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Elisha Leavitt (1714–1790) was a Hingham, Massachusetts, Loyalist landowner who owned several islands in Boston Harbor. During the Siege of Boston 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 American War of Independence, The Battle of Grape Island (or Grape Island Alarm). This encounter followed the battles at Lexington and Concord by a month, and preceded the Battle of Bunker Hill by less than a month. ==Life== 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.〔 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. When Leavitt bought the home, it had been occupied by five generations of the Thaxter family, including Samuel Thaxter Junior, son of Col. Samuel Thaxter. (After Thaxter's death, his widow remarried Rev. John Hancock of Braintree, and was the mother of the first signer of the Declaration of Independence.) The last Thaxter owner, Samuel Thaxter, moved to Bridgewater, Massachusetts in 1771 and sold the house to Elisha Leavitt.〔The Thaxter Mansion was adjacent to the residence of Rev. Ebenezer Gay, the minister of Old Ship Church and a renowned Congregationalist. The Thaxter Mansion was torn down in 1864 to make way for Hingham's Roman Catholic church.()〕 By the time Leavitt bought the Thaxter Mansion, he was a confirmed Tory, and he used a blind passage in the house, accessed by a secret door, to hide Tories from nearby Marshfield when the local Committee of Safety conducted a search for them. The Tories were later successfully smuggled by water to Boston.〔(Hingham: A Story of Its Early Settlement and Life, Its Ancient Landmarks, Its Historic Sites and Buildings, Old Colony Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, 1911 )〕 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.〔(History of the Town of Hingham, Massachusetts, Vol. II, Thomas Tracy Bouvé, Published by the Town, University Press, Cambridge, 1893 )〕 Eventually Leavitt became one of the largest landowners in the region; among his holdings were several islands in Boston Harbor, including Lovells Island, purchased by Leavitt from the town of Charlestown in 1767,〔(The Memorial History of Boston, Vol. II, Justin Winsor, James R. Osgood and Company, Boston, 1882 )〕 Grape Island, half of Gallops Island, and Georges Island.〔Leavitt's grandson, Harvard College graduate Caleb Rice sold both Lovells Island and Georges Island to the City of Boston in 1825 for $6,000.() Both islands later passed into the hands of the U.S. Government.〕 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.〔(A Topographical and Historical Description of Boston, Nathaniel Bradstreet Shurtleff, Printed by Request of the City Council, Boston, 1871 )〕 Elisha Leavitt also owned land across the region, including substantial acreage at Cohasset, the seaside town carved from Hingham.〔(A Narrative History of the Town of Cohasset, Edwin Victor Bigelow, The Committee on Town History, Cohasset, Press of Samuel Usher, Boston, 1898 )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Elisha Leavitt」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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