Joseph J. Leighton (Layton)

Quick Facts

Significance:

Boston Vigilance Committee member

Place of Birth:

Farmington, New Hampshire

Date of Birth:

April 29, 1816

Place of Death:

Farmington, New Hampshire

Date of Death:

December 9, 1891

Place of Burial:

Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts

Cemetery Name:

Forest Hills Cemetery

Piano maker Joseph J. Leighton¹ supported the abolitionist movement as a member of the 1850 Boston Vigilance Committee.

Born on April 29, 1816, to parents Richard Leighton and Rachel Kimball, Joseph J. Leighton grew up in Farmington, New Hampshire. Leighton later moved to Boston, Massachusetts, and worked as a piano maker.²

Living in Boston, Leighton engaged in the abolitionist movement. In 1845, he donated to the Herald of Freedom, an abolitionist newspaper published in his home state, New Hampshire.³

Additionally, Leighton served as a member of the Boston Vigilance Committee. Formed in response to the Fugitive Slave Law, the Boston Vigilance Committee assisted freedom seekers coming to Boston on the Underground Railroad. Though Leighton's name and address appear on the Vigilance Committee's official broadside, his specific contributions to the organization remain unknown.

Leighton remained in Boston, working as a piano maker and later as a contractor. He died on December 9, 1891, in Farmington, New Hampshire, and his remains are interred in the Forest Hills Cemetery in Jamaica Plain.⁴

If you are a researcher or descendant of Joseph J. Leighton and can provide any further evidence of his work in the Boston Vigilance Committee, or larger anti-slavery movement, please e-mail us. 
 

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Footnotes

1. Most historical records name Joseph J. Leighton with the last name spelled as Leighton. However, in the Vigilance Committe's records, Joseph J. Leighton is recorded as Joseph J. Layton at the address on Dover Place. Leighton is used here, consistent with the many directories, vital records, and newspapers that list Leighton rather than Layton. 
2. Leighton is mapped at East Berkeley Street, which was formerly known as Dover Place. In the Vigilance Committee records, he is listed as living at 11 Dover Place. “Joseph Leighton,” 1850 United States Federal Census [database on-line], Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009, 1850 United States Federal Census - Ancestry.com; “Joseph J Leighton,” New Hampshire, U.S., Death Records, 1650-1969 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2021, New Hampshire, U.S., Death Records, 1650-1969 - Ancestry.com.
3. “Weekly List of Remittances,” Herald of Freedom, April 4, 1845, 3.
4. “Joseph J. Leighton,” 1880 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010, 1880 United States Federal Census - Ancestry.com; “Joseph J. Leighton,” Find a Grave, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/166948973/joseph-j.-leighton; “Joseph J Leighton,” New Hampshire, U.S., Death Records, 1650-1969 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2021, New Hampshire, U.S., Death Records, 1650-1969 - Ancestry.com.