My Genealogy Hound

Rev. Thomas Leach was born in Jackson County, Ala., July 14, 1820, and is a son of Thomas and Ruth (Renshaw) Leach, both of whom were natives of the “Old North State.” They first moved to Tennessee, and spent five years in Rutherford County, after which they moved to Alabama, and at the end of ten years came to Washington County, Ark., locating on a tract of unimproved land, but a few years later moved to Benton County, Ark., and there the father died in 1880, in his ninetieth year. He served under Gen. Jackson in the War of 1812, and was a faithful and trustworthy soldier. Rev. Thomas Leach grew to manhood in Washington County, and was educated at Bethesda Academy, remaining with his father for several years after attaining his majority. In 1847 he went to North Carolina on business, and while there was married to Catherine Turner, a daughter of Samuel Turner, of that State, and soon after returned to Arkansas, settling on the farm on which he now lives in October, 1848. His first purchase was 120 acres, but he has since added to that until he now owns 225 acres, with ninety acres under cultivation, and fourteen acres in orchard. His wife died in October, 1865, having borne seven children, all of whom are living and the heads of families, with the exception of one, and in August, 1869, Mr. Leach was married to Mrs. Louisa Woods, a native of Virginia, and a daughter of Robert Crockett. She was the mother of four children by her first marriage. In 1850 Mr. Leach was ordained a minister of the Protestant Methodist Church, and has acted as a local minister of that church since his ordination. He is a Royal Arch Mason, and as a true gentleman and honest citizen has the respect and esteem of all his fellow men.