William J. Leake

William Josiah Leake (September 20, 1843 - November 23, 1908) was a Virginia lawyer and judge, who served as a railroad president and president of The Virginia Bar Association.

Biography

Leake was born in Goochland County, Virginia, and was a great-grandson of William O. Callis.[1] He served four years in the Confederate Army. After the war, he was selected for a term as judge of the Virginia chancery court at Richmond, but declined to be re-elected.[2]

In 1891, Judge Leake decided the case of Bettie Thomas Lewis, concluding that she was entitled to her deceased father's property. The father had owned the mother of Ms. Lewis as a slave. The New York Times reported that this ruling made Ms. Lewis "the richest colored person in Virginia."[3] In a detailed opinion, the Virginia Supreme Court affirmed Judge Leake's decision.[4]

Leake was from 1889 general counsel and from 1905 to 1906 president of the Richmond, Fredericksburg, and Potomac Railroad Company.[5]

Leake was a charter member of the Virginia State Bar Association, beginning in 1890,[6] and served as president of the Association for 1899-1900.[7]

Judge Leake died at his home in Richmond.[8]

References

  1. ↑ Grigsby, Hugh, et al. The History of the Virginia Federal Convention of 1788. Virginia Historical Society (1891)
  2. ↑ Tyler, Lyon Gardiner, ed., Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography, v. 4, Lewis Historical Publishing (1915) (available on Google Books).
  3. ↑ "HIS NATURAL CHILD INHERITS.; BETTIE LEWIS BECOMES THE RICHEST COLORED WOMAN IN VIRGINIA" (PDF). The New York Times, January 6, 1891. January 6, 1891. Retrieved April 12, 2008.
  4. ↑ Thomas Adm'r v. Lewis, 89 Va. 1, 15 S.E. 389 (1892).
  5. ↑ Seventy-Fourth Annual Report, Richmond, Fredericksburg, and Potomac Railroad Company (1906) (available on Google Books).
  6. ↑ Charter of the Virginia State Bar Association, Acts of Assembly 1889-1890, c. 376, published in Report of the Fifth Annual Meeting of the Virginia State Bar Association (1893) (available on Google Books).
  7. ↑ "VBA History and Heritage". The Virginia Bar Association. Archived from the original on May 15, 2008. Retrieved April 12, 2008.
  8. ↑ "Judge William Josiah Leake" (PDF). The New York Times, November 24, 1908. November 24, 1908. Retrieved April 12, 2008.
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