Google Ngram shows high occurence in the 1800s with two peaks around 1815 and 1860, and then heavily declining usage.
Perhaps looking prior to the 1900s would be a more accurate option?
https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=lede&case_inse...
EDIT: Never mind I graphed them both -> https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16388239