Shelton Farrar Leake (November 30, 1812 – March 4, 1884) was a nineteenth-century politician, lawyer and teacher from

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

. He served as Virginia’s first lieutenant governor from 1852 to 1856. He also served two non-consecutive terms in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

Biography

Born near Hillsboro,

Albemarle County, Virginia Albemarle County is a county located in the Piedmont region of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Its county seat is Charlottesville, which is an independent city and enclave entirely surrounded by the county. Albemarle County is part of the Char ...

Leake completed preparatory studies, taught school, studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1835, commencing practice in

Charlottesville, Virginia Charlottesville, colloquially known as C'ville, is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is the county seat of Albemarle County, which surrounds the city, though the two are separate legal entities. It is named after Queen Ch ...

. He was a member of the

Virginia House of Delegates The Virginia House of Delegates is one of the two parts of the Virginia General Assembly, the other being the Senate of Virginia. It has 100 members elected for terms of two years; unlike most states, these elections take place during odd-numbe ...

in 1842 and 1843 and was elected a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

to the United States House of Representatives in 1844, serving from 1845 to 1847. Afterward, Leake resumed practicing law and in 1851 was elected the first

Lieutenant Governor of Virginia The lieutenant governor of Virginia is a constitutional officer of the Commonwealth of Virginia. The lieutenant governor is elected every four years along with the governor and attorney general. The office is currently held by Winsome Earle S ...

, serving from 1852 to 1856. He was elected back to the House of Representatives as an

Independent Democrat In U.S. politics, an independent Democrat is an individual who loosely identifies with the ideals of the Democratic Party but chooses not to be a formal member of the party (chooses to be an independent) or is denied the Democratic nomination i ...

in 1858, serving again from 1859 to 1861. Leake again resumed practicing law until his death in

on March 4, 1884. He was interred in Charlottesville in Maplewood Cemetery.

Electoral history

*1845; Leake was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives with 52.55% of the vote, defeating an Independent identified only as Irving. *1859; Leake was re-elected with 59.17% of the vote, defeating Democrat Paulus Powell.

External links

* 1812 births 1884 deaths People from Albemarle County, Virginia Members of the Virginia House of Delegates Virginia lawyers Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Virginia Lieutenant Governors of Virginia Virginia Independents Independent Democrat members of the United States House of Representatives 19th-century American politicians 19th-century American lawyers {{Virginia-Representative-stub