Colonel Leader's letter

Lt. Colonel John Leader's letter

This is a copy of a letter written by Lt. Colonel John Leader to William Leader, my great great uncle. The "original" that this is copied from is also a copy that was probably re-typed by William Leader shortly after he received it and sent to his sister, Dora. A cover letter contains some of William's comments on the letter and a couple of handwritten notes, probably Dora Leader's. I have added the cover letter below Colonel Leader's letter.

I have attempted to copy this letter as exactly as possible. I have added footnotes and have linked those footnotes to text in the letter.

The same great-grandfather: John Leader is probably mistaken here. William Leader's father, John Hall Leader, not his grandfather, is the one who left Ireland. William notes this in his cover letter and Dora confirms it in a hand written note. She adds that their grandfather was named John, had a brother named William, and died when their father was quite young. William and Dora's grandfather is the great-grandfather of the John Leader writting the letter.

Louisiana: John Leader is mistaken here. Patrick Cleburne settled in Arkansas.

West Virginia: John Leader is mistaken again. Patrick Cleburne died in Tennessee.

Your great uncle and mine: This is probably not true unless the families intermarried a great deal. I hope to be able to clarify the relationship eventually.

(?): A couple of letters are missing here.

Burke's Landed Gentry: Perhaps. Burke's Landed Gentry is notorious among modern geneologists for inaccurate family histories. In our case, I have been unable to connect John Hall Leader with any of the Leaders mentioned in Burke's.

This site was created by Harry E. Connors III.

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William Leader's cover letter

Dear Sister Dora;
........................... I am sure the enclosure will interest you; It is a copy of a letter replying to one I wrote Mr. Leader.
I think he is mistaken as to grandfather though, as my recollection is that Grandfather died before father left Ireland, and that he never left Ireland.
I wish you would tell me any little casual things you ever heard father say about his family. He would of course have said as much as we asked to know, if any of us had sense enough to be interested.
I am sure this man is the nearest relative on the Leader side, we ever heard from outside our immediate family.
Was Grandfather's name John? I think so, but am not even sure of that--what do you hear from Mortimer?
I am afraid he is in the fighting district now, but you can only trust in the Lord. I sometimes think a man is as safe there as any where else. I hope you are well, Dora, and all the folks. With love to all,

.................................................................................................... (signed)
.................................................................................................... Will

Grandfather died before father left Ireland: Dora Leader's note reads, "Yes he died before when father was quite young."

Was Grandfather's name John: Dora Leader's note reads, "His name was John. His Brother was William."

Together, these notes pretty much preclude the possibility that we are descended from Colonel Leader's great grandfather, Leonard Leader. See the page on The Origin of John Hall Leader for details.

.................................................... UNIVERSITY OF OREGON
........................................................... EUGENE

Department of Military Science
Lt. Col. John Leader, Commandant.
........................................................................................................ April 20, 1918

Mr. W.J. Leader,
................. County Clerk
..................... Superior, Wis.

Dear Mr. Leader,
........................ I am John Leader of Keale, Millstreet, so I expect that we had the same great-grandfather. I think I know who your grandfather was. He was a brother of my grandfather, who left the country in the early part of the last century, and I think he was a soldier for a short time. Most of our clansmen here are south of Dixie in Virginia and I think most of them took part in the civil war of (?) I. The only one who rose to any prominence was General Pat. Cleburne of Louisiana, who really was a distinguished gentleman and general. He was killed in West Virginia and was your great uncle and mine .

........................ William Leader of Plevna was another cousin. That branch of the family has been absolutely wiped out in the present war. Their place was Rossna Lee.

....................... It was very kind of you to write me and I appreciate it very much. Strangely enough I have found another first cousin here, in Portland and another first cousin, the Honorable Edmund Roche in British Columbia.

...................... You will find all details about the families in various peerages and published in " Burke's landed gentry ."
........................................................................... I am

.................................................................... Yours most sincerely

................................................................................. John Leader
................................................................................. Lieut. Colonel
................................................................. Commanding Regiment University of Oregon
................................................................. Late commanding Ro yal Irish Rifles

This page last modified on Saturday, November 17, 2007