Michael Leib (January 8, 1760December 22, 1822) was an American physician and politician from

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

. He served as a surgeon in the Philadelphia Militia during 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 ...

. He served as a

Democratic-Republican The Democratic-Republican Party, known at the time as the Republican Party and also referred to as the Jeffersonian Republican Party among other names, was an American political party founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in the early ...

member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives three times; from 1795 to 1798, 1806 to 1808 and 1817 to 1818. He served as a member of 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 chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

for

Pennsylvania's 2nd congressional district Pennsylvania's second congressional district includes all of Northeast Philadelphia and parts of North Philadelphia east of Broad Street, as well as portions of Philadelphia's River Wards. It has been represented by Democrat Brendan Boyle since 2 ...

from 1799 to 1803 and for

Pennsylvania's 1st congressional district Pennsylvania's first congressional district includes all of Bucks County, Pennsylvania, Bucks County and a sliver of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Montgomery County in southeastern Pennsylvania. It has been represented by Brian Fitzpatrick (Am ...

from 1803 to 1806. He served as a member of the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

for Pennsylvania from 1809 to 1814. He also served as a member of the Pennsylvania State Senate for the 1st district from 1818 to 1821.

Biography

Leib was born in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

to George and Dorothea Leib. He studied and practiced medicine in Philadelphia, received a commission as a surgeon in the Philadelphia Militia in 1780 and served during the

. Following the war, Leib returned to Philadelphia and continued the practice of medicine. He served on the staff of several Philadelphia hospitals and was a member of the

committee of correspondence The committees of correspondence were, prior to the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, a collection of American political organizations that sought to coordinate opposition to British Parliament and, later, support for American independe ...

in 1793. He was one of the organizers of the German Republican Society in Philadelphia. He represented the large German immigrant poopulation in Philadelphia. He and

Benjamin Bache Benjamin Franklin Bache (August 12, 1769 – September 10, 1798) was an American journalist, printer and publisher. He founded the ''Philadelphia Aurora'', a newspaper that supported Jeffersonian philosophy. He frequently attacked the Federalis ...

became a part of a radical faction of the Society which led to a schism in the Society over the

Whiskey Rebellion The Whiskey Rebellion (also known as the Whiskey Insurrection) was a violent tax protest in the United States beginning in 1791 and ending in 1794 during the presidency of George Washington. The so-called "whiskey tax" was the first tax impo ...

. Leib and his brother volunteered to join the military force sent to control the insurrection. He was elected as a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and served from 1795 to 1798. He was elected to the

from Pennsylvania's 2nd congressional district and served from 1799 to 1803. He continued in the United States House of Representatives from

from 1803 to 1806. He resigned to return to the Pennsylvania House and served from 1806 to 1808. He served on the committee of correspondence for the

Chesapeake–Leopard affair The ''Chesapeake''–''Leopard'' affair was a naval engagement off the coast of Norfolk, Virginia, on June 22, 1807, between the British fourth-rate and the American frigate . The crew of ''Leopard'' pursued, attacked, and boarded the Americ ...

in June 1807. From 1805 to 1809, a power struggle ensued in the Pennsylvania Republican Party with Leib and William J. Duane on one side and Simon Snyder on the other. Duane and Leib represented the interests of Philadelphia, such as banking, trade and shipping, whereas Snyder represented the interests of rural Pennsylvania such as land ownership. In 1807, he was elected Brigadier-General of the Second Brigade of the Philadelphia Militia. Leib was

elected Elected may refer to: * "Elected" (song), by Alice Cooper, 1973 * ''Elected'' (EP), by Ayreon, 2008 *The Elected, an American indie rock band See also *Election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population ...

as a

to the United States Senate by the state legislature in December 1808. Leib was elected to the term beginning on March 4, 1809, but assumed office on January 9, 1809, following the resignation of

Samuel Maclay Samuel Maclay (June 17, 1741October 5, 1811) was an American surveyor, farmer, and politician from Union County, Pennsylvania. He served in the state legislature and represented Pennsylvania in both the U.S. House and the United States Senate. ...

. In 1809, he was a member of the committee that formed the "Whig Society of Pennsylvania". He served as a U.S. Senator until February 14, 1814, and resigned to serve as postmaster of Philadelphia from 1814 to 1815. He returned to the Pennsylvania House for a third time, from 1817 until 1818 and served as a

Pennsylvania State Senator The Pennsylvania State Senate is the upper house of the Pennsylvania General Assembly, the Pennsylvania state legislature. The State Senate meets in the State Capitol building in Harrisburg. Senators are elected for four year terms, staggered ever ...

for the 1st district from 1818 until 1821. He became

prothonotary The word prothonotary is recorded in English since 1447, as "principal clerk of a court," from L.L. ''prothonotarius'' ( c. 400), from Greek ''protonotarios'' "first scribe," originally the chief of the college of recorders of the court of the B ...

of the United States district court in Philadelphia in November 1822 and served in that role until his death in December 1822. He was interred at St. John's Lutheran Churchyard in the

Northern Liberties Northern Liberties is a neighborhood in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Prior to its incorporation into Philadelphia in 1854, it was among the top 10 largest cities in the U.S. in every census from 1790 to 1850. Boundaries Northern Liberties is loc ...

neighborhood of Philadelphia. In 1924, he was reinterred to the

Laurel Hill Cemetery Laurel Hill Cemetery is a historic rural cemetery in the East Falls neighborhood of Philadelphia. Founded in 1836, it was the second major rural cemetery in the United States after Mount Auburn Cemetery in Boston, Massachusetts. The cemetery is ...

in Philadelphia when the church and burial ground were demolished during the construction of the

Benjamin Franklin Bridge The Benjamin Franklin Bridge, originally named the Delaware River Bridge and known locally as the Ben Franklin Bridge, is a suspension bridge across the Delaware River connecting Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Camden, New Jersey. Owned and ...

Bibliography

A Portrait of the evils of democracy, submitted to the consideration of the people of Maryland
Baltimore Printed, 1816

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Leib, Michael 1760 births 1822 deaths 18th-century American physicians 18th-century American politicians 19th-century American politicians Pennsylvania postmasters Burials at Laurel Hill Cemetery (Philadelphia) Democratic-Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania Democratic-Republican Party United States senators Members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives Pennsylvania prothonotaries Pennsylvania state senators People of colonial Pennsylvania People of Pennsylvania in the American Revolution Physicians from Philadelphia Politicians from Philadelphia United States senators from Pennsylvania