Emily Leavitt Noyes
and the NALF History
Updated October 2024
The National Association of Leavitt Families is a genealogical organization originally organized on June 14, 1934 through the combined efforts of Emily Leavitt Noyes, Dr. Mary Leavitt of Boston and John S. Leavitt of Dorchester, Mass. Emily Leavitt Noyes was an award winning genealogist who lived much of her life in Tilton, N.H., and was a descendant of both John (Moses 8) Leavitt and Thomas (Hezron 9) Leavitt.
Emily was born on July 12, 1881 in Melbourne, Quebec. She married Herbert M. Noyes on January 10, 1903. He was an operator in the Public Service Company’s plant in East Tilton, NH. For 24 years they owned and operated a poultry farm, Silver Lake Farm in Tilton. They sold the farm in 1938 and built a new house on part of the estate. Emily attended Tilton Seminary, and taught stenography while a student. She was active in the D.A.R. and the Grange and won several prizes in literary work including the Eugene Field Society award for an outstanding non-fiction work of the year for Volume 1 of her Leavitt genealogies. This award entitled her to membership in the National Association of Authors and Journalists. Emily and Herbert had three children; Hilton, Elva and Henry.
Volume 1 of her Leavitt genealogies "Descendants of John, the Immigrant Through His Son Moses" was published in 1941, followed by the Israel book in 1948 and the Josiah book in 1949. Volume 4, "Descendants of Thomas Leavitt, the Immigrant", was published in 1953, and Volume 5, the Samuel book, in 1956. Mrs. Noyes died in 1961 leaving the manuscript for Volume 6, the Nehemiah book. In 1982 Emily's Nehemiah material, supplemented by additional data acquired from 1960-1982, was organized and published by Julia Bumpus Berndt for the Association.
The six genealogies compiled by this outstanding author, Emily Leavitt Noyes, are the foundation upon which our organization rests. In keeping with this heritage, the current NALF organization seeks to preserve and build on this legacy by continuing genealogical research to expand and update the genealogies compiled by Emily Leavitt Noyes.
The National Association of Leavitt Families is a genealogical organization originally organized on June 14, 1934 through the combined efforts of Emily Leavitt Noyes, Dr. Mary Leavitt of Boston and John S. Leavitt of Dorchester, Mass. Emily Leavitt Noyes was an award winning genealogist who lived much of her life in Tilton, N.H., and was a descendant of both John (Moses 8) Leavitt and Thomas (Hezron 9) Leavitt.
Emily was born on July 12, 1881 in Melbourne, Quebec. She married Herbert M. Noyes on January 10, 1903. He was an operator in the Public Service Company’s plant in East Tilton, NH. For 24 years they owned and operated a poultry farm, Silver Lake Farm in Tilton. They sold the farm in 1938 and built a new house on part of the estate. Emily attended Tilton Seminary, and taught stenography while a student. She was active in the D.A.R. and the Grange and won several prizes in literary work including the Eugene Field Society award for an outstanding non-fiction work of the year for Volume 1 of her Leavitt genealogies. This award entitled her to membership in the National Association of Authors and Journalists. Emily and Herbert had three children; Hilton, Elva and Henry.
Volume 1 of her Leavitt genealogies "Descendants of John, the Immigrant Through His Son Moses" was published in 1941, followed by the Israel book in 1948 and the Josiah book in 1949. Volume 4, "Descendants of Thomas Leavitt, the Immigrant", was published in 1953, and Volume 5, the Samuel book, in 1956. Mrs. Noyes died in 1961 leaving the manuscript for Volume 6, the Nehemiah book. In 1982 Emily's Nehemiah material, supplemented by additional data acquired from 1960-1982, was organized and published by Julia Bumpus Berndt for the Association.
The six genealogies compiled by this outstanding author, Emily Leavitt Noyes, are the foundation upon which our organization rests. In keeping with this heritage, the current NALF organization seeks to preserve and build on this legacy by continuing genealogical research to expand and update the genealogies compiled by Emily Leavitt Noyes.
NALF TIMELINE
- Joseph Parker Leavitt (1830-1883; 3 Moses-7 lines) researches and contacts living Leavitt’s for their memories of their ancestors (see our BLOG post about JPL, this website). NALF Genealogist Ray Thomas arranged to acquire scans of all his research from the Newbery Library in Chicago 120 years later. 15 years later, we are still in the process of gleaning new information and documentation from these records.
- Emily Leavitt Noyes (1881-1961; Moses-8 & Thomas-9 lines) builds on Joseph Parker Leavitt's findings, continues the Leavitt family research and founds the National Association of Leavitt Families [NALF] in 1934. She publishes 5 branches of Leavitt books from 1941 to 1955.
- NALF remains active through 1969, when it stopped having regular meetings and reunions.
- Presidents of the original NALF: (as we come across the data)
1934-5 John Leavitt of Dorchester {Moses line} 1877-1958
1936-7 Rev Dr Fenwick Lassalle Leavitt {Israel line} 1873-1950
1938- Louis Selwyn Leavitt {Israel line} 1888-1963
1957+ John H Studley {Israel line} 1915 -1999
Winston Leavitt {Moses Line} 1919-2013
Lena Leavitt Fahlow {Thomas line} 1890-1976
James Albert Morrison {Samuel & Thomas lines} 1932-2013 "I was the last elected president of the old Leavitt Association. I replaced Lena Leavitt Fahlow."
- 1982: Julia Bumpus Berndt (Israel-11 line) finishes compiling the sixth volume, Nehemiah, from Emily’s notes and new research, and begins the rejuvenation of the NALF along with other former officers.
- July 1983: First issue of the NALF Newsletter announcing the reactivation of the National Association of Leavitt Families with a Reunion in Hingham, 111 present. Dues established at $5/year. Winston Leavitt, our recent past Newsletter editor, was there. Newsletter mentions that he was also a past President of the Association.
- July 1983-1993: Julie Berndt (1926-2008) and Mary Elvira Leavitt Spinney (Thomas line; joined late 1950s; 1928-2017) are Newsletter editors for these years; hard to tell from the Newsletter exactly who was editor which years. Some newsletters were only one page.
- June 1986: Reunion membership votes to raise dues to $10, and avoided raising them again for 29 years until 2015 when we needed to raise it to $15, later revised to 2 years for $25.
- Presidents:
1983 Robert Leavitt of Marshfield, MA {Moses Leavitt} 1925-1999
1986 Phyllis Perry of East Weymouth, MA {Israel line} 1933-2005
1988 Natalie Johnson of Kennebunkport, ME {Moses line} 1925-2010
1991 Celia King Kahlberg of Arlington, MA {Thomas line} 1924-2008
1993 Edwin Leavitt of Groveland, MA {Nehemiah line} 1932-2021
1995 Wayne Elliott of North Hampton, NH {Thomas line} 1928-2024
1997 Jonathan Leavitt of Exeter, NH {Nehemiah line}
2001 Warren Leavitt of Hampton, NH {Moses line} 1925-
2003 Frances Woodin of Litchfield, NH {Nehemiah line};
2005 Roland Rhoades of Gorham, ME {Nehemiah line};
2009 John Stephen "Steve" Dow of Barrington, NH {Nehemiah, Samuel, & Thomas lines} 1969-2024
2015 J.T. Mueller of Jasper, AL {Josiah line}. 1945-2024?
2024 Sonja Carlborg of VA & ME {Moses Line} - 1990 & 1997: NALF publishes updates to all six branches, and adds an index to the original 5 volumes, making them a current NALF copyright.
- Julie Berndt {Israel line} and others had been the official Genealogists. Natalie Hutchins Johnson is Association Genealogist 1993-1995 {Moses line} 1925-2010, succeeded by Bill Cain 1995-2003 {Moses line} 1931-2006, and Ray Thomas 2003-2009 {Nehemiah line} 1940-2019.
- August 1993 - NALF is incorporated as a New Hampshire Nonprofit Corporation, National Association of Leavitt Families, Inc.
- 1993 - 2008: Winston Leavitt {Moses line, 1919-2013} is Newsletter editor.
- 1997: Sixth Generation Moses members form the LDS Western Association of Leavitt Families [WALF].
- 1998 - 2014: Richard Hall Leavitt {Thomas line 1930-2016} is Treasurer. He also creates the "Leavitt Store", and the "Leavitt Scholarship Program" along with Wayne Elliott and others.
- August 2000: Lori Schrepfer becomes webmaster, creating a new site, and our domain name is registered and listed in search engines. Our first website was created in Nov 1997 by Ralph Goodwin Leavitt {Samuel line}.
- 2003 -2005: Ray Thomas becomes Genealogist, serving through Summer of 2009. While other genealogists had begun the computerization of our records, Ray begins a wholesale computerization to accommodate indexing and standard genealogy format for our books. Steve Dow and Roland Rhoades become active in intensive Leavitt family research, creating a Research Team {all 3 Nehemiah line}. Roland begins a Leavitt E-Newsletter for updates and contact with non-members in 2005, and is elected President in 2005. Valerie LaRobardier soon joins the team, as does Sara Leavitt Goldberg {Thomas line} who takes up the task of transcribing microfilm of Joseph Parker Leavitt’s notes (see above).
- Jan. 2006: Val LaRobardier, Leavitt researcher and genealogist, is new Webmaster and creates a new website {Nehemiah & Hannah II lines}.
- 2006: At the reunion in Charlemont, for the first time ever, former Scholarship recipient Jim McNalley returned to socialize with us and sing for us. Bill Cain, former Genealogist for the Association, dies at age 74.
- 2007: Roland Rhoades agrees to serve again as President, Sara Leavitt Goldberg becomes Archivist, and Steve Dow becomes Historian, a position that had not had an active researcher in some years. At the reunion in Exeter, Win Leavitt was presented with a certificate of appreciation and life membership in recognition of his many years of service.
- 2008: NALF celebrated Deacon John Leavitt’s 400th birthday with a multi-day reunion in Hingham. Win Leavitt closes his run as Newsletter Editor with the November issue by summarizing each of the past fifteen years’ NALF events. Julia Bumpus Berndt, probably the second most important person to our organization after Emily Noyes, died June 13, 2008 in Poland, Maine at age 81, after a long illness.
- 2009: We celebrate the 75th anniversary of NALF at Old Sturbridge Village. John Stephen "Steve" Dow becomes President, while retaining the Historian office. Ray Thomas passes the Genealogist torch to exiting President Roland Rhoades. Genevieve Leavitt joins the Board as Trustee and Josiah researcher. The Newsletter gets a new editor, Valerie LaRobardier, who renames it “Leavitt Leaves”. {Nehemiah & Hannah II lines}
- 2013: Winston Leavitt, our association's long-time editor, and organizational glue who kept us on track, hosted our Board meetings, patted our backs to motivate us, and definitely one of the most important people making NALF so successful since he helped reorganize it in 1983, passes away February 8, 2013 in Candia, NH at age 93.
- 2014: Frankly, we unraveled for a year. Roland Rhoades adds Treasurer to his duties. The 2014 reunion becomes just a much needed Board meeting. We discuss getting back on track with everybody being over-burdened with busy-ness in their lives and the work spread among too few people. Jeanne Ryder comes on board as associate newsletter editor to fill in when Valerie was too busy, and we get the Leavitt Leaves back on a regular quarterly schedule.
- 2015: A wholesale changing of the guard. Former Genealogist Ray Thomas retires as Trustee. Sara Leavitt Goldberg retires as Archivist and Scholarship Chair. VP J.T. Mueller is elected as new President and has also been working on building a new Membership database. Nancy Timlin {Moses line} volunteers and is elected new Scholarship Chair. Jeanne Ryder {Hannah II line} is officially elected as Editor. Marsha Livingston in Texas {Josiah line} is elected a Trustee for Finances to help and audit the Treasurer.
- 2016: Steve Dow creates a new website that can easily be edited and updated by other officers, and not dependent upon one person for everything.
- September 2016: The Board approves offering a PDF-online version of the Leavitt Leaves newsletter, for those who prefer less paper in their lives, but always able to find it online. Also requested by people who move too much for mail-forwarding to keep up. Mailing also changes to First Class Mail.
- 2024: