Person:Levi Leach (2)

Levi Leach was born in 1846 at Eggington, a hamlet in the parish of Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire. He was the son of a straw plaiter called Patience Leach, formerly Bates, and her husband Benjamin Leach, an agricultural labourer. In both the 1851 and 1861 censuses Levi was living at Eggington with his parents and siblings. In 1861 he was described as a plough boy.

On 8th August 1869, aged 23, Levi married Mary Ann Kempson, who was from the nearby village of Billington. They married in Eggington (which had become a separate parish from Leighton Buzzard in 1866) and continued to live there for the first few years of their marriage. Their first two children, Amy and Ernest John, were born there and the family appears there in the 1871 census, when Levi was working as an agricultural labourer.

Levi and Mary's third child, Amelia Jane, was born in the Leighton Buzzard district in 1873. Shortly afterwards they moved to Hendon in Middlesex, where baby Amelia died later that same year. The 1881 census finds the family living at 6 Fuller Street in Hendon, with Levi working as a carter.

In 1887, over thirteen years after their last child, Mary had a fourth baby, who was a boy they called Charles. Sadly both Mary and Charles died shortly after the baby's birth. Mary was 38 years old.

Levi's daughter Amy married in 1889 and seems to have remained in the Hendon area. Levi's son Ernest emigrated to America around 1890. The 1891 census finds Levi living alone in one room at Burroughs House in Hendon.

In 1894, Levi married again. His second wife was a widow called Elizabeth Weyda, formerly Bingham. The 1901 census finds Levi, Elizabeth and her son Henry from her first marriage living at 15 Harding Street in Hendon, with Levi working as coal porter, whilst Elizabeth was a laundress.

Elizabeth died in 1904, aged about 60.

The following year, aged 59, Levi emigrated to America, following in the footsteps of his son Ernest who had been there for about fifteen years by this time. Levi sailed on the S.S. New York, departing from Southampton on 29th April 1905 and arriving in New York ten days later. On arrival in New York he told the authorities that his final destination was the tiny village of Post in Crook County, Oregon, where his son Ernest lived.

Ernest can be found in Oregon in the 1910 census, living at Maury in Crook County, but there is no sign of Levi with him. Deaths in Oregon were being registered from 1903, and the most likely explanation for what became of Levi is that he was the "Waverly Leach" who died in Polk County, Oregon, on 25th September 1907. No other more obvious death has been found which might be him, nor has any trace of there being someone called Waverly Leach been found. If this is him, then he was 71 years old when he died.

1. ↑ Births index, in General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration. (London: General Register Office).

   b. Levi LEACH, March Quarter 1846, Leighton Buzzard Registration District, Volume 6, page 91, mother's maiden name Bates

2. ↑ England. 1851 Census Returns for England and Wales. (
   Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom:
   The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), formerly the UK General Register Office.)
   Class HO107; Piece 1756; Folio 32; Page 19, 30 Mar 1851.

   Address: The Village, Egginton, Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire
   Benjamin Leach, head, married, male, 55 [1795/6], Ag[ricultural] Lab[ourer], b. Potsgrove, Bedfordshire
   Patience Leach, wife, married, female, 45 [1805/6], Straw Platter, b. Cheddington, Buckinghamshire
   William Leach, son, unmarried, male, 25 [1825/6], Ag[ricultural] Lab[ourer] now Straw Platting, b. Egginton, Bedfordshire
   Thomas Leach, son, unmarried, male, 22 [1828/9], Ag[ricultural] Lab[ourer] now Straw Platting, b. Egginton, Bedfordshire
   John Leach, son, unmarried, male, 19 [1831/2], Ag[ricultural] Lab[ourer] now Straw Platting, b. Egginton, Bedfordshire
   James Leach, son, unmarried, male, 16 [1834/5] Brickmakers Lab[ourer], b. Egginton, Bedfordshire
   Mary Ann Leach, daughter, female, 13 [1837/8], Straw Platter, b. Egginton, Bedfordshire
   Sarah Leach, daughter, female, 10 [1840/1], Straw Platter School, b. Egginton, Bedfordshire
   Levi Leach, son, male, 5 [1845/6], b. Egginton, Bedfordshire
   Joseph Leach, son, male, 1 [1849/50], b. Egginton, Bedfordshire

3. ↑ England. 1861 Census Schedules for England and Wales, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. (
   Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom:
   The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), formerly the UK General Register Office.)
   Class RG9; Piece 1005; Folio 20; Page 5, 7 Apr 1861.

   Address: Egginton, Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire
   Benjamin Leach, head, married, male, 66 [1794/5], Ag[ricultural] Lab[ourer], b. Sheep Lane, Bedfordshire
   Patience Leach, wife, married, female, 55 [1805/6], Wife, b. Cheddington, Buckinghamshire
   Sarah Leach, daughter, unmarried, female, 20 [1840/1], Straw Plaiter, b. Egginton, Bedfordshire
   Levi Leach, son, male, 15 [1845/6], Plough Boy Agr[icultural] Lab[ourer], b. Egginton, Bedfordshire
   Joseph Leach, son, male, 11 [1849/50], Straw Plaiter, b. Egginton, Bedfordshire

4. ↑ England. England and Wales. 1871 Census Schedules. (
   Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom:
   The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), formerly the UK General Register Office.)
   Class RG10; Piece 1560; Folio 80; Page 11, 2 Apr 1871.

   Address: Eggington, Bedfordshire
   Levi Leach, head, married, male, 24 [1846/7], Ag[ricultural] Lab[ourer], b. Egginton, Bedfordshire
   Mary A. Leach, wife, married, female, 22 [1848/9], b. Billinghton [sic], Bedfordshire
   Amy Leach, daughter, female, 1 [1869/70], b. Egginton, Bedfordshire

5. ↑ England. 1881 Census Schedules for England and Wales, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands: . (
   Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom:
   The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), formerly the UK General Register Office.)
   Class RG11; Piece 1366; Folio 85; Page 35, 3 Apr 1881.

   Address: 6 Fuller Street, Hendon, Middlesex
   Levi Leach, head, married, male, 35 [1845/6], Carter, b. Eggington, Bedfordshire
   Mary Ann Leach, wife, married, female, 33 [1847/8], Wife of the above, b. Billington, Bedfordshire
   Amy Leach, daughter, female, 11 [1869/70], Scholar, b. Eggington, Bedfordshire
   Ernest John Leach, son, male, 9 [1871/2], Scholar, b. Eggington, Bedfordshire
   Emma Lathwell, boarder, unmarried, female, 22 [1858/9], Laundry Maid, b. Eggington, Bedfordshire

6. ↑ England. 1891 Census Schedules for England and Wales, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. (
   Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom:
   The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), formerly the UK General Register Office.)
   Class RG12; Piece 1049; Folio 116; Page 18, 5 Apr 1891.

   Address: Burroughs House, Hendon, Middlesex
   1 room occupied
   Levi Leach, head, widower, male, 45 [1845/6], Carman, employed, b. Eggington, Bedfordshire

7. ↑ England. England. 1901 Census Schedules for England and Wales, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. (
   Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom:
   The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), formerly the UK General Register Office.)
   Class RG13; Piece 1227; Folio 92; Page 42, 31 Mar 1901.

   Address: 15 Harding Street, Hendon, Middlesex
   Levi Leach, head, married, male, 53 [1847/8], Coal Porter, worker, b. Egerton, Bedfordshire
   Elizabeth Leach, wife, married, female, 55 [1845/6], Laundress, worker, b. Hendon, Middlesex
   Henry Weyda, stepson, single, male, 28 [1872/3], Coal Porter, worker, b. Hendon, Middlesex

8.   National Archives. Passenger Lists Leaving UK, 1890-1960. (London: Findmypast.co.uk).

   Levi Leach, labourer, 58 - sailed on S.S. New York from Southampton on 29 Apr 1905, bound for New York.

9.   United States. Immigration and Naturalization Service. Passenger and crew lists of vessels arriving at New York, 1944-1957. (Washington? District of Columbia: Immigration and Naturalization Service, 1957).

   Arrived New York 9 May 1905 on S.S. New York
   Levi Leach, 58, widower, labourer
   Last Residence: Hendon
   Final Destination: Post, Oregon
   In possession of $30, paid for ticket himself, never been to United States before.
   Son E.J. Leach, Post, Crook County, Oregon

10. ↑ State of Oregon, and Ancestry.com. Oregon Death Index, 1903-1998.

    d. LEACH, Waverly / Polk County / 25 Sep 1907 /4673