LOTT FAMILY REGISTER: HISTORIES AND DOCUMENTS

Leonard Lott (about 1743-1812)

Biography

Leonard Lott, born about 1743, was the son of Captain Henry Lott and Mercy his wife. He is the pioneer of the Lott family in Luzerne (now Wyoming) County, Pennsylvania. His birthdate and place are at present unknown; one writer has speculated that he might possibly have been born in Hopewell, Hunterdon County, New Jersey.

His early life was probably spent in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. He was probably the Leonard Lott who witnessed the will of Job Mathis on 3 June 1771 in Little Egg Harbor Township, Burlington, New Jersey along with Mary Lott (perhaps his sister). Possibly some time before 1777 he married Letitia Flandereau near Long Island, New York.

Leonard Lott went from Stillwater, New York to Wilmot Township, Bradford County, Pennsylvania in 1777, removed to Plymouth, Pa. and was at Forty Fort at the time of the battle of Wyoming, July 3, 1778. He returned to Wilmot Township, but after two or three years went to what now is Wyoming Co., Pa. (History of Bradford County, Pennsylvania.)

As early as 1795 Leonard Lott came in a canoe to the fork of the [__] Creek where he built a log house. . . . The first Saw Mill was built by Zephaniah and Leonard Lott on the Little Mehoopany Creek. . . . The site of Mehoopany village was formerly the property of Elijah Phelps and Leonard Lott. The lower end of the village was owned by Lott, the upper by Phelps. Joseph Carney bought of Phelps and William Whipple of Lott, and commenced selling building lots. (W. W. Munsell.)

Leonard, with his two sons Henry and Zephaniah, were assessed in Tunkhannock Township in Luzerne County in 1792.

Leonard Lott, Sr. died intestate on 9 January 1812 in Braintrim Township, Luzerne County at the age of 68. The records show that administrator bonds and letters on the estate of Leonard Lott were granted to Joseph Burgess and Leonard Lott (Jr.) on 19 June 1812.

A petition, dated 4 July 1813, was submitted by Joseph Burgess and Leonard Lott, Jr. stating that the personal estate left by Leonard Lott was insufficient for the payment of his debts, and it was ordered that the real estate left be sold. The petition states that the intestate left issue five children: Henry, Zephaniah, John, Abraham, and one of the petitioners (Leonard, Jr.). This petition, found in Orphan's Court Docket #1 pp. 300-301, states:

At an Orphans Court held at Wilkes Barre in and for the County of Luzerne, on the fourth monday of July An.Di. 1813, before John B. Gibson President of the Court of Common Pleas and Matthias Hallenback and Jesse Fell esquires his Associates Judges of said Court.

The Petition of Joseph Burgess and Leonard Lott administrators of the estate of Leonard Lott decd. who died intestate was read; representing That the said intestate left issue five children, Henry, Zephaniah, John, Abraham, & one of the Petitioners ~ That the personal estate is insufficien[_] for the payment of his debts as by the account there with produced appeared; And that the said intestate died possess[ ] of a certain Messuage and tract of Land situate in the township of Braintrim and County aforesaid, bounded on the north by the river Susquehanna, on the east by land of Stephen Arnold, on the south by land of the heirs of Thomas Ellis decd. and on the west by lands unknown containing one hundred and thirty acres or thereabouts ~ And praying the Court to grant them an order to make sale of all the right, title and interest of the said Leonard Lott decd. at the time of his death in and to the said tract of Land with the appurtenances, for the payment of the debts of the said intestate ~ Whereupon the Court grants the prayer of the said petitioners; and it is ordered by the Court

That the said petitioners make sale of the premises aforesaid after giving legal notice of the time and place of sale.

By the Court

The petitioners later reported on 6 September 1813 that the property had been sold to the highest bidder, Peter Babb, for $375.00, which still was not sufficient to satisfy the debts, and a committee was appointed to pay the debts in proportionate amounts.