Nathanial and Josiah Leavitt, sons of Jeremiah and Sarah Shannon Leavitt

Disciple of Jesus named Nathanael, a man of Cana in Galilee and often associated with the apostles. Jesus

said of Nathanael, “Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!” The Leavitts were a religious

people who loved Biblical names: Jeremiah, Joseph, Moses, John. Nathaniel Leavitt, the subject of this

tribute, was undoubtedly a namesake for his grandfather, Nathaniel Leavitt. With a scarcity of records

available, this tribute will include just a few vignettes, little glimpses into Nathaniel’s life.

Vignette 1

The first glimpse allows us to look back through more than two hundred years to see Nathaniel in an early time of his life. It is believed that he was born about 1790 in Chester, Rockingham Co., New Hampshire, the son of Jeremiah and Sarah Shannon Leavitt. The 1790 U.S. Census of Chester lists Jeremiah with a wife and two young sons. These sons were Wiear and our Nathaniel. Jeremiah had been a soldier in the Revolutionary War. Now he and Sarah were starting their family, and their thoughts turned to find a way to support the large family they planned. This meant land: a place to make a prosperous living on a farm. So about 1792 Nathaniel’s father moved his family north to Hatley, Quebec, Canada where the government was just opening up land for settlement. Other Leavitt families followed, and all were engaged in clearing land and establishing farms,

Vignette 2

We now find Nathaniel at age 22. The town records of Irasburg, a village in northern Vermont, tell us the following information: In 1812 Nathaniel took the Freeman’s Oath. In the Freeman’s Oath a person is shown to be free of debt to anyone, and is sworn to defend the commonwealth and to not conspire to overthrow the government. The oath also enabled a man to vote for representatives. Nathaniel cast his votes every year between 1812 and 1817. In 1815 Nathaniel bought land in Irasburg paying $150 for it.

Two years later he sold it for $462. A considerable profit! Over 300%! An active young man in the

affairs of Irasburg, Nathaniel was chosen to be a Hayward and a Surveyor of Highways. A Hayward is an official of a township in charge of fences and enclosures. Also taking part in community affairs of Irasburg at that time were three other Leavitts. Their names were Weaire, John, and Jeremiah Leavitt, and they, also, took the Freeman’s Oath. These three were most likely Nathaniel’s brothers , although the records give no indication of relationships.

Vignette 3

Here we see Nathaniel as a young married man. Nathaniel’s marriage to Deborah Delano took place on March 6, 1817, the location not clear. Their children came in close succession with Salena being their first. She was born probably late in 1817 and more than likely in Irasburg. Next came Roxana who first saw the light of day in Irasburg on December 15, 1818. About this time the family moved from Irasburg over the border north to Hatley, Quebec. Their third child Caroline Elizabeth was born in 1819 in either Irasburg or Hatley. Three more little ones blessed their home in the Hatley area; Nathaniel, Jr., born November 17, 1823, Flavilla Lucy, born July 3, 1826, and John who came into this world on March 18, 1827. Six children in less than ten years creates a lively setting for a young farm family. What entertainment they had playing with baby animals and laughing at the simple foibles and joys of life on the edge of a frontier.

Vignette 4

Our fourth peek into Nathaniel’s life sadly finds him to be a widower. When their children were still very young, Deborah, had died in Hatley. This was a very difficult situation for Nathaniel and the children, so later in the same year, 1829, he married a second time. His new bride was Betsey Bean, a young teenage girl. An instant family of six stepchildren was a huge responsibility for Betsey. It is believed in order to lighten Betsey’s load, arrangements were made for Roxana and Caroline Elizabeth to go back over into Vermont to live with relatives. It wasn’t long before Betsey added three new little ones to the family: Rosilla, born July 27, 1830, Mary Jane, born January 15, 1832, and Wire, born March 17 1837.

Vignette 5

The fifth picture of Nathaniel’s life finds him in 1837 joining his relatives in preparing to leave Canada. Missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints had visited the area some time before and had instilled in these good people a desire to leave Canada and join with other members of the church in Missouri. Nathaniel’s father had died in 1817, and his mother, Sarah Shannon Leavitt, was the dignified matriarch of this clan on the move. She was much loved by all. What a sight it must have been: Covered wagons outfitted with what they would need for a long journey, horses and oxen hitched up and ready to head out, children excitedly running about and having the time of their lives, and the adults bidding tearful goodbyes to family members who were staying in Canada. We see Nathaniel with his wife, Betsey, and their three small children, and also his three youngest children from his first marriage, Nathaniel, Jr., Flavilla and John. The older sister, Roxana, was to travel with some of the other Leavitts families. The oldest daughter, Salena, had been married in 1834 to Joseph Kezar and had two children. She and her husband elected to remain in Canada. Caroline Elizabeth was living in Vermont and she remained there,

later marrying Enoch Rowell in 1846. Many tears were shed at this parting. Everyone felt that the

chance of ever seeing each other again was slim to zero. And, as it turned out, they were right!

Vignette 6

This episode finds Nathaniel’s group daring to strike out on its own. When the Leavitt families arrived at Buffalo, New York, Nathaniel decided to take an alternative route. Leaving the other Leavitts to travel by land, he put his family and belongings on a boat and went across Lake Erie to Detroit, Michigan. From there they went south to White Pigeon, Michigan where they found a farm to rent for a year. It might have been concern for the health and ease of his wife and young children that precipitated the decision to travel by boat. Also, he may have had more means than some of the others, since it seems that he may have been a successful businessman. Nathaniel’s younger brother, Josiah Leavitt, was with this group. He was a single man of forty four years and was an invaluable help to Nathaniel’s family.

Vignette 7

Alas, the seventh scene shows us a scene of calamity. We see Nathaniel’s family the next year at White Pigeon, Michigan where he and Josiah were working hard at farming. (Most of the other Leavitt families had gone on by land, visiting Kirtland, Ohio, and then on to Twelve Mile Grove, Illinois where they had purchased farms. News had reached them of the persecution of the Saints in Missouri, and they had decided to wait there until they could learn where the church would settle in a new location.) In that summer of 1838, tragedy struck the family. For some unknown reason, probably because of a communicable disease such as cholera, both Nathaniel and Josiah died there! The father and uncle, the breadwinners, were gone. What was Betsey to do with six children in her care? Her decision was to return with her three little ones to Canada. She offered to take Nathaniel, Jr., Flavilla and John with her, but Nathaniel, Jr. had a strong testimony of the Gospel and he persuaded his sister and brother to stay there with him. He wanted to try to find his relatives and the church.

Vignette 8

This view looks in on the family almost immediately after the death of Nathaniel and Josiah. About one month after Betsey had gone to Canada, a fortuitous thing happened! The children’s Uncle Jeremiah Leavitt and his family were traveling through White Pigeon on their way to join the other Leavitt families who had bought farms at Twelve Mile Grove, Will Co., Illinois. (Jeremiah’s family had stopped in Mayfield, Ohio the previous year and had been working to earn money needed to proceed on their way.) Jeremiah had the amazing good fortune to find Nathaniel’s three orphaned children, each in a different home, ill, and shabbily dressed. What propitious timing! Jeremiah was shocked to learn that Nathaniel and Josiah were dead, and that Betsey had sold everything and had gone back home to be with her relatives. Jeremiah and his wife, Sarah, added Nathaniel’s three to their eight children and proceeded on to Twelve Mile Grove where a joyous reunion took place. Nathaniel’s daughter, Roxana, had gone with

the main body of Leavitts by land to Kirtland, Ohio and then on to Illinois. When her little brothers and sister arrived in Twelve Mile Grove, she took them in, and made sure that they were cared for properly. The other Leavitt families were a great help in this respect. (It must be added here that Betsey died in 1844 and her children, Rosilla, Mary Jane and Wire, were raised by kind relatives in Canada. Rosilla married Oscar McConnell in 1848, Mary Jane married Ephraim Hodges in 1852, and Wire married twice; Harriet Dustin in 1861, and then her sister, Mary, in 1864.)


Vignette 9

With their father, Nathaniel, now gone, his children on the Leavitt trek ,which covered a trail from Quebec to Utah over a period of about fifteen years, went on courageously with their lives. Three of Nathaniel’s children married along the way. Roxana married Benjamin Fletcher in 1838 and John Huntsman in 1841, and then later in Salt Lake City married William Snow. Nathaniel Jr. was wed to Amanda Wilson in 1846 and then in Utah in 1857 to Mary Horrocks. Flavilla and Orrin Day Farlin were married in Iowa in 1847, and later she married William Lloyd in 1865 and Peter I. Mesick in 1867. John crossed the plains as a single young man and married Mary Ann Kittleman in Salt Lake City in 1856. After his demise, these four children of Nathaniel had resided in Twelve Mile Grove, moved on with the Leavitts to Nauvoo, Illinois and then later, because of the persecution, found refuge in the area of Council Bluffs, Iowa. After crossing the plains at different times, they all established fine homes and raised families in the American West, carrying on the traditions and true principles of their parents, who, no doubt, from their vantage point on high, were proud of their stalwart children. Of the fifty five people who left Quebec in 1837, twenty two died before they got to Utah and they were buried along the way. In recent years the Western Association of Leavitt Families (WALF) has erected at each burial place attractive tombstones with bronze plaques which tell the story of the individuals’ lives. A tall, dignified marker (see photo above) honoring Nathaniel and Josiah Leavitt stands proudly in the cemetery at White Pigeon, Michigan. At the top of the plaque is printed,

“TWO WEST WARD BOUND

PIONEER BROTHERS DIED NEAR HERE IN THE YEAR

1838. THEY WERE MEN OF COURAGE, HIGH PRINCIPLE AND FAITH.”

Nathaniel’s life was cut short. He was only about forty eight years old when his life on earth ended. What had he accomplished in his short lifetime? He courageously settled in wilderness country. He took part in community life by accepting civic responsibilities. He married twice and had nine children. He cared for his family. He was happy to give up his way of life in Canada and

bravely strike out for a faraway place. He set out on a quest with his family, striving for a

religious goal. He worked hard as a farmer to provide for his loved ones. When he left the main body of the Leavitts, he included his younger, single brother with his family. He left his children a legacy of the value of hard work, of determination, of love for family. Now in our modern time, as we read of the few details of his life which we know, we give tribute to Nathaniel Leavitt, our ancestor, a great man, one worthy of our admiration and emulation.