Jesse Leavenworth

 Col. Jesse Leavenworth was born November 22, 1740, at Waterbury, Connecticut.  He graduated from Yale College in 1784. He married, on July 1, 1761, Catherine Frisbie, widow of Capt. Culpepper Frisbie, and daughter of John Conkling, of Southampton, or Easthampton, Suffolk County, N. Y. 

In his old age, Leavenworth became infirm. He died at Sackett's Harbor, N, Y., December 12, 1824.  He moved there, some years earlier, because his son, General Henry Leavenworth, was stationed there. 

The Honorable Frederick J. Kingsbury, of Waterbury, Connecticut,  his descendant, described him:— Colonel Jesse was the only child of his mother, and was twelve years older than the oldest of his half-brothers. He was graduated at the age of nineteen, and married several months before he attained his majority, and the family tradition is, that they were spoken of as the handsomest couple ever seen at the church in New Haven. All the sons of Rev. Mark appear to have been superior men, both physically and intellectually, taking rank among the foremost wherever they went. For a few years after Col. Jesse's marriage, he lived in Waterbury, carrying on various kinds of business, and at one time keeping a hotel which stood at the corner of Center Square and North Main street, nearly on the ground now occupied by the Citizen's Bank, the building fronting on North Main street.

In February, 1767, he bought a place in New Haven. Soon after, he moved his family there. While living at New Haven, he was prominent and active in public and commercial affairs. The " Old " or "Red Rock Ferry," was for nearly one hundred and thirty years the only means of communication between New Haven and East Haven and vicinity. Increasing population and business demanded another ferrv, and in 1780 Leavenworth's ferry was incorporated by a grant to Jesse Leavenworth from the General Assembly. It was the shortest route to the business center of New Haven from East Haven, and was heavily used for many years, until in 1791, when the bridge over the Ouinipiac at Dragon, now Fair Haven, was erected.

When his father, the Rev. Mark, went to Canada, as a Chaplain in the French and Indian War of 1760, he accompanied his father, as a Lieutenant. He was an army Captain in the Revolution and, later, a Colonel.  He was at Ticonderoga in spring and summer of 1777, when the fort was abandoned by General St. Clair.

Hinman's Historical Collection on Connecticut in the Revolution, p. 516, says, "Capt. Jesse Leavenworth, of New Haven, under proper orders, gave his deposition respecting the evacuation of Ticonderoga. The pay table were directed to settle Capt. Leavenworth's account, etc." The statement was made during the Legislative session, on January 19, 1778.

While living in New Haven, he was a Lieutenant in the "Governor's Foot Guards," the Connecticut company.  His neighbor, Benedict Arnold, was Captain. When news of the battle of Lexington reached New Haven, in early spring 1775, Arnold asked for volunteers. Forty went, including Leavenworth. They marched by Pomfret, Connecticut, where they were joined by "old Put " (Major General Israel Putnam).  When they reached Cambridge, Massachusetts, for the siege of Boston, their dress and drill were so impressive, that they were detailed to escort  the body of a dead British officer. Their soldierly appearance was admired by the British party they met. After about three weeks, Leavenworth and the company returned to New Haven.  Arnold stayed behind.

Leavenworth's house in New Haven was on the water side of East Water Street. In high tides, water came up, almost to the rear of the house.  During the Revolution, a party of marauding British soldiers landed. Finding Mrs. Leavenworth alone, they robbed what they could carry, destroying other property. They ripped open feather beds and threw them in the sea. They took silver buckles from her shoes, while she gave them, as she said, "a piece of her mind."

She had a sharp tongue which she turned on her husband until he left for the wilds of Vermont. About 1783, he became alienated from her, took the younger children with him and left. There was fault on both sides, but mainly on his. He took Eunice Sperry with him. He had children with Eunice. Ruth was born in 1779. (She later married David Elkins, son of Deacon Jonathan Elkins, first settler of Peacham, Vermont. David and Ruth  moved to Potton, Quebec.) Three boys were born to Jesse and Eunice in 1781, 1783, and 1785.  After divorce from Catherine, Jesse married Eunice.

He went to Caledonia County where he became prominent right away. He was an original  proprietor of the town of Danville, on October 27, 1786. He settled in Danville on or near the old Hazen military road which runs through the west part of the town. He built mills at West Danville, at the mouth of Joe's pond, and engaged in several other enterprises. He was a member of the Vermont legislature in 1789, 1791, 1792, and 1798.