Edward Owen Leech (December 9, 1850 – May 1, 1900) was

Director of the United States Mint The director of the United States Mint is a presidential appointment that requires a Senate confirmation. The incumbent is Ventris Gibson, who became director of the Mint on June 22, 2022, after serving in acting capacity. When the position ...

from 1889 to 1893.

Biography

Edward O. Leech was born on December 9, 1850, in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

where his father, Daniel D. Tompkins Leech (1810–1869) was an official with the

United States Post Office The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the U. ...

and then the

United States Department of the Treasury The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States, where it serves as an executive department. The department oversees the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and t ...

. Edward O. Leech was a direct lineal descendant of Lawrence Leach (1589–1662), a follower of

Francis Higginson Francis Higginson (1588–1630) was an early Puritan minister in Colonial New England, and the first minister of Salem, Massachusetts. Biography England The son of a minister, Francis Higginson received his B.A. degree from Jesus College, Ca ...

who settled in

Salem, Massachusetts Salem ( ) is a historic coastal city in Essex County, Massachusetts, located on the North Shore of Greater Boston. Continuous settlement by Europeans began in 1626 with English colonists. Salem would become one of the most significant seaports tr ...

in 1629; Edward O. Leech's great-grandfather, Captain Hezekiah Leach fought in the

French and Indian War The French and Indian War (1754–1763) was a theater of the Seven Years' War, which pitted the North American colonies of the British Empire against those of the French, each side being supported by various Native American tribes. At the ...

and the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

. Edward O. Leech was educated at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

, receiving an

A.B. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

in 1869. On the death of Leech's father in 1869, he became a clerk in the Bureau of Statistics of the

. When the Bureau of the Mint was organized in April 1873 in the wake of the

Coinage Act of 1873 The Coinage Act of 1873 or Mint Act of 1873, was a general revision of laws relating to the Mint of the United States. By ending the right of holders of silver bullion to have it coined into standard silver dollars, while allowing holders of go ...

, the

Henry Linderman Henry Richard Linderman (December 26, 1825 – January 27, 1879) was an American financier and superintendent of the US Mint. Biography Ancestry The Brodheads first arrived in America when Daniel Brodhead, a Captain of King Charles II's Grenad ...

, invited Leech to become one of his assistants. He subsequently served as assay clerk, adjuster of accounts, and computer of bullion. Leech earned an LL.M. from the National Law University in Washington, D.C. in 1886, but decided to remain with the Mint rather than go into legal practice. In 1889,

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...

Benjamin Harrison Benjamin Harrison (August 20, 1833March 13, 1901) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 23rd president of the United States from 1889 to 1893. He was a member of the Harrison family of Virginia–a grandson of the ninth pr ...

named Leech

. ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' editorialized against the appointment, arguing that Harrison only nominated Leech because of Leech's role in whitewashing a scandal involving Harrison's son,

Russell Benjamin Harrison Russell Benjamin Harrison (August 12, 1854 – December 13, 1936), also known as Russell Lord Harrison, was a businessman, lawyer, diplomat, and politician. Harrison was the son of U.S. President Benjamin Harrison and Caroline Harrison, and the g ...

, who had participated in a failed business venture in

Helena, Montana Helena (; ) is the capital city of Montana, United States, and the county seat of Lewis and Clark County. Helena was founded as a gold camp during the Montana gold rush, and established on October 30, 1864. Due to the gold rush, Helena would ...

while Russell Harrison was in charge of the Assay Office in Helena."Paying for Whitewash", ''New York Times'', Oct. 8, 1889
/ref> Leech served as Director of the Mint from October 1889 until May 1893. Upon retiring from government service, Leech became Vice President of the National Union Bank in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. At the

1896 Republican National Convention The 1896 Republican National Convention was held in a temporary structure south of the St. Louis City Hall in Saint Louis, Missouri, from June 16 to June 18, 1896. Former Governor William McKinley of Ohio was nominated for president on the firs ...

, Leech played a major role in securing a plank in the party's platform favorable to maintaining the

gold standard A gold standard is a monetary system in which the standard economic unit of account is based on a fixed quantity of gold. The gold standard was the basis for the international monetary system from the 1870s to the early 1920s, and from the la ...

. Leech died of complications related to

appendicitis Appendicitis is inflammation of the appendix. Symptoms commonly include right lower abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and decreased appetite. However, approximately 40% of people do not have these typical symptoms. Severe complications of a rup ...

at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York on May 1, 1900.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Leech, Edward Owen 1850 births 1900 deaths People from Washington, D.C. Directors of the United States Mint Columbia University alumni Washington, D.C., Republicans New York (state) Republicans Deaths from appendicitis Members of the United States Assay Commission Benjamin Harrison administration personnel Cleveland administration personnel