Historical Society of Pennsylvania

LEIB, Michael, a Representative and a Senator from Pennsylvania; born in Philadelphia, Pa., January 8, 1760; attended the common schools; studied medicine and commenced practice in Philadelphia, Pa.; commissioned surgeon in the Philadelphia Militia in 1780, and served throughout the Revolutionary War; resumed the practice of medicine and served on the staff of several Philadelphia hospitals; member of the committee of correspondence in 1793; member of the State house of representatives 1795-1798; elected to the Sixth and to the three succeeding Congresses and served from March 4, 1799, until February 14, 1806, when he resigned; member, State house of representatives 1806-1808; brigadier general of the Philadelphia Militia 1807-1811; member of the committee of correspondence on the Chesapeake affair, June 1807; elected as a Democratic Republican to the United States Senate in 1808 for the term beginning March 4, 1809; subsequently elected to fill the vacancy in the term ending March 3, 1809, caused by the resignation of Samuel Maclay and served from January 9, 1809, to February 14, 1814, when he resigned, having been appointed postmaster of Philadelphia; served as postmaster until 1815; member, the State house of representatives 1817-1818, and the State senate 1818-1821; appointed as a prothonotary of the United States district court at Philadelphia and served from November 1822, until his death in Philadelphia, Pa., on December 8, 1822; interment in St. John’s Lutheran Churchyard, Northern Liberties, Philadelphia, Pa.