Leighton family

The Leightons of Philadelphia originated with Archibald Ogilvie Leighton, who emigrated from the north of Ireland in 1906, followed shortly by his financé, Gertrude Kerr Hamilton, who was from County Sligo, in the south. Together they had two children, Alexander (Alec or Alex) and Gertrude ("Gussie").

Archie Leighton was one of eight children born to John Alexander (1841-1928) and Caroline Wilson (1889-1845), who lived in Ballycarry, Northern Ireland. Elizabeth Ogilvie (1870-1904) died without marrying; Margaret Currie (1872-1947) married John Allen Duff and had one daughter, Mary Allen; Caroline Mary (1874-1876); John Murray (1876-1940) married Elizabeth McF. and had five sons: John Alexander, High G.B., William James, Robert Ogilvie and Denis Ponsonby; Robert Henry (1878-1941) married Winifred Coupland from Winipeg, MB; Catherine Campbell (1881-1956) married Joseph Magowan and had two daughters, Caroline Wilson (Carrie) and Ruth Margaret; and Ruth (1884-1947), who remained unmarried and lived in the family home—"Springbrook"—until her death.

Gertrude Kerr Hamilton (Gertie) was one of five children born to William Hamilton (Faddy) and Gertrude Kerr Hamilton (Muddy), who lived in Balincar, County Sligo.The eldest, Wilhemina (Mina, Min, Midge or Mi) remained unmarried and stayed at home; George ("Maggog") married Jessie and had a daughter named Netta; Henry Albert Alexander (Harry) was twice widowed with one stepson, Philip; Angus ("Mooney") married Laura and had three children: Marguerite (Daisy), Angus Kerr, and Harry; and the youngest, Ethel Jean (Ettie, sometimes Jeannie), moved to the United States to train as a nurse and lived with Archie and Gertrude before settling in New Jersey. She married Lewis Link and had one daughter, Betty.

Alexander Leighton married Dorothea Farquar Cross in 1937 and had two children, Frederick (Ted) and Dorothea Gertrude (Doreen). In 1965 they divorced and Alex married Jane Murphy in 1966.