Leavitt-Hovey House is an historic house located at 402 Main Street in Greenfield, Massachusetts

Greenfield, Massachusetts

Greenfield is a city in Franklin County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 17,456 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Franklin County. Greenfield is home to Greenfield Community College, the Pioneer Valley Symphony Orchestra, and the Franklin County Fair...

.

The house was designed by the noted architect Asher Benjamin

Asher Benjamin

Asher Benjamin was an American architect and author whose work transitioned between Federal style architecture and the later Greek Revival. His seven handbooks on design deeply influenced the look of cities and towns throughout New England until the Civil War...

 in 1797 for Judge Jonathan Leavitt

Jonathan Leavitt

Jonathan Leavitt was a prominent Greenfield, Massachusetts attorney, judge, state senator and businessman for whom the architect Asher Benjamin designed the Leavitt House, now the Leavitt-Hovey House on Main Street, in 1797....

 and added to the National Historic Register in 1983.

History

Judge Jonathan Leavitt was a graduate of Yale College

Yale College

Yale College was the official name of Yale University from 1718 to 1887. The name now refers to the undergraduate part of the university. Each undergraduate student is assigned to one of 12 residential colleges.-Residential colleges:...

. He began his career as an attorney in Greenfield. He later served as Judge of the Court of Common Pleas in 1812, and Judge of Probate from 1814 to 1821, as well as the first president of the Franklin Bank of Greenfield. He used the west wing of the Leavitt House (now the Leavitt-Hovey House) as a wing for his business activities. Judge Leavitt married the daughter of President Ezra Stiles

Ezra Stiles

Ezra Stiles was an American academic and educator, a Congregationalist minister, theologian and author. He was president of Yale College .-Early life:...

 of Yale College

Yale College

Yale College was the official name of Yale University from 1718 to 1887. The name now refers to the undergraduate part of the university. Each undergraduate student is assigned to one of 12 residential colleges.-Residential colleges:...

. The father of Judge Leavitt was Rev. Jonathan Leavitt, a Yale graduate who was a Congregational minister in Greenfield. Rev. Leavitt's wife was Sarah Hooker, great-granddaughter ot the Rev. Thomas Hooker

Thomas Hooker

Thomas Hooker was a prominent Puritan colonial leader, who founded the Colony of Connecticut after dissenting with Puritan leaders in Massachusetts...

, founder of Hartford, Connecticut

Founders of Hartford, Connecticut

Here are the 163 men and women listed in the Book of Distribution of Land as being those who settled in Hartford, Connecticut before February 1640. Their names are on a monument in Hartford's Ancient Burying Ground....

Some original architectural elements of the Leavitt-Hovey House are in the collection of Historic Deerfield

Historic Deerfield

Historic Deerfield is an open-air living history museum dedicated to the heritage and preservation of Deerfield, Massachusetts and the Connecticut River Valley. Its historic houses, museums and programs provide visitors with an understanding of New England's historic villages and countryside...

 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 they may be seen by appointment.

The town of Greenfield purchased the home in 1907, and in 1909 the town opened the Greenfield Public Library in the building.