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Daniel Weston Leavitt, 32nd Maine Vols.

8/16/2020

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Gray Village Cemetery - taken on a dreary March day in 2019
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. 
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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.
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1871 East Raymond, ME map
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)

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Charles Henry Leavitt of the 29th Mass Vols

7/3/2020

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CHARLES HENRY LEAVITT was the son of John Phillips and Mary Smith (Taylor) Leavitt, born in Exeter, NH on 25 Dec 1827 [Desc. of Moses Leavitt v1, pg 100].

An Exeter, New Hampshire resident, he was working as a clerk at the Squamscott House Hotel when he left for Boston, Mass and signed up for three years with the 29th Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry. He served with them from 18 May 1861 until 1 Feb 1864, when he was transferred into Co. I of the 36th Mass Inf.

On 22 Feb 1864, the Exeter Newsletter printed a letter from someone in the 11th NH, who mentioned seeing Charles Leavitt:
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​He was wounded at the Battle of the Wilderness on May 6th, 1864, when a musket ball struck him in the neck, near the jaw [Exeter Newsletter, 5/16/64, pg 4]. The projectile was extracted, and only resulted in a slight flesh wound, with a week in the hospital. His 3 years were up on 18 May '64, but he was not mustered out of service until 2 Sept [service recs on Fold3].  
In the Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors [Vol 3, pg 329], it says that Charles reenlisted in "Co. K, 7th Regiment Hancock Corps, to the credit of New Jersey". His step-mother, in her pension application (not approved), listed the unit as Co. K, 7th US Vet. Vols". His exact service dates during this time are not yet known, but he was in Exeter, NH on 29 March of 1865, during which time he filed a will. 

The regiment was part of Hancock's 1st Corps, stationed at Camp Stoneman, Washington, DC. He died there in the General Hospital on 3 July 1865, from diarrhea, aged 38 yrs, 6 mos. His body was not returned to Exeter, NH until Nov, where he was buried on the 16th of that month [Exeter Newsletter, 11/20/65, pg 3]. He was buried in the Exeter Cemetery.

He was a single man, and left the income of his estate, both real and personal, to his step mother Sarah Jane [Rock County Probate, file #19626]. After her decease, his siblings would equally divide it. He had a house on a 1/4 acre of land on the road to Hampton (High Street) in Exeter (his father also lived on same road).

His half-brothers, Joseph W. and John W. Leavitt, also served during the Civil War. They both survived.
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Arch d. leavitt, 16th maine vols.

12/25/2019

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​ARCHIBALD "ARCH" DORILLUS (DORILLOUS) LEAVITT was born 15 July 1840, the son of Arch and Mary (Deane) Leavitt. He died on 30 May 1864 from wounds received on 12 May during the Battle of Laurel Hill (shown as the Wilderness on family monument). He is buried in the Howes Corner Cemetery (aka North Turner Burial Ground) in Turner. 
Brothers Aubrey and Archibald D were early participants in the Civil War, taking part in the raising of a company that would be part of the 16th Maine Infantry, a 3-year unit. Both were mustered into service on 14 Aug 1862, Aubrey as sergeant of Co E (later promoted to 2nd Lt). Arch, initially captain of the same company, would become Major of the regiment, but was mortally wounded (in left clavicle) in battle, and died in Douglas Hospital, Washington, DC on 30 May 1864 (the 29th is also seen for death date). While the "Register of Deaths of Volunteers" lists him as buried in the Soldiers' Home Cemetery in DC, the Sixteenth Maine book (pg 230) says "His remains were brought to Turner and buried with Masonic honors".
​The Colby College website has a photo of Arch D Leavitt: 
http://lgimages.s3.amazonaws.com/data/imagemanager/18248/arch_leavitt.jpg
Arch was a graduate of Colby College, Waterville, Class of 1862. His fellow fraternal brothers in Delta Kappa Epsilon, upon hearing of his death, had the following "Tribute of Respect" printed in the Portland Daily Press, on 30 June, 1864 (pg 3).
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His ancestry can be found in the Desc. of Israel Leavitt, Vol. 2, pg 44
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Reuben Towle Leavitt jr. of pittsfield, new hampshire

11/11/2019

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Taken 3 May 2009, Floral Park Cemetery in Pittsfield, NH - S. Dow
REUBEN TOWLE LEAVITT Jr, the son of Reuben T and Nancy M (Brown) Leavitt, was born in Pittsfield, NH on 11 Nov 1839 [NH vr]. He died on 30 Aug 1919 and was buried in Floral Park Cemetery, Pittsfield, NH [NH Death Rec].

He was married, on 4 Sept 1871 in South Berwick, Maine [ME Marr Rec], to EMMA A WATSON, the daughter of John and Betsey (Kenniston) Watson. She was born 26 Aug 1845 in Pittsfield, NH, and died there on 13 June 1932 [NH Death Rec].

During the Civil War, he enlisted on 16 Aug 1862 and was mustered in on 5 Sept, serving in Co. F of the 12th NH Infantry. He was wounded in the Battle of Chancellorsville on 3 May 1863, being shot through the left knee, and was taken prisoner. He was released 12 days later, having had no care given his wounds and, as a result, would be disabled for life. Sent to an army hospital, he would not consent to his leg being amputated, and was discharged on 21 Nov 1863. See the "History of Pittsfield, N.H. in the Great Rebellion" [pg 104-105, on archive.org]

He and his family removed to Concord, NH prior to the 1850 census, and had lived in Kittery for seven years (while father Reuben Sr was a lighthouse keeper), but was soon back in Pittsfield. 
​The 1870 and 1880 Pittsfield, NH censuses show that Reuben was employed as a worker in a shoe factory. In 1900, he was a farmer and, in 1910, a gardener for a private estate.  ​

He served in the NH Legislature, 1883-1884, a democrat. He was a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, and had served as a commander of the Willard K. Cobb Post, No. 29 of Pittsfield. He was also Commander of the NH Department for 1916 [see: 50th Encampment Journal on Google Books].
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Reuben T. in 1916, GAR Commander
​Reuben and Emma had three children:
i. Lila Maude Leavitt b. 26 Sept 1872, d. 2 July 1882
ii. Harry Edgar Leavitt b. 5 Apr 1879; d. 12 Oct 1969
iii. Inez Maude Leavitt b. 22 July 1883; d. 13 May 1902

According to the book LEAVITT Descendants of Thomas Leavitt, the Immigrant 1616-1696, and Isabella Bland (pg 143), his ancestry was: Reuben T Jr (Reuben T, Reuben T, Benjamin, Thomas, Aretas, Thomas)
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john w leavitt of east winthrop maine

10/1/2019

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John Wood Leavitt was sixteen years and six months old when he left the family farm in East Winthrop, Maine , and took the 10-mile trek to Augusta. He had just enlisted, on the 20th of November 1863, as a "20"-year old, enrolled by "A.S." (Arnold Sweet) Richmond, a fellow townsman and acting deputy provost marshal. As a private in the Seventh Maine Battery (of Light Artillery), he was mustered into service for three years, on 30 Dec. 1863. 

Through the month of January, 1864, while other volunteers continued to arrive, the men were formed into detachments and drilled on a daily basis at Camp Coburn in Augusta. At the end of the month, John Leavitt received a state bounty of $100, as well as a U.S. bounty of $60 and $13 monthly advance pay. The unit left the capital on the morning of 1 Feb. and headed south.

Transported via rail and steamer, the 7th Battery arrived in Washington, DC on the morning of 5 February 1864, and settled into Camp Barry, the Artillery Camp of Instruction. Having already left a few men behind in Augusta due to sickness, the camp life and change of climate continued to take its toll.

A letter, written by someone stationed at Camp Barry and published in the Oxford Democrat on 8 April 1864, pg 2, mentioned the 7th Battery:
   "It came here with 143 men...[ ]. There has been much sickness in this company since its arrival. Four have died..."

John W Leavitt was one of those four men, succumbing to double pneumonia on the 16th of March, 1864. He was two months shy of his seventeenth birthday.
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U.S. Burial Register (Military Asylum Cemetery, Wash. DC, records, pg 16)
His body was returned home, where he was buried in the East Winthrop Cemetery, beside his sister Mary, who had died in 1860, at age 14.
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His parents, Hiram H and Mary (Wood), survived him, as did his infant brother, Elmer, who was nearly 3 years of age.
Notes/sources:
​Photos taken 21 Sept 2019 (by S. Dow)
Descendants of John Leavitt Through His Son, Israel and Lydia Jackson (pg 77)
History of the Seventh Maine Light Artillery (archive.org)
Seventh Maine Battery Descriptive Roll (pg 63); Monthly Return (pg 195); Muster In Roll (pg 108 pay, pg 109); Muster Out Roll (pg 130)
Maine, Civil War Enlistment Papers: John W Leavitt (Declaration of recruit) - being under 21 years of age, a parent or guardian needed to sign a consent form. As seen below, John's father Hiram H. Leavitt signed off on his son being 20 years old.
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