Shawnee County KS Archives Biographies.....Leavitt, Sylvanus Lorenzo 1821 - ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ks/ksfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com September 26, 2006, 4:28 am Author: James L. King (1905) SYLVANUS LORENZO LEAVITT. SYLVANUS LORENZO LEAVITT, for man years a leading business citizen of Topeka, who now lives retired from active affairs, was born September 14, 1821, at Effingham, New Hampshire, and is a son of John and Ruth (Champion) Leavitt. The Leavitt family originated in England and its American founders settled in New Hampshire. The great-grandfather reared five children at Hampton, namely: John, Herson, Morris, Jeremiah and James. Jeremiah Leavitt was the first settler at Effingham (formerly known as Leavitt's Town) New Hampshire. Of the 11 children of John and Ruth (Champion) Leavitt, but two survive,—our subject and a brother, William H., a retired resident of Portland, Maine. Sylvanus L. Leavitt lived at home on his father's farm, attending the district school of the neighborhood in the winter, until he was 14 years old. He was then for one year employed as a clerk in his brother's store. He then returned home and worked on his father's farm in the summer and attended the Effingham Academy during the fall and spring terms. In the winters of 1839 and 1840 he taught a district school in the town of Eaton, New Hampshire. In the spring of 1841 he went to Boston, Massachusetts, where he worked in a sash and blind factory until the fall of 1847. He then moved to Manchester, New Hampshire, and engaged as a clerk in a clothing store, remaining there until the spring of 1852. He then removed to Laconia, New Hampshire, where he was engaged in the dry goods and carpet business until January, 1868. While there, besides conducting his mercantile business, he was one of the promoters and president of the first gas company established in Laconia and was also a director in the Laconia Savings Bank. In January, 1868, he removed his business to Plattsburgh, New York, and continued in business there until April, 1872. Wishing for a larger field where he could extend his business he removed to Norwich, Connecticut, and continued there as a dry goods and carpet merchant until September, 1875, when, on account of the loss of his voice, caused by a paralytic affection of the throat, he decided to give up his business and on the, advice of his physician to seek a milder climate, in order to restore his health. Selling out his establishment to a Boston firm, he then removed to Southern California. In the year 1880 Mr. Leavitt came to Topeka and interested himself in business as one of the promoters and stockholders in the A. Prescott Loan & Banking Company (incorporated). Soon after this he sold his interest in the company and returned to California. In 1882 having in the meantime recovered the use of his voice, he returned to Topeka and took a position with the Kansas Investment Company. He remained with this company until July, 1889. About this time Mr. Hay, of the firm of Hay, Wiggin & Company, died and Mr. Leavitt purchased his interest in the firm, thus associating himself in the dry goods business with his two nephews, Fred and Charles Wiggin, under the copartnership style of Wiggin Brothers & Company. About 18 months later, Fred Wiggin, the elder of the two brothers, died and thereupon Mr. Leavitt took an active part in the business. At the end of two years, however, he was again taken sick and as Charles Wiggin was too young to assume the cares of so large a concern the firm sold out its interest in 1890 to Wiggin, Crosby & Company. Since then Mr. Leavitt has not engaged actively in business. On October 18, 1846, Mr. Leavitt was married to Emma Hilton, of Boston, Massachusetts, a daughter of Hugh Hilton, of Sandwich, New Hampshire. The two children of this union were Charles and Harrison H. The former was born at Manchester, New Hampshire, and died at Laconia. The latter, who is a contractor at Wichita, Kansas, has been twice married; the three daughters of his first marriage are: Frances E. (Mrs. Aspey); Pearl E., of Kansas City, Missouri; and Beulah L., who resides with her grandfather, our subject. Mr. Leavitt has been a life-long Republican. He is a member of the Congregational Church. For six years he was president of the first young men's total abstinence society in Boston's South End, assuming the duties upon its organization. He is one of the most highly regarded citizens of Topeka. Additional Comments: Extracted from: HISTORY OF SHAWNEE COUNTY, KANSAS AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS EDITED AND COMPILED BY JAMES L. KING TOPEKA, KANSAS "History is Philosophy Teaching by Examples" PUBLISHED BY RICHMOND & ARNOLD, GEORGE RICHMOND; C. R. ARNOLD. CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, 1905. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ks/shawnee/bios/leavitt30nbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/ksfiles/ File size: 5.2 Kb