George R. Leavitt of Laconia, NH

GEORGE RUSSELL LEAVITT of Laconia, New Hampshire
The son of Almon Curtis and Mary Freeman (Russell) Leavitt, he was born in Laconia on 30 Nov 1857 [NH vr]. He was educated in the local schools, followed up by classes at the New Hampshire Conference Seminary in Tilton, and the Gaskell Commercial College in Manchester, NH. He was employed for sixteen years by the Boston, Concord & Montreal Railroad, working with his father, as a telegraph and ticket agent. While his biography in "New Hampshire Men" says he had begun working in the "wood, coal and lumber business" in 1890, he was actually doing so (in partnership with his father, as "A.C. Leavitt & Son") by 1884.

1892 map of Laconia, the home of George R Leavitt highlighted. His father and father-in-law are seen at bottom, near rail lines. The lumber yard was just south of them.

His first wife, Lucy Ann Busiel, the daughter of Lewis Flanders and Annie (Lawrence) Busiel, of Laconia, NH and Boston, MA, died in Cambridge, MA on 16 July 1892, from cancer of the uterus [MA vr]. An article in the Boston Herald on Sun., 17 July 1892 (pg 18), wrote that her sudden death was the result of a surgical operation on Sat. She was buried in the Union Cemetery in Laconia, NH. They had married in Boston on 23 June 1879 [MA Marr Rec].

They had one child, son Harry Curtis Leavitt, born 23 Oct 1879 in Laconia [NH vr]. Two pictures of him were included among the Almon Leavitt photo collection. 

Harry C. Leavitt (dates unknown)

A Google search shows there was also a photograph of Harry's mother (and another photo of Harry) but, being sold in individual pieces, were already purchased by an unknown party.

George R. Leavitt remarried in 1895, to Jessie Lyon Phelps (who was a step-sister of George's first wife). Having already worked in Boston as a banker, he moved there  with his wife and son prior to 1897. With his second wife, he had two more sons: Roger Phelps Leavitt, born 30 Dec 1897 in Boston, and Jerome Rollins Leavitt, born 9 June 1904 in Lexington, MA. After 1910, they removed to Concord, NH, where George had taken a head bookkeeper job at the St. Paul's School.

Boston Herald, 16 Jan 1935, pg 15

​George died in Methuen, MA on 14 Jan 1935, having moved there with Jessie seven years prior, from Concord, NH. He was buried in the family plot in Union Cemetery, Laconia. Jessie died just months later, at the Lawrence Gen. Hospital on 11 Aug., and would also be buried back in Laconia.

Notes:
Descendants of Samuel Leavitt, pg 132/159-160 (George and family)
Northern Men: A Collection of Biographical Sketches...(bio of George on pg 175): note that he was a major in the New Hampshire National Guard at the time of this writing (1893). He held the rank of captain a year earlier, as mentioned in newspaper articles on his wife's death.
1895 Laconia City Dir: George R, banker in Boston, bds Pleasant, corner New Salem
1897 Laconia City Dir: George R, removed to Boston
1900 Boston, MA census (pg 7A): hh 81/140;  liv 7 Adelaide St, a commercial traveller
1910 Lexington, Middlesex, MA census (pg 9A ): rented at 4 Upland Rd, George a travelling salesman for banking house
1911 Concord, NH Street Dir (pg 192): George head bkkpr at St. Paul's, bds do.
1920 Concord, NH census (pg 7A): George a book keeper at a book bindery; rented at 18 So. Spring
1926 Concord, NH Dir (pg 252): liv at 18 So. Spring (no occ listed)
Find a Grave memorial for George R [#106077540]