Leach, William H.

Contributed by Don Blasingame

DOB March 1841 in Missouri  
DOD abot 1911 in Sunflower County  
  
"A Local legend shared with the writer by Mr. GAYLEN SMITH through his son DENNIS SMITH, says that WILLIAM LEACH was in the CIVIL WAR as a Confederate Soldier and served in QUANTRILL'S RAIDERS. This unit was lead by WILLIAM CLARKE QUANTRILL who was born in OHIO in 1837. He had been a gambler and sometimes a school teacher in the midwest before the war. He had also at times been suspected of murder and thievery but apparently was never charged. He enlisted in the Confederate Army in 1862 and was commissioned a Captain. He enrolled a band of gorillas including JESSE AND FRANK JAMES.

The deeds of this renegade band attracted the attention of the UNION ARMY and early on, he was branded an "OUTLAW". Somewhere along the line he was promoted to COLONEL. They committed many atrocities, the most heinous of which was the sacking of LAWRENCE, KANSAS. It was at that place that they killed more than 150 unarmed men, women and children and pillaged and burned the town. In October of 1863 they killed about 100 UNION SOLDIERS at BAXTER SPRINGS, KANSAS. In 1865 the guerrilla band was looting in KENTUCKY when a small force of UNION TROOPS surprised them and fatally wounded Quantrill. How much time, if any, WILLIAM LEACH spent in the unit is unknown. It also not known whether or not he was present at any of these reported events. 

The local legend further states that sometime in the early 1900s, FRANK JAMES paid MR. LEACH a visit. He was reportedly there to sell "FRUIT TREES" to local people. However, local rumor was that the two old cronies were planning something sinister. Judging from their age at the time I doubt that there was anything more serious than talking over "OLD TIMES". Indications are that MR. LEACH lived an upright and honorable life as a citizen Of SUNFLOWER COUNTY and was not suspected of any dishonest acts while a citizen there. We know that there were many atrocities committed by both Confederate and Union soldiers, those acts of QUANTRILL were more widely reported. QUANTRILL also continued his gorilla warfare after the war had ended.

WILLIAM LEACH'S WIFE MARY NEAL VANCE LEACH had died on 27 February 1901 which appears to have been prior to FRANK JAMES reported visit.

The house in which WILLIAM AND MARY LEACH lived is still standing and is reportedly one of two houses in the area that are well over 100 years old. The other house is the old WOLFE HOME where the parents of JERUSHA PARENTINE WOLFE VANCE (wife of JAMES B. VANCE) lived. This writer has recent pictures of the house owned and occupied by WILLIAM LEACH AND MARY NEAL VANCE LEACH which is still habitable. 

Information received after that above notes were made: the writer obtained a copy of the book 'FEVER, FLOODS AND FAITH, A HISTORY OF SUNFLOWER COUNTY MISSISSIPPI WRITTEN BY MARIE M. HEMPHILL". In this history it indicates that Mr. Leach was in Company B, 2nd Missouri, McCulloch Brigade. It is known that he had been born in Missouri. The history also states that Mr. Leach was at one time, POSTMASTER at SAINTS' REST, located near SHAW. In 1890 he was a MEMBER OF THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS (an elected position similar to County Commissioners today) of Sunflower County. 

There is also a story in the Sunflower County History about a citizen named WILLIAM M. DUNCAN who arrived in the County after the Civil War. He purchased the residence of WILLIAM O. Key in 1873 . He had grown up in MISSOURI near the home of JESSE AND FRANK JAMES and is said to have" known them well". The DUNCAN family tells a story about a MYSTERIOUS visitor who came to their home while Mr. DUNCAN WAS AWAY. They later learned that it was in fact FRANK JAMES and that he had come there to serve as the FAMILY PROTECTOR while Mr. Duncan traveled to MISSOURI to intercede for JESSE JAMES who was then in prison. Mr. DUNCAN is not listed among the men who served in the Civil War from that area and it is not known whether or not MR. LEACH AND MR. DUNCAN became confused in relating the LEGENDS OF THE AREA. 

There was a place named "GARVIN'S FERRY on the SUNFLOWER RIVER about 3 miles east of the present city of INDIANOLA. It is said that FRANK JAMES spent time there, incognito, posing as a fruit tree salesman. He is said to have stayed in the home of a MR. DOMINECK near the present day location of the ALLEN-BRASHER PLANTATION. Here again the similarity of the two stories indicates that the two were mixed together. 

Jesse James was shot and killed in 1882 so the time line for this later story is plausible. However I find no record that JESSE JAMES was ever imprisoned. There was an attempt made in about 1880 to obtain amnesty for him. Therefore the trip to MISSOURI by Mr. DUNCAN may have been in this connection. Needless to say the trip was in vain, there was a $10,000.00 reward for him, DEAD OR ALIVE. at the time he was shot and killed by BOB FORD, a member of his gang.

This situation indicates once again the folly of the use of LOCAL LEGENDS as FAMILY HISTORY. They do add to the mystery of the area and the individuals and should be recorded as "JUST LEGEND". This story is included here as JUST THAT." 

“ADDENDUM October 2004
This account of the death of WILLIAM CLARK QUANTRILL (shown below) was obtained from a CIVIL WAR SITE on the internet, That site carries a roster of QUANTRILLS RAIDERS. The names of neither Mr. Leach or Mr. Duncan appear on that list. It is not stated whether or not the list is complete but this probably indicates that if either of them served in that unit, it was for only a short time.

Quantrill, William Clarke was trapped in barn at Wakefield farm, about one mile from Smiley, Kentucky by Capt. Edward Terrell and his cavalry detachment. While attempting to escape, Quantrill was struck by two Spencer balls, one on the hand, the other paralyzing him from the waist down. He was transferred to a military hospital in Louisville, then to a Catholic hospital in Louisville. He died there at 4pm, 6 June 1865. He was buried in the old Portland Catholic Cemetery at Louisville. In 1887, his mother had his bones brought back to Ohio. The man she paid to remove the body stole some of the skeleton, and years later, parts of it showed up in the hands of a Kansas collector. In 1993, these parts were moved to Higginsville, MO, and re-interred in the Confederate Cemetery there.”