a number of slaves, and lived in a typical Southern home on his farm. He studied and put in practice with enthusiasm improved methods of agriculture, discovering and utilizing, thus early, not a few of the methods now considered essential in scientific farming. Endowed with a clear, strong intellect, he easily acquired a mastery of every detail of the work of the plantation, and his administrative capacity, developed by his management of his property and slaves, became marked. These qualities rendered possible his later business successes in lines other than agriculture. The plantation of Mr. Leake—extensive, well-kept and attractive^—being on the line of Sherman's march could hardly fail to receive attention from marauding troops in enemy territory. The farm, sharing the fate of many others, was overrun and pillaged, every animal on it either killed or carried off, much other damage, which time and hard work alone could repair, being done. Unable to procure at that time, and under war conditions, other stock, the land that year, under his direction, was largely prepared for planting by his slaves. Two of them pulled the plough whilst one other held it in the ground—a primitive method indeed but one which illustrates well Mr. Leake's energy, determination and ability to surmount obstacles no matter how great, and to accomplish results regardless of the seeming impossibility of the task. About 1865, the war at an end, and the slaves being thenceforward no man's property, Mr. Leake, though still retaining a lively interest in agriculture, sold his farm lands, removed his residence to the town of Rockingham and invested his funds in the manufacture of cotton. To the successful management of these industries the last thirty years of his life were largely devoted. In 1874 he, with others, organized the Pee Dee Manufacturing Company of Rockingham, North Carolina, having for its object the manufacture of cotton fabrics, followed, a few years later, by the establishment of the Roberdell Manufacturing Company of the same town. A third enterprise, known as the firm of Leake, Wall and McRae (since incorporated) was also undertaken by Mr. Leake and associates and located near Rockingham. All of these enterprises owe their success and present high reputation largely to Mr. Leake's foresight, energy and genius for organization. They are to-day among the strongest corporations in the State; each operates two cotton mills the produce of which stands high in the general market. That Mr. Leake's talent for administration is inherited by his children is evidenced by the fact that one of his sons, Mr. W. C. Leake, is President of the Pee Dee Company, as well as Vice-President of the Bank of the same name. Another, Mr. T. C. Leake, Jr., is President of the Roberdell Company; and a third son, Mr. J. P. Leake, has succeeded his father in the active management of the business of Leake, Wall and McRae. Still later, in 1891, Mr. Leake organized the Bank of Pee Dee at Rockingham, of which he was President. His reputation as a skillful financier and as a man of unquestionable integrity and high personal character was such as to command for the bank the unlimited confidence and liberal patronage of the public. Closely allied with it is the Richmond County Savings Bank, organized by himself and others in 1901, but in connection with which he occupied no official position. Hunting and fishing were his preferred forms of recreation. Deer, foxes, turkeys, geese and ducks alike fell before his prowess as a huntsman, while the adjacent waters of the Pee Dee River and its tributaries, abounding with fish, also frequently paid tribute to his skill as an angler. So unerring was his aim with gun and rifle that his success as a hunter was the talk of the country side, and it is estimated that no less than five hundred deer were brought down by him in his various trips. Thomas Crawford Leake died, honored and esteemed by all, April 28, 1913, the names of his eight children being as follows: Mary Wall married Walter L. Parsons. James Pickett married Connie Dockery. William Clay married Nancy Pegues. John W. married Matilde Boyken. Francis W. married Minnie Stansill. Thomas C., Jr., Mial W., Roberdel S., unmarried. A citizen of the South, devoted to its progress, institutions and history; a loyal Democrat, taking an active interest in party affairs; an excellent conversationalist, popular in social circles; a merchant and banker, renowned for his capacity and uprightness; a devoted husband; a wise father; a steadfast friend; a helper of others less fortunately situated and a willing supporter of all worthy projects, was Thomas Crawford Leake. A real American gentleman was he, to the usefulness of whose life the virile enterprises which he founded bear daily witness. Who could wish for a better epitaph? His life contains many lessons which could well be learned by posterity. He did his full part towards making the world a better and busier place. May his memory long survive to serve as an inspiration to noble effort and to blameless life. The Coat of Arms of this ancient and honorable family is as follows: Argent on a saltire engrailed azure, nine annulets or, on a canton gules a castle of the third. Crest: A cannon mounted on a carriage all proper. Motto: Vix ea nostra voco. I scarce call these things our own (alluding to the honors of ancestry): "The deeds of long-descended ancestors Are but by grace of imputation ours." —Dryden. Additional Comments: Extracted from: MAKERS OF AMERICA BIOGRAPHIES OF LEADING MEN OF THOUGHT AND ACTION THE MEN WHO CONSTITUTE THE BONE AND SINEW OF AMERICAN PROSPERITY AND LIFE VOLUME II By LEONARD WILSON, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF ASSISTED BY PROMINENT HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL WRITERS Illustrated with many full page engravings B. F. JOHNSON, INC. CITY OF WASHINGTON, U. S. A. 1916 Copyright, 1916 by B. F. Johnson, Inc. Photo: http://www.usgwarchives.net/nc/richmond/photos/bios/leake66gbs.jpg File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/nc/richmond/bios/leake66gbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/ncfiles/ File size: 13.3 Kb