The broken stone of JOHN D LEAVITT, who died on 27 March 1866, at the age of 39 years. It lies in the Churchyard Cemetery in Meredith (see cemetery page).

He was the son of Nehemiah and Nancy (Howe) Leavitt [Descendants of Nehemiah Leavitt v6, pg 41], born about 1826 (age 24 in July 1850 census), and was a farmer in Meredith.

Terrible accident at Meredith
On Tuesday morning, March 13th, 1855, the residents of Meredith gathered at the new town house, to cast their votes for town moderator. Some 800 men had filled the building by 10 o'clock when the eastern end of the floor collapsed, sending 300 bodies falling through a 30 x14 ft gap some 18 feet below. The structure had been built on a hill, so the entrance way was level with the street, and was built up to  extend back above the sloping hillside. A rotten center beam had been used in the new construction, causing the collapse once the building was full of voters.

Among the six reported to be fatally injured (with 75-100 others listed with having severe to slight injuries), and not expected to "survive many hours", was John Leavitt, with a leg badly broken. While the papers gave him no hope of survival, as he was "beyond hope of recovery" [Farmer's Cabinet, 22 Mar 1855], he did live on for eleven more years. 

He lived on the farm formerly belonging to his father, northeast of the homestead farm of (distantly related) Dudley Leavitt and his heirs. Following the death of Nehemiah in 1850, John began purchasing the rights to the estate from his siblings.

When John, an unmarried man, died in 1866, his heirs sold off the estate to neighbor Arthur E. Leavitt [Belknap County Deeds: Vol 44, pg 155 and 156].

The daughter of Benson and Abigail (Ward) Leavitt, EMILY WILDER LEAVITT was born in Boston, MA on 28 Dec 1836. 

She attended the Charlestown Female Seminary, where she graduated in July 1852. She is found in the census records for Boston, 1850-60, 1880, and Cambridge in 1870, never listed with any occupation. She is seen in the Boston City Directories, living in Roxbury in 1886, at 10 Joy St, Boston, 1898-1901, and at 7 Walnut in 1902.

She worked with many individuals in gathering, compiling, and editing their family genealogies. She used the library of the New England Historic Genealogical Society in Boston for her research, at a time when females were not allowed to be members. It was not until 1898 [List of Members of the NEHGS, April 1, 1898], when women were allowed to join, that she enrolled. Many articles written by Miss Leavitt  were published in their New England Historical and Genealogical Register.

Some of her earlier works included genealogies compiled for Moses Conant Warren in 1890:
- A Genealogy of the Bogman Family, 1767-1890
- A genealogy of one branch of the Morey family 1631-1890
- A genealogy of one branch of the Conant family, 1581-1890

She followed those with:
- Henry Crane of Milton, Mass., 1654, and Some of His Descendants (1893)
- The Blair Family of New England, compiled for Mr. William Blair, Chicago (1900)
- Palmer groups : John Melvin of Charlestown and Concord, Mass., and his descendants (1901-05)
- Morse Genealogy, Comprising the descendants of Samuel, Anthony, William and Joseph Morse and John Moss (1903, 1905), with J. Howard Morse
- The Starkeys of New England and allied families, compiled for Albert Crane, Esq (1910)

She also wrote articles for other genealogical publications, including Putnam's Monthly Historical Magazine, where she compiled church records from Hampton Falls, NH in 1897-8.

JOSEPH LEAVITT SANBORN was the son of Aaron Sanborn and Lydia Leavitt, dau. of Thomas and Hannah (Melcher) Leavitt of Hampton Falls. Sanborn was born there on 31 Oct 1843.

He was with his parents in Hampton Falls for the 1860 census, working as a farm laborer, age 16. He was enrolled, at age 19, in an advanced class at Phillips Exeter Academy, the Class of 1863. He went from there to Harvard College, where he graduated with the Class of 1867. He taught school in Plymouth, MA, 1867-68, following that with several years at a school in West Newton, MA.

While teaching in Newton, he was married there on 6 July 1871 to Josephine Lakin of Worcester. Late the following year, they removed to St. Louis, Missouri, with Joseph taking a teaching position at the city high school. For less than a year he had been a resident of the city before typhoid  would claim the thirty-year old . 

His obituary, as published in the Daily Missouri Republican, on Tues., April 1st, 1873: 

His body was returned home to Hampton Falls, where he was buried in West View Cemetery. He left behind his pregnant wife and infant daughter, Josephine, aged only 11 months. Another daughter, Esther, would be born in July 1873. They would return to Worcester, MA soon after.

BENSON LEAVITT, was the eldest son of Thomas and Hannah (Melcher) Leavitt, born 21 Jun 1797 in Hampton Falls, New Hampshire. As the U.S. flag and its holder suggests, he was a veteran of the War of 1812.

A member of the New Hampshire Militia, he was in the company of Capt. Samuel James, under Col. Case Waldron. He served as a private with a detachment of artillery from the Third Regiment, raised for the defence of Portsmouth Harbor in Sept. 1814. He would have only been 17 years of age at the time of his enlistment.

He moved to Boston, Massachusetts in 1826, establishing a wholesale grocery and fish store with his brother Joseph M. The 1831 City Dir. listed their business on Battery Wharf, but later references show their store on the Philadelphia Packet Pier. Following the death of his brother in 1849, the store of "B. & J.M. Leavitt" would change to "Benson Leavitt & Co." as he co-partnered with son Charles B. [Glouc. Telegraph, 4 Mar 1868]. The 1842 Dir. listed Benson as living at 11 Fleet, with Joseph at 10 1/2 (it was the same building). In 1831, they had been on Hanover.

He was a Justice of the Peace, as well as an alderman, in Boston for many years. In Nov. and Dec of 1845, as Chairman of the Board of Aldermen, he served as acting mayor in the city when the current official had passed away and elections needed to be held to secure a new leader. He was also among the list of bank directors, and was on the school committee in Ward 1, Boston. Party-wise, his name was often submitted on the ballots of several political parties in the years of running for an alderman position, but was noted as being either a Whig or American Republican (ie. Native American). 

When his father died in 1852, both Benson and brother Joseph received the homestead farm in Hampton Falls (but remained in Boston), with their sister Hannah having the right to live there as a single woman [Rock. County Probate, file #16376]. From the 1856 map of Rockingham county, the location of the home is marked "C & B. Leavitt". This home still stands today. The cemetery where they are buried, not yet established when this map was drawn, is opposite the Old West View Cemetery, highlighted on the map.

Benson died from pneumonia on June 1st, 1869, in Watertown, MA, aged 72 [MA VR]. His body was a shipped back to Hampton Falls, where he was buried in the family plot at West View Cemetery. Newspaper accounts called him "the oldest fish dealer in Boston". One death notice read as follows:

His wife, Abigail Ward, had predeceased him in 1851, as did two of his children. He was survived by three daughters (Theresa, Susan, and Emily) and son Charles. 

20-year old DANIEL WESTON LEAVITT enlisted on 15 Jan 1864 at Gray, Maine, signing up to serve three years with the newly formed 32nd Maine Infantry Regiment. He was mustered in on 23 March, a private in Company C (raised in Cumberland County). In a hurry to supply fresh troops to the southern battlefields, the unit was only at battalion strength when they shipped off at the end of April. The remaining four companies, which would include Daniel's older brother Libbeus H. Leavitt in Co. H, would join them in a month.

In a few short weeks the regiment would be engaged in the Battle of Spotsylvania, on 12 May 1864. Eleven men were killed or mortally wounded, with 29 wounded, on this day. Private Leavitt was among those wounded - the History of the 32nd Maine, on pg 139-140, lists him in the casualties, but with no further information. The 1890 Raymond, ME Veterans Schedule​ shows he was ​wounded in the right forearm.

As seen in the newspaper clipping below, Daniel was sent to the 1st Division Hospital in Alexandria. How long he was an inmate is unknown. 

In just half a year, the 32nd Maine Infantry had been decimated, with only a couple hundred soldiers left fit for duty. On the 12th of Dec 1864, all survivors were consolidated with the 31st Maine, Daniel Leavitt included. He was subsequently transferred to the 5th Company, 2nd Battalion, Veteran Reserve Corps on 22 Feb 1865. He stayed in service until 21 Oct 1865, when mustered out.

​He was married to Miss Loantha Frank on 29 Sept 1866, in Gray, Maine [Daily Eastern Argus, 13 Oct 1866, pg 3]. They lived in Raymond, Maine through 1890, and had five children there (all recorded in town VR). They would move to Gray, Maine prior to 1900, where they remained until their deaths.

An 1871 map of East Raymond (below) shows where Daniel "D.W.", his father Seth "S", and brother-in-law Aaron "A.T." Barrows had lived.

Daniel was a member of the George F. Shepley G.A.R. Post in Gray, at one time having served as commander [Portland Daily Press, 19 Jan 1897, pg 7].

He was the son of Seth B. and Ann (Libby) Leavitt, born about Nov 1844 [1900 census; or 24 Nov 1842, if age at death was correct] in New Gloucester, ME [as noted in Raymond, ME Town Records; his enlistment says Gray, ME as birth place]. He died from heart disease in Gray on 3 Jan 1907, aged 64 yrs, 1 mo, 10 das. He can be found in the Descendants of Nehemiah Leavitt v6, pg 80/95.

Links:
Cumberland County Atlas published 1871: Digital Maine
ME Civil War Enlistment Papers: Daniel W Leavitt (on Family Search)
Raymond, Cumb., ME Vital Records: pg 368 (Daniel Leavitt's fam record)