Leake and Watts Services, Inc. is a

not-for-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

social services agency 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 ...

that provides services for children and families in the areas of

foster care Foster care is a system in which a minor has been placed into a ward, group home (residential child care community, treatment center, etc.), or private home of a state-certified caregiver, referred to as a "foster parent" or with a family mem ...

adoption Adoption is a process whereby a person assumes the parenting of another, usually a child, from that person's biological or legal parent or parents. Legal adoptions permanently transfer all rights and responsibilities, along with filiation, from ...

special education Special education (known as special-needs education, aided education, exceptional education, alternative provision, exceptional student education, special ed., SDC, or SPED) is the practice of educating students in a way that accommodates th ...

, Head Start and other related subjects."Who We Are: Overview"
on the Leake and Watts Services website It has facilities in

Yonkers Yonkers () is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States. Developed along the Hudson River, it is the third most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City and Buffalo. The population of Yonkers was 211,569 as enu ...

Westchester County, New York Westchester County is located in the U.S. state of New York. It is the seventh most populous county in the State of New York and the most populous north of New York City. According to the 2020 United States Census, the county had a population o ...

, and in

the Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

and

upper Manhattan Upper Manhattan is the most northern region of the New York City borough of Manhattan. Its southern boundary has been variously defined, but some of the most common usages are 96th Street, the northern boundary of Central Park ( 110th Street), ...

. The agency began as the Leake and Watts Orphan Asylum in Manhattan."History"
on the Leake and Watts Services website In 2018, Leake and Watts Services was rebranded as Rising Ground. A description of the organization today is available at Rising_Ground.

History

John George Leake (1752–1827) was a New York lawyer who had no children or siblings. He died on June 2, 1827 at his home on Park Row in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

. His estate, which included personal property valued at about $300,000 and real estate worth an additional $86,000, he left to Robert Watts, the son of his best friend John Watts, with the stipulation that Robert Watts change his name to "Robert Leake." Watts made the change, but died a few months later, leaving no will. The Leake fortune would then have passed to his father, John Watts, but considering the circumstances Watts was uncomfortable with receiving the money. In the legal papers of John Leake was an unsigned and undated draft of a will in his handwriting, in which he left money to create a home for orphaned children, and assigned his friend, John Watts, to administer the home. Watts petitioned the court to put the money to this use. The Public Administrator of New York took charge of the estate, ruling that Leake had died

intestate Intestacy is the condition of the estate of a person who dies without having in force a valid will or other binding declaration. Alternatively this may also apply where a will or declaration has been made, but only applies to part of the estat ...

. After a court decision the cash was released to the orphanage but his real estate was kept by

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 ...

. Originally located at Trinity Church, a new building for the orphanage at West 112th Street in

Morningside Heights, Manhattan Morningside Heights is a neighborhood on the West Side of Upper Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by Morningside Drive to the east, 125th Street to the north, 110th Street to the south, and Riverside Drive to the west. Morningside H ...

, was completed in 1843, designed by

Ithiel Town Ithiel Town (October 3, 1784 – June 13, 1844) was an American architect and civil engineer. One of the first generation of professional architects in the United States, Town made significant contributions to American architecture in the ...

and constructed by Samuel Thomson in the

Greek revival The Greek Revival was an architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States and Canada, but ...

style. The site of the orphanage was purchased in 1891 by Bishop

Henry Codman Potter Henry Codman Potter (May 25, 1834 – July 21, 1908) was a bishop of the Episcopal Church of the United States. He was the seventh bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of New York. Potter was "more praised and appreciated, perhaps, than any public man ...

for the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, and the building was to be torn down. However, the building was preserved as part of the cathedral close, renovated in 2006, and is the oldest building still standing in Morningside Heights. The Leake & Watts Board of Trustees purchased a 40-acre in Yonkers, New York, in 1888. In 1890 the orphanage opened in Yonkers. In 2012, a 16-year-old student named Corey Foster died at Leake and Watts while being restrained by the institution's staff after refusing to leave the basketball court. The institute's practices, which include

solitary confinement Solitary confinement is a form of imprisonment in which the inmate lives in a single cell with little or no meaningful contact with other people. A prison may enforce stricter measures to control contraband on a solitary prisoner and use additi ...

and punitive restraints, have been criticized. However, the Westchester County District Attorney led a three-month investigation into the incidence and concluded that no criminal charges were warranted. In 2018, Leake & Watts changed its name to Rising Ground.

Timeline

*1827 – Death of Leake *1831 – Leake & Watts Orphan House is founded in New York City for "the maintenance and education of helpless orphan children" by John Watts, according to the terms of a bequest by his brother-in-law, John George Leake. *1838 – Cornerstone for new building laid *1843 – The Leake & Watts Orphan House moves to the current site of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in Upper Manhattan. *1850 – Leake & Watts Orphan House opens its doors to girls. *1890 – The Home is moved outside the city to the farm of

Edwin Forrest Edwin Forrest (March 9, 1806December 12, 1872) was a prominent nineteenth-century American Shakespearean actor. His feud with the British actor William Macready was the cause of the deadly Astor Place Riot of 1849. Early life Forrest was born i ...

, the grounds were designed by

Frederick Law Olmsted Frederick Law Olmsted (April 26, 1822August 28, 1903) was an American landscape architect, journalist, social critic, and public administrator. He is considered to be the father of landscape architecture in the USA. Olmsted was famous for co- ...

. *1921 – The "cottage system" is implemented at Leake & Watts. First implemented for girls, the system featured six cottages with cottage parents, housing 10-30 girls each on the Yonkers campus. *1937 – A Social Services Department with trained social work staff is established. *1944 – The Foster Home Department is established. *1947 – Leake & Watts merges with the Orphan Home and Asylum of the Episcopal Church and the Sevilla-Hopewell Society of Brooklyn. *General source:

References

Notes

External links

*
The Leake and Watts Children's Home 1802-1983 at the New York Historical Society
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leake And Watts Services Buildings and structures in Manhattan Charities based in New York City Social welfare charities based in the United States Orphanages in New York (state) 1831 establishments in New York (state)