Emily Wilder Leavitt

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.

In 1916 (City Dir), Emily was living in Brookline, where she resided until her death in 1921. The Boston Herald, on Friday, 4 Nov. 1921, simply wrote: "In Roxbury, Nov. 2, Miss Emily W. Leavitt. Funeral services at the House of the Disciples on Sat., Nov. 5".