Rachel (Wright) Leavens (abt. 1619 - aft. 1648)

Born about 1619 in England

Wife of John Leavens — married 5 Jul 1639 in Roxbury, Suffolk Co., Massachusetts

Descendants

Died after 27 Oct 1648 after about age 29 in Roxbury, Suffolk County, Massachusetts

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Rachel (Wright) Leavens migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640). (See The Directory, by R. C. Anderson, p. 386) Join: Puritan Great Migration Project Discuss: pgm

Biography

Rachel Wright (or Write) was probably born in England in about 1619, based on the date of her marriage.

She had arrived in New England by 1639, and was identified as a "maide servant" when she was admitted to Roxbury Church.^[1]

She married John Leavens at Roxbury Church on 5 July 1639 after the death of his first wife. Their first child, John, was born at the end of April in 1640.^[2][3]

After her husband's death, on 27 October 1648 the General Court granted to "Rachel Levens" of Roxbury the house and land left to her by her late husband during her natural life.^[3] This homestead was located on Dorchester Road in Roxbury and valued at about 100 pounds, by act of General Court, 13 August 1648. (Boston Probate Records).

She died after receiving this grant from the Court in 27 October 1648 but the circumstances of her death are unknown. Anderson speculates that because she was still a young woman when she became a widow, and because her daughter Rachel married in Cambridge, it may be that the mother Rachel also remarried to a Cambridge man.^[3]

Children

Children of John Levens/Leavens and Rachel Wright/Write include:^[4]

1. John, b. Roxbury 27 Apr 1640
2. James, bp. Roxbury 24 Apr 1642
3. Peter (twin), b. Roxbury 11 Sep 1644
4. Andrew (twin), b. Roxbury 11 Sep 1644
5. Rachel, bp. Roxbury 2 Aug 1646, m. Samuel Buck

Research Notes

Disputed Death Claims

Her unsourced Find a Grave memorial gives a death date of 27 Oct 1648, but there is no gravestone marker or source cited. This was probably originally "after 27 Oct 1648," based on the probate record cited in this profile.

Sources

1. ↑ Roxbury Land and Church Records, Sixth Report of the Boston Record Commissioners (Boston, 1884), 83; images, Internet Archive, (https://archive.org/details/reportofrecordco00bost : accessed 24 Jul 2022) ["Roxbury Church Records"].
2. ↑ Roxbury Church Records at 74 ("John Leaves...arrived at N>e. in the year 1632. his wife lay bedrid divers years. after she dyed he maried Rachel write a Godly maide a membr of or church : John. his first born, wat borne the last of the second month ano. 1640").
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2} Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, (Boston: NEGHS, 1995), 1174 (John Levens sketch).
4. ↑ Great Migration Begins, at 1175.

See also:

• Find A Grave: Memorial #121585221, Rachell Wright Leavens (no gravestone image; no sources cited)