.gif)
Dudley Leavitt (publisher)
Encyclopedia
Dudley Leavitt was an American
publisher. He was an early graduate of Phillips Exeter Academy
in his native town of Exeter, New Hampshire
, and later moved to Gilmanton
where he first edited a newspaper and taught school. Within a few years, Leavitt relocated to Meredith
, where in addition to teaching school and farming, he began publishing in 1797 Leavitt's Farmers Almanack, one of the nation's earliest farmers almanacs. A polymath, Leavitt poured his knowledge of disparate fields including mathematics, language and astronomy into the wildly popular almanac
s, which outlived their creator, being published until 1896. The inaugural issue of 1797 carried the title of The New England Calendar: Or, Almanack for the Year of Our Lord 1797. On the cover was the disclaimer that the new publication was "Calculated for the Meridian of Concord, Latitude 43° 14' N. Longitude 72° 45' W.: And with But Little Variation Will Answer for Any of the New England States."
, the second colonial governor of Massachusetts
, from whom both parents descended. The descendant of early Exeter settlers, his father Joshua moved from Exeter to Deerfield
early in Dudley Leavitt's life. After attending Exeter Academy
, where he graduated in 1790, Leavitt married Judith Glidden of Gilmanton
in 1794, and he and his new wife took up residence in the town, where he had family. In Gilmanton, Leavitt began studying Latin and Greek under Rev. Isaac Smith. In 1802 Leavitt also served as a selectman for the town.
Leavitt's first love was mathematics and astronomy. Something of a pure scientist, Leavitt contributed scientific papers to societies until the end of his life, often having to do with astronomy and physics. The annual conventions of the American Philosophical Society
often heard presentations of the latest of Leavitt's findings. Nor were Leavitt's the musings of some crackpot New Hampshire hermit. In an 1811 paper concerning astronomy addressed to the President and membership of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
, for instance, Leavitt outlined his New and short Method of calculating the times of the First and Last Quarters of the Moon.
But with his scholarly inquiries and meager publishing income, Leavitt turned to teaching to supplement his income. In 1800 he founded the Gilmanton Gazette, a local weekly newspaper in Gilmanton, as well as the Farmer's Weekly Magazine for two years with a partner in the newly-established publishing house of "Leavitt & Clough." Leavitt's foray into newspaper publishing was an apparent failure, but he was pioneer of the industry in the state. The presses used to print his early broadsheet were purchased by the proprietors of the new Concord Gazette in 1806, who paid to have the presses lugged from Gilmanton to Concord
on a two-horse wagon so they could begin printing one of the capital's earliest newspapers, and the only competitor of The New Hampshire Patriot.
Discouraged with the economics of newspaper publishing, Leavitt and his wife decided to move to Meredith
in 1819. Pursuing another avenue of work, Leavitt ran an advertisement in the Concord
Observer newspaper announcing that he was opening the "Meredith Academick School". The new school, its headmaster announced, would "offer instruction in the various grades usually taught in academies.... No pains will be spared on the part of the instructor to render the acquisition of useful knowledge easy and pleasant to those young gentlemen and ladies who may attend the School."
The "reasonable" board would cost $3.00 for each quarter's enrolment, Leavitt announced in his initial advertisement, and would cover most fields of study, except "Algebra, Navigation, Gunnery, or the Science of Projectiles, &c., Spherick Geometry & Trigonometry, Astronomy & Philosophy." For study in those more complicated fields Leavitt proposed to charge an additional 50 cents tuition for each quarter of enrolment. Around Meredith the new schoolmaster became known as "Old Master Leavitt".
Leavitt settled on his Meredith farm near Center Harbor, less than a mile from Lake Winnipesaukee
, where he held his classes. He was known as a stern taskmaster who did not suffer fools, or wisecracking students. But Leavitt had enough of a sense of whimsy that he handpainted panels of "Award of Merit" to those students he felt met his stringent guidelines. (Leavitt never gave up teaching, even when busying himself with his almanac and other projects. He taught school into his 70s, and it was customary in New Hampshire
for successful men to boast that they had been educated by Leavitt.)
When not teaching, he was to be found farming his 50 acres (202,343 m²) or immersed in study. Stories were legion of Leavitt so immersed in reading or study that he was oblivious to nearly everything around him. And the scholar Leavitt was no gentleman farmer. Aside from having edited a newspaper devoted to agriculture, Leavitt raised cattle on his small farm and toiled long hours when not teaching or writing.
Out of the confluence of Leavitt's scholarly interests, his former career as a newspaper writer and publisher, and his work as an author of textbooks was born the idea behind his farmer's almanac, which he first began publishing while living in Gilmanton. From the beginning, Leavitt demonstrated an unrelenting common sense, as well as a sly sense of humor. In an early edition of his almanacs, for instance, Leavitt included an illustration of a New Hampshireman struggling against the elements. Quoting a supposed poem of the seventeenth century, Leavitt wrote, in lines summoning feelings familiar to current Granite State residents, "Our mountains and hills and our vallies (sic) below; Being commonly cover'd with ice and with snow; And when the north-west wind with violence blows, Then every man pulls his cap over his nose; But if any's so hardy, and will it withstand, He forfeits a finger, a foot or a hand."
Leavitt continued to publish the eponymous almanac after he moved to Meredith. He had already founded a newspaper in 1811, while still living in Gilmanton, which he called called The New Hampshire Register, which he continued publishing for several years (1811–17). The Register became well-known thanks to Leavitt's habit of printing brief synopses of historical events. On the side, between farming, teaching school, publishing his newspaper, Leavitt wrote and published at least eight textbooks on mathematics, grammar, astronomy, geography and music, including an edition of Nicolas Pike's widely distributed A New and Complete System of Arithmetic in 1826, as well as the staple textbooks of teachers across the nation The Scholar's Review and Teacher's Daily Assistant. The scores of textbooks produced by Leavitt, a dizzying array of titles down the years, including Complete Directions for Parsing the English Language; Or, The Rules of Grammar Made Easy: Being a New Grammatical Essay, Designed as a Supplement to Lindley Murray's Grammar, for the Use of Students as Soon as They Begin to Parse, make one wonder where Leavitt found the time.
What Leavitt seized on, probably because of his interest in astronomy
, was something every New Englander knew: that the weather was topic number one. Leavitt's publication, with its interest in astronomy and crops, was an early "Weather Channel". He took note of inclement and especially of freakish weather. And readers noticed. During the cold summer of 1816, when crops froze in July, and snow fell a foot deep in the Berkshires
, Leavitt turned to his astronomy to divine the cause: he attributed the cold to sun spots. Had he known about it, Leavitt might have suggested the eruption of Mount Tamboro in the East Indies
as the cause. But whatever the cause was, readers noticed that Leavitt noticed and hazarded a guess, at least, and one that sounded plausible, at least to their ears. Of such stuff are circulation gains made.
Ultimately the schoolteacher and part-time farmer Leavitt came to be seen as 'Leavitt the almanac-maker,' as he was often referred to in his day, and in the ultimate tribute, his once-anonymous almanacs came to carry the creator's name. In an early instance of 'brand identity', by 1824 the almanacs carried the title of Leavitt's New-England Farmer's Almanack. During his era, improbably enough, Dudley Leavitt was as close to a celebrity as the times produced. "Through his almanacs," noted Joseph Walker, as close a biographer as the almanac-compiler ever had, "(Leavitt) was probably known to more persons in New Hampshire than any other man."
The aura of celebrity around Leavitt was such, wrote Henry McFarland in his Sixty Years in Concord and Elsewhere, that "stage-drivers pointed out his house to passengers as that of a person of great renown.... I remember him as a courtly man with gentle manners." John F. Brown, a local printer for whom McFarland worked, published Leavitt's almanacs, paying the unheard-of sum, said McFarland, of "$100 for the copy."
Leavitt aimed the almanacs at the general population of New England
, supplying tips on everything from farming to the weather to astronomy. As word spread about the publication, readership jumped, and the publication became a fixture throughout the region. The almanacs were sold at general stores, and later at grocery stores and drug stores. Leavitt was aided in some of the almanac's calculations geared towards agriculture by his nephew, astronomer William B. Leavitt.
The almanac's entry of September 6, 1881, for instance, published after the founder's death, demonstrated the detailed observation of natural phenomena which marked the publication. "Tuesday, September 6, 1881, was remarkable over the whole of New England and may be known as Yellow Day. It was so dark in many places that artificial light was needed for the common acts of indoor life. Without, the dense curtains of smoke or dry fog that shut out the sun, gave a peculiar yellow hue to the atmosphere, changing the color of the trees and grass, perplexing the birds and other animals and seriously frightening the superstitious. It will long be remembered."
Despite his descent from Puritan
John Leavitt, founding deacon of Old Ship Church
, America's oldest in continuous use, Dudley Leavitt was a skeptic. Perhaps it was his academic and scientific nature, but Leavitt was known throughout the Meredith area for his scoffing at religion. At one session of evening prayer, for instance, Leavitt's wife offered up a fervent prayer that her husband scholar be saved. When she was done, Leavitt got up, put on his hat and said "We read in God's word, that the unbelieving husband shall be justified by the prayers of the believing wife," and marched out of the church.
Leavitt died at his farm in Meredith on September 20, 1851. At the time of his death, Leavitt had the upcoming issue of his almanac at the press, and another five years' worth of issues of his almanac written, calculated and ready for the printer. The feat was so impressive to fellow writers and printers that one contemporary journal was moved to declare: "This is a degree of punctuality, of which there are few examples, especially in the editorship of a periodical work."
The New York Times
carried news of the death of the man who had become something of a quiet sensation, known for the paper almanacs which hung by cords in family kitchens across New England. "Dudley Leavitt, the veteran almanac maker, died this morning", noted The Times. "His age was 80." Leavitt was buried in the Leavitt private burial ground on the family farm near his home.
His beloved almanac, for which he did all the calculations and writing, outlived him. It continued to be published in Concord until 1896 – 45 years after its founder's death. William B. Leavitt edited the publication following his father's death.
Leavitt's publication, notes the New Hampshire
historical marker delineating the site of Leavitt's farm and school, "provided information vital to domestic and agricultural life of the period. He lived in a house 200 yards east." The almanac was one of the longest-running such publications in the history of the nation. The Old Farmer's Almanac
, which first appeared in 1792, five years ahead of Leavitt's almanac, was the Meredith schoolteacher's chief competitor, and has been published continuously ever since – making it the oldest continuously published periodical in North America
.
The New Hampshire Historical Society in Concord owns a painting of Dudley Leavitt, to which local citizens contributed towards the purchase, including former Governor Charles H. Bell
and diplomat George G. Fogg
, both of whom were connected to Leavitt through his Gilman ancestors. Leavitt and his wife had 11 children, two of whom married Congregational missionaries
to Thailand
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
publisher. He was an early graduate of Phillips Exeter Academy
Phillips Exeter Academy
Phillips Exeter Academy is a private secondary school located in Exeter, New Hampshire, in the United States.Exeter is noted for its application of Harkness education, a system based on a conference format of teacher and student interaction, similar to the Socratic method of learning through asking...
in his native town of Exeter, New Hampshire
Exeter, New Hampshire
Exeter is a town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The town's population was 14,306 at the 2010 census. Exeter was the county seat until 1997, when county offices were moved to neighboring Brentwood...
, and later moved to Gilmanton
Gilmanton, New Hampshire
Gilmanton is a town in Belknap County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 3,777 at the 2010 census. Gilmanton includes the villages of Gilmanton Corner and Gilmanton Ironworks...
where he first edited a newspaper and taught school. Within a few years, Leavitt relocated to Meredith
Meredith, New Hampshire
Meredith is a town in Belknap County, New Hampshire, USA. The population was 6,241 at the 2010 census. Meredith is situated beside Lake Winnipesaukee. It is home to Stonedam Island Natural Area and the Winnipesaukee Scenic Railroad...
, where in addition to teaching school and farming, he began publishing in 1797 Leavitt's Farmers Almanack, one of the nation's earliest farmers almanacs. A polymath, Leavitt poured his knowledge of disparate fields including mathematics, language and astronomy into the wildly popular almanac
Almanac
An almanac is an annual publication that includes information such as weather forecasts, farmers' planting dates, and tide tables, containing tabular information in a particular field or fields often arranged according to the calendar etc...
s, which outlived their creator, being published until 1896. The inaugural issue of 1797 carried the title of The New England Calendar: Or, Almanack for the Year of Our Lord 1797. On the cover was the disclaimer that the new publication was "Calculated for the Meridian of Concord, Latitude 43° 14' N. Longitude 72° 45' W.: And with But Little Variation Will Answer for Any of the New England States."
Youth and early career
Dudley Leavitt was born at Exeter, the oldest child of farmer and landowner Joshua Leavitt and Elizabeth (née James). He was named after Governor Thomas DudleyThomas Dudley
Thomas Dudley was a colonial magistrate who served several terms as governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Dudley was the chief founder of Newtowne, later Cambridge, Massachusetts, and built the town's first home...
, the second colonial governor of Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
, from whom both parents descended. The descendant of early Exeter settlers, his father Joshua moved from Exeter to Deerfield
Deerfield, New Hampshire
Deerfield is a town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 4,280 at the 2010 census. Deerfield is home to the annual Deerfield Fair.- History :...
early in Dudley Leavitt's life. After attending Exeter Academy
Phillips Exeter Academy
Phillips Exeter Academy is a private secondary school located in Exeter, New Hampshire, in the United States.Exeter is noted for its application of Harkness education, a system based on a conference format of teacher and student interaction, similar to the Socratic method of learning through asking...
, where he graduated in 1790, Leavitt married Judith Glidden of Gilmanton
Gilmanton, New Hampshire
Gilmanton is a town in Belknap County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 3,777 at the 2010 census. Gilmanton includes the villages of Gilmanton Corner and Gilmanton Ironworks...
in 1794, and he and his new wife took up residence in the town, where he had family. In Gilmanton, Leavitt began studying Latin and Greek under Rev. Isaac Smith. In 1802 Leavitt also served as a selectman for the town.
Leavitt's first love was mathematics and astronomy. Something of a pure scientist, Leavitt contributed scientific papers to societies until the end of his life, often having to do with astronomy and physics. The annual conventions of the American Philosophical Society
American Philosophical Society
The American Philosophical Society, founded in 1743, and located in Philadelphia, Pa., is an eminent scholarly organization of international reputation, that promotes useful knowledge in the sciences and humanities through excellence in scholarly research, professional meetings, publications,...
often heard presentations of the latest of Leavitt's findings. Nor were Leavitt's the musings of some crackpot New Hampshire hermit. In an 1811 paper concerning astronomy addressed to the President and membership of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences is an independent policy research center that conducts multidisciplinary studies of complex and emerging problems. The Academy’s elected members are leaders in the academic disciplines, the arts, business, and public affairs.James Bowdoin, John Adams, and...
, for instance, Leavitt outlined his New and short Method of calculating the times of the First and Last Quarters of the Moon.
But with his scholarly inquiries and meager publishing income, Leavitt turned to teaching to supplement his income. In 1800 he founded the Gilmanton Gazette, a local weekly newspaper in Gilmanton, as well as the Farmer's Weekly Magazine for two years with a partner in the newly-established publishing house of "Leavitt & Clough." Leavitt's foray into newspaper publishing was an apparent failure, but he was pioneer of the industry in the state. The presses used to print his early broadsheet were purchased by the proprietors of the new Concord Gazette in 1806, who paid to have the presses lugged from Gilmanton to Concord
Concord, New Hampshire
The city of Concord is the capital of the state of New Hampshire in the United States. It is also the county seat of Merrimack County. As of the 2010 census, its population was 42,695....
on a two-horse wagon so they could begin printing one of the capital's earliest newspapers, and the only competitor of The New Hampshire Patriot.
Discouraged with the economics of newspaper publishing, Leavitt and his wife decided to move to Meredith
Meredith, New Hampshire
Meredith is a town in Belknap County, New Hampshire, USA. The population was 6,241 at the 2010 census. Meredith is situated beside Lake Winnipesaukee. It is home to Stonedam Island Natural Area and the Winnipesaukee Scenic Railroad...
in 1819. Pursuing another avenue of work, Leavitt ran an advertisement in the Concord
Concord, New Hampshire
The city of Concord is the capital of the state of New Hampshire in the United States. It is also the county seat of Merrimack County. As of the 2010 census, its population was 42,695....
Observer newspaper announcing that he was opening the "Meredith Academick School". The new school, its headmaster announced, would "offer instruction in the various grades usually taught in academies.... No pains will be spared on the part of the instructor to render the acquisition of useful knowledge easy and pleasant to those young gentlemen and ladies who may attend the School."
The "reasonable" board would cost $3.00 for each quarter's enrolment, Leavitt announced in his initial advertisement, and would cover most fields of study, except "Algebra, Navigation, Gunnery, or the Science of Projectiles, &c., Spherick Geometry & Trigonometry, Astronomy & Philosophy." For study in those more complicated fields Leavitt proposed to charge an additional 50 cents tuition for each quarter of enrolment. Around Meredith the new schoolmaster became known as "Old Master Leavitt".
Leavitt settled on his Meredith farm near Center Harbor, less than a mile from Lake Winnipesaukee
Lake Winnipesaukee
Lake Winnipesaukee is the largest lake in the U.S. state of New Hampshire. It is approximately long and from wide , covering — when Paugus Bay is included—with a maximum depth of ....
, where he held his classes. He was known as a stern taskmaster who did not suffer fools, or wisecracking students. But Leavitt had enough of a sense of whimsy that he handpainted panels of "Award of Merit" to those students he felt met his stringent guidelines. (Leavitt never gave up teaching, even when busying himself with his almanac and other projects. He taught school into his 70s, and it was customary in New Hampshire
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...
for successful men to boast that they had been educated by Leavitt.)
When not teaching, he was to be found farming his 50 acres (202,343 m²) or immersed in study. Stories were legion of Leavitt so immersed in reading or study that he was oblivious to nearly everything around him. And the scholar Leavitt was no gentleman farmer. Aside from having edited a newspaper devoted to agriculture, Leavitt raised cattle on his small farm and toiled long hours when not teaching or writing.
Out of the confluence of Leavitt's scholarly interests, his former career as a newspaper writer and publisher, and his work as an author of textbooks was born the idea behind his farmer's almanac, which he first began publishing while living in Gilmanton. From the beginning, Leavitt demonstrated an unrelenting common sense, as well as a sly sense of humor. In an early edition of his almanacs, for instance, Leavitt included an illustration of a New Hampshireman struggling against the elements. Quoting a supposed poem of the seventeenth century, Leavitt wrote, in lines summoning feelings familiar to current Granite State residents, "Our mountains and hills and our vallies (sic) below; Being commonly cover'd with ice and with snow; And when the north-west wind with violence blows, Then every man pulls his cap over his nose; But if any's so hardy, and will it withstand, He forfeits a finger, a foot or a hand."
Leavitt continued to publish the eponymous almanac after he moved to Meredith. He had already founded a newspaper in 1811, while still living in Gilmanton, which he called called The New Hampshire Register, which he continued publishing for several years (1811–17). The Register became well-known thanks to Leavitt's habit of printing brief synopses of historical events. On the side, between farming, teaching school, publishing his newspaper, Leavitt wrote and published at least eight textbooks on mathematics, grammar, astronomy, geography and music, including an edition of Nicolas Pike's widely distributed A New and Complete System of Arithmetic in 1826, as well as the staple textbooks of teachers across the nation The Scholar's Review and Teacher's Daily Assistant. The scores of textbooks produced by Leavitt, a dizzying array of titles down the years, including Complete Directions for Parsing the English Language; Or, The Rules of Grammar Made Easy: Being a New Grammatical Essay, Designed as a Supplement to Lindley Murray's Grammar, for the Use of Students as Soon as They Begin to Parse, make one wonder where Leavitt found the time.
The new almanac takes off
But the almanac, which he dubbed Leavitt's Farmers' Almanack and Miscellaneous Yearbook, became such a success that after a while Leavitt shelved many of his other activities to focus on it. The once-farfetched idea was a runaway hit. By 1846, for instance, Leavitt's almanacs were selling some 60,000 copies for that year's two editions – a tremendous number for the era.What Leavitt seized on, probably because of his interest in astronomy
Astronomy
Astronomy is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth...
, was something every New Englander knew: that the weather was topic number one. Leavitt's publication, with its interest in astronomy and crops, was an early "Weather Channel". He took note of inclement and especially of freakish weather. And readers noticed. During the cold summer of 1816, when crops froze in July, and snow fell a foot deep in the Berkshires
The Berkshires
The Berkshires , is a highland geologic region located in the western parts of Massachusetts and Connecticut.Also referred to as the Berkshire Hills, Berkshire Mountains, and Berkshire Plateau, the region enjoys a vibrant tourism industry based on music, arts, and recreation.-Definition:The term...
, Leavitt turned to his astronomy to divine the cause: he attributed the cold to sun spots. Had he known about it, Leavitt might have suggested the eruption of Mount Tamboro in the East Indies
East Indies
East Indies is a term used by Europeans from the 16th century onwards to identify what is now known as Indian subcontinent or South Asia, Southeastern Asia, and the islands of Oceania, including the Malay Archipelago and the Philippines...
as the cause. But whatever the cause was, readers noticed that Leavitt noticed and hazarded a guess, at least, and one that sounded plausible, at least to their ears. Of such stuff are circulation gains made.
Ultimately the schoolteacher and part-time farmer Leavitt came to be seen as 'Leavitt the almanac-maker,' as he was often referred to in his day, and in the ultimate tribute, his once-anonymous almanacs came to carry the creator's name. In an early instance of 'brand identity', by 1824 the almanacs carried the title of Leavitt's New-England Farmer's Almanack. During his era, improbably enough, Dudley Leavitt was as close to a celebrity as the times produced. "Through his almanacs," noted Joseph Walker, as close a biographer as the almanac-compiler ever had, "(Leavitt) was probably known to more persons in New Hampshire than any other man."
The aura of celebrity around Leavitt was such, wrote Henry McFarland in his Sixty Years in Concord and Elsewhere, that "stage-drivers pointed out his house to passengers as that of a person of great renown.... I remember him as a courtly man with gentle manners." John F. Brown, a local printer for whom McFarland worked, published Leavitt's almanacs, paying the unheard-of sum, said McFarland, of "$100 for the copy."
Leavitt aimed the almanacs at the general population of New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
, supplying tips on everything from farming to the weather to astronomy. As word spread about the publication, readership jumped, and the publication became a fixture throughout the region. The almanacs were sold at general stores, and later at grocery stores and drug stores. Leavitt was aided in some of the almanac's calculations geared towards agriculture by his nephew, astronomer William B. Leavitt.
The almanac's entry of September 6, 1881, for instance, published after the founder's death, demonstrated the detailed observation of natural phenomena which marked the publication. "Tuesday, September 6, 1881, was remarkable over the whole of New England and may be known as Yellow Day. It was so dark in many places that artificial light was needed for the common acts of indoor life. Without, the dense curtains of smoke or dry fog that shut out the sun, gave a peculiar yellow hue to the atmosphere, changing the color of the trees and grass, perplexing the birds and other animals and seriously frightening the superstitious. It will long be remembered."
Despite his descent from Puritan
Puritan
The Puritans were a significant grouping of English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries. Puritanism in this sense was founded by some Marian exiles from the clergy shortly after the accession of Elizabeth I of England in 1558, as an activist movement within the Church of England...
John Leavitt, founding deacon of Old Ship Church
Old Ship Church
The Old Ship Church was built in 1681 in Hingham, Massachusetts in the United States. It is the oldest church in continuous ecclesiastical use in the United States. It is the only remaining 17th century Puritan meetinghouse in America...
, America's oldest in continuous use, Dudley Leavitt was a skeptic. Perhaps it was his academic and scientific nature, but Leavitt was known throughout the Meredith area for his scoffing at religion. At one session of evening prayer, for instance, Leavitt's wife offered up a fervent prayer that her husband scholar be saved. When she was done, Leavitt got up, put on his hat and said "We read in God's word, that the unbelieving husband shall be justified by the prayers of the believing wife," and marched out of the church.
Leavitt's death and legacy
The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
carried news of the death of the man who had become something of a quiet sensation, known for the paper almanacs which hung by cords in family kitchens across New England. "Dudley Leavitt, the veteran almanac maker, died this morning", noted The Times. "His age was 80." Leavitt was buried in the Leavitt private burial ground on the family farm near his home.
His beloved almanac, for which he did all the calculations and writing, outlived him. It continued to be published in Concord until 1896 – 45 years after its founder's death. William B. Leavitt edited the publication following his father's death.
Leavitt's publication, notes the New Hampshire
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...
historical marker delineating the site of Leavitt's farm and school, "provided information vital to domestic and agricultural life of the period. He lived in a house 200 yards east." The almanac was one of the longest-running such publications in the history of the nation. The Old Farmer's Almanac
Old Farmer's Almanac
The Old Farmer's Almanac is a reference book that contains weather forecasts, tide tables, planting charts, astronomical data, recipes, and articles on a number of topics including gardening, sports, astronomy and farming...
, which first appeared in 1792, five years ahead of Leavitt's almanac, was the Meredith schoolteacher's chief competitor, and has been published continuously ever since – making it the oldest continuously published periodical in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
.
The New Hampshire Historical Society in Concord owns a painting of Dudley Leavitt, to which local citizens contributed towards the purchase, including former Governor Charles H. Bell
Charles H. Bell (politician)
Charles Henry Bell was an American lawyer and Republican politician from Exeter, New Hampshire. Born in 1823 in Chester, New Hampshire, he served New Hampshire in both the state House of Representatives and Senate, as a U.S. Senator, and as Governor.Charles was one of the ten children of Governor...
and diplomat George G. Fogg
George G. Fogg
George Gilman Fogg was a United States Senator and diplomat from New Hampshire. Born in Meredith Center, he pursued classical studies and graduated from Dartmouth College in 1839. He studied law at Meredith and at the Harvard Law School, was admitted to the bar in 1842 and commenced practice at...
, both of whom were connected to Leavitt through his Gilman ancestors. Leavitt and his wife had 11 children, two of whom married Congregational missionaries
Missionary
A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...
to Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
.
External links
- The Teacher's Assistant, and Scholar's Mathematical Directory, Dudley Leavitt, published by Marsh, Capen and Lyon, Concord, 1830
- Pike's System of Arithmetick Abridged, by Dudley Leavitt, Teacher of Mathematicks and Natural Philosophy, Jacob B. Moore, Concord, N.H., 1826
- Dudley Leavitt of Center Harbor, New Hampshire, Lake Winnipesaukee Historical Society
- Dudley Leavitt Historic Marker, Center Harbor, New Hampshire, Flickr
Further reading
- New Hampshire Learnin' Days: Dudley Leavitt, "Master": An Historic Review, Bruce D. Heald, Heald Enterprises, 1987
- History of the Town of Exeter, New Hampshire, Charles Henry Bell, Press of J.E. Farwell & Co., Boston, 1888