Representative Jabez Leftwich

Jabez Leftwich (September 22, 1765 – June 22, 1855) was an American politician, planter, and military officer who represented Virginia’s 14th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives between 1821 and 1825, served in the Virginia House of Delegates representing Bedford County, and later represented Madison County, Alabama, in the Alabama House of Representatives after moving to that new state. His service in Congress occurred during a significant period in American history, as he participated in the democratic process and represented the interests of his constituents as a member of the Democratic-Republican Party.

Leftwich was born in Bedford County, Virginia, near Liberty (now Bedford), on September 22, 1765. His father, Augustine Leftwich (1712–1795), had moved westward from New Kent County in Virginia’s Tidewater region into the Piedmont after securing a royal land grant, and married at least twice. Jabez was the youngest of his surviving sons in a large and prominent family whose members were active in military and public life. His elder brothers included Lt. Col. William Leftwich (1737–1820), Col. Thomas Leftwich (1740–1816), Augustine Leftwich Jr. (1744–1835), Capt. Uriah Leftwich (1748–1838), Col. Littleberry Leftwich (1757–1823), and Joel Leftwich (1759–1846), many of whom distinguished themselves in the American Revolutionary War. The family also included two daughters who married: Ann Petross Leftwich Hackworth (1731–1820), who married a veteran of the French and Indian War, and Mary Elizabeth Leftwich Early (1746–1818), who married Joshua Early and was the mother of Rev. John Early, a Methodist preacher who for 19 years served as a bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South.

In 1785, Leftwich married Delilah Stovall (1766–1846). The couple established a family in Bedford County, where he combined agriculture with emerging public responsibilities. They had several children: sons Augustine Leftwich (1785–1844) and Capt. Jabez Leftwich Jr. (1792–1876), and daughters Permelia Leftwich Drake (1787–1829), Elizabeth “Betsey” Leftwich Drake (1798–1876), and Eliza Leftwich Drake (1808–1850). All three daughters married into the Drake family: Permelia married Andrew Drake, Betsey married William Drake, and Eliza married Capt. Neely Drake. Permelia died in childbirth in 1829. Leftwich farmed using enslaved labor, as did his father and brothers. According to the 1810 federal census, he owned 14 enslaved persons. By 1820, he owned six enslaved people in Bedford County’s southern district and ten in the northern district, reflecting his status as a planter in the region.

Bedford County voters first elected Leftwich to represent them in the Virginia House of Delegates in 1801. He served as one of the county’s part-time representatives and was reelected annually, serving continuously until 1809. During his tenure, he generally served alongside Isaac Otey, except for the term that began on December 3, 1805, when he served with Samuel Hancock, who had succeeded his brother and whom Leftwich defeated in 1809. His legislative service in Richmond coincided with the early national period, when Virginia remained a dominant force in national politics and the Democratic-Republican Party was ascendant. In addition to his legislative duties, Leftwich was active in local affairs in Bedford County, where he was recognized as a leading citizen and planter.

During the War of 1812, Leftwich served in the Virginia state militia, furthering the family’s long military tradition. He held the rank of colonel and served as inspector general on the staff of his brother, Brigadier General Joel Leftwich, who commanded Virginia militia forces. In this capacity, Jabez Leftwich was responsible for aspects of organization, readiness, and inspection of militia units, contributing to the state’s defense during the conflict. His military service enhanced his public standing and provided additional credentials for higher office in the postwar years.

Leftwich was elected in 1820 as a Democratic-Republican to the Seventeenth Congress and represented Virginia’s 14th congressional district from March 4, 1821, to March 3, 1823. He was reelected in 1822 as a Crawford Democratic-Republican to the Eighteenth Congress, serving from March 4, 1823, to March 3, 1825. In the 1823 election, he secured his seat with 56.12 percent of the vote, defeating fellow Democratic-Republican Nathaniel H. Claiborne. As a member of the Democratic-Republican Party representing Virginia, Leftwich contributed to the legislative process during two terms in office, participating in debates and votes during a period marked by the decline of the First Party System and the emergence of factional divisions within the Democratic-Republican ranks. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1824, as political alignments shifted in the run-up to the contentious presidential election of that year.

Within two years after his congressional term expired in 1825, Leftwich moved west and settled in Madison County, Alabama, part of the rapidly developing cotton frontier of the Deep South. There he engaged in farming and mercantile pursuits, continuing his work as a planter and becoming a merchant in the growing community near Huntsville. In his later years, he entered state politics once more and served in the Alabama House of Representatives, representing Madison County. His service in the Alabama legislature extended his long public career beyond Virginia and reflected the broader migration of many Virginia planters and their families into the new southwestern states during the early nineteenth century.

Shortly before the death of his wife Delilah in 1846, after a protracted illness of several months, Leftwich and his wife moved to Franklin County, Alabama, in the Russell Valley. There they lived in the household of their daughter Betsey and her husband, William Drake. Another daughter, Eliza, had earlier moved to Pickens County, Alabama, after marrying Capt. Neely Drake, while their sister Permelia, who had married Andrew Drake, had predeceased her mother in 1829. In his final years, Leftwich continued to reside with family in northern Alabama. He died in the household of his daughter and son-in-law near Huntsville, Alabama, on June 22, 1855. He was buried in Maple Hill Cemetery in Huntsville. The University of Virginia preserves some of the Leftwich family papers, documenting the activities of this prominent Virginia and Alabama family. Among his descendants, his namesake grandson Col. Jabez Leftwich Drake (1832–1864) was killed in the Battle of Peachtree Creek near Atlanta during the Civil War, and another grandson, Capt. Joel W. Leftwich (1842–1862), died of pneumonia at Chimborazo Hospital in Richmond during that conflict.