Who Is W. L. C. Leach?

         I came across a newspaper legal notice that referred to W. L. C. Leach (see below) and I think I have worked out the answer to this puzzle. 

         Since there were two men named William Crown Leach that lived in Ohio County at the same time it is hard to distinguish them apart (one born 1844 and one born 1848). One of them apparently used W. L. C. Leach as his name to avoid confusion with the other William Crown and I suspect the “L” would have come from his father's given name, Leonard.  In olden days some men were called, for example, “William, son of John.” So I am of the opinion that any reference to W. L. C. Leach was referring to the William C. Leach that was born 23 Mar 1848 and married Nancy Mariah Young. His parents were Leonard Washington Leach and Rosanna A. Morris; thus, William, son of Leonard was the reason for the L.

        This is the notice of a Master Commissioner’s Sale of real estate that was published in the Hartford newspaper during December 1916 concerning the estate of “W. L. C. Leach’s” estate.  Since this William Crown Leach died 12 Dec 1914 it is logical to assume the notice is related to the William C. born in 1848 (the other William Crown Leach died in 1908).  And since there were deeds using the W. L. C. Leach name the legal system had to use that exact name for these legal matters (passing title to real estate).

        Other information about this William Crown Leach includes the following  article about a birthday party; from this article we find a clue, the name of a son, that tells us  this article refers to William Crown Leach that died 12 Dec 1914:

          The middle name I refer to, i. e. "Crown"  was found in an old photo album owned by a descendant of the William Crown that died 12 Dec 1914, Ginger Hartman, who wrote: "Mother wrote 'Virginia Lee Shane as she grew' as a title in the old kind of black photograph albums. She had to use white ink. After listing time of birth, et-cetera, she listed my parents, then Father's parents, then Mother's parents, Father's grandparents: Ethelbert Bruce Trabue, Ophelia Elizabeth Burnett, and Mother's Grandparents: William Crown Leach, & Nancy Mariah Young." 

          The other William Crown, born Jul 1844 and died 21 Dec 1908, was referred to as William Crown in his death notice in the Owensboro Messenger and in the Hartford Republican: "Mr. Will Crown Leach who lived alone about six miles east of town, was found dead in his yard last Monday evening.  From all appearances he had been dead for some time.  He was last seen on Saturday.  Coroner Allen held an inquest and the verdict of the jury was to the effect that deceased came to his death from natural causes.  The burial was at Milton Taylor graveyard."   As far as I know this William Crown Leach never married and had no children. His parents were James S. Leach and Rebecca Raley.

          All of the above makes me wonder why were these two men given the middle name "Crown" since "Crown" is a bit unusual as a name.  I suggest it is quite possible that they were named after their common ancestor, who we know as William C. Leach (1791-1863) who was born in Maryland and was one of the early settlers of Ohio County, probably moving to Ohio County about 1800; he was a grandfather to one of the two William Crowns and a great-uncle to the other. The word Crown could relate to the British royalty or the British coin called a Crown.  So, perhaps, with no real proof, the middle name of William C. Leach (1791-1863) was Crown. Sadly we don't have enough proof to make that leap.