Notes for James McElhaney Leech: Family tradition tells us that James McElhaney told his children many stories about when he was a boy. One story was about the negro nannie that watched over them and how he loved to hide up in a tree where she could not find him. She solved this problem by tying a small bell around his neck. He also told that his father (perhaps it was his grandfather) kept 99 slaves...that he could never keep an even hundred. How much of this is true or just a story to keep the children entertained is not known. The Leech family did own slaves but never that many. The 1863 tax records show that James McElhaney Leech owned 4 slaves.
He also told his children that his ancestors had come from Ireland and originally had spelled their name O'Leech, later dropping the O'.
More About James McElhaney Leech: Burial: 1874, Wilford Cemetery, Graves County, Kentucky. Church Membership: Burnett Chapel Methodist Church. Tax Records 1: 1863, Graves County, Kentucky - 160 acres, Mayfield Creek - 4 slaves. Tax Records 2: 1841, Graves County, Kentucky - listed as over 21.
More About James McElhaney Leech and Elizabeth Ann Dunbar: Marriage: 1845, Graves County, Kentucky.
Children of James McElhaney Leech and Elizabeth Ann Dunbar are:
+Sarah Elizabeth Leech, b. 1846, Graves County, Kentucky, d. date unknown, Cedar County, Missouri.
James McElhaney Leech (b. 1819, d. 1874)
Notes for James McElhaney Leech: