Bryant T. Leeke.
Tribute to Worthy Citizen of Bartow Lately Passed Away.

In the death of Bryant T. Leeke Bartow county lost one of her best citizens.  He was born at Laurens court house, S. C. February 19th 1828.  He was married to Miss Martha E. Cook, of South Carolina, in the year 1847, and shortly thereafter, in the year 1850, he moved to Georgia settling in Bartow county.  From 1850 until his death, May 21, 1908, he resided on his large plantation in the Seventeenth district.

He was a devoted member of the Methodist church, having joined when quite a young man.  He was also a member of the Masonic Fraternity, taking a keen interest in all things which tended to advance the cause of Masonry.

Mr. Leeke was an extensive planter and his life was mainly given to the farm and its pursuits.  His commodious country home was noted for its warm hospitality and his splendid entertainments will linger in the memory of those who were fortunate enough to share in the generous hospitality of his home.  Mr. Leeke was one of those rare characters who made the farm and the farm life attractive and pleasant, lending it a charm all its own.

Mr. Leeke was a gentleman of the old school.  Shams and frivolities were foreign to his nature.  His plain honesty and uncompromising courage were a part of him and in his life he exemplified the virtues and the characteristics of the southern gentleman before the war.  He represented a type which is fast passing away and it is probable that this country will never again produce the equal of his generation in point of rugged manhood and intense patriotism.  He witnessed the making of the brightest, most heroic pages in southern history and in his day and generation southern chivalry was synonymous with southern breeding.

Though a native of South Carolina Mr. Leeke was a loyal citizen of Georgia and loved his adopted home with patriotic devotion.  He served his state in the Civil war as a Confederate soldier and did gallant service.

His familiar figure and cheerful disposition will be missed in his community.  By nature he was an optimist and constantly looked in the bright side of life.  His jolly, cheerful disposition made him friends wherever he went.  He allowed no one to stand in his sunshine and his ringing laugh had in it all the elements of good cheer.

He served the Euharlee district as Justice of the Peace for years and he was known throughout the community as “Squire Leeke.”  His knowledge of the law gained in this way was remarkable.  His neighbors constantly sought him for advice on legal questions and his practical judgment rarely led him astray.

Mr. Leeke lived to the ripe old age of eighty.  His past few years were moved with much suffering, but his remarkably strong constitution withstood for a long time the inroads of disease.  His body sleeps in the cemetery at Euharlee.

Mr. Leake is survived by eight children: Messrs. Walter and Joseph Leeke, of Mississippi, Mrs. C. H. Cunyus, of Rome, Mrs. Annie Faulkner of Alabama; Mrs. Lou Dent, Mrs. S. T. Burns, Messrs. C. T. and Alex Leeke, of Taylorsville.