Dan's father was James Leech and his mother was Nancy (Nanny) Wood. His maternal grandparents were James Wood and Martha Iredale. He had three brothers and a sister, named James, Sam, Ben and Emma. He was the third oldest of the five known children. He had four half-brothers and a half-sister, named Hanson, Isaac, Friend, Sam and Ann. He died at the age of 70 in 1924.