From Three Seperate Books
Descendants of Thomas Lackey & Agness Leech
Generation No.1 1. THOMAS1 LACKEY was born Bet. 1728 - 1735 in Ireland, and died 1814 in Rockbridge Co. VA. He married AGNES LEECH 1754 in Lancaster Co. PA. She was born Bet. 1730 - 1735 in Ireland, and died 1814 in Rockbridge Co. VA. Marilyn B. Headley , Immigrants From Ireland There are a variety of surname spellings in the old documents, with LECKY believed to be the original.From Family Name History,courtesy of James A. Lackey, Sr. of Kent, Washington: "When found in England the surname Leckey or Lecky, Leckie and Leakey is ultimately of Scottish origin. The name is of local origin, that is, it belongs in the category of surnames derived from the place where the initial bearer once lived or held land. In this instance, the name indicates 'one who came from Leckey,' The name of a baronry in the parish of Gargunnock in Sterlingshire. In Scotland this name is especially found in the shires of Dumbarton and Stirling. . . . Refractory stones called “lecks,” useful in forging iron or steel, are found in Sterlingshire. Workmen in that land of lecks came to be called Leckies. They might have forged weapons for William Wallace but they had no clan tartan; they were artisans or tradesmen, not land owners. . . . and the Leckies of Antrim and Carlow in Ireland are of Scottish descent, having been brought here during the Plantation period of the seventeenth century." King James I had forced many Scottish tradesmen or artisans to leave their homes in Scotland and relocate to Ireland in the period around 1620. King James wanted the Protestant Scots to displace the Catholic Irish in the Ulster region, but the means of production were still controlled by the Anglicans of England, thus the Ulster Plantation."
George W. Diehl, The Brick Church On Timber Ridge : “Among the passengers on board an emigrant ship sailing from Londonderry, Ireland, 1n 1748, was a Leech Family of seven and young twenty-year-old Thomas Lackey. Five of the Leeches died and were buried at sea, leaving only eighteen-year old-Agnes and her nine-year old brother John. Landing at a Delaware port, most of the immigrants made their way to the frontier and settled in Lancaster County, Pa. Here six years later, in 1754, Thomas Lackey and Agnes Leech were married and then, with her brother John and his bride, the former Martha McComb, they moved across the Potomac River and made their way up the Shenandoah Valley, finally settling a few miles west of the Natural Bridge in Augusta County, now Rockbridge.... He was a master craftsman in wood-working, a cabinet maker and wheelright. Being well educated, he acted as the scribe for the community. In the American Revolution, he served as a scout." Clementine Raily : House of Ochiltree : (A repeat of much of Rev. Diehl’s words about Thomas and Agnes and she adds the following:) "Thomas and Agnes (Leech) Lackey came from Pennsylvania to Rockbridge County, Virginia in 1768. Their home was about two miles west of the Natural Bridge. The large outside chimney of the old house still stands. (1916) Thomas Lackey was a wheelwright by trade; and he made the large and small spinning wheels in use in those days. They are said by a descendant, who remembers having seen some made by him, to have been fine specimens of workmanship, having his initials carved in the wood.. . . Thomas Lackey is said to have been a fine looking man, of fine physique, six feet tall, and to have resembled George Washington. He possessed ability as a scribe, and had the confidence of his fellow citizens, who came to him to get writing done, in matters which required ability and judgment. Children of Thomas Lackey and Agnes Leech are: + 2 i. Thomas2 Lackey II, born 1755 in PA; died 1827 in Timber Ridge, Rockbridge Co. VA. 3 ii. Nathan Lackey, born 1757 in PA; died 1839 in Clark Co. KY. + 4 iii. James Lackey/Lecky, born 1759 in PA; died Bet.1819-1829 in Rockbridge Co. VA. + 5 iv. Martha Lackey, born 1761 in PA; died 15 Feb 1843 in Fairhaven, Preble Co. OH. 6 v. Mary Lackey, born 1763 in Rockbridge Co. VA; died in W VA. + 7 vi. Elizabeth Lackey, born 1765 in PA; died 06 August 1834 in Rockbridge Co. VA. + 8 vii. Margaret Lackey, born 1767. Sources: Railey, Clementine Brown;House of Ochiltree, Sterling, KS: Bulletin Printing Co, 1916 Marilyn B. Headley Lackey Family Bible (1807); owned by Joseph H Knick, Martinez Georgia. Rockbridge Co. VA Notebook,Compiled by A. Maxim Coppage, III) James A. Lackey, Sr. |