Pursuing Samuel Leavitt

Samuel Leavitt was born 6 September 1862 in Back Bay, Charlotte, New Brunswick.(1) He married Rosanna Leslie between 1881 and 1884, when they had their first child, Samuel Wellington. He was followed by Herbert, George, Cora, Frederick, Flora, John, Lollie, Bertha, and Cecil, the last child born 1905.(2) Throughout decades of the census, he and his children remained loyally Baptist. The couple lived in St. George until Rosanna’s death in 1952, and Samuel followed in 1962.(3) He died only a few months before his 100th birthday. 

The FamilySearch Family Tree, notorious for collaborative mistakes, had two parent sets for Samuel. One was Samuel Leavitt and Nancy Cook, whose names appeared on Samuel’s death certificate. The other was David Leavitt and Eleanor, the only couple in all of New Brunswick who were found with a child Samuel of the right age in any censuses. 

In searching for Samuel’s correct parents, I discovered the very exciting existence of a National Association of Leavitt Families. Being the only genealogist I know in of in my mother's extended family, I was so excited to learn that I was not alone in the work. I quickly ordered the compiled genealogy of this illustrious family and learn about Samuel. The compiled lineage did indeed name Samuel and Nancy as his parents, but I received a disappointing answer as to why there were so little sources about the family. According to the lineage, which was written by a woman within living memory of the events, Samuel Sr. “left and the family [parents David and Christina] never heard from him. They had reason to think he was drowned.”(4)

Immediately I jumped to the conclusion that Samuel was certainly not the child of David and others had interpreted the information all wrong. Days and many research hours later I discovered the error I made in making assumptions when I discovered in the lineage that Samuel Leavitt Sr. was the brother of one David Leavitt, who married an Eleanor. They could be found in several decades of censuses with many children, including a Samuel born about the right year to be my ancestor. It quickly became clear through more research that Samuel did indeed have two parent sets and I had discounted the Family Tree to quickly.

In time my discovery of the Leavitt family association would become bittersweet. As I recounted in my last post, I am not a genetic descendant of Samuel. Just as he was taken in by his aunt and uncle, Samuel and Rosanna took in their niece Bertha, who is my great great grandmother. By blood I am descended from Samuel's brother in law John Leslie. Despite this I still feel connected to the lineage through the hours of my research devoted to them, and I enjoy reading about the generations of Leavitts.

According to the compiled lineage and family lore, the Leavitts came to Canada as loyalists fleeing the American Revolution. If you are interested in learning more about this part of North American history, please consider listening to my podcast episode about Canadian history from the home page of this blog.

1. "Vital Statistics from Government Records," database with images, Provincial Archives of New Brunswick (archives.gnb.org: accessed 1 October 2018), death certificate for "Samuel Leavitt (1962)," #002699 St. George, Charlotte. New Brunswick.
2. Multiple sources on “FamilySearch, Family Tree,” database (www.familysearch.org: accessed November 2018), entry for Samuel Leavitt, PID: LRYT-HZW.

3. "Vital Statistics from Government Records," death certificate for "Samuel Leavitt (1962)," #002699 St. George, Charlotte. New Brunswick.

4. "Vital Statistics from Government Records," database with images, Provincial Archives of New Brunswick (archives.gnb.org: accessed 1 October 2018), death certificate for "Samuel Leavitt (1962)," #002699 St. George, Charlotte. New Brunswick.