James Leggitt
THE GREENSBURG STANDARD
Friday January 25, 1907
THE PIONEERS
Our Oldest Citizens, Who Made This Country What It Is
A Brave Soldier, An Excellent Painter
And a Splendid Citizen
JAMES LEGGITT
In sketching the pioneers of Decatur county THE STANDARD has included in
the list, men of several walks in life. The farmers have been
represented by Thomas Meek and Isaiah McCoy; the stock dealers by Warder
W. Hamilton; the physicians by Dr. William Bracken and Dr. J. Y. Hitt;
the druggists by Marshall Grover and Ben Jenkins; the tanners by Lewis
C. Stott; the millers by George Boicourt; the carpenters by John B.
Trimble and Henry Doles; the county officers by William L. Miller; the
brick masons by Ben Littell; the pulpit by Rev. James B. Lathrop and
Rev. D. R. VanBuskirk; the merchants by John H. Braden and E. R. Minear;
the retired farmers by Charles Kemble and Augustus Miller; the squires
by Thomas G. Power, while P. T. Lambert stood for the useful man of
several vocations. This sketch presents a representative man of that
class which constitutes the bone and sinew of a community - the wage
workers. He is a house painter and has diligently worked at his calling
in our midst for many years, and merits the name which he has fairly
earned, that of being an honest man, a master of his trade, fully in
charge of his own business, and a good citizen. He lives at 512 West
Main street in this city. James Leggitt was born February 10, 1837. He
is therefore nearly seventy years old. He was born in Philadelphia. His
father was of Scotch Irish descent. His mother was born in Leeds,
England. His father was an English "marine," and the son shows with
pride a discharge from the royal service which is written on parchment,
and though almost illegible from age, bears the following inscription:
"Thomas Leggitt, served six years and 351 days in the Royal Marines.
Character: A good and efficient soldier.
Signed F. D. Denchar
Major Commandery First Regt "Jan. 7, 1831"
Headquarters at Barbadors, West Indies."
Soon after leaving the royal service, Thomas Leggitt was married in
Philadelphia, to Elizabeth Sterling, an English woman of good repute in
the town of Philadelphia. The family consisted of four children, who,
with the widowed mother, came west in the early "forties." They were:
Sarah McCarty, whose husband was killed in an explosion in the Hungarian
neighborhood near St. Paul, years ago, and she died at Greely, Colorado
in 1902; James, the subject of this sketch; Joseph, living in this city;
Eliza, who died in 1854. Mrs. Leggitt, the widow, married Thomas Israel
at Middletown, Ohio. He was the father of John Israel, so well known
here as Squire Israel, for whom is called the Israel addition in the
city of Greensburg, between Franklin and East streets. above Walnut. He
was a pioneer justice of the peace for Washington township. When they
first came to Indiana they settled near the present site of Adams. Later
they moved to Milford, about the year 1858.
Young Leggitt spent his early days working on a farm. When the war broke
out, he enlisted, April 23, 1861, in Company B, Seventh Regiment -
Captain Morgan's company, Colonel Dumont's regiment for a three months'
service. They went to West Virginia, and were in the celebrated
campaigns between McClellan and Lee, where both won their spurs - the
one becoming commander of the Union army, and the other being made a
commander-in-chief of the Confederate armies. After being discharged
from the three months' service, he re-enlisted at Milford, in Captain M.
C. Welsh's company for the three years' service, in Company D., Seventh
Indiana Regiment, August 1, 1861. The regiment, when reorganized, found
itself confronting the same old enemy, being sent back to West Virginia;
but the scenes of war rapidly changed, and the "Old Seventh" found that
the battle grounds had been shifted from Phillippi and the mountains to
the Shenandoah Valley, at Cross Keys, Kernstown and Winchester. To trace
the "Old Seventh" and James Leggitt, would be to write a history of the
war in the East. The limits of this article are not sufficient. In the
three months' service James Gavin was adjutant; at the reorganization he
was lieutenant colonel, and on the promotion of Dumont he became
colonel. Private James Leggitt became the first sergeant on the second
enlistment. He was promoted on April 23, 1863 to be second lieutenant,
when Captain M. C. Welsh was made major of the regiment. He was raised
to the rank of first lieutenant to succeed Henry Knight, who resigned
and he was mustered out of service with this rank. When the war was
over, Mr. Leggitt went to Pulaski county, Indiana, near Star City, where
he soon afterwards married Miss Rachel F. Jones, November 5, 1865. They
came to Greensburg in the spring of 1866. They located on Main street,
near the corner of Main and Monfort streets, now a noted corner. Mr.
Leggitt took up the business of house painting, which he has followed
since, and at which he has made an honorable living at hard work. The
children born to him and his good wife were Margaret, who died in
infancy, and Norah, now Mrs. Ben Miller, of Indianapolis, whose husband
is an engineer on the Big Four railroad. Mr. Leggitt and his wife joined
the Christian church, down at the railroad church, in the sixties and
are both still firm in the faith taught by Brother Mailley and all
authenticated preachers of the doctrines promulgated by Alexander
Campbell. He is an Odd Fellow, and has passed the chairs of Decatur
Lodge, No. 103. He is a member of the local Grand Army Post, which is
only a matter in keeping with his record as a soldier; but-more than
that, he is a charter member of the Union Veteran Legion, No. 160, a
national organization which is restricted in its membership to soldiers
who served at least two years continuously in one command, unless
discharged for wounds received while in the line of duty. James Leggitt
is a modest man, a good citizen, and one who makes the heart glad to
know him. Long may he live and prosper.