Essex Fells, New Jersey

From the Montclair Times, 27 Jan 1894

CHARLES WELLFORD LEAVITT was an ore and metal importer, his firm "C.W. Leavitt & Co." operating in New York City throughout the 1880's. In 1890, with John R. Fell of Philadelphia, they organized the (New York) Suburban Land Company, and purchased the 1,000 acre former estate of Gen. William Gould in Caldwell, New Jersey. With Leavitt as the company's president, they advertised this new development as "One of the three healthiest places in the United States", with its mountainous location, a fine water supply, and a modern sewage system.

(left) Is from an 1850 map of Essex County, showing where "N M Gould", an heir of the William Gould estate, was living.  C.W. Leavitt took up residence here when this neighborhood was being built.

This home still stands at the corner of Roseland Ave and Forest Way.

​As seen (at right) on a 1907 Sanborn Map of Essex Fells, the home of "Mrs. C. W. Leavitt" sat at the corner of Roseland Ave and Hawthorne Road (now part of Forest Way). This house number, in a 1914 City Dir., was #234. Their son William F. B. Leavitt was living in 223 Roseland Ave.

Charles moved to Essex Fells with his family in 1892, and lived here until his death in 1904. Having returned from a day-trip to Philadelphia, he walked into this home, and began conversing with his wife, when heart failure struck him down. Medical help did not arrive in time to offer any assistance [Caldwell News, 20 Feb 1904]. 

Charles W. Leavitt was the son of John Wheeler Leavitt, who is found in the Descendants of Josiah Leavitt, pg 42. Charles himself, in a printing error, is found at the end of the Samuel book, on pg 183-4.

Links:
- Map of Essex County, New Jersey: 1850 (Library of Congress)
Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Essex Co., Essex County, New Jersey. Sanborn Map Company; Vol. 3, 1907. Library of Congress website [Map 82 - Mrs Leavitt]