REV. DANIEL LEACH, D. D., son of Apollos and Chloe Leach, was born in Bridgewater, Mass., June 6, 1806. His early education was such as the schools at that time afforded. In these he was studious, and laid a solid foundation for the higher departments of learning to which he subsequently devoted himself. Possessing an active, self-reliant spirit, he, at the age of sixteen years, left the quiet of his native town to engage in mercantile pursuits in Boston. After becoming familiar with the rules and customs of trade, his mind, seriously impressed with the great truths of Divine revelation, inclined to the Christian ministry, and the more suitably to prepare himself for his duties he entered Brown University in 1825, and was graduated in 1830, his term having been extended one year on account of ill health. While in college he became greatly proficient in mathematics. His knowledge of the ancient languages was also marked. The study of Hebrew, for which he had a special fondness, he continued to pursue after leaving the University, and made himself a thorough master of the nice shades of meaning to be drawn from the original tongue of the Psalter. He studied divinity at Andover, Massachusetts, two years, and one year with Bishop Griswold, by whom he was ordained an Episcopal clergyman in 1833. He settled in Quincy, Massachusetts, and remained five years, when he retired from the rectorship and accepted the position of principal of the Classical School in Roxbury, Massachusetts, in which he continued four years, and then opened a private school, which he taught six years with eminent success.
His interest in the cause of popular education led to the engagement as an agent of the Massachusetts State Board of Education, an associate of Dr. Barnas Sears. In the discharge of the duties of this office he examined the condition of the school houses (more than one thousand in number) and the schools throughout the State, noting their defects, besides devoting much time to advising with school committees on points which conduce to the highest prosperity of the schools. In 1853, in a report to the board, he presented an improved system of ventilation for school houses, devised by himself, which was soon introduced where needed, to the increased comfort and health of pupils. This system has also been introduced into school houses and other buildings in Providence, with entire satisfaction. In 1855 Dr. Leach was called to succeed Professor Samuel S. Greene as superintendent of the public schools of Providence, Rhode Island, the duties of which office he discharged for more than thirty years. His previously large and varied experience, no less than his thorough knowledge of the philosophy of education, eminently qualified him for this position, and under his energetic and judicious management, the public schools of Providence gained distinction in some of the best methods of teaching. The quarterly and annual reports of Dr. Leach bear the impress of a discerning and discriminating mind, and have been eagerly sought by educators both in this country and Europe. In 1866 Rev. Dr. Frazer, a commissioner appointed by the British Government to inspect the schools of the United States, visited Providence, and in his report to Parliament spoke of the public schools of that city as among those he deemed worthy of special commendation, and particularly the remarkable accuracy of the pupils in spelling. In 1873 Dr. Leach prepared a series of directions to teachers of the primary and intermediate schools, embracing the best methods of teaching the alphabet, spelling, reading, geography, arithmetic, general exercises, and object lessons, together with judicious counsels in the administration of discipline. The methods thus indicated have contributed much to the advancement of schools and have been adopted in many places other than Providence. The educational views of Dr. Leach are comprehensively expressed in the following extract from an address delivered by him at the dedication of the Providence High School in 1878:
'The first as well as the highest aim of education should be to develop in harmony and to strengthen all the powers and faculties both of mind and body, by judicious training, beginning with the simplest elements of thought, to lead the pupil on, step by step, to think clearly, to reason correctly, and to classify all the materials of knowledge according to their true relations. The memory should be the repository only of important and well-attested facts, systematically arranged, and not burdened with useless details and words without meaning. An education that is chiefly ornamental and showy, instead of thorough and exact, creating and fostering a distaste for labor, and fitting one especially for a life of leisure, rather than for its active work, and responsible duties, fails of one of its noblest purposes. But all true culture, to be valuable, must have a moral as well as an intellectual basis, ever inspiring noble aims and aspirations for a pure and elevated character. It then adorns and ennobles every condition of life, the humblest as well as the highest. The education we have thus designated is now demanded by the spirit of the age, as an essential and vital element in all human progress.'
In 1870 Dr. Leach was elected a member of the Rhode Island Board of Education, which office he held until the time of his death. He was for more than twenty years a vice-president and director of the Rhode Island Institute of Instruction. In 1875 Brown University conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Divinity, and in 1877 he was elected a trustee of the University for life. Besides the numerous reports before referred to, he has published an Arithmetic, a Complete Speller, and a Manual of Geography. The rules and definitions of the former were based upon the decision of the highest mathematical authority. All of these publications have been in extensive use.
Dr. Leach married, in May, 1834, Mary H. Lawton, daughter of Captain Robert and Penelope (Brown) Lawton, of Newport, R. I., three children being the issue of the marriage, two of whom are now living, Henry B., and Mary C., wife of G. W. Wilcox, M. D., of Providence. Mrs. Leach died July 2, 1879, aged seventy-four years.
