Abel E. Leavenworth (September 3, 1828 – June 3, 1901) was an American educator and soldier.

Life and career

Abel Edgar Leavenworth was born 3 September 1828 in

Charlotte, Vermont Charlotte is a town in Chittenden County, Vermont, United States. The town was named for Queen Charlotte, though unlike Charlotte, North Carolina, Charlottesville, Virginia, and other cities and towns that bear her name, the town's name is pronou ...

, son of Abel and Anna (Hickok) Leavenworth. He obtained his early education at the district schools of Madrid, New York and Charlotte and continued his studies at Hinesburgh Academy. Afterwards, he entered the

University of Vermont The University of Vermont (UVM), officially the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Burlington, Vermont. It was founded in 1791 and is amon ...

, from which he graduated in 1856. He began his career as a teacher in 1846, taught district schools and eventually became the principal of the Bolivar Academy,

Bolivar, Missouri Bolivar is a city and county seat of Polk County, Missouri, United States. As of a 2019 estimate by the U. S. Census Bureau, the city population was 11,067. History Bolivar began as a settlement around Keeling Spring, with the majority of settle ...

, and the academies of Hinesburgh, Brattleboro, and New Haven. In 1870 he secured the incorporation and endowment of Beeman Academy at New Haven, the position of principal of which, he resigned in 1874 to become principal of the State Normal School at Randolph. He left the Normal School at Randolph in 1879 and spent two years in institute work and the collection of a large cabinet of fossils and minerals. In 1881 he purchased the school building and equipment of the Rutland County grammar school, and was appointed principal of the State Normal School at Castleton (now

Castleton University Castleton University is a public university in Castleton, Vermont. It has an enrollment of 2000 students and offers more than 30 undergraduate programs, as well as master's degrees in education and accounting. It is accredited by the New England ...

).John Duffy, Samuel Hand, and Ralph Orth, Eds.
The Vermont Encyclopedia
'. University Press of New England (2003). pg. 78. At the age of twelve he united with the

Congregational church Congregational churches (also Congregationalist churches or Congregationalism) are Protestant churches in the Calvinist tradition practising congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its ...

, serving as deacon and delegate to county associations and state conventions. He was one of the founders of the

Delta Psi St. Anthony Hall or the Fraternity of Delta Psi is an American fraternity and literary society. Its first chapter was founded at Columbia University on , the feast day of Saint Anthony the Great. The fraternity is a non–religious, nonsectaria ...

fraternity at the

, and in early life was an active member of the Masons, Odd Fellows,

Sons of Temperance The Sons of Temperance was and is a brotherhood of men who promoted the temperance movement and mutual support. The group was founded in 1842 in New York City. It began spreading rapidly during the 1840s throughout the United States and parts o ...

, and the

International Order of Good Templars The International Organisation of Good Templars (IOGT; founded as the Independent Order of Good Templars), whose international body is known as Movendi International, is a fraternal organization which is part of the temperance movement, promotin ...

, having been presiding officer in each, as also in various county and state teachers' organizations, and later in the

Grand Army of the Republic The Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) was a fraternal organization composed of veterans of the Union Army (United States Army), Union Navy (U.S. Navy), and the Marines who served in the American Civil War. It was founded in 1866 in Decatur, Il ...

, from which body he was a delegate-at-large from Vermont at the twenty-fifth national encampment at Detroit in August 1891. He was also a member of the

American Academy of Political and Social Science The American Academy of Political and Social Science (AAPSS) was founded in 1889 to promote progress in the social sciences. Sparked by Professor Edmund J. James and drawing from members of the faculty of the University of Pennsylvania, Swarthmo ...

from the first year of its organization. On 14 September 1853 Abel Edgar Leavenworth was married to Mary Evelina, daughter of Samuel and Sally (Hubbard) Griggs, of Cazenovia, New York. Their children were: Anna Maria, Francis Abel, Samuel Edgar, Clarence Greenman, William Stowell, Emily Reynolds, and Philip Reynolds. Mary Evelina (Griggs) Leavenworth died 30 July 1877. Following her death, Abel Edgar Leavenworth married Lucy Elizabeth, daughter of Marcus N. and Julia M. (Burt) Wadsworth, of

Oswego, New York Oswego () is a city in Oswego County, New York, United States. The population was 16,921 at the 2020 census. Oswego is located on Lake Ontario in Upstate New York, about 35 miles (55km) northwest of Syracuse. It promotes itself as "The Port C ...

Civil War service

Abel E. Leavenworth was a veteran of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

, and soon after his enlistment as a private in Company K, Ninth Regiment Vermont Volunteers, was promoted through the ranks of sergeant and first lieutenant to that of captain. He was made assistant inspector general of

Isaac J. Wistar Isaac Jones Wistar (November 14, 1827 – September 18, 1905) was an American lawyer, miner, farmer, soldier, and author. He served in the Union Army during the American Civil War, in which he was wounded twice, and was noted for his criticiz ...

’s brigade of the U. S. forces on York Peninsula, of the Second division of the Eighteenth army corps, and of the provisional brigade at

Bermuda Hundred, Virginia Bermuda Hundred was the first administrative division in the English colony of Virginia. It was founded by Sir Thomas Dale in 1613, six years after Jamestown. At the southwestern edge of the confluence of the Appomattox and James Rivers oppos ...

. He also served as assistant adjutant general of the last named command, later of the Second brigade, Third division, Twenty-fourth army corps, and led the skirmish line into the city of Richmond on 3 April 1865. He was appointed assistant provost marshal of that city, and subsequently assistant adjutant general of the district of Appomattox. He was mustered out of the service at Richmond on 13 June 1865, having received highly commendatory letters from the generals on whose staff he had served.Donald H. Wickman. We are Coming Father Abra'am: The History of the 9th Vermont Volunteer Infantry. Lynchburg, VA: Schroeder Publications, 2005.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leavenworth, Abel Edgar 1828 births 1901 deaths People of Vermont in the American Civil War Castleton State College faculty People from Charlotte, Vermont University of Vermont alumni Educators from Vermont Sons of Temperance