Jeremiah Leavitt (1749 - 1818)

Born 12 Feb 1749 in Exeter, New Hampshire

Ancestors

Husband of Mary (Blunt) Leavitt — married 26 May 1771 in Andover, Essex, Massachusetts

Descendants

Died 30 Aug 1818 at age 69 in Exeter, Rockingham, New Hampshire, United States

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Biography

JEREMIAH LEAVITT, b. at Exeter, NH, 12 Feb 1748/49^[1] son of Jeremiah Leavitt and Mary Fogg; Jeremiah d. at Exeter, NH, 3 Aug 1818;^[2] m. at Andover, MA, 2 May 1771,^[3] MARY BLUNT, b. at Andover, 14 Feb 1746/7^[4] daughter of Isaac and Mary (Abbott) Blunt;^[5] Mary d. before 1818^[6] likely at Exeter, NH.

Mary and Jeremiah resided in Exeter where Jeremiah served as selectman from 1794 through 1807.^[7] Jeremiah was a hatter by trade.

On 6 September 1777, Jeremiah Leavitt hatter of Exeter, for payment of £100, purchased twenty acres in Exeter in Mast swamp from Benjamin Conner of Exeter with his wife Mary (who were Jeremiah’s mother and stepfather). On 20 February 1777, Jeremiah bought two acres from Caleb and Mary Robinson. On 8 April 1779, Jeremiah purchased a further eight acres in Mast swamp from Benjamin and Mary Conner for £250. Jeremiah made other purchases of property in Exeter including from the heirs of Jonathan Gilman.^[8]

Jeremiah Leavitt appears to have lived with an extended family network. In 1790, his household was enumerated as fourteen persons at Exeter: five males 16 and over, three males under 16, and sex females.^[9] The household was sixteen persons in 1810: one male 45 and over, one female 45 and over, one male under 10, one male 16 to 25, two males 26 to 44, two females under 10, two females 16 to 25, and six other free persons.^[10]

Probate

Jeremiah Leavitt, hatter of Exeter, did not leave a will and his estate entered probate 14 September 1818 with eldest son Isaac Leavitt taking administration. Isaac noted that Jeremiah left no widow and there were four children (two sons and two daughters) all of age as heirs. The estate was insolvent and was sold and Samuel Leavitt petitioned to sell the estate and heirs agreeing were Isaac Leavitt, Mary Robison, and Abner Merrill (who was the husband of Sarah). The whole amount of the inventory was $5,851.09 and obligations were $5,702, $3,200 of that amount being money owed to Samuel Leavitt. The real estate in inventory included a homestead of six acres valued at $1,500, Conner land on Epping road, Conner meadows, and Robinson field. Total real estate was valued at $4,371.^[11]

Children

Jeremiah and Mary were parents of four children who lived to adulthood, born at Exeter.

i MARY LEAVITT, b. about 1772; d. at Exeter, 1 Feb 1843; m. at Exeter, 12 Jul 1792, WILLIAM ROBINSON, b. at Exeter, about 1770 son of Caleb and Mary (Waterhouse) Robinson; William d. at Exeter, about 1802 (probate 4 Feb 1802).

ii ISAAC LEAVITT, b. about 1780; d. at Exeter, 13 Mar 1854. Isaac does not seem to have married. He was living with his brother Samuel at the 1850 census.

iii SAMUEL LEAVITT, b. about 1782; d. at Exeter, 10 May 1856; m. at Exeter, 6 May 1803, ABIGAIL KIMBALL, b. at Exeter about 1778 daughter of Nathaniel and Hannah (Wormall) Kimball; Abigail d. at Exeter, 19 Dec 1868.

iv SARAH LEAVITT, b. about 1789; d. at Exeter, 25 Mar 1870; m. 2 Jul 1816, ABNER MERRILL, b. at Newburyport, 21 Apr 1791 son of Enoch and Temperance (Little) Merrill; Abner d. at Exeter, 23 Jul 1877.

Sources

1. ↑ Bell, History of the Town of Exeter, Genealogical, p 72
2. ↑ "New Hampshire Deaths and Burials, 1784-1949", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FDKM-Q45 : 18 January 2020), Jeremiah Leavitt, 1818.
3. ↑ Blunt, Mary, and Jeremiah Leavitt, May 2, 1771. Andover Vital Records; https://ma-vitalrecords.org/MA/Essex/Andover/Images/Andover_M057.shtml
4. ↑ Blunt, Mary, d. Isaac and Mary, Feb. 14, 1746-7. Andover Vital Records; https://ma-vitalrecords.org/MA/Essex/Andover/Images/Andover_B073.shtml
5. ↑ Wheeler, Blount and Blunt Family Records, p 12
6. ↑ Mary was not living at the time of the probate of her husband’s estate 14 September 1818.
7. ↑ Bell, History of the Town of Exeter, p 150
8. ↑ New Hampshire Land Records, Rockingham County, 110:326, 110:325, 180:447, 107:290, 108:515, 116:21, 181:217
9. ↑ The National Archives in Washington, DC; Washington, DC; First Census of the United States, 1790.; Year: 1790; Census Place: Exeter, Rockingham, New Hampshire; Series: M637; Roll: 5; Page: 182; Family History Library Film: 0568145
10. ↑ Year: 1810; Census Place: Exeter, Rockingham, New Hampshire; Roll: 25; Page: 240; Image: Nhm252_25-0242; FHL Roll: 0218686
11. ↑ New Hampshire Wills and Probate, Rockingham, Estate Papers, Exeter, Case 9777, Estate of Jeremiah Leavitt

• Bell, Charles Henry. 1888. History of the Town of Exeter, New Hampshire. Exeter, NH. https://archive.org/details/historyoftownofe00bell/mode/2up

• Wheeler, John H. 1884. Blount and Blunt Family Records. Privately printed. https://archive.org/details/blountbluntfamil00whee/mode/2up.