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		   THE LEEPER FAMILY ORIGIN

LEIPER SEEMS TO HAVE BEEN THE ORIGINAL SPELLING, OF MY NAME.  IT HAS
BEEN SPELLED MANY WAYS OVER THE YEARS.( LEAPER, LEPPER, LEEPHAR, LEPER,
LEPAR, LEPPAR, LEIPPER, LAIPER, LIPPRE, LEAPHAR, LEPPAYR, LEEPER ,LEIPER)

THE NAME LEIPER HAS BEEN PROMINENT IN SCOTLAND AND AMERICA FOR SEVERAL
HUNDRED YEARS. IT HAS BEEN STATED THAT THE NAME IS BELIEVED TO BE FROM THE
FRENCH WHO MIGRATED TO SCOTLAND IN THE EARLY YEARS AND LIVED THERE.

	  FROM A BOOK BY HARRISON-'SURNAMES OF-(- UNITED KINGDOM')
LEAPER (ENG) MEANS RUNNER, COURIER, DANCER THUS LEAPER (OE-HLEAPERE),
	 A BOOK BY  THE TITLE 'SCOTTISH SURNAMES' LEPPER MEANS A CARRIER
OF THE SCOTTISH BANNER WITH A LEOPARD ON IT.
	 IN A BOOK BY BLACK,'SURNAMES OF SCOTLAND', LEAPER, LEIPER AND
LAIPER IS FROM  (OE-LEAPERE,) A BASKET MAKER.  A LEAP WAS A BASKET MADE
FROM RUSH AND SEDGE.  JOHANNE LEPER WAS A BURGESS IN EDINBURGH 1189.
WALTER LIPPERE WITNESSED A CHARTER OF TURRIFF IN 1272.  PATRICK LEPER WAS
BURGESS IN EDINBURGH IN 1368.  ANDREW LEPAR WITNESSED AN INSTRUMENT OF
CONCORD BETWEEN THE BISHOP OF ABERDEEN AS DID JOHN DE FORBES IN YEAR 1391.
ALEXANDER LEPAR WAS AN ADMITTED BURGESS OF ABERDEEN IN 1408.  WILLIAM LEPAR
IN 1487.  ALAN LEPPAR WAS BURGESS OF PRESTWICK IN 1507.(ME - AF LEPRE)
LEIPER -1711 - LEIPPER - 1608.

IN A WORK OF GENEALOGY  'THE THOMAS BOOK' THERE APPEARS A SKETCH OF A
LEIPER FAMILY.  IT SAYS THAT ACCORDING TO FAMILY TRADITION, A THOMAS LEIPER
LIVED IN STRATHAVEN, CLYDESDALE, SCOTLAND ABOUT THE YEAR 1700.   HE IS SAID
TO HAVE BEEN DESCENDED FROM A FRENCHMAN, WHO CAME TO SCOTLAND DURING THE
YEAR 1561, IN THE SUITE OF  'MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS'. HE WAS MARRIED TO HELEN
HAMILTON OF KYPE. THEY HAD THREE SONS WHO ATTENDED THE UNIVERSITY OF
EDINBURGH AND AFTER GRADUATING* THEY CAME TO AMERICA.  ANDREW LEEPER BECAME
A LEADING SURGEON IN RICHMOND, VIRGINIA, WHERE HE DIED DURING.1798. JAMES
LEEPER WENT TO MARYLAND AND MARRIED A SISTER TO GOVERNOR SMALLWOOD.  THOMAS
LEEPER SETTLED IN PHILADELPHIA AND BECAME A LEADING CITIZEN THERE.


DURING THE EARLY YEARS BETWEEN SEVENTEEN AND EIGHTEEN HUNDRED THERE WERE
MANY LEEPERS LIVING IN PA., VA., TENN., AND N.C.  IN RECORDS OF AUGUSTA
COUNTY, VA. COURT HOUSE THE NAME ISABELLA LEEPER APPEARS FREQUENTLY.  HER
RELATIONSHIP IS NOT KNOWN BUT AS THE POPULATION BETWEEN 1750 AND 1755 WAS
SPARSE, IT HARDLY SEEMS POSSIBLE THAT TWO FAMILIES OF THE SAME NAME TO BE
LIVING THERE AT THE SAME TIME, NOT BE RELATED.  IT SEEMS THE LEEPERS, LONGS
AND THE YOUNGS MOVED TO TENNESSEE THERE-AFTER, AS THEIR HISTORY RUNS PARALLEL
DURING THOSE PIONEERING DAYS , AND THEY INTERMARRIED SEVERAL TIMES.


THERE WAS A LEIPER FAMILY WHO DID LIVE IN DOWN COUNTY, IRELAND.  IT IS SAID
TO BE THE HOME OF AN ALLEN LEIPER BORN DURING THE YEAR 1720.  HE WAS KNOWN
TO HAVE BEEN IN PENNSYLVANIA DURING THE YEAR 1744.



Information as of 1968 and 1969
Re-typed 1980