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had come to the Adams family residence. Abigail wrote to her husband on May 24, 1775: "...it seems their
Expidition (sic) was to Grape Island for Levets hay." Abigail Adams praised several members of her husband's family, who were among the hundreds of Continental militiamen who drove off the British
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During the so-called 'Provision War' at the outbreak of hostilities, as
British officers struggled to find sympathetic citizens who would supply their army with food and drink, the Tory Elisha Leavitt stepped forward to offer British troops hay, vegetables and cattle. His actions infuriated locals
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Elisha
Leavitt was a successful businessman and landowner in Hingham. In 1771 Leavitt purchased one of Hingham's landmarks, the old Thaxter Mansion built in 1652, which had tapestried walls, elaborate painted murals, decorated door panels and large tiled fireplaces.
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Leavitt was an unlikely
Loyalist. He began his career as a simple blacksmith, was named constable of Hingham, then launched himself on a career as a trader and entrepreneur, becoming a shareholder in the fishing company and engaging in navigation as a shipowner.
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Unlike many
Loyalists, Leavitt was never forced to flee the country, nor give up his substantial holdings. Whether his successful transition to the age of American independence was due to his personality, sheer pluck, or to a change of heart is unknown.
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Elisha
Leavitt was born at Hingham on March 1, 1714, the son of Elisha Leavitt Sr. and the former Sarah Lane, daughter of Ebenezer Lane. He was married to the former Ruth Marsh, daughter of Thomas and Mary (Burr) Marsh, with whom he had four children.
144:. The islands were largely used for pasturage for cattle and horses and for raising hay. Leavitt had purchased Georges Island from Hannah Greenleaf in April 1765. Elisha Leavitt also owned land across the region, including substantial acreage at
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256:, a Hingham native. Col. Rice had married Elisha Leavitt's daughter Meriel. Caleb Rice subsequently purchased the half of Gallops Island that his grandfather Leavitt did not own. Rice later sold the entire island to the
176:, forcing the British to flee. The angry colonists, in retaliation for Leavitt's actions, burned the wealthy Tory's barn to the ground and confiscated his cattle. "This glorified skirmish", wrote historian
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Following the Grape Island skirmish, enraged citizens turned up on the doorstep of
Leavitt's mansion to set it alight or "for the purpose of doing violence to his person", according to the
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soldiers. "I may say with truth, all of
Weymouth, Braintree, Hingham, who were able to bear arms, and hundreds from other towns within twenty, thirty, forty miles of Weymouth."
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classmate (1773) of Bela
Lincoln of Hingham, Martin Leavitt practiced medicine until he died aged thirty on November 27, 1785, when he drowned in the town's mill pond.
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in 1775, Leavitt encouraged
British forces to use one of his islands to gather hay for their horses, triggering one of the first skirmishes of the
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While Leavitt was one of Hingham's most visible Tories, his son Dr. Martin Leavitt, born in 1755, had different politics. A close friend and
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When Leavitt bought the home, it had been occupied by five generations of the Thaxter family, including Samuel Thaxter Junior, son of Col.
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Elisha Leavitt died in 1790 at his home on North Street in Hingham, not far from Leavitt Street, where Elisha's great-grandfather
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passionate about the Continental cause. Leavitt's ownership of Grape Island then brought him unwelcome prominence.
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Eventually Leavitt became one of the largest landowners in the region; among his holdings were several islands in
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First home of Loyalist Elisha Leavitt, originally the Thaxter estate, later demolished, Hingham, Massachusetts
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in 1775, Leavitt offered them the use of Grape Island. But when British forces landed on the island in their
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graduate Caleb Rice sold both Lovells Island and Georges Island to the City of Boston in 1825 for $ 6,000.
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Hingham: A Story of Its Early Settlement and Life, Its Ancient Landmarks, Its Historic Sites and Buildings
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Lovells Island, as seen from Georges Island, Boston Harbor, both owned by Hingham Tory Elisha Leavitt
365:, Edwin Victor Bigelow, The Committee on Town History, Cohasset, Press of Samuel Usher, Boston, 1898
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412:, Thomas Tracy Bouvé, Vol. I, Part I, Published by the Town, University Press, Cambridge, 1893
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conducted a search for them. The Tories were later successfully smuggled by water to Boston.
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The Thaxter Mansion was adjacent to the residence of Rev. Ebenezer Gay, the minister of
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Old Leavett Estate in Hingham, later site of the Catholic Church, (1860–1880)
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The incident was closely watched by many observers in the Boston area, including
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Realizing that British officers needed pasturage for their horses during the
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A Forgotten Battle, Christopher Klein, The Patriot Ledger, May 17, 2008
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Col. Nathan Rice began his career as a law student in the office of
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By the time Leavitt bought the Thaxter Mansion, he was a confirmed
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Both islands later passed into the hands of the U.S. Government.
313:, Old Colony Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, 1911
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History of the Town of Hingham, Plymouth County, Massachusetts
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of Hingham in the Southern campaign of the Revolutionary War.
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The Boston Harbor Islands: A History of an Urban Wilderness
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to his grandson Caleb Rice, son of Col. Nathan Rice of the
54:(or Grape Island Alarm). This encounter followed the
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Battle of Grape Island, American War of Independence
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A Forgotten Battle, The Patriot Ledger, May 17, 2008
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A Topographical and Historical Description of Boston
94:.) The last Thaxter owner, Samuel Thaxter, moved to
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484:History of the Town of Hingham, Massachusetts
421:Dr. Martin Leavitt's correspondence with the
280:History of the Town of Hingham, Massachusetts
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468:The patriot Nathan Rice also served in the
363:A Narrative History of the Town of Cohasset
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