Walter Leake

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Walter Leake (May 25, 1769November 17, 1825) served as a United States Senator from Mississippi (1817 - 1820) and as Governor of Mississippi (1822 - 1825).

He was the first Governor of Mississippi to die in office. Leake County, Mississippi, as well as Leakesville, Mississippi are named for him.

A native Virginian, he was born 1762 in Albemarle County, Virginia, the son of Captain Mask Leake and nephew of Rev. Samuel Leake (Princeton University graduate and a member of the first Board of Trustees of Hampden-Sydney College), an ancestor of Senator John McCain of Arizona. Walter Leake's daughter, Susan Wingfield Leake, married 1807 Henry Goodloe Johnston of Spotsylvania Co., VA and was an ancestor of Haley Reeves Barbour, also Govenor of Mississippi.

Preceded by
None
United States Senator (Class 1) from Mississippi
1817–1820
Served alongside: Thomas H. Williams
Succeeded by
David Holmes
Preceded by
George Poindexter
Governor of Mississippi Succeeded by
Gerard Brandon
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