James Greenleaf

James Greenleaf
James Greenleaf, painted by Gilbert Stuart in 1795
Born	(1765-06-09)June 9, 1765 Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Died	September 17, 1843(1843-09-17) (aged 78) Washington, D.C., U.S.
Nationality	American
Occupation	Land speculator
Known for	Developing Washington, D.C.

James Greenleaf (June 9, 1765 – September 17, 1843) was an important early American land speculator. A member of a prominent and wealthy Boston family, he married a Dutch noblewoman (whom he later abandoned and then divorced) and was briefly consul at the United States embassy in Amsterdam. Returning to the United States, he engaged in land speculation in the District of Columbia, New York state, and other areas. He was a central figure in the early development of Washington, D.C. His land business collapsed in 1797, and he spent a year in debtor's prison. He married a wealthy Pennsylvania heiress after his release, and spent the remainder of his life in genteel poverty, fending off lawsuits.

James Greenleaf was born on June 9, 1765, in Boston, Massachusetts, in the United States to William and Mary (Brown) Greenleaf. He was the 12th of 15 children. His father was William Greenleaf, a merchant who was later appointed sheriff of Suffolk County, Massachusetts during the American Revolutionary War. and was a member of the committee of correspondence which secretly communicated with other cities regarding British policy and military actions in the years prior to the American Revolution. William Greenleaf announced American independence in July 1776 from the balcony of the Old State House. In the crowd were John Quincy Adams and William Cranch. Adams would later be President of the United States; Cranch would be chief judge of the District of Columbia circuit court and the second reporter of decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States. The Greenleafs were Huguenots who fled France, anglicizing their family name (Feuillevert) to Greenleaf. Greenleaf's great-great-grandfather, Edmund, was born in 1574 in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. His great-grandfather, Stephen, was born there in 1628, and the entire family emigrated to Newbury, Massachusetts, in 1635.