Western Reserve Including the Fire Lands 1826

Thaddeus Leavitt (September 9, 1750 – 1826) was an American merchant who invented an improved upon version of the

cotton gin A cotton gin—meaning "cotton engine"—is a machine that quickly and easily separates cotton fibers from their seeds, enabling much greater productivity than manual cotton separation.. Reprinted by McGraw-Hill, New York and London, 1926 (); a ...

, as well as joining with seven other

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

men to purchase most of the three-million-plus acres of the

Western Reserve The Connecticut Western Reserve was a portion of land claimed by the Colony of Connecticut and later by the state of Connecticut in what is now mostly the northeastern region of Ohio. The Reserve had been granted to the Colony under the terms o ...

lands in Ohio from the government of Connecticut, land on which some of his family eventually settled, founding Leavittsburg, Ohio, and settling in

Trumbull County, Ohio Trumbull County is a county in the far northeast portion of U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 201,977. Its county seat is Warren, which developed industry along the Mahoning River. Trumbull County is part of the You ...

. Leavitt served on a commission in the early nineteenth century to settle boundary disputes between

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

and Connecticut, was a director of one of Connecticut's first banks, and was a shipowner whose vessels traded throughout the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

. Leavitt also kept a journal in which he noted everything from the weather to 'cures' for various ailments to the adoption of the

United States Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the Supremacy Clause, supreme law of the United States, United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven ar ...

Early life

Leavitt was born on September 9, 1750 in

Suffield, Connecticut Suffield is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. It was once within the boundaries of Massachusetts. The town is located in the Connecticut River Valley with the town of Enfield neighboring to the east. As of the 2020 census, ...

. He was a on of farmer and carpenter John Leavitt and his wife Abiah ( Kent) Leavitt.

Career

Leavitt became an early Suffield merchant, selectman and

Justice of the Peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

, and was known as 'Squire Leavitt.' He ran a store in Suffield, and from an early age began investing in the shipping business. Leavitt was one of Hartford County's leading citizens, and became wealthy in his dealings as a merchant and shipowner. His ships traded as far afield as the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...

and other far-flung destinations, and the entrepreneurial Leavitt acted as both importer and exporter. Thanks to his increasing wealth, Leavitt built the home later known in Suffield as the Harmon House on High Street. Eventually Leavitt's business interests extended as far as

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. He used the profits from his increasingly lucrative trading to join seven other prominent

men in purchasing the

lands from the state of Connecticut, which the state had offered for sale in exchange for funds paid into the state's treasury for educational purposes. Thaddeus Leavitt Esq. and Suffield businessmen

Oliver Phelps Oliver Phelps (October 21, 1749February 21, 1809) was early in life a tavern keeper in Granville, Massachusetts. During the Revolution he was Deputy Commissary of the Continental Army and served until the end of the war. After the war ended, h ...

(then the largest landowner in America),

Gideon Granger Gideon Granger (July 19, 1767 – December 31, 1822) was an early American politician and lawyer. He was the father of fellow Postmaster General and U.S. Representative Francis Granger. Early life Granger was born in Suffield, Connecticut ...

, Luther Loomis and Asahel Hatheway owned between them one-quarter of all the lands assigned to Connecticut in the

. Also investing in the

Connecticut Land Company The Connecticut Company or Connecticut Land Company (e.-1795) was a post-colonial land speculation company formed in the late eighteenth century to survey and encourage settlement in the eastern parts of the newly chartered Connecticut Western Re ...

were other of the state's most powerful men. Another investor in the new western lands was Leavitt family relation

Oliver Ellsworth Oliver Ellsworth (April 29, 1745 – November 26, 1807) was a Founding Father of the United States, attorney, jurist, politician, and diplomat. Ellsworth was a framer of the United States Constitution, United States senator from Connecticut ...

, the Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court, former

United States Senator The United States Senate is the Upper house, upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives being the Lower house, lower chamber. Together they compose the national Bica ...

from Connecticut and a chief framer of the

. (Ellsworth's share of the Reserve alone came to over and embraced much of modern-day

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

). One of the first settlers of the Western Reserve was

John Leavitt Deacon John Leavitt (1608–1691) was a tailor, public officeholder, and founding deacon of Old Ship Church in Hingham, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, the only remaining 17th-century Puritan meeting house in America and the oldest church in con ...

, brother of Thaddeus and founder of a family who went on to become prominent

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

citizens. In 1803 Leavitt was among several Connecticut citizens chosen to resolve a dispute between the states of Connecticut and

concerning the border between the two states. (Suffield was once considered part of Massachusetts at the time that Thaddeus Leavitt's ancestor

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

Joshua Leavitt arrived in Suffield from his birthplace in

Hingham, Massachusetts Hingham ( ) is a town in metropolitan Greater Boston on the South Shore of the U.S. state of Massachusetts in northern Plymouth County. At the 2020 census, the population was 24,284. Hingham is known for its colonial history and location on B ...

). Leavitt was one of a succession of trustees ordered to resolve the ongoing conflict between the two

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

states. Leavitt's appointment to the border commission flowed from his mercantile interests in the region. In 1805, he joined with several citizens of Connecticut and Massachusetts to form a company designated by the legislature as "The Proprietors of the Springfield Bridge". The corporation's aim was building a bridge over the

Connecticut River The Connecticut River is the longest river in the New England region of the United States, flowing roughly southward for through four states. It rises 300 yards (270 m) south of the U.S. border with Quebec, Canada, and discharges at Long Island ...

linking West Springfield and

Springfield, Massachusetts Springfield is a city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States, and the seat of Hampden County. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers: the western Westfield River, the ...

. Within the state of Connecticut, Leavitt's interests came to embrace the state's burgeoning development. He served as one of the earliest directors of the newly-incorporated Hartford Bank (later the Hartford National Bank). Merchant Leavitt even had his fingers in the state's agricultural economy, serving on the committee of the Hartford County Agricultural Society. Unusually for an early merchant, pressed for time, Leavitt kept a long-running diary about events in Suffield and the vicinity. (The diary today is in the collection of the Kent Memorial Library in Suffield, and its pages have been transcribed into a typewritten manuscript for easier reading.) In its pages, Leavitt noted many of the day-to-day occurrences in Suffield, including an entry from December 1, 1802, on a cure for

whooping cough Whooping cough, also known as pertussis or the 100-day cough, is a highly contagious bacterial disease. Initial symptoms are usually similar to those of the common cold with a runny nose, fever, and mild cough, but these are followed by two or ...

; another for a cure for a spider bite; and an entry from March 1803 for "a Receipt e, instructionsfor taking film off a horses eye". Leavitt took note of the raising of a new

Meeting house A meeting house (meetinghouse, meeting-house) is a building where religious and sometimes public meetings take place. Terminology Nonconformist Protestant denominations distinguish between a * church, which is a body of people who believe in Chr ...

, and on February 8, 1788, he made this entry: "We this day have certain Inteligence from the state convention Boston Massachusetts that they have adopted the Feaderal Constitution by a Majority in favr of it of 19--passd 5th Inst."

Personal life

Portrait of his Mother Jane Leavitt Hunt

Thaddeus Leavitt married Elizabeth King, daughter of

Ensign An ensign is the national flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality. The ensign is the largest flag, generally flown at the stern (rear) of the ship while in port. The naval ensign (also known as war ensign), used on warships, may be diffe ...

William King of Suffield and his wife Lucy Hatheway. A piece of French furniture was emblazoned with a brass plaque to commemorate the couple's marriage, and given to them, probably by Leavitt's new King in-laws. Together, they had two children who married siblings: * Thaddeus Leavitt Jr., who also became a Suffield merchant; he married Jemima Loomis of Suffield; * Elizabeth Leavitt, who married Jemima's brother Hon. Luther Loomis. Leavitt,

Esq. Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentleman a ...

, is buried in the Old Burying Ground of the First Congregational Church of Suffield, also known as the First Church of Christ, established in 1698.

Descendants

Leavitt's descendants include his great-grandsons, the three Hunt brothers: architect

Richard Morris Hunt Richard Morris Hunt (October 31, 1827 – July 31, 1895) was an American architect of the nineteenth century and an eminent figure in the history of American architecture. He helped shape New York City with his designs for the 1902 entrance fa� ...

; Boston painter

William Morris Hunt William Morris Hunt (March 31, 1824September 8, 1879) was an American painter. Born into the political Hunt family of Vermont, he trained in Paris with the realist Jean-François Millet and studied under him at the Barbizon artists’ colony, bef ...

; and the lawyer and photography pioneer

Leavitt Hunt Col. Leavitt Hunt (1831–February 16, 1907) was a Harvard-educated attorney and photography pioneer who was one of the first people to photograph the Middle East. He and a companion, Nathan Flint Baker, traveled to Egypt, the Holy Land, Le ...

.Notable Descendants of John Dwight of Dedham, Gary Boyd Roberts, New England Historic Genealogical Society, NewEnglandAncestors.org
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References

External links