b. 14 January 1818, d. 25 January 1862
Birth | 14 Jan 1818 | Josiah Leedy was born on 14 Jan 1818 in Virginia.1 |
Marriage | | He married Margaret Doran.2 |
Cens-1850 | 10 Jul 1850 | Like his father Joseph, Josiah was a carpenter, first practicing his craft in Washington County, Virginia.2 |
| | Following Joseph's death in 1852, Josiah and Margaret migrated to Springfield, Missouri with their 5 children (Elizabeth L., Rowena E., James, Ann and Nancy Jane). Josiah built the courthouse at Springfield and other public buildings in the area.3,4,5 |
| | Josiah's brother Archibald, also a carpenter, migrated to Springfield with his family as well. The men's sister Eleanor and her husband William Doran settled on farmland outside of Springfield. |
Cens-1860 | 6 Aug 1860 | The 1860 census enumeration included 3 additional children born after Josiah and Margaret settled in Missouri: Alice, Susan and Catherine. Josiah's occupation that year was listed as "builder". He owned land worth $3,000 and personal property worth $2,000. The household also included a 33 year old carpenter named John Sharp who was also from Virginia and a 26 year old teamster from Wisconsin named James Greene.5 |
| Jul 1861 | Josiah may have been a strong supporter of the Southern cause in the years preceding the Civil War. A newspaper correspondent, who was attached to the First Iowa Infantry, wrote the following from Springfield on July 29, 1861:
"Joseph Leady, a notorious secessionist, was yesterday arrested near here and brought into town. He has been guilty of almost every species of opposition to the Government, except the actual taking up of arms. If discharged by Gen. Lyon, he will probably be assassinated, as I have heard a dozen of his own fellow townsmen swear that he will not leave town alive."6
[The editor of the above volume of letters annotated this entry as referencing Josiah Leedy, "building contractor for the Springfield Courthouse". Although the letter referred to "Joseph" and not "Josiah" it should be noted that Josiah was recorded as Joseph Leedy on the 1850 census] |
Death | 25 Jan 1862 | Josiah died on 25 Jan 1862 in Janesville, Illinois, during the Civil War.7,8 |
| | Margaret remained in Springfield following Josiah's death where she provided a home for her unmarried daughters. An older daughter, Rowena Emily, married James Waddill who served as a US Congressman from Missouri in the late 1870s.9,3 |