I really don't know. My great grandfather came from the village of
Wagenfurth which is near Melsungen and south of Kassel. At one time they were also in
Darmstadt. The spelling of the surname was changed when he came to America in
1857, probably by the immigration officials. I doubt if he spoke any English
at that time or if he did probably with a heavy accent and they wrote down how
they thought it was spelled. As far as I know he was the last male of his
family in Germany although there could be descendents from earlier Leuchter's.
He had a sister who married a Reinbold in Melsungen. There are still some
descendents from her that live there.
Thank you for responding to my question.
Bill Leichter