Editing Leland Stanford (section)

==Early life and career==
Leland Stanford was born in 1824 in what was then [[Watervliet (town), New York|Watervliet]], New York (now the Town of [[Colonie (town), New York|Colonie]]). He was one of eight children of Josiah and Elizabeth Phillips Stanford. Among his siblings were New York State Senator [[Charles Stanford (politician)|Charles Stanford]] (1819–1885) and Australian businessman and spiritualist [[Thomas Welton Stanford]] (1832–1918). His ancestor, Thomas Stanford, settled in [[Charlestown, Massachusetts]], in the 17th century.<ref name="DictAmBio501">{{cite book| title=Dictionary of American Biography| volume=XVII| page=501| location=New York| publisher=Charles Scribner's Sons| year=1935}}</ref> Later ancestors settled in the eastern [[Mohawk Valley]] of central New York about 1720.

Stanford's father was a farmer of some means. Stanford was raised on family farms in the [[Lisha Kill, New York|Lisha Kill]] and [[Roessleville, New York|Roessleville]] (after 1836) areas of Watervliet. The family home in Roessleville was called Elm Grove. The Elm Grove home was razed in the 1940s. Stanford attended the common school until 1836 and was tutored at home until 1839. He attended [[Clinton Liberal Institute]], in [[Clinton, Oneida County, New York|Clinton, New York]], and studied law at [[Cazenovia College|Cazenovia Seminary]] in [[Cazenovia (village), New York|Cazenovia, New York]], in 1841 to 1845. In 1845, he entered the law office of Wheaton, Doolittle, and Hadley in [[Albany, New York|Albany]].<ref name="DictAmBio501" />

After being admitted to the bar in 1848, Stanford moved with many other settlers to [[Port Washington, Wisconsin]], where he began a law practice with Wesley Pierce.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://landmarkhunter.com/185514-port-washington-downtown-historic-district/| website=LandmarkHunter.com| title=Port Washington Downtown Historic District}}</ref> His father presented him with a law library said to be the finest north of [[Milwaukee]].<ref name="DictAmBio501" /> In 1850, Stanford was nominated by the [[Whig Party (United States)|Whig Party]] as [[Washington County, Wisconsin]], district attorney.