James Leggitt - A Brave Soldier, An Excellent Painter And a Splendid Citizen
...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.
