Our Namesake
The shared monument of Captain Jesse Leavenworth and wife Catharine Conkling Leavenworth in Waterbury, Connecticut.
Photo courtesy of T. Richardson
Captain Jesse Leavenworth
(1740-1824) had distinguished American Revolutionary War service while serving in Connecticut. He served as a lieutenant under Jonathan Trumbull in the Second Company of the distinguished Governor's Footguards. Jesse Leavenworth's neighbor, Benedict Arnold, was captain of the Governor's Footguards.
When the news of the Battle of Lexington reached New Haven, Connecticut, in the spring of 1775, Benedict Arnold called his company and asked for volunteers; forty went, Jesse Leavenworth was among them.
Jesse Leavenworth was a first lieutenant in the First Connecticut from May through December 1775. In the spring and summer of 1777, Jesse Leavenworth was a captain commanding a company at Ticonderoga, New York. He later served in the Quartermaster Corps.
Signature of Colonel Jesse Leavenworth, grandson of Captain Jesse Leavenworth
Photo courtesy of a chapter member
About 1783, Jesse Leavenworth went to the Caledonia area of Connecticut and became a patentee of the Dansville and Peacham in 1786. He was an active member of the legislature from 1789 to 1798. Jesse Leavenworth died on the 21st of November 1824 at Sacketts Harbor in Jefferson County, New York. Jesse Leavenworth was described in obituaries as "...an intrepid and intelligent officer of the French War and the Revolution. Aged 86 years."
Captain Jesse Leavenworth was father of General Henry Leavenworth, who would later found Fort Leavenworth in 1829.
General Henry Leavenworth, son of Captain Jesse Leavenworth, the founder of Leavenworth, Kansas.
Photo courtesy of a chapter member
Last Updated: 08 November 2020