The Life of Nathaniel Leavitt
(son of Nathaniel Leavitt and Deborah Delano)
by Thomas R. Austad (great grandson)

Information taken from:

1) Biography of Nathaniel Leavitt by Alice Marie Hunt,
2) Autobiography of Nathaniel Leavitt,
3) Infobase Pioneer Heritage Library, and
4) Mary H. Leavitt genealogy records, (She is a granddaughter of Nathaniel Jr.)
5) History of Ruth Leavitt Morton, (granddaughter of Nathaniel Jr.)

The Leavitt family moved from New Hampshire to Hatley, Canada somewhere around 1789. The family was well established in that area by the time that Nathaniel Leavitt (senior), was born to Jeremiah and Sarah Shannon Leavitt. Nathaniel senior’s father, (Jeremiah), passed away leaving a widow with three daughters and four sons. The record implies that Jeremiah’s wife, Sarah Shannon Leavitt, managed to keep the family close together. Nathaniel Leavitt Sr. eventually married Deborah Delano, and they had several children. One of them was Nathaniel Leavitt Jr., who was my great grandfather, born on November 17th, of 1823, in Hatley, Canada. Nathaniel Leavitt Jr.’s mother died when he was only seven years of age, leaving six children, three older than himself, and two that were younger.
The record states that Nathaniel senior married again, and when Nathaniel Jr., my great grandfather, was age 14, a Mormon missionary by the name of Elder Hazen Eldridge came into the neighborhood and brought to the family a copy of the Book of Mormon, telling them that the Prophet Joseph Smith had found records of the Nephites and Lamanites, (or American Indians), and he had translated the records into our language by the gift and power of God. Nathaniel Jr. recorded the matter in these words: "In short, he, [Elder Eldridge], preached to us the fullness of the Ever Lasting Gospel for the first time we had heard it. A large number of my uncles, and aunts, and cousins that lived in the neighborhood believed and obeyed the Gospel - I think about 35 in number."
Nathaniel stated that this large extended family of Leavitts began to prepare at once, to leave their native land, and on the 20th of July, 1837, they began their trek westward toward Missouri. All 35 in the company were family; uncles, aunts, cousins, and his grandmother Leavitt who was "an old lady seventy six years old". Again quoting Nathaniel Jr., he said of his grandmother, Sara Shannon Leavitt, "She stood the journey all the way through remarkably well, and rejoiced continually that she had lived to hear the sound of the Ever Lasting Gospel, and see such a host of her children and grandchildren obey the same." The entire group traveled together through Vermont and New York. When they arrived at Buffalo, New York, Nathaniel (senior) took a notion to leave the company and travel across Lake Erie to Detroit. From Detroit, he hitched up again, and his family traveled as far as Sturgess Prairie, St. Joseph County, Michigan. There, Nathaniel (senior) rented a farm for a year, calculating to move on west and find the church. Meanwhile, others of the group went on to Ohio, and eventually traveled to Twelve Mile Grove in Will County, Illinois, forty miles south of Chicago. There, they purchased some farms, intending to stay until they could learn where the main body of the church had settled, for they had learned that the Mormons had been driven out of the state of Missouri by a ruthless mob.
Unfortunately, in the summer of the following year of 1838, Nathaniel Sr. died, and he was buried there at Sturgess Prairie, Michigan. Nathaniel Jr. was now age 15, and soon after his father’s death, his step mother sold what they had, and took her three children back to Canada. She would have taken young Nathaniel and his siblings Flavilla, then age 12, and John, age 9, but Nathaniel said he was a firm believer in Mormonism, and he intended to continue on and find the main body of the church. He persuaded his step mother to let his younger brother and sister stay with him, and said he would take care of them, which he did.
(NOTE: For the rest of this account, the name Nathaniel refers to Nathaniel junior.)
About a month later, one of Nathaniel’s uncles came through the area heading west, and took Nathaniel, Flavilla, and John with him. They traveled from there to Twelve Mile Grove, where they met up with others of the Leavitt family. While at Twelve Mile Grove, several Mormon elders visited and held meetings. It was now the fall of 1839, and Nathaniel said that he, Flavilla, John, and two or three cousins were baptized on the east bank of the Mississippi River. It is quite remarkable to think that Nathaniel’s faith in Mormonism had taken him all that distance, and he had not yet been baptized into the Church. Nathaniel recorded that at this time, the city of Nauvoo, Illinois was being built up by the saints, and plans were being made to construct a temple. Several Mormon elders came visiting that year at Twelve Mile Grove, including Franklin D. Richards, who stayed about three weeks, and gave a great deal of good instruction in relation to Mormonism.
The following fall and winter, Nathaniel said their little company was still meeting together regularly on Sunday evenings and they were greatly blessed. Several of them experienced the gift of tongues and the interpretation of tongues, and he said their faith was increased greatly. In the spring of 1840, Nathaniel’s uncles sold out their land, and with the exception of only one family, they all started for Nauvoo. By this time, they had buried four of their number while at Twelve Mile Grove - Grandmother Sarah Shannon Leavitt, an uncle Weir Leavitt, Weir’s son Jeremiah Leavitt, and Nathaniel’s sister’s husband, Benjamin Fletcher.
Upon arriving in Nauvoo, Nathaniel was about 17 years of age, and he was anxious to see the city. He walked from the east end of the city down the street of town, anxious to see the Prophet Joseph Smith. He remarked that the town had been built up very rapidly; the houses were small and cheaply built, but they were neat and clean. He said that everyone seemed to be busy at work. After traveling three or four blocks, he came to a crowd of men gathered around a buggy in which two men sat, and one of the men was addressing the crowd. After a little, he heard one of the men in the crowd call him Brother Joseph, and he knew then that this was the prophet. Nathaniel said, "I had long before supposed a Prophet would look different than other men, but I saw he was exactly like other men, only considerably above the average size, better looking, and more noble than any man I had ever seen before."
From that moment, Nathaniel never doubted that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God. He said a little further down the street, he saw a neat little building with a sign over the door which read, "Hyrum Smith, Patriarch". He went directly to the door and rapped for admittance. In his own words, Nathaniel said, "’Brother Hyrum came to the door, took me by the hand and led me in saying at the same time, ‘I suppose you have come for a blessing.’ "Nathaniel told him that was exactly why he was there. He was led to a chair by a table where another person sat who was scribe for Hyrum. Nathaniel said Hyrum had never before seen him, nor had Nathaniel before seen Hyrum. Nathaniel’s circumstances were entirely unknown to Hyrum. Only one question was asked of Nathaniel. "What is your given name?" Hyrum Smith then placed his hands on his head and gave him a blessing in which he stated amongst other things, "…For behold, your father is dead and your mother also sleepeth." Nathaniel said , "By this time, I knew that he was a prophet as well as his brother Joseph, for he had no means of knowing anything about me or my father or mother, only that he knew it by the Holy Spirit that he was in possession of."
The following Sunday, a meeting was held under a bowery, and there, the Prophet Joseph requested volunteers to work on the Nauvoo temple for one full month. Nathaniel was the first to volunteer amongst many, and he labored without losing a day, most of the time driving a team and hauling rock from a stone quarry to the temple block.
In the fall, Nathaniel spoke of another meeting under the bowery, where the Prophet Joseph addressed the people. Quoting Nathaniel, "…The prophet then arose, his face aglow with the Holy Spirit, and spoke at a considerable length of the persecution of the Saints in Missouri. He said they had been robbed and punished and many had sealed their testimony with their blood and all this by a ruthless mob backed up by the governor of the state, Lilburn W. Boggs. He then commenced to prophesy in the name of the Lord. He said Governor Boggs should be struck dumb so that he could not speak a word and many of the mobcrats who had driven the Saints from the state of Missouri should die a fearful death and their bones should bleach upon the plains and the wolves should gnaw them. He then spoke of the government of the United States. He said wickedness and abomination lurks in high places and great calamities would come to the nations. He said the north and the south would be divided against each other and that a bloody war would be the result, that many thousands would be slain on both sides and that the war would commence in South Carolina." Still quoting Nathaniel’s own words, "I noted down all these predictions at the time and have lived to see them all fulfilled to the very letter. Governor Boggs was shot by some unknown person, the ball taking effect in his mouth which rendered him unable to speak a word, and when I crossed the plains in 1850, it was the bones of a great many Missourian mobocrats bleaching on the plains and the wolves gnawing them. They died a fearful death of Cholera. In relation to the war between the north and south, all are too well acquainted with the facts to need any comment, suffice to say the war took place as predicted. The first gun was fired at Fort Sumpter in South Carolina."
Nathaniel attended school while in Nauvoo, and in the spring of 1842, he was ordained an Elder under the hands of Joseph Smith, Heber C. Kimball, and one other he could not clearly remember. Soon after, he was called to serve a mission in Ohio, which he did. He returned from Ohio in 1843, and then became an active electioneer for the Prophet Joseph Smith, whose candidacy for the Presidency of the United States had been announced. After the Prophet’s death, Nathaniel remained in Nauvoo for a short time, until the Saints were drive out. While there, he married Amanda Wilson, in the year of 1846. She bore him 12 children. After coming to Utah, Nathaniel eventually married another wife named Mary Horrocks, on April 4th, 1857, and she too bore him 12 children, the last of whom was LeRoy Leavitt, my grandfather. Nathaniel was the father of 24 children.
Nathaniel was a jack of many trades. He was a very good itinerant lawyer and fought and won many cases with his wit. He owned a considerable amount of property in the northern Utah area, and owned a store located at what is now
presently 24th street and Washington Blvd., in Ogden, Utah. It is recorded that he was kind to the Indians and learned the Indian language. His youngest son, LeRoy, said that when soldiers from Johnson’s army came to town, many traded their overcoats for supplies and food, and Nathaniel gave those coats to the Indians or anyone who needed an overcoat. The following winter, nearly everyone in town was wearing an army coat.
Nathaniel served several missions for the church; apparently in the Arkansas, in Illinois, in Ohio as mentioned, and he was one of 27 brethren who served in the famous Salmon River mission in Idaho amongst the Indians. He carried the mail in Utah. He was in charge of the first herd of cattle that ranged at the present site of Liberty, Utah. Back in those days, the Eden- Huntsville-Liberty area was known as the Ogden Hole, as a cattle range. It was an excellent coral, with towering mountains on all sides, and good foliage. The valley was described as one large fertile meadow, and was great for ranging cattle, except for occasional Indians.
Nathaniel was an extremely prosperous man, until he lost his eyesight very suddenly one day. Everything went black on a sudden, and he never regained his eyesight. His property eventually had to be sold to keep his large family. He had owned many horses, but most of them were stolen during the Spanish American war. Nathaniel died of natural causes at the age of 77 years old.
I mentioned that Nathaniel was very witty. I believe my grandfather, LeRoy Leavitt inherited some of that wit. In closing, I thought I would briefly share with you one of the witty stories that my grandfather LeRoy said was told him by his father Nathaniel. It went something like this:

"It’s not long ago since Michael O’Haro,
Went to his Reverend and down on his maro,
Bent to confess all his crimes.
But one was so great it weighed on his conscience,
And he couldn’t sleep.
‘Twas Tim Carol’s pig, your Reverend, I stole…
Sure Judy, the kids, and myself ate it all,
And to make amends in the matters so nice,
I came to you, Reverend for a bit of advice.

"Well", says the Reverend, "Go buy one directly,
And bring it to me.
And then from your crime your conscience is free.
For I’ll see Tim Carol and make matters right,
So you can sleep quiet in bed every night."
"Oh no, your Reverend, some other plan try,
Sure the pig I stole wouldn’t be the same one I’d buy,
And unless it was the very same pig to the hair,
I could never imagine my conscience was clear."

"Well", says his Reverend, "If you don’t do that way,
Mind the pig will appear on the great judgment day."
"Hurray! Will it?" , says Mike with a shout,
"And will Tim be there too? Oh there’s not the least doubt.
Long life to your Reverend, you’re the wisest of men,
For if Tim’s there, and the pig’s there,
Can’t I give it him then?"

THIS HISTORY WAS TAKEN FROM NATHANIEL LEAVITT’S GRAND-DAUGHTER

Father was ordained an Elder by the Prophet, Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery. He filled a number of missions for the church. On one mission, he returned to Kirtland, Ohio and visited a family he had stayed with, when he was 15 years old, after his father’s death. They did not recognize him. They said, “Years ago a wonderful boy by the name of Nathaniel Leavitt stopped with us on his way to find the church . He was taking care of his little brother and sister. We have thought about him so often and wondered if he ever found his way.”

Father answered, “Yes, it was I now a grown man.”  They were so happy to meet again.

Nathaniel married Amanda Wilson in 1846 in Nauvoo, Illinois.

Nathaniel played ball with Joseph Smith.  They were good friends. After the Prophet was killed, the church members were driven out of Nauvoo. They were led by Brigham Young to the desert at Salt Lake. There they built Salt Lake City.

Nathaniel Leavitt, my father, married Mary Horrocks, 4 April 1857 , in the Salt Lake Endowment house. Father and Mother later settled in Ogden, Utah. He built his residence on a two-third acre piece of land on the corner of 24^th and Washington Blvd., where the First National Bank now stands. All my brothers and sisters were born there. I, Leroy, was born at 225-23^rd Street, Ogden, where the family moved after father lost his eye sight.

Father owned a store on 24^th and Washington, where people traded for groceries and supplies. “I still have an 1861 feed bill for Walker Brothers where he traded.” Soldiers from Johnson’s Army traded their overcoats for tobacco, candy, groceries etc. at the store. It was easy for them to get new ones. My father gave the coats to Indians or anyone that needed an overcoat. The following winter, nearly everyone in town was wearing an army coat. Father was a great friend of the Indians. He learned to speak their language.

My father, Nathaniel, had 100 head of mares running loose in Idaho. My older brothers went with father to brand the new colts each year in Cirlew Valley in Idaho.

Nathaniel and President Shurtleff packed the first mail to Idaho and some of the first seed.

Father owned all the land from where Perry’s Old Mill stream is to the mountain. He gave my half brother Jep 40 acres but, he just traded it off. He also owned two 40 acre farms in Roy. Mother got only $75.00 for each after his death.

One winter in Ogden was so sever that my father was the only one to save his cattle. He cut tops off the trees and willows along the river bank to feed them.

My father, Nathaniel, was a lawyer. He fought and won many cases, as a brilliant speaker. He held court in Brigham and won many cases with his wit. He got many people out of trouble. His oldest half brother was once accused of stealing a horse, but Nathaniel cleared him. He was a wonderful speaker.