Biography

01/08/1760 - 12/08/1822

Doctor, Brigadier General Michael Leib (Federalist1) Philadelphia City and Philadelphia County 1818-1819 (Old School1) Philadelphia City and Philadelphia County 1819-1820 (Federalist1) Philadelphia City, Philadelphia County 1820-1822

Early Life:

Doctor, Brigadier General Michael Leib, born, January 8, 1760, Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania Province, British Colonial America; son of George and Dorothea Leib; common school education; studied medicine; commenced practice, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; commissioned surgeon, Philadelphia Militia, Revolutionary War, 1780; resumed the practice; staff, Philadelphia hospitals; member, committee of correspondence, 1793; unsuccessful campaign, Pennsylvania State House of Representatives, Philadelphia County, 1794; elected, Democratic-Republican, Pennsylvania State House of Representatives, 1795-1798; elected, United States House of Representatives, Pennsylvania's 1st congressional district, 1803- resigned, 1806; elected, Democratic-Republican, Pennsylvania State House of Representatives, 1806-1809; member, committee of correspondence, Chesapeake-Leopard affair, 1807; brigadier general, Second Brigade, Philadelphia Militia, 1807-1811; unsuccessful campaign, Director, Bank of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1808; elected, Democratic Republican, United States Senate, vacancy, resignation, Samuel Maclay, 1809- resigned, 1814; unsuccessful campaign, Governor of Pennsylvania, 1814; appointed postmaster, Philadelphia 1814-1815; elected, Democratic-Republican, Pennsylvania State House of Representatives, 1817-1818; unsuccessful campaign, Commissioner, Northern Liberties Pennsylvania 1818; elected, Federalist, Pennsylvania State Senate, 1818-1819; unsuccessful campaign, Commissioner, Northern Liberties Pennsylvania 1819; elected, Old School, Pennsylvania State Senate, 1819-1820; elected, Federalist, Pennsylvania State Senate, 1820-1822; appointed, prothonotary, United States District Court, Philadelphia, 1822- death; died, December 8, 1822 (aged 62), Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania; interment, Saint John’s Lutheran Churchyard, Northern Liberties, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; reinterment, Laurel Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, 1924.

Pennsylvania Politics:

Member, committee of correspondence, 1793.

Unsuccessful campaign, Pennsylvania State House of Representatives, Philadelphia County, 1794.

Elected, Democratic-Republican, Pennsylvania State House of Representatives, 1795-1798. 

Elected, Conventionalist (Democratic-Republican), Pennsylvania State House of Representatives, 1806-1807, elected, Democratic-Republican, Pennsylvania State House of Representatives, 1807-1809.

Member, committee of correspondence, Chesapeake-Leopard affair, 1807.

Unsuccessful campaign, Director, Bank of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1808.

Unsuccessful campaign, Governor of Pennsylvania, 1814.

Elected, Democratic-Republican, Pennsylvania State House of Representatives, 1817-1818. 

Unsuccessful campaign, Commissioner, Northern Liberties Pennsylvania 1818. 

Elected, Federalist, Pennsylvania State Senate, 1st district, Philadelphia City and Philadelphia County, 1818-1819, elected, Old School, Pennsylvania State Senate, 1st district, Philadelphia City and Philadelphia County 1819-1820, elected, Federalist, Pennsylvania State Senate, 1st district, Philadelphia City and Philadelphia County, 1820-1822. Michael Leib and Robert McMullin, Old School Democratic-Republican who tended to vote with the Federalists.

Unsuccessful campaign, Commissioner, Northern Liberties Pennsylvania 1819.

Continued Government Service/National Politics:

United States House of Representatives, Pennsylvania's 2nd congressional district, 1799-1803 

United States House of Representatives, Pennsylvania's 1st congressional district, 1803- resigned, 1806. 

Elected, Democratic-Republican, United States Senate, Pennsylvania, 1809, filled, vacancy, resignation, Samuel Maclay; Resigned, 1814.

Appointed postmaster, Philadelphia 1814-1815

Appointed, prothonotary, United States District Court, Philadelphia, 1822- death.

Pennsylvania House of Representatives Biography: 

Not currently available. 

Legacy:

Originally interred, churchyard, Saint John's Evangelical Lutheran Church, 6th and Race Streets, moved, Laurel Hill Cemetery, 1924 with the rest of the churchyard's interments when the church was demolished to make way for the Benjamin Franklin Bridge.

Cited:

Cox, Harold. "Senate Members "L"". Wilkes University Election Statistics Project. Wilkes University.

Cox, Harold. Senate1790-1869 (wilkes.edu). Wilkes University Election Statistics Project. Wilkes University.

A New Nation Votes (tufts.edu)

Michael Leib (1760-1822) - Find a Grave Memorial