The Leishman Family

American Dynasty

The Leishman family is one of the lesser known families in our profiles. Originally of Scottish ancestry, members of the Leishman family migrated to America in the late 1600s, with at least one member of the family possibly sailing on the Mayflower.The grand matriarch of the Leishman family was the American heiress Nancy Louise Leishman, born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on October 2, 1894. She was the youngest of three children born to John George Alexander Leishman(1857–1924), the President of Carnegie Steel who later served as the U.S. Ambassador to Switzerland, Turkey, Italy, and Germany during the administrations of U.S. Presidents William McKinley, William Howard Taft, and Woodrow Wilson. Her mother was Julia Crawford (1864–1918).Nancy’s sister, Marthe Leishman, a favorite of King George V and a close friend of Cole Porter and Francis Poulenc, married into European aristocracy. Her first husband was Count Louis de Gontaut-Biron and, after his death, she married the American heir James Hazen Hyde.Nancy’s brother, John Leishman Jr., married, and divorced, New York socialite Elizabeth Helene Demarest.At least one of Nancy’s children married into the Danish Royal family. She died at the age of 88 in Copenhagen, Denmark in 1983.There are modern-day descendants of the Leishman family scattered throughout Europe and America. The American descendants today can be found primarily in Florida, California, New York, and Pennsylvania. Leishman is not a common name. If you meet a Leishman, chances are they are directly related.Many of the modern day descendents work in government and financial markets.
Very little is known about their wealth today as the family investments are shielded by trusts, but the generational wealth accumulated since the 1800s is believed to be vast.