Joshua A. "Josh" Leach (May 8, 1843 – June 28, 1919) was an American locomotive worker and trade union functionary. He is best remembered as the founder of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen (B of LF) in 1873 and head of that organization from 1873 to 1876. Traveling to

Terre Haute, Indiana Terre Haute ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Vigo County, Indiana, United States, about 5 miles east of the state's western border with Illinois. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 60,785 and its metropolitan area had a ...

, on behalf of the firemen's order in February 1875, Leach inspired the 19-year-old

Eugene V. Debs Eugene Victor "Gene" Debs (November 5, 1855 – October 20, 1926) was an American socialism, socialist, political activist, trade unionist, one of the founding members of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), and five times the candidate ...

to become active in the organization, leading to his election as Secretary-Treasurer in 1880 and starting him on a career as a trade union organizer.

Biography

Early years

Joshua A. Leach was born in Nenagh,

County Tipperary County Tipperary ( ga, Contae Thiobraid Árann) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. The county is named after the town of Tipperary, and was established in the early 13th century, shortly after th ...

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, on May 8, 1843. He emigrated with his parents to the United States when he was a three-month-old infant, with the family settling in Port Jervis, New York."Joshua A. Leach Dead At Denver,"
''Parsons SDaily Sun,'' June 28, 1919, pg. 1. He grew up in that small town in southern

New York state New York, officially the State of New York, is a state in the Northeastern United States. It is often called New York State to distinguish it from its largest city, New York City. With a total area of , New York is the 27th-largest U.S. stat ...

. In 1861, Leach volunteered to fight for the Union cause during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

as a member of the 56th New York Volunteer Infantry. He was married to the former Sarah A. Tuthill in 1864 when at home on furlough from the war. The 56th New York Infantry would muster out on October 17, 1865, at

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston metropolitan area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint o ...

Founding the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen

In 1869 Leach took a job as a locomotive fireman for the

Erie Railroad The Erie Railroad was a railroad that operated in the northeastern United States, originally connecting New York City — more specifically Jersey City, New Jersey, where Erie's Pavonia Terminal, long demolished, used to stand — with Lake Erie ...

.Eugene V. Debs
"Joshua A. Leach,"
''Locomotive Firemen's Magazine,'' vol. 13, no. 6 (June 1889), pp. 498-500. The job was perilous with insurance against death or dismemberment frequently difficult or impossible to obtain for poorly paid railway workers, and Leach began to think about the establishment of a fraternal benefit society for the firemen patterned on the already established Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers (B of LE). In December 1873, Leach got together with 11 other employees of the Erie Railroad to establish a new fraternal-benefit society, which they named the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen (B of LF). The group established Lodge No. 1 of the new order, nicknamed Deer Park. Leach would be elected the organization's first chief executive officer of the B of LF, remaining in that capacity until 1876. Leach traveled extensively on behalf of the new brotherhood, helping to launch many of the fledgling order's first lodges. In the evening of February 27, 1875, Leach held an organizing meeting in

, where he made the acquaintance of a young grocery warehouseman who had until recently worked as a locomotive fireman. The 19-year-old,

, was inspired by Leach's presentation and became the secretary of B of LF Lodge No. 16, Vigo Lodge. Debs would go on to become associate editor of the B of LF's monthly magazine in 1878, and editor and secretary-treasurer of the organization in 1880.Eugene V. Debs, "How I Became a Socialist," ''The Comrade'' ew York vol. 1, no. 7 (April 1902), pp. 146-148. In October 1877, Leach relocated from Port Jervis to Nebraska City, Nebraska, where he lived on a farm. Leach went to work for the

Missouri Pacific Railroad The Missouri Pacific Railroad , commonly abbreviated as MoPac, was one of the first railroads in the United States west of the Mississippi River. MoPac was a Class I railroad growing from dozens of predecessors and mergers. In 1967, the railroad ...

, soon gaining promotion from fireman to the better paid and more responsible position of engineer.

Later years

By the first decade of the 20th century, Leach had gained sufficient gravitas to earn the popular nickname "Dad" among locomotive enginemen."'Dad' Leach at Nevada,"
''Sedalia Democrat,'' November 17, 1905, pg. 4. He was hired by the International Correspondence School for a position and worked briefly as a traveling instructor aboard an educational railway car. Leach and four others traveled railroads throughout the west, providing on site instruction to railroad workers on the use of airbrakes, the technical aspects of locomotive engines, and what to do in case of emergencies. During his later years Leach continued to work as a locomotive engineer for the

."Founded a Brotherhood,"
''Pittsburgh Daily Post,'' June 29, 1919, pg. 15. The Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen & Engineers which he founded made a gift to him of a home in

Sedalia, Missouri Sedalia is a city located approximately south of the Missouri River and, as the county seat of Pettis County, Missouri, United States, it is the principal city of the Sedalia Micropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2010 census, the city had ...

, to which he retired sometime during the middle-1910s.

Death and legacy

Visiting

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, to attend the triennial convention of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen & Enginemen in June 1919, Leach was stricken with a bout of pleurisy and chest pain. He was able to attend only the first day of the convention before being incapacitated by illness."Joshua A. Leach Dead,"
''Hays SFree Press,'' July 10, 1919, pg. 2. He would never leave the city of Denver alive. At 8:15 pm on June 28 Leach suffered a massive

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

, which proved fatal. He was 76 years old at the time of his death. Leach's body was subsequently transported for burial to his hometown of

Biography

Early years

Founding the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen

Later years

Death and legacy

Footnotes

Further reading