She was the wife of Frank Leslie and the heir to his publishing business, which she developed into a paying concern from a state of precarious indebtedness.

She made Carrie Chapman Catt a residuary legatee of her estate, to support enfranchising women.

"[1] Leslie claimed to be the descendant of an aristocratic French Huguenot family, whose ancestors had immigrated to the colonies because of religious persecution.

She apparently grew up in New York City, and was well educated in the French, Spanish and Italian languages.

[5] The Leslies' summer home was in Saratoga Springs, New York, where they entertained many notables, and she was a leader in society.

By her will, she made Carrie Chapman Catt residuary legatee, in the expectation that most of her fortune would be devoted to women's suffrage.

[7] Relatives contested the will, but Catt received enough money to set up the Leslie Woman Suffrage Commission.