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Below is a family biography included in the book, The History of Adair County, Missouri published by Goodspeed Publishing Company in 1888.  These biographies are valuable for genealogy research in discovering missing ancestors or filling in the details of a family tree. Family biographies often include far more information than can be found in a census record or obituary.  Details will vary with each biography but will often include the date and place of birth, parent names including mothers' maiden name, name of wife including maiden name, her parents' names, name of children (including spouses if married), former places of residence, occupation details, military service, church and social organization affiliations, and more.  There are often ancestry details included that cannot be found in any other type of genealogical record.

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Jeremiah Leavitt, a prominent farmer of Benton Township, is a native of New Hampshire. He was born in 1885, and is the eldest of three children born to Nathaniel and Sarah (Avery) Leavitt, natives of the same State, and born in 1806 and 1800, respectively. The grandfather, Moses Leavitt, was a native of Exeter, N. H., was of French descent, and served in the Revolution. Nathaniel received but few advantages in early life, and, having married in 1883, spent his entire life in his native county, where he died in January, 1887. The mother still lives in that county, and is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Our subject left home at the age of nineteen, and, after serving a carpenter’s apprenticeship of three years, at Manchester, N. H., he went to Galena, Ill., and there engaged in contracting and building bridges, and in various other occupations, until his marriage in 1860. By his union to Julia, a daughter of Patrick and Margaret Lynch, natives of Ireland, he has had the following children: George A., Frank, Abby, William S. and Moses D. After his marriage he spent the rest of his residence in Illinois, on his farm in Galena. He was mustered into the service at Dixon, Ill., in October, 1864, and went to Camp Butler, at Springfield, of that State. He was ordered from there to Nashville, Tenn., to join his company, but was here only a short time when he was prostrated by the small-pox; he recovered soon, and was ordered to Mississippi, where he joined his company, but was again prostrated, this time by the measles, and had a severe spell of sickness; was sent to the hospital at Jeffersonville, Ind., where he remained until discharged from service, at Louisville, Ky., in June, 1865. His impaired health led him to lighter employment, such as, in 1865, taking the census of Jo Daviess County, and afterward in selling agricultural machinery. In 1874 he organized the Thompson & Gilford Mutual Insurance Company, of which he served as secretary during his stay in Illinois, and also as treasurer. He served as justice four years, and as town clerk for a longer period. In 1884 he came to Adair County, and has become the possessor of a fine farm of about 560 acres. His buildings and other improvements are excellent, and his ideas, as a farmer, are practical and progressive. He has been connected with the school interests, and is identified with the Masonic order. His first vote was cast for Fremont, and his ideas were Republican, but more recently he has favored the Greenback movement.

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This family biography is one of 150 biographies included in the Adair County, Missouri portion of the book,  The History of Adair, Sullivan, Putnam, and Schuyler Counties, Missouri published in 1888 by Goodspeed Publishing Co.  For the complete description, click here: Adair County, Missouri History, Genealogy, and Maps

View additional Adair County, Missouri family biographies here: Adair County, Missouri Biographies

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