Summary
1864-Jun-23: Zachariah was born to George Leach & Martha Willis in Oxford Township, Ontario, Canada.
1871-Apr-02: Canada Census with parents & 4 siblings in South Gower, Leeds and Grenville North, Ontario, Canada.
1881-Apr-04: Canada Census with parents & 7 siblings in South Gower, Leeds and Grenville North, Ontario, Canada.
1884-Jul-22: Zachariah married Elizabeth Ann Galway at Wolford, Leeds and Grenville, Ontario, Canada.
1891-Apr-24: Canada Census with wife & 4 children at Lot 2 B 17 on Asa Street, Kemptville, Leeds and Grenville North, Ontario, Canada. Zachariah was a blacksmith.
1901-Apr-15: Canada Census with wife, 7 children, and brother-in-law Edward Galway at Kemptville, Leeds and Grenville North, Ontario, Canada. Zachariah was a blacksmith.
1910-Jun-13: Zachariah Leach applied for Homestead Entry as a proxy for his son Ambrose Leach, who was 21 years old, single, a blacksmith, with post office address Prince Albert, Saskatchewan.
1910-Dec-16: Ambrose Leach's homestead entry was cancelled because he did not appear at the office within six months of entry and declare that he was in residence on the property.
1912-Jun-25: Zachariah Leach applied for Homestead Entry for NE-21-24-29-W3 for himself. R.M. Chesterfield, near the border with Alberta, 12.2 km north of Empress, Alberta. The family consisted of 6 adult males, 3 adult females, and 9 children under the age of 12. He stated that he had previously obtained Homestead Entry on 1910-Jun-03 for NW-27-24-29-W3.
1913-May-01: Daughter May died from tuberculosis on the family's homestead at NE-27-24-29-W3, and Zach buried her at the northern end of the homestead. Zach & his neighbours then decided to create a cemetery there, and it would become the Mayfield Cemetery. See the page for the History of Mayfield Cemetery.
1913-May-14: Zachariah asks the Department of the Interior how he can give 2 acres of his homestead at NE-21-24-29-W3 for a cemetery. This would become the Mayfield Cemetery, on the north side of the quarter-section.
1914-Feb: Zachariah was Chairman of the newly formed School Board for the Mayfield School.
1915-Jan-21: 2 acres of NE-21-24-29-W3 is granted in land patent to the Methodist Church for the purposes of a cemetery. This would be the Mayfield Cemetery.
1916-Apr-17: Zachariah applied for land patent for NE-21-24-29-W3.
1917-Apr-17: "Would you kindly rush the patent for N.E.¼-21-24-29-3 as the owner of said land is desirious of making a loan on same for the purpose of buying horses so that he may be able to bring a good portion under cultivation this spring."
1917-May-16: Homestead Patent Grant for NE-21-24-29-W3, subject to Dominion liens. Zachariah had received 6 loans from the Dominion in 1914 & 1915 totaling $294.40 for Seed Grain, Fodder, and Relief. No payment on these debts would ever be made by himself or his heirs. In August 1960, the R.M. of Mantario took the land for unpaid taxes, and in October 1960 the government wrote off the debt, which was then a total of $949.87. Thus, Zachariah's estate would finally be settled.
1921-Apr-22: Certificate of Recommendation issued to Zachariah Leach for his pre-emption of SE-21-24-29-W3. The Certificate of Recommendation means he "proved up" the land and can get a Patent Grant for it, but unlike his Homestead, he has to pay off the Dominion debts first that are liens on his two properties. They would never be paid off, and Patent for the SE-21-24-29-W3 would not be given to anyone. Eventually that quarter-section would go to the Province of Saskatchewan.
1921-Jun: Zachariah entered the Mental Hospital.
1926-Jun-01: Canada Census, a patient in the Weyburn Mental Hospital, Weyburn, Saskatchewan, Canada.
1931-Jun-01: Canada Census, a patient in the Weyburn Mental Hospital, Weyburn, Saskatchewan, Canada.
1933: Zachariah died in Saskatchewan, Canada.
