Cumberland County, Maine – Andrew Leighton
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Biography
Andrew Leighton
Biographical Review
Cumberland County, Maine
Boston
Biographical Review Publishing Company
1896
Page 83-84

ANDREW LEIGHTON, present Commander of W. L. Haskell Post, Grand Army of the
Republic, is a retired produce dealer and a well-known farmer of Yarmouth,. Me.
He was born in Pittsfield, Somerset County, Me., February 28, 1824, son of James
and Prudence (Blanchard) Leighton. The family is of English origin not very
remote, Mr. Leighton's greatgrandfather having emigrated from England to America
and become one of the early settlers in Cumberland County. Andrew Leighton, Mr.
Leighton's grandfather, was a native and lifelong resident of the town of
Cumberland in this county. He was prominently identified with the early growth
of the place, and built the county road from Falmouth to Portland. He built and
conducted the old Leighton tavern which is still standing in West Cumberland,
and is now in the family's possession. He was an enterprising, public-spirited
man. In politics he was a Democrat and in his religious faith a Methodist. He
died at the age of seventy, and his wife lived to reach the age of eighty years.
They reared a family of ten sons and two daughters, as follows: William, Moses,
Joseph, Andrew, Daniel, James, Ezekiel, Nicholas, Stephen, Robert, Lovey, and
Massa. Joseph and Andrew were lost at sea in the privateer "Dash" in 1812, on
George's Banks, it is supposed.

James Leighton, Mr. Leighton's father, was born in Cumberland in 1788, and
served as a soldier in the War of 1812. In early manhood he bought a farm of
three hundred acres situated in the town of Pittsfield, Me., where he resided
for twelve years. Then, disposing of his Pittsfield property, he moved to Upper
Stillwater, in the town of Orono, and there engaged successfully in lumbering
and operating a saw-mill. At the end of five years he returned to Cumberland,
and, purchasing a grist-mill, continued to carry it on for the rest of his life.
He died at the age of forty-eight years. His wife, Prudence Blanchard, who was
born in Cumberland in January, 18o1, became the mother of ten children, four of
whom are living, namely: Andrew, the subject of this sketch, who is the eldest;
James M., whose home is in Cumberland; Enos; and Joseph, a resident of
California. The others were: Charles J., Christian, Loemma, Francis, Roxanna,
and Margaret. The mother lived to reach the age of seventy-four years. Mr.
Leighton's parents were members of the Methodist Episcopal church, and his
father was a Whig in politics.

Andrew Leighton passed his boyhood in Pittsfield, Cumberland, and Yarmouth; and
he received his education in the district schools. At the age of twelve years he
went to live with his grandfather Blanchard in Cumberland Centre, and when
eighteen years old began to work as a farm hand, receiving ten dollars per
month. He saved his earnings; and five years later, in 1847, he settled upon his
present farm, which originally contained thirty-five acres, and has been
increased by later purchase to sixty-four acres. Mr. Leighton has made various
improvements in the property, and in connection with farming he did a prosperous
business as a dealer in pressed hay and produce for many years. Some time since,
he retired from that business, in favor of his son, who now carries it on; and
he devotes his attention to the cultivation of his farm.

In 1862 Mr. Leighton enlisted as a private in Company E, Seventeenth Regiment,
Maine Volunteers, under Captain Ellis M. Sawyer, and served until the close of
the Civil War, taking part in several important engagements, including the
battles of Fredericksburg, Cedar Creek, where he was severely wounded,
Chancellorsville, and Fort Stephens. He was disabled at Chancellorsville, and
was in the Convalescent Corps for six months, from which he was transferred to
the Veteran Reserve Corps, and later to Company C, Sixth Regiment. He was made
Corporal of the company, but acted as Orderly Sergeant until mustered out on
July 8, 1865. He is now prominent in Grand Army circles, as above noted. Mr.
Leighton supports the Republican party in politics, and in 1869 and 1870 he ably
represented his district in the legislature.

On January 16, 1851, Mr. Leighton was united in marriage with Ruth Etta Purves,
who was born in Cumberland, August 20, 1829. Her parents, Adam and Ruth Purves,
were old residents of Cumberland, whose ancestors were of Scotch origin. Mr. and
Mrs. Leighton have had four children, namely: Fred W., who is engaged in the hay
and produce business in Yarmouth ; Ella Frances, who died at the age of twenty-
four years; Mary Etta, who resides at home; and Hattie F., who married John E.
Baker, and lives in West Deering. Mr. Leighton and his family are members of the
Congregational church.