Leiper, Thomas, 1745-1825

Thomas Leiper was born December 15, 1745 in Strathaven, Lanark, Scotland. He was educated at Glasgow and Edinburgh and immigrated to America in 1763, landing in Virginia where his brother already resided. He was immediately introduced into the business of tobacco, and within several years moved to Philadelphia where he opened a tobacco shop and "engaged in the storing and exportation of tobacco," (Leach). During the Revolutionary War, Leiper became the principal tobacco provider in Philadelphia. In 1776, Leiper purchased land in Delaware County that included a mill at a waterfall on the Crum Creek. He established snuff mills and later purchased a stone quarry. In addition to Leiper’s tobacco business being very successful, over approximately 20 years, he “acquired a total of 728 acres following Crum Creek to the Delaware River,” (Leiper Church). According to Leach, Leiper "amassed a large fortune, which enabled him to subscribe freely to the improvement of Philadelphia and that part of Delaware County in the neighborhood of "Avondale," his country residence."

Leiper was one of the founders of the first troop of Light Horse of the City of Philadelphia, and served in the Revolutionary War, seeing action at Trenton, Princeton, Brandywine, Germantown, Monmouth, and York. Along with his troop, he acted as bodyguard for George Washington and as a defender in the "Fort Wilson Riot" which took place at the home of James Wilson. While most sources state that Leiper served as lieutenant and treasurer of that troop, other sources indicate that he served as a private. Politically, Leiper was a democrat. He served as a presidential elector, director of the Banks of Pennsylvania and the United States, and served as President of the Philadelphia City Council from 1802 to 1805. He also served as a member and President of the Common Council of Philadelphia in 1813. He had much interaction with politicians in the early republic including George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, to whom he rented a house in Philadelphia.

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