James A. Leitch

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James A. Leitch (July 28, 1814-June 5, 1862) attended the University of Virginia. In 1834, he received a medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Leitch was a past Grand Master of the Masons. He was Grand Master of Masons in Virginia in 1855-1856. In 1856 he was elected to the the Town of Charlottesville Board of Aldermen and in 1858 he was elected mayor. James A. Leitch died in Charlottesville and is buried in Maplewood Cemetery.

Dr Leitch lived in downtown Charlottesville, first on Market Street and then in a home he had built at 115 East High Street, formerly Maiden Lane. He kept a tame bear that frequently escaped and bothered his neighbors.3 His first wife, Anne, died in 1842. She is buried next to him in Maplewood Cemetery and was the mother of his two older children. In the 1850 census his household included his second wife, 30-year-old Louisiana, and an additional son and daughter. He was the owner of six slaves, from ages eight to 45, in 1850. Another son was born in the late 1850s.[1]

Given the reputation of Dr. Leitch for being wild as a young man it is ironic that he was the one known fee bill signer who agreed with the sentiment in a letter written to express opposition to a pardon for John S. Mosby for shooting George Turpin, “believing that an example should be made; he has been a very troublesome young man.” He was a prominent and enthusiastic Free Mason and the Grand Master of Masons in Virginia in 1855-1856. Leitch was reportedly a Civil War surgeon who was at the first Battle of Bull Run. He died June 5, 1862, at his home on East High, after contracting pneumonia while serving in the Confederate Army.[2]

His father, James Leitch (d. 1826), a Charlottesville merchant, dealt extensively with Thomas Jefferson, who died owing him $2,807.40. Leitch was an original donor for the founding of Central College (now the University of Virginia).


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