Thomas Leavitt
Encyclopedia
Bank of New Brunswick
The Bank of New Brunswick was established on March 25, 1820 in the pre-Confederation Province of New Brunswick, Canada as the first Canadian bank to operate under a charter. Headquartered in a new building on Prince William Street in Saint John in 1826, the neoclassical bank façade consisted of an...
in his native Saint John, New Brunswick
Saint John, New Brunswick
City of Saint John , or commonly Saint John, is the largest city in the province of New Brunswick, and the first incorporated city in Canada. The city is situated along the north shore of the Bay of Fundy at the mouth of the Saint John River. In 2006 the city proper had a population of 74,043...
. Leavitt was also a diplomat, politician and powerful Canadian businessman with interests in the shipping industry.
Thomas Leavitt was the descendant of early 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...
settlers. His father Jonathan Leavitt (1746–1811) was a mariner who arrived in New Brunswick from 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...
in 1764. Capt. Jonathan Leavitt's wife was Hephzibah (Peabody) Leavitt, daughter of Capt. Francis Peabody, a Massachusetts native who came north following the French and Indian War
French and Indian War
The French and Indian War is the common American name for the war between Great Britain and France in North America from 1754 to 1763. In 1756, the war erupted into the world-wide conflict known as the Seven Years' War and thus came to be regarded as the North American theater of that war...
to settle lands he was granted to form a township in New Brunswick
New Brunswick
New Brunswick is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the only province in the federation that is constitutionally bilingual . The provincial capital is Fredericton and Saint John is the most populous city. Greater Moncton is the largest Census Metropolitan Area...
.
Capt. Leavitt arrived in New Brunswick in August 1762 aboard ship from Newburyport, Massachusetts
Newburyport, Massachusetts
Newburyport is a small coastal city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, 35 miles northeast of Boston. The population was 21,189 at the 2000 census. A historic seaport with a vibrant tourism industry, Newburyport includes part of Plum Island...
, with father-in-law Peabody, as well as James Simmons and James White, for whom he worked as a mariner at the firm of shipowners Simmons, Hazen & White, whose partners he was related to by marriage. (Leavitt and James Simmons and James White had married daughters of Francis Peabody). Jonathan Leavitt had eight sons, including Thomas Leavitt, and two daughters.
The Leavitt family later joined their relations in the shipping business, becoming shipowners, mariners and prominent merchants in Saint John, which following the Revolutionary War had a substantial American Loyalist
Loyalist (American Revolution)
Loyalists were American colonists who remained loyal to the Kingdom of Great Britain during the American Revolutionary War. At the time they were often called Tories, Royalists, or King's Men. They were opposed by the Patriots, those who supported the revolution...
population. By 1774, mariner Leavitt was actively engaged in shipbuilding, joining forces that year with brother-in-law Samuel Peabody to order construction of one of the earliest schooners built in New Brunswick, the Menaguashe.
Early in his career, mariner Leavitt grew discouraged with his prospects, fearing that New Brunswick would never support a shipping industry like that of Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
or Halifax, Nova Scotia
City of Halifax
Halifax is a city in Canada, which was the capital of the province of Nova Scotia and shire town of Halifax County. It was the largest city in Atlantic Canada until it was amalgamated into Halifax Regional Municipality in 1996...
. Jonathan Leavitt and his brother Daniel mulled over moving elsewhere where "there was a larger population and more business", reported The New Brunswick Magazine. Leavitt's brother-in-law and sometime employer James White intervened, telling the two brothers: "Don't be discouraged, boys, keep up a good heart! Why ships will come here from England yet!"
The industry that Jonathan Leavitt pioneered later blossomed, especially after the influx of Loyalists following the Revolutionary War. Capt. Jonathan Leavitt and his brother Capt. Daniel Leavitt were among those who piloted into Saint John's harbor the fleet of vessels carrying thousands of American Loyalists from New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
in 1784. The influx of Loyalists stoked the Saint John economy: it would later rank fourth among shipbuilding cities of the British Empire
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
, earning it the sobriquet of "the Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
of North America". Leavitt and his family became recipients of that boom.
At his death in 1811, former ship captain Jonathan Leavitt left a large estate including properties scattered across Saint John and a large tract on the Miramichi River
Miramichi River
The Miramichi River is a Canadian river located in the east-central part of New Brunswick. The river drains into Miramichi Bay in the Gulf of St. Lawrence...
. Leavitt's son Thomas took over the reins of the family business. He was admitted a merchant freeman
Freeman (Colonial)
Freeman is a term which originated in 12th century Europe and is common as an English or American Colonial expression in Puritan times. In the Bay Colony, a man had to be a member of the Church to be a freeman. In Colonial Plymouth, a man did not need to be a member of the Church, but he had to be...
of Saint John in 1817, and subsequently played a major role in business affairs of New Brunswick
New Brunswick
New Brunswick is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the only province in the federation that is constitutionally bilingual . The provincial capital is Fredericton and Saint John is the most populous city. Greater Moncton is the largest Census Metropolitan Area...
.
By the 1840s Leavitt was firmly established as a major player in the region, acting as agent for the Liverpool Association of Underwriters, and for several New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
marine insurance companies. Early on Thomas Leavitt obtained a perpetual lease on a harborside lot, allowing him to build his own wharf for his shipping interests as well as charging wharfage fees to other merchants.
By 1835 Leavitt, the son of an American emigrant to Canada, was named United States Consul
Consul (representative)
The political title Consul is used for the official representatives of the government of one state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul's own country, and to facilitate trade and friendship between the peoples of the two countries...
for Saint John. Leavitt was confirmed by the United States Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
as U.S. Consul in 1835. He served in the post for eight years, until 1845.
Shortly afterwards Thomas Leavitt helped found City Bank in 1837, and subsequently became president of the Bank of New Brunswick
Bank of New Brunswick
The Bank of New Brunswick was established on March 25, 1820 in the pre-Confederation Province of New Brunswick, Canada as the first Canadian bank to operate under a charter. Headquartered in a new building on Prince William Street in Saint John in 1826, the neoclassical bank façade consisted of an...
after its merger with City Bank.
Leavitt also helped establish the extension of the new Morse
Samuel F. B. Morse
Samuel Finley Breese Morse was an American contributor to the invention of a single-wire telegraph system based on European telegraphs, co-inventor of the Morse code, and an accomplished painter.-Birth and education:...
Telegraph
Electrical telegraph
An electrical telegraph is a telegraph that uses electrical signals, usually conveyed via telecommunication lines or radio. The electromagnetic telegraph is a device for human-to-human transmission of coded text messages....
system to the Maritime Provinces of Canada. He was listed first among incorporators of the New Brunswick Telegraph Company, whose mission was connecting the incipient telegraph line from Maine through New Brunswick to Halifax, Nova Scotia
City of Halifax
Halifax is a city in Canada, which was the capital of the province of Nova Scotia and shire town of Halifax County. It was the largest city in Atlantic Canada until it was amalgamated into Halifax Regional Municipality in 1996...
.
Aside from his business interests, Leavitt also served as the Worshipful Master of the Freemasons in New Brunswick.
Leavitt was a Church of Scotland
Church of Scotland
The Church of Scotland, known informally by its Scots language name, the Kirk, is a Presbyterian church, decisively shaped by the Scottish Reformation....
Presbyterian, and was active in St. Andrew's Church in Saint John, where he participated in the 1832 attempt by church trustees to wrest control of church finances from the elders. Leavitt was also part of a large group of Saint John Presbyterians who challenged the Church of England’s monopoly on education in the province in the 1830s. The group successfully demanded the appointment of non-Episcopalians to the Madras School
Madras School
The Government College of Fine Arts in Chennai is the oldest art institution in India. The institution was established in 1850 by surgeon Alexander Hunter as a private art school. In 1852, after being taken over by the government, it was renamed as the Government School of Industrial Arts...
Board and to the council of King’s College
University of New Brunswick
The University of New Brunswick is a Canadian university located in the province of New Brunswick. UNB is the oldest English language university in Canada and among the first public universities in North America. The university has two main campuses: the original campus founded in 1785 in...
.
Thomas Leavitt died in Saint John on October 24, 1850, at the age of 55. Leavitt and his wife Mary Ann (née Ketchum) had four sons and three daughters. The Leavitt family papers, including logbooks for the family's fleet of vessels, family correspondence, bills and promissory notes and other memorabilia, are deposited at the New Brunswick Museum.
Sources
- http://www.mun.ca/mha/holdings/findingaids/maritime.php# Leavitt (Lovett, Lovitt) Family Papers, 1783–1875, New Brunswick Museum, Maritime History Archive
External links
- http://www.mun.ca/mha/viewresults/Accession_No/mha00000248 Maritime History Archive, Leavitt Family Papers