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)
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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: 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. |
gravestones and their storiesMore than just names and dates engraved on a grave stone, a look into the Leavitt families found in our cemetery photographs. Archives
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