Born: October 16, 1884
Died: March 14, 1969
Married: Eleanor McMaster
Children: William A. Leavitt, Eleanor Leavitt
Arthur Leavitt pioneered the growing of seed potatoes in Gabriels. He operated the Leavitt Farm for many years.
Adirondack Daily Enterprise, March 17, 1969
Arthur Leavitt
Arthur Leavitt, of Gabriels, who pioneered in certified seed potato growing in this area, died suddenly Friday morning in St. Petersburg, Fla., at the age of 84.
Mr. Leavitt's father, Lyman Leavitt, had been a grower of table stock potatoes in Gabriels since 1888 and Mr. Leavitt started his own farm in 1912. He realized that the climate in this area is conducive to growing good seed potatoes because the cold weather prevents the growth of virus diseases, and he was one of the first to sell seed to Long Island growers.
In the early 1920s, Mr. Leavitt and two other Gabriels farmers, Douglas Martin and Frank Hobart, formed the Northern New York Seed Growers Association. They were joined by several growers from the Malone area. The association flourished for awhile and hired its own inspector who is said to have been so good he was hired away by the state.
The Northern New York group is no longer in existence but Mr. Leavitt's son, William, still grows seed stock and is a member of the New York Certified Seed Potato Growers.
Mr. Leavitt was born Oct. 16, 1884 in Bloomingdale. His mother was Ada Jenkins Leavitt. On Oct. 28, 1915, he was married to the former Eleanor McMaster who died Feb. 9, 1958, Survivors, besides his son, are a daughter, Miss Eleanor Leavitt; a sister, Miss Mabel Leavitt; and three grandsons, Robert, Arthur and David, all of Gabriels.
Mr. Leavitt was a member of the Methodist Church, the Masons, the Odd Fellows, the Adirondack Potato Growers Association and also was the last charter member at the Brighton-Harrietstown Grange 1006.
Friends may call at the Fortune Funeral Home where the funeral will be held at 2 p. m. Tuesday with the Rev. Daniel Partridge officiating. Interment will follow in Brighton Cemetery in Gabriels.
