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This is an American story. The lineage, life and legacy of Dr. Samuel Brewster Leslie is a tale that has been repeated countless times by American families who came to this country in search of their dream. The story traces the Leslie clan from its origins in 11th Century Scotland through migrations to Ireland and then the New World. It follows generations of Leslie descendants on wagon trails from Pennsylvania through Virginia to the Carolinas and points west.
Bruce Leslie was born in 1874 in the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas in the town that was named for his grandfather. His early days were hard, losing his father when he was still a boy, piecing together an education on his own, and working briefly as a teacher and a fruit tree salesman in Indian Territory. At the age of 19, he moved to Denver, Colorado, trying to find God’s purpose for his life. There he nearly died of black measles, which proved to be a blessing in disguise, as it led to his pursuing a career in medicine.
After graduating from medical school in Denver, he returned to Indian Territory (soon to be the state of Oklahoma) and established his practice in the town of Okmulgee. He married Blossom McKeage, and together they raised a large family. They lived through two world wars and the Great Depression. Dr. Leslie was a leader in medicine, president of the local school board, a strong advocate of social justice, a generous philanthropist, and an astute landowner. But what most characterized his life was his Christian faith. He taught Sunday School most of his life and, when a struggling congregation was about to close its doors, he helped keep it alive and led the faithful for many years in a small, country church called Grovania.
