John Hooker Leavitt was an early banker and Iowa

Iowa

Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...

 state senator

Iowa Senate

The Iowa Senate is the upper house of the Iowa General Assembly. There are 50 members of the Senate, representing 50 single-member districts across the state with populations of approximately 59,500 per constituency. Each Senate district is composed of two House districts...

 who was born at Heath, Massachusetts

Heath, Massachusetts

Heath is a town in Franklin County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 805 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area.- History :...

, but who later moved westward to Iowa in search of fortune.

John H. Leavitt was the son of Col. Roger Hooker Leavitt

Roger Hooker Leavitt

Col. Roger Hooker Leavitt was a prominent landowner, early industrialist and Massachusetts politician who with other family members was an ardent abolitionist, using his home in Charlemont, Massachusetts as an Underground Railroad station for slaves escaped from the South...

, a businessman, politician

Politician

A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...

 and noted Massachusetts

Massachusetts

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

 abolitionist. Young Leavitt studied civil engineering

Civil engineering

Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including works like roads, bridges, canals, dams, and buildings...

, and early in his career was contracted by John Roebling, the builder of the Brooklyn Bridge

Brooklyn Bridge

The Brooklyn Bridge is one of the oldest suspension bridges in the United States. Completed in 1883, it connects the New York City boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn by spanning the East River...

, to survey

Surveying

See Also: Public Land Survey SystemSurveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, and science of accurately determining the terrestrial or three-dimensional position of points and the distances and angles between them...

 a large tract of land. Having gained some measure of confidence in his abilities, Leavitt struck out for the west in 1854, reaching Dubuque, Iowa

Dubuque, Iowa

Dubuque is a city in and the county seat of Dubuque County, Iowa, United States, located along the Mississippi River. In 2010 its population was 57,637, making it the ninth-largest city in the state and the county's population was 93,653....

, where he remained for less than a year before settling at Waterloo, Iowa

Waterloo, Iowa

Waterloo is a city in and the county seat of Black Hawk County, Iowa, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census the population decreased by 0.5% to 68,406. Waterloo is part of the Waterloo – Cedar Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area, and is the more populous of the two...

.

While in Dubuque, Leavitt married Caroline Clark Ware of Granville, Illinois

Granville, Illinois

Granville is a village in Putnam County, Illinois, United States. The population was 1,414 at the 2000 census, making it the largest community in Putnam County...

. Shortly after his move to Waterloo, the young engineer decided on a change of career, and became a banker. Within a decade he founded his own private banking firm.

Several years later, on the admission of a new partner, the sole proprietorship of Leavitt's bank necessitated a change of name to Leavitt & Lusch. Subsequently, on the addition of another partner, the bank became known as Leavitt, Johnson & Lusch. On the retirement of partner A. T. Lusch, the business became known as Leavitt & Johnson Bank, under which name the firm operated from 1876 to 1898, when the firm was reorganized as Leavitt & Johnson National Bank, with a capital stock of $100,000.

John Hooker Leavitt worked at the firm for 50 years, during the various permutations of the corporation's name. He served as president of the institution, located at Commercial and Fourth Streets in downtown Waterloo, until 1901.

In 1871, Leavitt was elected to the Iowa Senate, where he was engaged in the fight to prevent the return of James Harlan

James Harlan (senator)

James Harlan was a member of the United States Senate and a U.S. Cabinet Secretary.-Biography:Harlan represented the state of Iowa in the United States Senate as a member of the Free Soil Party in 1855. In 1857 the Senate declared the seat vacant because of irregularities in the legislative...

 to the United States Senate

United States Senate

The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...

 after his service as a member of Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...

's cabinet. A staunch Republican

Republican Party of Iowa

The Republican Party of Iowa is the affiliate of the United States Republican Party in Iowa. The State Central Committee is led by Chairman Matt Strawn and Co-Chairman Bill Schickel...

, Leavitt served only one term in the Iowa State Senate.

After leaving the state senate, Leavitt devoted his time to his business affairs, as well as his membership in the Congregational Church of Waterloo. He was an early benefactor of Talladega College

Talladega College

- External Links :* -- Official web site*...

, Alabama

Alabama

Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...

's oldest historically black college, and in 1903 he joined the Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association in Deerfield, Massachusetts

Deerfield, Massachusetts

Deerfield is a town in Franklin County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 4,750 as of the 2000 census. Deerfield is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area in Western Massachusetts, lying only north of the city of Springfield.Deerfield includes the...

, where his father Roger Hooker Leavitt had served as vice president.

John H. Leavitt's brother William also lived in Waterloo, but eventually relocated to Minneapolis, Minnesota

Minneapolis, Minnesota

Minneapolis , nicknamed "City of Lakes" and the "Mill City," is the county seat of Hennepin County, the largest city in the U.S. state of Minnesota, and the 48th largest in the United States...

. Hon. John Hooker Leavitt and his wife had five children: Roger of Cedar Falls, Iowa

Cedar Falls, Iowa

Cedar Falls is a city in Black Hawk County, Iowa, United States, and it is home to one of Iowa's three public universities, the University of Northern Iowa. The population was 39,260 in the 2010 census, an increase from the 36,145 population in the 2000 census...

; Joseph, who lived in Illinois

Illinois

Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

; Mary Leavitt Davison, wife of Robert A. Davison; Lucy O. Leavitt; and Grace, who married Thomas Cascaden Jr.

John H. Leavitt's father, abolitionist Roger Hooker Leavitt, died in Waterloo in 1885 while on a visit to his son. Col. Roger Hooker Leavitt's body was returned to Charlemont, Massachusetts

Charlemont, Massachusetts

Charlemont is a town in Franklin County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 1,358 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area.- History :...

, longtime home of the family, for burial. John Hooker Leavitt died at Waterloo in 1906.

Further reading

• A Sketch of the Life and Character of Rev. Jonathan Leavitt, the first Minister of Charlemont, Mass., by William H. Leavitt, published by John H. Leavitt, Waterloo, Iowa, 1904

See also

• Roger Hooker Leavitt
  Roger Hooker Leavitt
  Col. Roger Hooker Leavitt was a prominent landowner, early industrialist and Massachusetts politician who with other family members was an ardent abolitionist, using his home in Charlemont, Massachusetts as an Underground Railroad station for slaves escaped from the South...