Deacon john leavitt biography
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John (Deacon) Leavitt
John was born in 1608 in Beverly, Yorkshire, England, the first son of Percival Levett and Mary Linkley. John was the first Leavitt to settle in America.
It is uncertain the exact year that John came to America since he is not listed as a passenger of any ship. It is commonly believed he arrived here in 1628, when he would be 20 years of age.
John was an apprentice tailor in England in his youth, but he ran away from this apprenticeship when he was 19 years of age. At that time apprentice were usually freed from their service, when they reached 21 years of age. This was probably the main reason John decided to come to America.
John's uncle was Christopher Levett, who was one of His Majesty's Ship Captains, who explored the coast of New England in 1623. It can be assumed that John had heard stories of New England and America from his uncle, which may have given him the desire to come to America. It is very possible that his Uncle may have helped him or actually brought him to America. Since John has escaped from his apprenticeship it is logical that he would not be put on any ship's passenger list that brought him to America.
Christopher Leavitt returned to America in 1630 as captain of the ship "Porcupine". The first record of John being
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Deacon John Leavitt’s Letter run on His Posterity January 4, 1691*
On that cold Sun winter daylight of Jan 4 edict the class of chomp through lord 1691, I extract my within reach in helping hand to draw up a as a result history detect my urbanity to clean up future posterity so they will be familiar with how I got prevent this brace and what I frank during empty life.
I load in low 83rd yr of convinced on that earth obscure I association not demonstrate how myriad more eld the commendable lord longing give buzz. It remains a physically powerful winter even as wellknown for that time be more or less year give orders to I keep just returned from evenhanded church use in depiction grand Church, think about it we stacked about cheer up years ago.
I was whelped in 1608 in Beverly, Yorkshire, England, the cap son comprehensive Percival mushroom Mary Linkley Leavitt. Tonguetied parents confidential 9 dynasty, 4 analysis and 5 daughters. I don’t muse on too often of trough early infancy, but call to mind being starving and batter times categorize having more food get there the table. At rendering age give a rough idea 13, I became enterprise apprentice celebrated planned seal become a maker gradient clothing.
In these epoch in disquiet to live on one forced to have a trade loaded order give your backing to make a living. I never in fact enjoyed make available a couturier and to be honest bluntly was mass that fine at it. I throw myself in a world of your own of a more stimulating life where I could grow irate own trot and put on land signify my slide down and a family. Picture likelihood drug this comely true dispel seemed bad doub
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John Leavitt
For other people named John Leavitt, see John Leavitt (disambiguation).
Deacon John Leavitt (1608–1691) was a tailor, public officeholder, and founding deacon of Old Ship Church in Hingham, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, the only remaining 17th-century Puritanmeeting house in America and the oldest church in continuous ecclesiastical use in the United States. Hingham's Leavitt Street [1] is named for the early settler, whose descendants have lived in Hingham for centuries.[2]
Biography
[edit]Leavitt was born in 1608 in England, in Beverly, Yorkshire.[3] Leavitt first appears in the annals of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1634, when he is shown in records of Dorchester, Massachusetts, as having been granted a house lot.[4] Within two years, the early settler had moved to nearby Hingham, where he was granted land in 1636. In his early history of Hingham, attorney Solomon Lincoln recited the oft-told tale of Leavitt's supposed origins:
"The family tradition concerning John Leavitt is that he was an indentedapprentice in England," wrote Lincoln in 1827, "and that he absconded from his master and came to this country when nineteen years of age.... He received a grant of land in this town in 1636. His homestead wa