MAINE STATE PRISONERS 1824 - 1915, from Picton Press c2001

The following nine LEAVITT (some were spelled Leavett) names are found in the book, on pages 130-131. Three of the entries belong to the same individual, though the compiler made separate lines for each (due to varying information between them). 

​Charles Leavitt, age 19, Birthplace: Lowell; York County; burglary; committed: 10 July 1867; sentence: 2 1/2 years 

Unclear who this Charles may be - or if the birth place of Lowell is in Massachusetts (no Charles here in 1850, or in birth VR)  or the Penobscot County, ME one (there was no Leavitt family here in 1850 census). 

​Eliphalet Leavitt, age 31; b. New Hampshire; Penobscot County; larceny; committed: 26 Oct 1843 for 5 years

Found in the Desc. of Nehemiah Leavitt v6, pg 21, he was the son of Edward and Hannah (Sias) Leavitt, and was born in Wolfeboro, NH between 1812 and 1816. He was a veteran of the Aroostook War (1839), serving two months on the northern Maine border. On 2 Sept 1841, he was arrested for larceny in Bangor [Bangor Daily Whig, 3 Sept 1841]. In March of 1843, there were reports of two men passing "bad money" in Bangor, and Eliphalet, "a familiar jail bird", was soon arrested and the Police Court sentenced him to 30 days imprisonment and a $10 fine [Bangor Daily Whig, 14 Mar 1843]. In Oct 1843, he was charged with one count of larceny and, being a third comer to court, would receive five years in the state prison.

After his release, he went to live with his brother, John L., in Carmel for a time, there in 1850 census. When the Civil War broke out, Eliphalet signed up with the 12th Maine Infantry, on 16 Nov 1861, at age 44. He did not survive, dying from chronic diarrhea in New Orleans on 12 Nov 1862. He was originally buried in Cypress Grove Cem No 2, and was later reinterred in Monument Cemetery, New Orleans.

​George H Leavitt, age 25; b. Manchester, NH; Cumberland County; passing counterfeit money; committed: 30 Dec 1863, for 1 year

According to the Supreme Judicial Court records [Vol. 4, pg 27-9], George H. Leavitt, otherwise called Harry Lane, of Windham, Maine, used a $5 counterfeit bank bill in Windham. He pled guilty of the charge, and received a year of hard labor in Thomaston. 

He may have been the George H "Lavett" in Naugatuck, CT, for the 1860 census, age 21, a carriage painter, b. NH. He also could have been the man of same name who, on 1 Jan 1861, enlisted into the US Army at Boston for five years (at age 23, born Manchester, NH, a painter), but deserted from Fort Delaware on 27 Mar 1861.

It is not known exactly who this George H. was, or what became of him after his release from prison.

​George R Leavitt, age 35; prisoner #4574; b. Maine; Penobscot County; compound larceny; committed 24 Feb 1914 for "not less than 3 yrs, and not more than 5 yrs"

​Harris Leavitt (no age or birth); prisoner #4506; Hancock County; assault with intent to kill and murder; committed 18 Apr 1913 for 2 yrs; transferred to insane hospital on 2 May 1913.

Harris, in jail on a charge of larceny, made his case much worse when he assaulted the deputy-sheriff in an attempt to escape. He was then sent to the East Maine Insane Hospital in Bangor for evaluation. While there, he and several other patients were allowed in the basement for a smoke and recreation. Harris and another man took this opportunity to make their escape, breaking out a window and running off into the woods. They voluntarily returned the following day, hungry and footsore [Ellsworth American, 26 Mar 1913].  

Following his two-year sentence, he was transferred to the State Hospital in Augusta, where he remained a patient the rest of his life. He died there on 31 Mar 1942. He had been born in Calais, Maine, on 25 July 1895, the son of George and Hattie E. (Lydick) Leavitt [his father listed in Desc. of Israel Leavitt v2, pg 70].

John Leavitt, age 26; b. Hallowell; Cumberland County; larceny; committed for 5 yrs on 22 Jan 1870

In the Portland Daily Press, on 15 Jan 1870 (pg 3), the January Term of the Cumberland County Superior Court listed the following case:

Looking into the case in the Superior Court Criminal Records [Vol. 1, pg 434], it gives the name of the defendant as "Edwin Clark, otherwise called John Leavitt, of Westbrook". On 12 Dec 1869, Edwin/John stole a gold watch, chain, US Treasury Notes, etc from the dwelling house of Jacob Shattuck. 

The 1870 census for Thomaston shows "Edwin Clarke", age 26, in the State Prison. There was a John Leavitt in Hallowell during the 1850 census, age 8, listed as born in Nova Scotia to Irish parents William and Hannah Leavitt. The family's whereabouts after this date is not known.

John Leavitt (no age, birth, or county); assault and battery on jailor; sentenced 20 Dec 1879 for 5 yrs; discharged on 6 Aug 1883, served 3 yrs, 7 mos, 16 das; pardoned by Gov. Robie 
John Leavitt, 19; prisoner #2455; b. Ripley; Somerset County; assault and battery of jailor; committed 9 Jan 1880 for 5 yrs
John Leavitt, a. 28; prisoner #2455; b. Ripley; Somerset County; assault and battery on jailor

John L. Leavitt, the son of Jonathan Jones Leavitt [Desc. of Nehemiah Leavitt v6, pg 67], was born in Ripley, Maine on 24 May 1860. In the 1870 census, he was with his parents in Ripley, age 9. In 1880, he was in Thomaston (state prison). He was pardoned by the governor and released on 6 Aug 1883, only to die 16 days later, in Gardiner on 22 Aug, aged 23 yrs. 

The above sketch was taken from the Pittsfield Advertiser, dated Thursday, 28 Sept 1893, under the "Well Known People" column on page 2. Albert Leavitt can be found in the Descendants of Nehemiah Leavitt book, pg 53/86, the son of Caleb and Mary (Bradbury) Leavitt. The paper included the following biography:

The 1860 Somerset County map shows, in its detailed view of Athens Village, the home of Albert Leavitt, on the street to the Somerset Academy. The "Athens Directory", printed on the map, listed: Albert Leavitt (Leavitt & Tobey), Merchant Dealers in dry goods, groceries, produce, &c.  There were numerous buildings in town marked as "stores", but none specifically marked as their business place.

The East Somerset County Register, which includes brief histories of each town, shows that Albert Leavitt was the town clerk for Athens from 1861 to '63. He was also a selectman, in 1883, '84, and in '91.

The 1883 map (above) shows Mr. Leavitt's home next to the Academy, as well as his saw mill on the river. His brother-in-law, Horatio C. Tobey, is on the east side of the waterway with his flour (grist) mill. In the 1876 ME State Register, they were in business together as "Leavitt & Tobey", dealing in "long lumber, shingles, planing, and a grist mill". Leavitt's father-in-law, Dr. James Sullivan Tobey, can be seen labeled on several buildings in town.  

Mr. Albert Leavitt died in Athens on 4 June 1899, and is buried in Mt Rest Cemetery. His gravestone, and many others, can be found in the cemetery section on this site.

​It is not currently known (the online tax listings weren't functioning correctly) if the house located on Academy St. is the same place that Albert Leavitt owned, or is a former part of the building. The GPS is:  44.926554, -69.672643

JOSEPH D LEAVITT ​was born in Lincoln, Penobscot, Maine on 30 Dec 1829, the son of Joseph and Mary (Walls) Leavitt [Cambridge, ME Town Recs, 1792-1868; pg 24]. He moved to Cambridge with his family in 1844, and married there on 22 Nov 1855 to LOANN MARIA ROGERS [Camb. VR, pg 8; intents filed 20 Nov 1855, pg 7].

He is seen in Cambridge, Somerset, Maine for the 1870 census [pg 4; hh 31/32], with wife and children,  his brother Ralph listed directly next to him, also married with children.

Both Joseph and Ralph then went west, listed together in a household in Princeton, Mille Sacs, Minnesota during the 1875 State Census. Both of their ages are off by several years, though.

Ralph soon returned home to Maine, while Joseph remained in MN. He began staking out land claims in Big Stone County, MN, and in neighboring Grant County, Dakota Territory. He worked with members of the Townsend family on these transactions [in the 8 Sept 1881 Princeton Union, their partnership was  called "Townsend Bros & Leavitt"]. They (Joseph Leavitt, with brothers William and Freemont Townsend) can be seen in the 1880 census for Township 121, Range 48 in Grant County, Dakota Territory. They also frequented Inkpa (later Big Stone City), D.T., and cleared land there for farming and their logging operations.

In many newspaper articles that mention Joseph and his actions in Minnesota and the Dakota Territory, he was sometimes called "Judge". As this title was usually printed in quotations, I'm assuming this was an unofficial name given him. While researching this article, I did not find any instances of him acting as a judge in an official (or elected) position. 

The Leavitts and Townsends relocated to Dickinson, (North) Dakota, where they operated a cattle raising business. They occasionally returned to Princeton, where they purchased young cattle and shipped them back to their ranch. The fattened up livestock would later be sent via rail to Chicago for slaughter [Princeton Union, 24 Mar 1892; 25 Aug 1892].

Joseph returned to Princeton a few years prior to his death due to illness, purchasing a property near the fair grounds in 1896 [The Princeton Union, 1 Oct 1896]. Below is a portion of an 1898 map of Princeton, showing where "Joseph Leavith" had property northeast of Fog Lake. The fair grounds can be seen near bottom of map, the "race track", with the cemetery (Oak Knoll) adjacent to it. 

Joseph Leavitt died in Princeton on the 11th of January, 1899, and was buried there in Oak Knoll Cemetery. The following obit was printed in the Princeton Union, 19 Jan 1899 [MN Hist Soc]:

The 1900 census for Princeton shows Elisha as a beekeeper, boarding in the  household of the Walter Brown family [Pg 7B, hh 141/148]. His mother Loann was not found on this census, though.

The Princeton Union newspaper reported, in their 22 Oct 1903 issue, that Elisha Leavitt sold his house and lot on "the west side of the Great Northern tracks" [note: this railroad line is seen in above 1898 map, but Elisha's name was not found near it], and that he and his mother were returning to Maine, where she was planning on spending the winter. The widow Loann Leavitt was listed in the following week's paper, involving a real estate transfer of property in ("lot 5 in block 3" in Oakland). 

Elisha (or "E.K.", as the 11/12/03 paper called him) returned to Princeton after a few weeks, but he did not remain there. He continued westward, and settled in Seattle, Washington. That only lasted for a couple of years, as he was back in Princeton in 1905. His mother was with him by then, as a newspaper article published in Princeton on 1 June 1905 said that "Lish" and his mother were moving to Massachusetts, where they planned on staying. They didn't - it was back to Maine for them. They settled in Parkman, Piscataquis County, where Joseph's brother Daniel G Leavitt was living. Loann Leavitt died there in 1912, and Elisha returned to Washington State. He is last seen in the 1930 census, living in Aberdeen [pg 4B; he was a lumber mill watchman, aged 67; single]. His death date is not yet known.

More about:
In the "Descendants of Nehemiah Leavitt" Genealogy, pg 37, Joseph D. and his siblings were wrongly placed in the household of a different Joseph, one that lived in Wakefield, NH. The proper placement of his father Joseph some where among one of the many Maine Leavitt branches has yet to be proven.
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Below is an 1860 map of Cambridge, Maine, showing where Joseph D Leavitt was living, prior to his move out west. Of interest is his neighbor, Elisha Knowles. Is he the namesake of Joe's son, Elisha K. Leavitt? The "N.P. Leavitt" living across the street from J.D. Leavitt is Nehemiah P, another individual from the Nehemiah genealogy, pg 37, though he was also listed with the wrong family in the book.