Jefferson Reynolds Leason
JEFFERSON REYNOLDS LEASON (deceased) was one of the younger members of the Armstrong county bar and a progressive citizen of Kittanning, in which borough he was born Aug. 11, 1883, son of Mirven F. and Hannah (Reynolds) Leason.
Robert Leason, his great-grandfather, was born in Westmoreland county, Pa., of Scotch-Irish ancestry.
Rev. Thomas Leason, his son, grandfather of Jefferson R. Leason, was a Presbyterian minister, for many years stationed at Armstrong county. At one time he was in charge of the Presbyterian Church at Leechburg, Pa. His death occurred in 1891, and his remains are interred at Brookville, Pa.; his wife passed away in 1889. They had the following children: Mirven F., Elisha, Eliza, and several who died in infancy.
Mirven F. Leason, son of Rev. Thomas, and father of Jefferson R., was born in Jefferson county, Pa., and educated at Princeton College, New Jersey. He was admitted to the bar of Armstrong county in 1879, having been admitted previously to that of Jefferson county. Until his death, which occurred May 29, 1909, he continued in active practice. During 1881 and 1882 he was district attorney of Armstrong county, and was placed on the Republican ticket for judge. A man of unswerving principles, he fearlessly did what he believed to be his duty, and being unusually intelligent and well read was a power in his community. Five children were born to himself and wife: Mary L., wife of H. W. Bovard; Jefferson R.; Helen R.; Judith D.; and Myrvinne. Mrs. Leason died May 2, 1901, firm in the faith of the Presbyterian church, to which she and her husband belonged. Mr. Leason was a Knight Templar Mason, and a member of the order of Elks. The father of Mrs. Leason, Jefferson Reynolds, was a member of an old and prominent family of Armstrong county, where he was born an reared, later becoming a lawyer of distinction, so that Jefferson R. Leason, his namesake, came very naturally by his legal ability, inheriting it from both sides of the house.
Jefferson R. Leason attended the public schools of Kittanning, and the Andover Preparatory School (Phillips Academy at Andover, Mass.), and entered Pennsylvania State College for a two-year course. Following this he read law with his father, and was admitted to the Armstrong county bar in 1907. In 1909 Mr. Leason was elected district attorney for his county on the Republican ticket, and followed his father's footsteps in proving himself a fearless official. This office has also been filled by Mr. Reynolds, his maternal grandfather and Mr. Mirven F. Leason, his father. He was a member of the Order of Elks, belonging to Kittanning lodge. Mr. Leason died suddenly in Pittsburgh, Pa., of heart failure, April 13, 1913, and was buried at Kittanning.
In November, 1909, Mr. Leason married Margaret Buffington, daughter of Orr Buffington, an attorney of Kittanning, and one of the city's eminent men. She survives him with one son, born July 8, 1911, who bears his father's name, Jefferson Reynolds.
Source: Pages 581-582, Armstrong County, Pa., Her People, Past and Present, J.H. Beers & Co., 1914
Transcribed January 1999 by Connie Mateer for the Armstrong County Beers Project
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