4th Sgt. in Florida (Marion) Artillery, Capt. Perry's Company, C.S.A. Son of Jacob Samuel and Charlotte(Souter) Leitner. Married Mary Ann Griner. Father of John Leonidus, Lawton Daniel, Clarence G., Emma J., Keith Albert, and Hope Lee.


Tribute to my Grandfather -by Kathleen Leitner Holden:
John Daniel Leitner, was the second son of Jacob Leitner. He was a native of Fairfield County (on the Richland County line),SC, coming to Florida with his parents and settling near Anthony, Florida. When the war between the States broke out he entered the Confederate Army and became a Lt. Soon after that he married Mary Ann Griner. They started life in a three-room house, but being frugal they soon acquired considerable property and after the death of his wife's parents he bought the interests of the other heirs in the large Griner estate. They built a ten room house on an elevation four miles north of Ocala, Florida, surrounded by beautiful oaks and flowering shrubs. In the midst of which was the largest orange grove in Marion County at that time.
I remember my father, John Leonidas Leitner, telling us of the beautiful avenue of oaks from the home down to what has been known as the "Old Wire Road", down which the messages were sent during the Civil War and how the large orange grove was killed during the "Big Freeze." (This freeze took place in 1895) The estate passed out of the hands of the heirs after they grew up and moved away, but the house is still standing, but the beautiful avenue of oaks is gone


John Daniel Leitner, son of Jocob Leitner, Jr and Charlotte Souter, farmer, plantation owner, Methodist, Civil War Vet. (Confederate) b.3 July 1837 Fairfield/Richland Dist.SC., d.12 Apr 1890, bur. Anthony, Fl. Cem.; m.(1) Mary Ann "Mollie" Griner, 26 Oct 1865 , (2) Irene Griner (Irene and Mollie were first cousins). Mary Ann Griner was the dau. of Martin Griner and Sarah Jane Alderman. She is listed in Aldermans in America by William Alderman Parker. Edward & Broughton Company Raleigh NC., 1957. Her descendants are eligible to join Magna Charta Dames. Mary Ann Griner was born 5 Jan 1846, Bullock County, GA., d. 11 Aug 1885, age 39, leaving small children. bur. Anthony Cem.; Epitaph: "She believed and Sleeps in Jesus." (Mary Ann Griner's brother, Nathaniel G H Griner, was the first husband of John Leitner's sister, Sarah.


Mr (Jacob Leitner moved south three miles to the place that has belonged to Mr Buford Leitner since his father passed on, which was not long after his last move. Mr. John Leitner whose wife was one of the Griners, moved to the large Griner plantation, six miles southwest. He then purchased the Nix plantation which adjoined him on the south, making in all a domain of about eighteen hundred acres with two large plantation homes.


Obituary --Mr. John D. Leitner of Leitner, Florida died Sat. Apr. 13, 1890 of throat trouble of which he had been an acute sufferer for four months. Mr. Leitner has been a citizen of Marion County for over thirty years--coming here from SC. Mr Leitner, a lieutenant during the Civil War, was a member of Col. John M Martin's Artillery Company and a more patient, courageous, obedient and faithful soldier never bore arms in conflict. He was most genial, whole-souled and hospitable gentleman, who numbered his friends by the score. His virtues were many and faults few.