John Thomas Lesley (May 12, 1835 – July 13, 1913) was a cattleman and pioneer in

Tampa, Florida Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and ...

. He fought in the

Third Seminole War The Seminole Wars (also known as the Florida Wars) were three related military conflicts in Florida between the United States and the Seminole, citizens of a Native American nation which formed in the region during the early 1700s. Hostilities ...

and was a captain in the Confederate Army during the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

. Lesley formed his own volunteer company the "Sunny South Guards", and commanded the " Cow Cavalry", until he was wounded and replaced by W. B. Henderson. After the war he became a state senator. Prior to the Civil War he owned a few slaves.Tampa in Civil War and Reconstruction by Carter Brown Jr. Page 12 Major William Iredell Turner (1812-1881) and Lesley (then a major) helped Confederate Secretary of State

Judah P. Benjamin Judah Philip Benjamin, QC (August 6, 1811 – May 6, 1884) was a United States senator from Louisiana, a Cabinet officer of the Confederate States and, after his escape to the United Kingdom at the end of the American Civil War, an English ba ...

escape following the collapse of the Confederacy and hid Benjamin in a swamp behind Major Turner's House. He remained there for several days until they were sure the area was cleared of Federal soldiers. Benjamin was then transported to Gamble Mansion. Lesley was one of the original owners of the Tampa Street Railway. His marriage to

William T. Brown William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Eng ...

's daughter Margaret created what would become a powerful dynasty in business, politics and agriculture. Lesley's son William T. Lesley was Sheriff and a member of the Florida Constitutional Convention of 1885. Theodore Lesley, John T. Lesley's other son, was a county historian and preservationist. Lesley is buried in downtown Tampa's Oaklawn Cemetery.Oaklawn Walking Tour
Tampa Parks and Recreation

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lesley, John T. American people of Scottish descent Florida pioneers Florida state senators Mayors of Tampa, Florida 19th-century American people 1835 births 1913 deaths People of Florida in the American Civil War Confederate States Army personnel American cattlemen American slave owners