William Leigh, for whom the town of Leighton was named, was the son and grandson of Revolutionary War veterans. Born in Amelia County, Virginia, on Oct. 4, 1790, he moved to Alabama about 1823 and settled nearby at Jeffers Cross Roads, where he became a large landowner, pioneer merchant, postmaster, and trustee of La Grange College. He was a charter member of Leighton Masonic Lodge No. 43 and served as Grand Master of the Alabama Masons from 1833 to 1835. A Missionary Baptist preacher for 63 years, he served as pastor and leader in the Muscle Shoals Baptist Association. In 1836, he donated land and helped build a brick meeting house in Leighton for joint use by Masons, Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, Cumberland Presbyterians, and others. He was Leighton's first postmaster from 1824 to 1847 and, with William Gregg, operated a storehouse at the crossroads as William Leigh & Company. He ran unsuccessfully for the state legislature on the Whig ticket in 1840. In 1847, he sold his store, 1800-acre plantation, livestock, and 30 slaves and moved to Kentucky, but soon returned to Alabama, living in Moulton for a few years before moving to Florence, where his wife served as a matron at Florence Synodical College. He died in Florence on July 31, 1873, and was buried in the Leigh family graveyard.