Thomas Rowell Leavitt
Encyclopedia
Leavitt, Alberta
Leavitt is a hamlet in southern Alberta, Canada within Cardston County, located approximately west of Cardston on Highway 5. It falls within the Canadian federal electoral district of Lethbridge.- History :...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, which the former Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
sheriff and marshal founded at age 53 after an arduous 800 miles (1,287.5 km) journey in covered wagon
Covered wagon
The covered wagon, also known as a Prairie schooner, is an icon of the American Old West.Although covered wagons were commonly used for shorter moves within the United States, in the mid-nineteenth century thousands of Americans took them across the Great Plains to Oregon and California...
s, fleeing a crackdown on polygamy
Polygamy
Polygamy is a marriage which includes more than two partners...
that sent fellow Mormons across the border to Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
and Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
.
Leavitt was born at Hatley, Quebec
Hatley, Quebec
Hatley is a village of 700 people, part of the Memphrémagog Regional County Municipality in the Eastern Townships region of Quebec.An otherwise quiet and tiny agricultural village, one of Hatley's main claims to fame is its annual Canada Day Celebration which always takes place on July 1st...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, on June 30, 1834, the son of Jeremiah Leavitt and his wife Sarah Sturdevant Leavitt. Jeremiah Leavitt had been born at Grantham, New Hampshire
Grantham, New Hampshire
Grantham is a town in Sullivan County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 2,985 at the 2010 census. This made Grantham the fastest growing town numerically in Sullivan County between the 2000 and 2010 censuses...
in 1797, and married Sarah Sturdevant of Grafton County, New Hampshire
Grafton County, New Hampshire
Grafton County is a county located in the U.S. state of New Hampshire. As of the 2010 census, the population was 89,118. Its county seat is North Haverhill, which is a village within the town of Haverhill. Until 1972, the county courthouse and other offices were located in downtown Woodsville, a...
, in 1798. Shortly after their marriage, the couple departed for Hatley, only 15 miles (24.1 km) from the U.S.-Vermont border, where farmer Jeremiah Leavitt was attracted by the rich soil and plentiful timber. At the time of his immigration to Canada, the area around Hatley was fresh from control of Iroquois
Iroquois
The Iroquois , also known as the Haudenosaunee or the "People of the Longhouse", are an association of several tribes of indigenous people of North America...
Indian tribes. Leavitt cleared his new acreage, on which he built a log cabin, and began raising an eventual family of 10 children.
In subsequent years, Jeremiah Leavitt and his wife Sarah joined the Latter-day Saints (Mormons) led by Joseph Smith
Joseph Smith
Joseph Smith was founder of what later became known as the Latter Day Saint movement or Mormons.Joseph Smith may also refer to:-Latter Day Saints:* Joseph Smith, Sr. , father of Joseph Smith...
, founder of the Latter Day Saint movement
Latter Day Saint movement
The Latter Day Saint movement is a group of independent churches tracing their origin to a Christian primitivist movement founded by Joseph Smith, Jr. in the late 1820s. Collectively, these churches have over 14 million members...
. Thomas Rowell Leavitt was 16 months old when his parents pulled up stakes to follow Franklin Chamberlain, a Mormon convert who had married Lydia, the oldest child in the Leavitt family. The family returned to the United States, having been converted by Mormon missionaries who swept across eastern Canada on orders of Joseph Smith. The Leavitt family remained only briefly in 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...
, before launching themselves in 1835 towards Kirtland, Ohio
Kirtland, Ohio
Kirtland is a city in Lake County, Ohio, USA. The population was 6,670 at the 2000 census. Kirtland is famous for being the early headquarters of the Latter Day Saint movement.-Origins of Kirtland:...
, the gathering place of increasing crowds of Mormon converts.
In September 1835, the extended Leavitt family came face-to-face with the man who had converted them long distance: Joseph Smith. No diary exists to describe what they made of their leader, but shortly afterwards the family departed with other recent converts to Smith's religion for Nauvoo, Illinois
Nauvoo, Illinois
Nauvoo is a small city in Hancock County, Illinois, United States. Although the population was just 1,063 at the 2000 census, and despite being difficult to reach due to its location in a remote corner of Illinois, Nauvoo attracts large numbers of visitors for its historic importance and its...
, the next jumping-off point on the Mormons' westward journey. Along the way, Jeremiah Leavitt's elderly mother, Sarah (Shannon) Leavitt, died of exposure. Having arrived in Nauvoo, the Leavitts bought a farm seven miles (11 km) outside town, where they began planting wheat.
But anti-Mormon sentiment reached a crescendo shortly afterwards, and in 1844 rioters set upon Joseph Smith, killing the church prophet and his brother Hyrum, and setting fire to Mormon properties. On Aug. 8, 1844, church elders voted to replace their fallen prophet with Brigham Young
Brigham Young
Brigham Young was an American leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and a settler of the Western United States. He was the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1847 until his death in 1877, he founded Salt Lake City, and he served as the first governor of the Utah...
, who shortly afterwards announced his intention to found a Mormon sanctuary safe from persecution. Young's decision was prompted by the State of Illinois's move to expel the settlers from its territory. In 1846, the Leavitt family set out as part of Young's trek, with father Jeremiah dying along the way. Ultimately the family got as far as Council Bluffs, Iowa
Council Bluffs, Iowa
Council Bluffs, known until 1852 as Kanesville, Iowathe historic starting point of the Mormon Trail and eventual northernmost anchor town of the other emigrant trailsis a city in and the county seat of Pottawattamie County, Iowa, United States and is on the east bank of the Missouri River across...
, where what remained of the family built a house overlooking the Missouri River
Missouri River
The Missouri River flows through the central United States, and is a tributary of the Mississippi River. It is the longest river in North America and drains the third largest area, though only the thirteenth largest by discharge. The Missouri's watershed encompasses most of the American Great...
at Trade Point, where they remained three years. By 1850, the worn-out Leavitt family departed for Utah, where they were told that a successful settlement had been made.
The year 1850 was the highpoint of the California Gold Rush
California Gold Rush
The California Gold Rush began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The first to hear confirmed information of the gold rush were the people in Oregon, the Sandwich Islands , and Latin America, who were the first to start flocking to...
, as well as the Mormon
Mormon
The term Mormon most commonly denotes an adherent, practitioner, follower, or constituent of Mormonism, which is the largest branch of the Latter Day Saint movement in restorationist Christianity...
migration westward. On June 1, 1850 a group of Latter Day Saints in 51 wagons, including the Leavitt family, crossed the Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
behind Capt. Milo Andrus
Milo Andrus
Milo Andrus was an early leader in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.Andrus was born in Wilmington, New York to Ruluf Andress and Azuba Smith....
. Shortly afterwards, the company reached Zion
Zion
Zion is a place name often used as a synonym for Jerusalem. The word is first found in Samuel II, 5:7 dating to c.630-540 BCE...
, or Salt Lake City as it is known today. The Leavitt family subsequently moved to northern Utah, where Thomas Rowell Leavitt settled at Wellsville
Wellsville
Wellsville is the name of several locations in the United States:*Wellsville, Kansas*Wellsville, Missouri*Wellsville , New York *Wellsville , New York*Wellsville, Ohio*Wellsville, Pennsylvania*Wellsville, Utah...
in Cache Valley
Cache Valley
The Cache Valley is an agricultural valley of northern Utah and southeast Idaho that includes the Logan metropolitan area. The valley was used by 19th century mountain men and was the site of the 1863 Bear River Massacre.-History:...
, where he became constable, marshal and ultimately sheriff, as well as a rancher, and where he built a large one-room log house on his 55 acres (222,577.3 m²) farm outside Wellsville.
But by the 1880s, the United States government's toleration of the Mormon
Mormon
The term Mormon most commonly denotes an adherent, practitioner, follower, or constituent of Mormonism, which is the largest branch of the Latter Day Saint movement in restorationist Christianity...
practice of polygamy
Polygamy
Polygamy is a marriage which includes more than two partners...
came to an end. The government began cracking down, arresting polygamists. Some hid, others crossed the border into Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
and Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. Among the first to leave was Charles Ora Card
Charles Ora Card
Charles Ora Card was the founder of the town of Cardston, Alberta, the first Mormon settlement in Canada. He has been referred to as "Canada's Brigham Young"....
, who traveled to modern-day Cardston, Alberta
Cardston, Alberta
-Demographics:The population of the Town of Cardston according to its 2007 municipal census is 3,578.In 2006, it had a population of 3,452 living in 1,234 dwellings, a 0.7% decrease from 2001...
, named for the Mormon settler, to escape the crackdown and founding the first Mormon town in Alberta in 1887.
Jeremiah Leavitt had never been a polygamist, but his sons followed the subsequent dictum that church members should take multiple wives. Thomas Rowell Leavitt had 26 children with his three wives. Shortly after Card's departure from Utah, former lawman Thomas Rowell Leavitt followed suit. In early spring 1887 Tom Leavitt left Wellsville with other Mormon polygamists in a large wagon train—the last recorded in the Old West. After an arduous six-week, 800 miles (1,287.5 km) trek, Leavitt's party reached Lee Creek, Alberta, on May 25, 1887. Leavitt had traveled with his wife Harriet Martha (Dowdle) and several children by all three wives. He left wife Ann Eliza (Jenkins) behind on his Wellsville ranch.
By 1897 the rest of the family had followed, including Tom Leavitt's son Alfred, who subsequently helped dig, with his brother, the irrigation canals that Charles Ora Card
Charles Ora Card
Charles Ora Card was the founder of the town of Cardston, Alberta, the first Mormon settlement in Canada. He has been referred to as "Canada's Brigham Young"....
had promised the Canadian government in exchange for more land grants to fellow Mormons hard-pressed by the U.S. government crackdown.
The former constable, sheriff and marshal Thomas Rowell Leavitt lived out his days in the tiny hamlet he founded in Alberta, known as Buffalo Flats on his arrival, and subsequently christened Leavitt, Alberta
Leavitt, Alberta
Leavitt is a hamlet in southern Alberta, Canada within Cardston County, located approximately west of Cardston on Highway 5. It falls within the Canadian federal electoral district of Lethbridge.- History :...
, in honor of the pioneer fugitive. Leavitt died there in 1891, leaving a legacy of scores of disciples of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints named Leavitt, many of whom remain in the region today, ranching and living in the bucolic area in the shadow of Chief Mountain
Chief Mountain
Chief Mountain is located in the U.S. state of Montana on the eastern border of Glacier National Park and the Blackfeet Indian Reservation...
.
External links
Further reading
- The Life of Thomas Rowell Leavitt and HIs Descendants, Leavitt Family Organization, The Herald Printers, Lethbridge, Alberta, 1975