My Genealogy Hound

Below is a family biography included in The History of Polk County, Missouri published by Goodspeed Publishing Company in 1889.  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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Prof. Julius M. Leavitt, president of the Southwest Baptist College, the oldest child of Sylvester and Mary A. (Whittemore) Leavitt, natives of Ohio, was born in Coshocton County, Ohio, August 18, 1857. His father was a farmer, and in 1863 volunteered with the 100-days men, and died in Westchester County, N. Y. His mother still lives in Ohio. In the family were two children. Prof. Leavitt was educated in the public schools and at Hopedale Normal College, graduating in 1879, from which time up to 1881 he was principal of Hopedale public schools. In 1882 he was principal of schools in Effingham, Ill., after which he took a post-graduate course at Ann Arbor, Mich. In that year he was elected professor of higher mathematics in the Southwest Baptist College, vice-president in 1884, and president in 1886, which position he still holds. In addition to the regular college degrees conferred by the institutions from which he graduated, he has received the honorary degree of A. M. from Ewing College, Ill., and Ph. D. from Mt. Lebanon University, La. August 5, 1879, Prof. Leavitt married Miss Florence J. Baldwin, of Hopedale, Ohio, a graduate of the musical department of Hopedale Normal College and of Dana’s Musical Institute, Warren, Ohio, and who for some time had charge of the musical department of Hopedale Normal College. She is now principal of the department of music in Southwest Baptist College. They have two children, Thomas S. and Alpheus F. They are members of the Baptist Church, and he is a Mason.

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This family biography is one of 132 biographies included in The History of Polk County, Missouri published in 1889.  For the complete description, click here: Polk County, Missouri History, Genealogy, and Maps

To view additional Polk County, Missouri family biographies, click here

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