Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography, genealogical-memorial ...

place in the business life of the town
which gave him birth. He was of the
ninth generation of the family founded in
Connecticut by Governor William Leete,
each one of these generations except the
governor born in Connecticut, and all liv-
ing in Guilford, until Henry William
Leete, of the seventh generation, moved
to Wallingford, Connecticut. George
Leete, his son, later moved to Thompson-
ville, where Arthur R. Leete was born.
This is a solid Connecticut family, most
of the wives also having been born in Con-
necticut, and for ninety years from the
founding of Guilford no Leete moved
away from that town.
The name Leete, during the many cen-
turies it has existed as a surname, has
been variously spelled, but as early as the
reign of Queen Elizabeth there were those
who used the form Leete, and for the past
two generations that has been the most
used form. The family bore arms
Arms—Argent on a fesse, gules between two
rolls of matches. Sable fired proper, a martley
or.
Crest—On a ducal coronet, or, fired proper.
The earliest mention of the family is
found in Morden, Cambridgeshire, Eng-
land, in 1209.
(I) The founder of the family in Amer-
ica was William Leete, one of the first
settlers of Guilford, Connecticut, and
Governor of the New Haven and Connecticut
colonies. He was a son of John
and Anna (Shute) Leete, and grandson
of Thomas and Maria (Slade) Leete, of
Ockington, Cambridgeshire, England. He
was "bred to the law," but he became a
Puritan, came to New England in Rev.
Mr. Whitefield's company, was one of the
signers of the Plantation Covenant on
shipboard, June 1, 1639, and about July
10, following, arrived in New Haven.
When Guilford was agreed upon as a
:
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
32
place to settle, he was one of the six to
purchase the land of the native Indians.
The section of outlying lands he owned
at Guilford yet retains the name "Leete's
Island," and has been owned and occu-
pied for nearly three centuries by Leetes.
William Leete was called upon to fill
many public offices. He was clerk of the
plantation, 1639-62, was one of the four
to whom was entrusted supreme civil
power, was one of the seven pillars of
the church, one of the founders of the
colony of New Haven, deputy to the Gen-
eral Court, 1643-50; magistrate, 1651-58;
Governor, 1661,
deputy governor, 1658-61 ;
until the colony of New Haven was united
with Connecticut in 1664. After the union
he was assistant until 1669, then deputy
governor of the Connecticut Colony until
1676, when he was elected Governor, a
high position he held through successive
reelections until his death in 1683. Guil-
ford was his home until his election as
Governor of Connecticut, when he moved
to Hartford, and there died and was
buried. His tombstone was discovered
about 1830, in the ancient burying ground
in the rear of the First Church of Hart-
ford, where it had long been hidden be-
neath an accumulation of earth. His de-
scendants have since erected a plain
granite monument to his memory. Says
Trumbull: "He was magistrate, deputy
governor, or Governor, of one or the other
of the Colonies during a period of forty
years. In both Colonies he presided in
times of the greatest difficulty, yet always
conducted himself with such integrity and
wisdom as to meet the public approba-
tion." Governor William Leete married
(first) in England, about 1638, Anna
Payne, daughter of Rev. John Payne, ofi
Southhoe. She was the mother of his
nine children; he was twice married after
her death. This branch continues through
John, the first born.