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a.
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Note: abriel2, Gabriel1)
born June 11, 1816 at 27 Rose St, Manhattan, NY City
died January 12, 1885 in Detroit, MI, buried in Oakhill cemetery, Pontiac, MI
married November 23, 1836 to Elizabeth6 Seaman in Manhattan, NY City
born May 9, 1815 in Oakland County, MI
died February 9, 1900, buried in Oakhill cemetery, Pontiac, MI
parents Dr. Valentine5 and Anna Seaman of Westbury, L.I., NY
Children (Leggett), 12: 4 boys, 8 girls
126-g7Le7 Mortimer7 Allen
127-g7Le7 Percival7 Seaman
128-g7Le7 William7 Haight
129-g7Le7 Margaret7 Wright
130-g7Le7 Emma7
131-g7Le7 Anna7 Seaman
132-g7Le7 Elizabeth7 Hicks
133-g7Le7 Augusta7 Wright
134-g7Le7 Catherine7 Maria
135-g7Le7 Henrietta7 Eastman
136-g7Le7 Mary7 Louise
137-g7Le7 Blanche7 Irving
Augustus6 was a well educated man, receiving his schooling from private tutors. For a time Augustus6 and Elizabeth6 lived in Roslyn, N.Y. and enjoyed the friendship of the East Coast literati ; Bryant, Whitman, Emerson, Phillips, Alcott, Julia Ward Howe, Lucretia Mott, and others. About 1852 they removed to Pontiac, Mich., where they lived for a year before going to a farm near Clintonville, Mich., sections 1,2, and 11, Waterford Township. Here Leggett had a mill. In 1864 he retired and they came to Detroit and lived at 169 E. Elizabeth, where he died, January 12, 1885.
Newspaper Clipping, undated (ca January 1885)
Hand this to the Minister before the Funeral Discourse
To my dear Wife and Children:
Holding as I do a strong testimony against the idle and wicked pomp and extravagance of funerals, I beg of you that for the sake of example to provide that my funeral shall be of the simplest description; that my coffin shall be of stained wood, without silver trimmings; that you shall wear no mourning; that my wife shall not follow my remains to the grave, save at her urgent wish; that my headstone shall be small and uncostly; and lastly, that you shall honor my memory, if honor it deserves, by cheerful faces and manners; for what is there to grieve for? And that you shall attend, as usual, your intellectual clubs and friendly gatherings.
This I wish to be read aloud, at my funeral, by whoever shall officiate; firstly, that my example may have more weight, and 2ndly, that you may be relieved from the imputation of meanness, a want of respect, which Mrs. Grundy otherwise would be so free to attribute to you. Rest assured, a compliance with my request will save others from the additional grief of seeing all means of support poured into the grave of a departed one.
signed; Augustus6 W. Leggett
I find little else on Augustus6; however much on his wife Eliza6 (Seaman) Leggett.
This letter was written by Eliza6 to her granddaughter Emma F. Whittemore Guest :
So my dear, thee wants to know the story of my life - Well, I suppose anyone who lives as many years as I have must have something of value to hand on to the younger ones if they are interested. First thing I must be born, and that took place early in the lovely 9th day of May, the year 1815 - I was the youngest of ten children so was rather lonely in some ways.
My father, whom I want to tell thee some things about, was a doctor. He lost his first child from smallpox, so went to England and learned from Dr. Jenner the use of a vaccine to prevent smallpox and came back to introduce it into New York. He was thought crazy when the idea was suggested, but he tried it on his own children to show his faith - it was used at the poor house also, and later became accepted everywhere. He also started a school for training of women for nurses, which was almost unheard of as women were not supposed to be mentally competent. He also analyzed the waters of Saratoga.
My dear father died when I was a little over two years old - my mother was deaf - my sisters away at school and my brothers had gone out of the home and for themselves.
When about four I went to a school run by three maiden sisters and their father. I learned to say the ABC's forward and backward and make a small sampler.
Did I tell thee my playmates when at home at 90 Beekman Street were a half crazy housekeeper and an old colored cook's grandchildren. The little colored children and I would play hide-and-seek in the big old kitchen where the big kettles were large enough to hide ourselves in and some days in the old fireplace.
Our old cook's husband was a slave and she used to hide him and many other run away slaves, who we hid in our home and in the homes of many other Quaker families.
I also played with two skeletons in our attic that my brother had used in his medical school work. These I used to dress up and play with for hours.
Not far from our home lived Washington Irving, and I heard him spoken of in such praise I longed to see him - I would sit at our stoop most every afternoon with a beautiful doll I had and hope Mr. Irving would stop and speak to me. People going from beyond our home to the city had to pass our house and I don't know, but I hope that Mr. Irving did speak to me. I did admire him so. Oh I was an odd one.
Later I went to Master Samuel's school when I had mastered my multiplication table - using dead beetles to figure with - Oh Master Samuel was a wonderfully good man.
In the summer mother sent us to Buckram Island to stay with Joshua Cocks and his good wife Susan. They were so good and kind.
One summer my sister, brother, and I were at the seashore, and I was seated beside such a charming man - later, I found that it was the great Channing. Oh I was so happy to have had that talk.
Does thee know my dear that Wall Street was named because of the great wall that was built to stop the spread of yellow fever?
For many years when away for the summer at Long Island, I had known "Gussie Leggett", but to marry him I never even thought. He lived at 307 Pearl Street, N.Y., but in 1836 we were married, living in a dear little place on Mercer St., owned by father Leggett, later we went to Peekskill where our first baby was born, still later we moved to, I may say , our most loved home at Roslyn, Long Island - high on the hill over-looking the bay and surrounded with trees and flowers and fine neighbors, Oh so good and kind.
We had been there some time when Father came home to say the "Kirk" house next door was sold; I was so happy, "Who to?" I cried, "To Bryant" he said. I asked "The great Bryant?" and father answered "There is only one Bryant but I am sure my arm is black and blue thee has squeezed it so hard." Well Mr. & Mrs. Bryant did move in and what wonderfully fine neighbors and very dear friends they proved to be. We played games, sang songs, had plays, and bazaars, & read books and poetry together, met each other's friends, etc. Mr. Bryant was very quiet and shy outside his own home, but with close friends he was jolly and full of fun. That friendship of Mr. & Mrs. Bryant was one of great happiness and as well as a liberal education - associating almost daily with such a brilliant mind, and also meeting in an informal way, many of the best know thinkers and writers of the time (around 1837 & for about 12 years) whom Mr. Bryant knew through his newspaper and writings. Oh what a happy time that was, even though we often were out of food and new dresses were scarce - through no fault of my dear husband. Oh what good kind friends we had.
In 1853, your great-grandfather, William76-g5Le7 H. Leggett, decided to send your grandpa and me with our children to Michigan. It might be better climate for my dear husband. How we did hate to leave, but he had done so much for us, we felt that we must do as he wished, so we left Roslyn in a large party. Father William76-g5Le7, Mother Anne Ferris, Augustus139-g6Le7 and me and eight children (Augusta133-g7Le7 being a small baby) two servants and brother Sam141-g6Le7, his two children, a nurse, coachman, and teams of black horses. We took the train early in the morning at Albany and reached Buffalo at dark. I got lost on the way to the boat but found the family before the boat sailed.
The boat was owned by Capt. Ward and named the "Ocean", and he & his wife were aboard, which was very lucky for us, as the boat was so crowded people were sleeping on the floor, and dear Mrs. Ward gave up her stateroom to us. We arrived in Detroit and spent the night at the Michigan Exchange, and then went to Pontiac, where we bought the Baldwin home, and lived for a year, but it was all so civilized and strange, so we then bought the large rambling home at Clintonville and the mill, and brother Sam took the Pontiac house, and we were much happier and healthier in the country. We had many friends and held Quaker meetings. Much love, happiness, and heartbreaks were in that home, but it's said, it takes both to make a home. Here four more children were born, thy mother was a baby of all and how we loved her.
Later we moved to Detroit and father was Collector of Customs. We lived on Lafayette Street, Winder and longest at 169 East Elizabeth & the old Beaudien Homestead where so many things of interest happened.
Our home was the center for all who wished to come. From here grandfather started the Prismatic club and what a fine group of men and what fine times they had, each one had something of interest for the others. Governor Bagley, Mr. Sterns, Lewis Ives, Albert Boynton, and many others gathered at each meeting sure of much fun and interest.
My dear I tried so hard to start a Historical Club and did keep it going for some time. We had such subjects of interest but it seemed to take more time than many thought they could give.
But our October Club was a much happier success. We met each week with our papers on subjects of interest - people and places. So many people seemed to come to see us and we talked and read aloud. Bronson Alcott spent weeks at a time at our house, he was a man too far advanced for the times so was not appreciated as he should have been.
Before we left New York, Mr. O.R. Willis our friend, told us to be sure and see his brother Richard Storrs Willis. We did and became fast friends - We were so fond of his wife who was a Miss Campeau.
One day I was having dinner at their summer home on Belle Isle - as I thought of the large amount of unused land near the city. I said, "Richard, did thee ever think of using this island for a public park for the people who need just such a place for recreation. It's so much more than thee can use." He said the property was his wife's but she said she had not thought of it but was interested. How could people reach the island? "Oh" I said, "A bridge." "Oh Mrs. Leggett that's impossible." But I told him nothing was impossible when people put their minds to it. So with their consent, I went home and wrote the Free Press and all the people of influence in the city and in the state - all ministers to talk up the idea, and finally the city saw what it would mean and so bought it, and hadn't it been delightful?
My dear does thee know that there are many girls who could not find any place they could afford to stay in while working so a group of my friends and I got up a huge bazaar called "Mother Goose Bazaar" & started a fund for a home for working women. How we worked but it was happy work.
We had a hard time getting drinking places on the streets for horses and dogs but when a group of earnest women want a worthwhile thing they usually get it.
As I watch my grandchildren growing up, I wonder if they will be interested in suffrage - it is so necessary for advancement and prohibition. The evil of drink and also of smoking - Work for these dear children.
Does thee want to know of my great joy in writing - there were several Historical Societies and newspapers and magazines. I did so enjoy writing to and our many friends some of whom you probably want to know about - Sojourner Truth, the uneducated negro woman but true minded negro woman who said her words were directed by God. She spoke on the platform with some of the greatest orators of the day such as Wendell Phillips. She came to our home, would have her talk and then go to the kitchen and cook and clean and earn her way. Many of the Suffragists and woman in all ways interested in their own sex were known and greatly admired, such as Susan B. Anthony, Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Margaret Fuller, Louisa Alcott, and others that I cannot think of just now. And many men who were interested in any educational line were our friends. I mentioned Bronson Alcott, then Charles Dana, Walt Whitman, Horace Mann, Ralph Waldo Emerson, of course our good friends Mr. and Mrs. William Cullen Bryant, and so many of his business associates and friends that he'd bring home so that we all might visit and discuss things together. He was so kind to ask father and me to enjoy and absorb the meat from these fine minds. Education my dear is the gateway to so much pleasure and interest.
Your uncle said that I was responsible for starting of the Columbian Exposition. I'm not conscious of having done so but I guess I wrote the way I felt such an exposition as such educational assistance, but didn't realize it would bloom into as great an affair.
There are so many pleasures and interests seen to have come, its to write on in detail even more than I have. I hope that this is what you wanted or at least will help.
(Mrs. Leggett, of Quaker descent, did actually start the first women's clubs in Detroit, the Young Women's Home, and secured the influence to make Belle Isle a city park. In their home were entertained literary celebrities who visited the city, many of whom she had known in the East.)
In the DETROIT FREE PRESS, February 10, 1900, we find:
"Mrs. Eliza6 Seaman Leggett
WIDELY-KNOWN FRIEND OF THE PEOPLE DIED YESTERDAY
PATRIOTIC WOMAN ACCOMPLISHED MUCH FOR HUMANITY
Interesting Story of Her Long and Busy Career
Mrs. Eliza Seaman Leggett, widow of the late Augustus139-g6Le7 W. Leggett, died at the home of her daughter, Mrs. C.C. Randall, of Drayton Plains, at ten minutes after seven yesterday morning. Her seven children and many of her grandchildren were with her at the end.
In the death of Eliza6 Seaman Leggett, friendship loses one of its most faithful exponents, peace one of its most insistent advocates and kindness one of its most shining examples. She had the faculty of gaining the admiration and love of everyone with whom she came in contact, and in her eighty-five years of life she endeared herself to hundreds of people by gentle acts of charity and loving-kindness. Always active and energetic, her every thought was for the promotion of the good and happiness of others, her every act for the benefit of some fellow-being.
Eliza6 Seaman Leggett was born in New York City, May 9, 1815. Her father was Dr. Valentine5 Seaman, a prominent physician, the first to introduce vaccination into the state of New York. On November 23, 1836 she married Augustus6 W. Leggett and moved with him to Roslyn L.I., N.Y., a village to which she gave the name. There she made the acquaintance of William Cullen Bryant and Charles A. Dana, and she knew many interesting anecdotes of the personal side of those two men. After twenty-six years in Roslyn, Mr. and Mrs. Leggett removed to Mill Farm, Clintonville, Mich., and remained there until they came to Detroit in 1864.
CENTER OF LITERARY ACTIVITY
The Leggett home on East Elizabeth street early became a center of social and literary activity. Mrs. Leggett was the founder of the Detroit Woman's Club. She had made a practice of entertaining Madame King and Mrs. L.H. Stone at her home one afternoon every week; the club grew out of these gatherings and the preliminary meetings were held in the basement of the old Unitarian church. Mrs. Cheaney, of Boston was also prominent in the work of organization and Mrs. John J. Bagley was the club's first president. The "Aurora Borealis" was the work of Mrs. Leggett and the first meeting of the Prismatic Club was held at her home. Mrs. Leggett was this club's first president. It was Mrs. Leggett who was one of the first to advocate taking Belle Isle for a public park, and the idea of having public drinking-fountains originated with her. The plan of setting aside a day dedicated to the memory of Columbus came from Mrs. Leggett, and was suggested by her to the poet, Walt Whitman, whom she knew intimately well. The Custer school owes its first flag to her generosity, and she was among the first to advocate the flying of the national colors from the staff of every school-house in the country.
The slavery question interested Mrs. Leggett deeply and she was an ardent and out-spoken Abolitionist. She was closely in touch with the Underground Railway, and helped many poor creature to escape to Canada. During the time of the war, she was in close correspondence with Garrett Smith and other men prominent in antislavery matters. She knew Laura Haviland intimately and was of great service to her in her work. Her lovable nature gave her a strong hold on many poor creatures whom no one else could move to repentance; she never shrank from any person, no matter how vile. On one occasion a woman who was known as a thoroughly desperate character called at the house and insisted on seeing Mrs. Leggett alone. She had refused to yield to the words of any other human being, but Mrs. Leggett drew from her whole story and afterwards aided her to reform.
EARNEST WORKER
In the work leading up to and connected with the Freedman's Fair, Mrs. Leggett played a prominent part; she was a delegate to the fair at Chicago, and appeared there in the character of Mrs. Partington. In her work against slavery and in the work she was doing for literature, Mrs. Leggett knew some of the most prominent reformers and literatures of her time. Among them were Theodore Parker, Lucretia Mott, Washington Irving, Alcott, with many others. One of the best instances of her far-reaching interest in the work of reform and aid was the fact that she opened her house for a fair, for the benefit of the Working Women's Home. The fair lasted three days, and such was the prestige given to it from its place of meeting, and such was Mrs. Leggett's influence on those surrounding her that she turned over to the treasure of the Home over $1,300.
Mrs. Leggett resided in Detroit until the death of her husband in 1855. In that year she went to Drayton Plains, and took up her residence with her son, Mortimer126-g7Le7 Allen Leggett. Her failing health two years ago necessitated her removal to the residence of her daughter, Mrs. C.C. Randall, at whose home she lived until the last summons came.
She leaves two sons and five daughters, twenty grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. She lost four of her children, one of them Percival127-g7Le7 S. Leggett, who was killed at Port Conway, September 1, 1863. He was an aid to Gen. Kilpatrick. The living children are Mr. Mortimer126-g7Le7 A. Leggett, Mr. William7 H. Leggett, Mrs. L.T. Ives, Mrs. C.C. Randall, Mrs. Adolph Barthel, Mrs. E.B. Pease and Mrs. James Whittemore.
The funeral of Mrs. Leggett will be held at 1:30 p.m., Saturday at Drayton Plains, interment at Pontiac."
Newspaper Clipping, undated (ca 1915) with photo
HONOR PAID TO MEMORY OF PIONEER
Descendants of Mrs. Eliza6 Liggett Recall Her Deeds
Suffragist and Abolitionist
Was First to Advocate Use of Belle Isle as Park
An interesting event took place, Monday, in Drayton Plains, Mich., when 50 descendants of the late Mrs. Eliza6 Seaman Liggett, many of them Detroiters, gathered in the home of her daughter, Mrs. Anna131-g7Le7 S. Randall, to observe the one hundredth anniversary of the birth of Mrs. Liggett, who was one of Michigan's pioneer women. She died 15 years ago.
The men, women and children who were present at Mrs. Randall's ranged in age from 75 to three years. Tribute was paid to Mrs. Liggett in the silent toasts, "Grandmother as a wife, mother and homemaker," The pioneer suffragist,' and "The pioneer abolitionist," and interesting stories of her life and of that of the member of her family were related by Dr. Augustus Ives, Mortimer126-g7Le7 Liggett and William Stocking.
Mrs. Liggett was the daughter of Dr. Valentine5 Seaman, of New York city, who founded the New York hospital and introduced vaccination into the United States, narrowly escaping violence at the hands of a mob when it became known that he had vaccinated his little daughter, Eliza. After her marriage, Mrs. Liggett moved to Roslyn, L.I., where she became a close friend of her neighbor, William Cullen Bryant, and many other literary celebrities who made Roslyn their home. Mrs. Liggett was an ardent abolitionist and did everything she could before and after the Civil War, to aid the Negro. She was just as ardent a suffragist when to proclaim one's belief in women's rights was to court social ostracism.
In 1850, the family came to Michigan, and the Liggett home in Detroit was widely known as a center of literary, progressive and social life, with its doors open to anyone with a message for the good of humanity.
As the suffrage cause advanced in Michigan, Mrs. Liggett became associated with Susan B. Anthony, Lucy Stone, Lucretia Mott, Laura Haviland, Sojourner Truth and other women noted for their activity along these lines. During the same period Mrs. Liggett was the friend and regular correspondent of Walt Whitman, Louisa May Alcott and other literary folk.
Mrs. Liggett was the first person in Detroit to agitate the making of Belle Isle into a public park, and was thought to be visionary. She secured the passage of a bill in the Michigan legislature making it compulsory for merchants to provide seats behind the counters for clerks; she secured public drinking fountains; constantly urged women to form clubs and, in organization, make their wishes for improvements and good laws carry greater weight; spoke and wrote unceasingly for the annual national observance of the anniversary of the discovery of America, and in many other ways was unremittingly active in behalf of better government , civic improvements and a broader humanity.
Mrs. Liggett was the mother of 11 children. The parting tribute paid by her descendants, gathered, Monday in Drayton Plains, to do honor to her memory, was voiced in the words; "And her children rise up and call her blessed."
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Descendancy Narrative of Augustus Wright Leggett
I. Augustus Wright1 Leggett. Augustus (30107) was born on Tue. 11 Jun 1816 at the family home at 27 Rose Street., New York City, New York County, New York. He also went by the name of Gussie. He married Elizabeth Seaman (30108) 23 Nov 1836 at 89 Madison Street, New York City, New York County, New York, in a Quaker ceremony. After Augustus & Eliza were first married, they resided in a dear little home, owned by William H. Leggett, at 76 Mercer Street in the city. While in New York City, Dr. Isaac Wood, a former student of Eliza's father, attended them. In 1840, they moved for a short time to Peekskill, New York on the Hudson River, just 40 miles from the city where they lived in a pretty cottage. They then moved to their most loved home in Roslyn, Queens County, Long Island, New York. It was a lovely hillside home overlooking the bay and surrounded by trees & flowers. William Cullen Bryant his wife and family resided next to them. While there, their physician was Dr. James Townsend, also a
former student of Eliza's father.
In 1853, the family along with that of Augustus' brother Samuel's family moved to Michigan. They settled for a year in Pontiac and then in Clintonville, Oakland County where they owned a large home & mill. Later, they moved to Detroit where they lived until the death of Augustus. Eliza then went to live with her son Mortimer at his place called "The Willows" in Drayton Plains, Oakland County, Michigan.
On 1 December 1857, Augustus W. Leggett, of Oakland County, Michigan, purchased from the U.S. Government 320 acres in the southwest quarter of section 24 & the northwest quarter of section 25 in T10N R3W of Oakland County.
On 23 Jul 1860, Augustus (30107) and Elizabeth (30108) were listed on the US Federal Census at Waterford Township, Oakland County, Michigan. Enumerated in this household were Augustus W. Leggett [46 New York - farmer], Elizabeth S. [46 New York], Mortimer A. [23 New York], Percival S. [22 New York], William H. [19 New York], Margaret W. [17 New York], Emma [15 New York], Anna S. [13 New York], Elizabeth H. [11 New York], Augusta W. [9 New York], Blanche I. [3 mos. Michigan]. Property value $2,000.00 & personal property $2,000.00.[pages 395-396].
On 20 Jun 1870, Augustus (30107) and Elizabeth (30108) were listed on the US Federal Census at Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan,. Enumerated in this household were A. W. Leggett [54 New York], Elizabeth [55 New York], Augusta W. [18 Michigan], Blanche I. [10 Michigan]. Property value $10.000 & personal property $1.000. He was a custom house officer.[6th Ward, page 357].
Augustus (30107) died 12 January 1885 [Monday] at his home at 169 Elizabeth Street., Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan,. Obituary - Leggett - At his late residence, 169 Elizabeth St. East, on the evening of January 12, AUGUSTUS W. LEGGETT, in the 69th year of his age. Funeral on Wednesday morning at 9:30 o'clock. Funeral private. Remains will be taken to Pontiac for interment.[Detroit Free Press - Wednesday, 14 January 1885]. Augustus (30107) was buried at Oak Hill Cemetery, Pontiac, Oakland County, Michigan, in plot 4-447. The cemetery records note: 11 June 1816 NY-12 January 1885. Records indicate an infant burial in this same plot but no further information is given.
Source:
Larry and Kathy McCurdy
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LEGGITT, AUGUST R
Date of death: 12-Jan-1884
Ledger Page: 272
Record Number: 965
Place of death: DETROIT
County of Death: Wayne
Sex
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1850 United States Federal Census Record
about Augustus W Leggett
Name: Augustus W Leggett
Age: 34
Estimated birth year: abt 1816
Birth place: New York
Gender: Male
Home in 1850
(City,County,State): North Hempstead, Queens, New York
Image Source: Year: 1850; Census Place: North Hempstead, Queens, New York; Roll: M432_582; Page: 7; Image: 282.
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42. The plaintiff further alleges that said Augustus W. Leggett, one of the children of said William H. Leggett, deceased, and mentioned in his said will, has since departed this life without exercising the power of appointment given to him in and by the said will of his said father, and leaving seven children him surviving, viz., the defendants Mortimer A. Leggett, William H. Leggett, Margaret L. Ives, Elizabeth Barthel, Annie Randel, Blanche Whittemore and Augusta Pease, his only heirs at law.
From p. 74 of:
ANNA SCHELL, INDIVIDUALLY AND AS SOLE SURVIVING ADMINSTRATRIX,
WITH THE WILL ANNEXED OF THE GOODS, CHATTELS AND CREDITS
LEFT UNADMINISTERED OF THOMAS LEGGETT, DECEASED,
Plaintiff,
Against
MARY E. CORSE, AND OTHERS,
Defendants.
SUMMONS AND COMPLAINT.
JOHN THEALL,
Plaintiff's Attorney,
Nos. 45 and 47 Wall Street,
New York City.
Robert B. King, Printer, 89 William St., N. Y.
Dated New York, October 1, 1891.
Electronically transcribed, March 2003, by David John Leggett, b. 1961, 4th great grandson of Thomas Leggett, 1755-1843.
Note: * 139-g6Le7 Augustus6 Wright Leggett , (William5 H., Thomas4, Thomas3, G
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