Leedham, Frank

LEEDHAM, WELCH, MISSENS, LEFFINGWELL

Posted By: Volunteer Transcribers
Date: 10/11/2003 at 20:11:31

(This comes from Wolfe's History of Clinton County, Iowa, Vol I, 1911, p 700)

FRANK W. LEEDHAM.

Local politics in Clinton county have been marked by a strong spirit of independence, and the county officers are chosen by the voters on account of personal merit, and not because of partisanship. This is shown by the fact that the officers are usually divided between the parties, and that officers who have rendered exceptional services have been retained long in office. So in this county more than in most it is a personal tribute to a man to retain him in office for several terms, and it is an indication of unusual merit and a proof of the people's confidence when one man has been twelve years auditor of this county, and during that time has received large majorities, when the most of the officers elected were on the ticket of the opposite party.
Frank W. Leedham was born on May 10, 1867, in Lyons, Iowa, the son of Thomas and Ann (Welch) Leedham. Thomas Leedham was born in Lincolnshire, England, on July 21, 1828, the son of Thomas and Martha (Missens) Leedham, who both were natives of the same country. He learned the butcher's trade, and worked at the same in London for seven years; then in 1853 emigrated to Lyons, Iowa, and was engaged as a butcher there until 1862, when he visited his native country. On his return he again took up the meat business, and was very successful. He was also a stock buyer and shipped large numbers of cattle to the Chicago markets, and was a large owner of city and farm property and a stockholder in the Clinton and Fulton High Bridge. In 1901 he retired from active business, and died in 1906. He was a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen. In politics he was an independent voter, and in religious affiliation a member of the Episcopal church. Mr. Leedham was a man of high rank and standing in the business world of his city, and had many personal friends. In 1849 he was married to Ann Welch, a native of England, who was born in 1826, and died in 1896. She bore him seven children.
Frank W. Leedham received his education in Lyons and in Griswell's College in Davenport, Iowa. For several years he was employed as a bookkeeper by the Lyons Lumber Company and by W. J. Young & Company, where he became a valuable man. In 1900 he was nominated for county auditor on the Republican ticket, was elected, and has been six times re-elected, on some occasions in the face of a Democratic landslide. In 1908 he was one of the few Republicans elected, and received a majority of over twelve hundred and in 1910 a majority of nearly seventeen hundred, while one of the Democratic candidates for county office received a majority of two thousand. This show how the people of Clinton county appreciate Mr. Leedham's services in office better than could any words of encomium. In 1907, when the Legislature passed a law requiring the adoption of certain blank forms and books by county officers, Mr. Leedham was one of the two auditors on a committee of seven chosen to prepare the forms. In 1909 he was elected president of the County Auditors' Association of Iowa. Mr. Leedham is a thirty-second-degree Mason, an Odd Fellow and a Knight of Pythias, and takes active part in the work of all these lodges.
In 1892 Mr. Leedham was married to Blanch Leffingwell, of Lyons, an accomplished lady of especial musical talent. To this marriage have been born four bright and interesting children, Harry L., Helen A., Donald W., and Margaret W.
Mr. Leedham is well known to the people of Clinton county as an accomplished accountant, a man whose honor and integrity are such that they have absolute confidence in him, and a courteous and accommodating gentleman. His many friends have been deservedly gained on account of his enduring qualities of manhood.