Thomas Leiper | |
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| Born | 15 December 1745 Strathaven, Scotland |
| Died | 6 July 1825 (aged 79) |
| Resting place | Laurel Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Occupation(s) | Tobacco exporter, mill owner, quarry owner, banker, politician |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse |
Elizabeth Gray (m. 1778) |
| Children | 13, including George Gray Leiper |
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Thomas Leiper (15 December 1745 – 6 July 1825) was a Scottish American businessman, banker and politician who owned a successful tobacco exportation business as well as several mills and stone quarries. He served as a lieutenant in the Philadelphia City Troop during the American Revolutionary War. He built one of the first railways in America and the first in Pennsylvania. The Leiper Railroad was a three-quarter-mile long track on his property in Nether Providence Township, Pennsylvania, used to ship quarry stone to market with animal-powered carts.
Leiper rented a house in Philadelphia to Thomas Jefferson when he served as Secretary of State. They became close friends and a correspondence of over 100 letters between the two was exchanged.
He was a founder of the Bank of North America and served as a director for the Bank of Pennsylvania and the Second Bank of the United States. His grand house, named Strathaven Hall, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971.