Biography of John Leas, pages 390/391/392.  History of 
DeKalb County, Indiana; B. F. Bowen & Company, Inc., 
Indianapolis, 1914.



It is a well attested maxim that the greatness of a 
community or a county or a state lies not in the machinery 
of government nor even in its institutions, but rather in 
the sterling qualities of the individual citizen, in his 
capacity for high and unselfish effort and his devotion to 
the public welfare. In these particulars, he whose name 
appears at the head of this memoir conferred honor and 
dignity upon the locality of his residence, and as an 
elemental part of history it is consonant that there should 
be recorded a resume of his career,  with the object in 
view of noting his connection with the advancement of one 
of the most flourishing and progressive sections of the 
commonwealth, as well as his relation with the commercial 
and financial affairs of the community honored by his 
citizenship. John Leas was born in Adams county, 
Pennsylvania, near the historic city of Gettysburg, on July 
12, 1815, and was a son of Col. John, Jr., and Sophia 
(Spangler) Leas, both of whom also were native of the old 
Keystone state. He came of good old American stock, his 
paternal grandfather having been a soldier in the war of 
the Revolution.  Colonel Leas was a farmer and in 1818 he 
emigrated to Stark county, Ohio, where he began operations 
on a tract of virgin soil. In 1838 he went to Guernsey 
county, that state, and there again created a good farm out 
of what was formerly a wilderness. In the fall of 1852 the 
Colonel came to DeKalb county, Indiana, and located on 
section 5, Smithfield township, where he again made a farm, 
and there he remained until 1866, when he moved to 
Waterloo, where his death occurred in 1875. While a 
resident of Stark county, Ohio, he was commissioned colonel 
of a regiment of militia. In politics he was a Jacksonian 
Democrat and he acceptably filled a number of local 
offices. His wife died in 1882. They were members of the 
Reformed church, Colonel Leas, who was a man  of more than 
ordinary ability, became a prominent figure and an 
important factor in the affairs of the various communities 
where he lived and enjoyed universal respect. John Leas was 
reared upon the paternal farmstead in Stark county, Ohio, 
whither the family had moved when he was but three years 
old. Owing to the modest circumstances of the family, he 
was not given large opportunities for an education, the 
log-cabin school of that locality being his only chance. 
While still a resident of that county, he was married to 
Susan Schimpff, a native of Germany, who had emigrated to 
this country when thirteen years of age. To that union were 
born twelve children, namely: Peter, Susan and a daughter 
unnamed died in infancy; Martin Van Buren, who was born at 
Osnaburg, Stark county, Ohio, on August 25, 1840, died at 
his home in Salem township, Steuben county, Indiana, on 
March 31, 1899; Jacob H., who lives north of Hudson, is the 
oldest of the family now living; John S., who lived in 
Salem township, Steuben county, died, leaving six children 
by his first marriage and two by the second; his widow now 
lives at Ashley; Elizabeth L., is the wife of Oscar Taylor, 
a banker at Hamilton; Adeline is the wife of Miles 
Jefferson Waterman, of Franklin township, this county; the 
other four children, Hezekiah H., Obediah, William Henry 
and Daniel Louis, all live at Waterloo, this county, and 
are represent in individual sketches elsewhere in this 
work.  In 1842 John Leas came to Indiana, purchasing one 
hundred and forty-three acres of land, and the following 
year he moved his family to this state.  In 1867 he came to 
DeKalb county and bought a fine farm in Smithfield township 
and one year later moved on it, and made it his permanent 
home, owing two hundred and fifty acres of land at the time 
of his death and being numbered among the successful and 
enterprising farmers of the county. In 1871 Mr. Leas was 
one of the leaders in the organization of the Citizens Bank 
of Waterloo, which had a most successful career. In the 
course of time he bought out the other partners and in 1881 
became the sole owner of the bank, which he retained until 
1896, when he sold it to his son, Hezekiah, and retired 
from active business life, his death occurring on June 25, 
1897. The record of Mr. Leas was a remarkable one in 
several respects and the example of his life is one worthy 
of emulation.  When he first came to Indiana his material 
possessions consisted of eighty-five dollars in money and a 
yoke of oxen, but he was endowed with a large ambition and 
a great capacity for work, elements which will insure 
success in almost any under taking. Indefatigable in his 
efforts, keeping ever before him the highest of ideals, he 
gradually forged ahead and eventually gained not only a 
competency, but also the universal confidence and good will 
of his fellow citizens. Mrs. Susan Leas died on June 15, 
1881, and subsequently Mr. Leas married Mrs. Amanda Mallory 
Patterson, widow of Robert Patterson, to which union were 
born five children.  Politically, Mr. Leas always supported 
the Democratic party and in several offices of local 
importance he rendered valuable services to this community.  
Religiously, he was a member of the Reformed church, while 
fraternally, he was a member of the Free and Accepted 
Mason, belonging to Waterloo Lodge No. 307. In Mr. Leas’ 
business career, as well as his private life, he was 
actuated by the highest motives, his actions being always 
the result of careful and conscientious thought. His death 
removed from DeKalb county one of there most substantial 
and highly esteemed citizens and the many beautiful 
tributes to this high standing in the world of affairs and 
as a man and citizen attested to the abiding place he had 
in the hearts and affections of his friends.

Submitted by:

Arlene Goodwin

Auburn, Indiana

Agoodwin@ctlnet.com