Leon Brooks Leavitt Bowdoin College Class of 1899

L. Brooks Leavitt (1878–1941) was an investment banker and

antiquarian An antiquarian or antiquary () is an fan (person), aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artifact (archaeology), artifac ...

book collector who served as an

overseer Overseer may refer to: Professions * Supervisor or superintendent; one who keeps watch over and directs the work of others *Plantation overseer, often in the context of forced labor or slavery *Overseer of the poor, an official who administered re ...

Bowdoin College Bowdoin College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Brunswick, Maine. When Bowdoin was chartered in 1794, Maine was still a part of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The college offers 34 majors and 36 minors, as well as several joint eng ...

, to whose library he donated part of his collection of rare books and manuscripts. Born in

Wilton, Maine Wilton is a New England town, town in Franklin County, Maine, Franklin County, Maine, United States. The population was 3,835 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Situated beside Wilson Pond, the former mill town is today primarily a re ...

, to a father who was a stagecoach driver who died when Leavitt was young, Brooks Leavitt was an aesthete turned banker whom Maine's poet laureate later eulogized at his funeral.

Biography

Leon Brooks Leavitt was born to William Newcomb Leavitt and Ada Idela (Russell) Leavitt in Wilton, Maine, on April 3, 1878. Leavitt's father dropped dead of a heart attack when Brooks Leavitt was attending Wilton Academy. Leavitt subsequently attended

Brunswick, Maine Brunswick is a town in Cumberland County, Maine, United States. The population was 21,756 at the 2020 United States Census. Part of the Portland-South Portland-Biddeford metropolitan area, Brunswick is home to Bowdoin College, the Bowdoin Intern ...

, where he became a voracious reader, and to which he later helped send his younger brother Russell by paying his tuition. On graduating, Leavitt worked briefly as the principal of a

Farmington, Maine Farmington is a town in and the county seat of Franklin County, Maine, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population was 7,592. Farmington is home to the University of Maine at Farmington, Nordica Memorial Auditorium, the Nordica Homestea ...

high school, and then went to work for the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...

. Leavitt subsequently attended

George Washington University Law School The George Washington University Law School (GW Law) is the law school of George Washington University, in Washington, D.C. Established in 1865, GW Law is the oldest top law school in the national capital. GW Law offers the largest range of cou ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, and practiced law briefly in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, before joining the

Wall Street Wall Street is an eight-block-long street in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs between Broadway in the west to South Street and the East River in the east. The term "Wall Street" has become a metonym for t ...

investment banking Investment banking pertains to certain activities of a financial services company or a corporate division that consist in advisory-based financial transactions on behalf of individuals, corporations, and governments. Traditionally associated wit ...

firm of Bertram, Griscom & Company. NathanielHawthorneBowdoin

Within a few years, Leavitt joined the investment banking firm of Paine, Webber & Co., where he worked at the firm's headquarters on

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

. Leavitt became a bond specialist, and was later one of the partners in charge of the company. While working at Paine Webber, Leavitt indulged his true loves – literature, oriental carpets and the companionship of artists and writers of the day. Having eventually made a fortune on Wall Street, Leavitt retired back to his beloved

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...

. One of Leavitt's lifelong friends was

Robert P. T. Coffin Robert Peter Tristram Coffin (March 18, 1892 – January 20, 1955) was an American poet, educator, writer, editor and literary critic. Awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1936, he was the Poetry editor for ''Yankee'' magazine. Early life ...

, a fellow Mainer, Bowdoin graduate and Bowdoin professor. Coffin dedicated his novel ''Captain Abbey and Captain John'' to his friend Leavitt, "a fellow son of Maine." Following Leavitt's death from heart disease, Coffin eulogized him in his poem "Brooks Leavitt", read at Leavitt's 1941 funeral in Wilton. A longtime patron of the arts, Brooks Leavitt was close to many New York artists and actors, including Francis Wilson, the foremost

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

stage actor of his day. Among other of Leavitt's lifelong friends was the American explorer

Donald Baxter MacMillan Donald Baxter MacMillan (November 10, 1874 – September 7, 1970) was an American explorer, sailor, researcher and lecturer who made over 30 expeditions to the Arctic during his 46-year career. He pioneered the use of radios, airplanes, a ...

, with whom Leavitt regularly corresponded. Among the manuscripts owned and collected by Leavitt, who turned to

book collecting Book collecting is the collecting of books, including seeking, locating, acquiring, organizing, cataloging, displaying, storing, and maintaining whatever books are of interest to a given collector. The love of books is ''bibliophilia'', and someo ...

after the

Wall Street Crash of 1929 The Wall Street Crash of 1929, also known as the Great Crash, was a major American stock market crash that occurred in the autumn of 1929. It started in September and ended late in October, when share prices on the New York Stock Exchange colla ...

, was an original

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

First Folio ''Mr. William Shakespeare's Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies'' is a collection of plays by William Shakespeare, commonly referred to by modern scholars as the First Folio, published in 1623, about seven years after Shakespeare's death. It is cons ...

, as well as the original manuscript of

D. H. Lawrence David Herbert Lawrence (11 September 1885 – 2 March 1930) was an English writer, novelist, poet and essayist. His works reflect on modernity, industrialization, sexuality, emotional health, vitality, spontaneity and instinct. His best-k ...

's ''Sons and Lovers'', written in Lawrence's own hand. John Calvin Stevens Leavitt home

Leavitt was married to the former Elizabeth Burns Purman, who was born in

, the daughter of Dr. James Jackson Purman and Mary Witherow Purman of Washington, D.C. Dr Purman was the recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor for gallantry in the battle of Gettysburg. Brooks Leavitt and his wife lived in

and at their second home in Leavitt's birthplace of

, where the couple's home was designed by the Maine architect

John Calvin Stevens John Calvin Stevens (October 8, 1855 – January 25, 1940) was an American architect who worked in the Shingle Style, in which he was a major innovator, and the Colonial Revival style. He designed more than 1,000 buildings in the state of Maine ...

. The couple had no children. Brooks Leavitt served as an overseer of Bowdoin College, and subsequently donated manuscripts to the Bowdoin Library by alumni

Nathaniel Hawthorne Nathaniel Hawthorne (July 4, 1804 – May 19, 1864) was an American novelist and short story writer. His works often focus on history, morality, and religion. He was born in 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts, from a family long associated with that t ...

Franklin Pierce Franklin Pierce (November 23, 1804October 8, 1869) was the 14th president of the United States, serving from 1853 to 1857. He was a northern Democrat who believed that the abolitionist movement was a fundamental threat to the nation's unity ...

, and

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (February 27, 1807 – March 24, 1882) was an American poet and educator. His original works include "Paul Revere's Ride", ''The Song of Hiawatha'', and ''Evangeline''. He was the first American to completely transl ...

.Nathaniel Hawthorne documents, Gift of L. Brooks Leavitt, Hawthorneinsalem.org
/ref>

References

External links

L. Brooks Leavitt, Bowdoin College Class of 1899, Bowdoin College Library

Descendants of Thomas Hastings website

Descendants of Thomas Hastings on Facebook
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leavitt, L. Brooks 1876 births 1941 deaths Businesspeople from Maine Leavitt family People from Wilton, Maine Businesspeople from New York City Bowdoin College alumni George Washington University Law School alumni American lawyers Nathaniel Hawthorne American financiers Stock and commodity market managers American antiquarians American book and manuscript collectors 19th-century American historians 19th-century American male writers American male non-fiction writers Scientists from New York (state) Historians from New York (state)

Biography

See also

References

External links