Magazine of American History

Before me sits a crinkled old publication that actually falls apart when I pick it up. I feel the responsibility to carry on its contents before it is just distributed into pure air. Yet because it is so important I am having a hard time integrating it directly into my manuscript; I am currently rewriting Puritan Leveretts and needed it for this picture that it has of John in the front. I have not even scanned the picture yet.

When I opened it, I found several very important articles. All are history from about 1889, when it was published. It calls John Sir John Leverett, and makes the claim that he was knighted in 1676 by Charles I. Under the picture, though, the caption says that it was in 1686, and that's impossible, because he was dead. I should mention that both claims are possibly spurious. A later study felt that he was never knighted at all and that that must have been false information. It appears though that in 1889 it was widely believed that he was.

At least two articles in it are very important to me and worth literally poring over although I find myself unable to turn the pages without its falling apart. This makes me wonder if this magazine is not in fact digitalized and/or available in other reprinted formats. Maybe my first course of research should be whether I can find it in some digital format. But even what I read is so important that I have to write about it here before I can clearly transport it into my manuscripts. I might also work on typing the article(s) if I find that they are no longer available elsewhere.

It's an article about the founding of the Artillery in Boston that gushes about John and merits his picture being put in the front of the magazine. I suspect that the magazine was saved because of that picture, as it has "Sir John Leverett" written on the first available page which is not the cover, the cover having long ago been lost. The article about the Artillery says something about his "friendship with the General," in reference to the English Civil War, and from that I have to infer that he was friends with Cromwell himself and came home talking about it. I am not sure though: could that be someone else? I will provide the quote here. I will have to write it and rewrite it before I understand completely.

"...The history of Sir John Leverett, the last of the early commanders above mentioned, is comparatively well known. The story of his early life in Boston, his return to England to serve under Cromwell in the struggle against his King, how he gained the friendship of the great Puritan general and was made commander of a company of foot-soldiers, has been many times told. His subsequent life in America, however, is of more importance to the student of colonial history than the stirring events of his career in Europe. Three times (1652, 1663, 1670) he was elected commander of the artillery company, and he was successively a delegate to the general court, one of the governor's council, major-general of the militia, deputy-governor, and governor of the commonwealth, all the while retaining his membership in this "ancient" organization." The ease and skill with which he transacted the public business and the ability displayed by him as governor during King Philip's War attracted the favorable notice of Charles II., who knighted him in 1676, three years before his death. (pp. 462-163)

The proper reference for this magazine looks like this, I believe:
Rasay, C.E.S. (1889, Jan.-June). The Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company. The Magazine of American History. Vol. XXI, ed. by Martha Lamb. New York.

By the way the author strongly stands by his work, claiming that "conflicting sources have been scrutinized," but I'm not sure there was any disagreement about his being knighted at the time; that wasn't questioned until later.

So there you have it. As friends with Cromwell, he could at least push that around for a few years. I will look into it.

Another article is about the earliest days of Iowa City. I couldn't have it a better jackpot.

John the Governor

I've been redoing Puritan Leveretts (consider this a kind of kindle cover reveal) so I went to the basement to find an old picture of Governor John. Found it! (will provide) But inside the brown crinkly magazine, a historical mag from about 1896, was a story about John apparently befriending "the Commander" (Oliver Cromwell?) in his war exploits in England.

This would be huge news. It's somewhat unclear to me, though. I will bring it up, and incorporate it into the book, all in good time.

And, will keep you posted.

latest report

I restarted my work on Prairie Leveretts again, but ran into several obstacles. I am hoping to finish it this year.

It is tentatively called Prairie Leveretts: Reconstructing a Plains Pioneer Family, though that title may be too long or may change. It is about the life of the family of James Walker Leverett, who was born in 1834 in Maine, grew up in western Illinois, and tried settling in the plains three times: once in Nebraska as a youth, once in Nebraska during the Civil War, and finally in South Dakota around the time of the great railroad crash.

His wife, Harriet, stuck with him all those years, and there are many descendants of their six children, some of whom I am hoping will read the book. It's a major project keeping track of them all, and I may not try it, though I keep contact with some and know that his full diary is out there somewhere (I don't have it) to add to my research. I have a lot of things and want to compile it regardless. I have concluded that the time is now whether I can get that diary or not.

Harriet, a character in her own right, had bronchial trouble which led them to winter in places like Claremont and Sunnyvale, California, or Texas and Alabama. This leads me to believe that they had money toward the end of their lives, and were willing to spend it, and that the railroad crash did not especially wipe them out back in South Dakota. He did leave South Dakota saying something to the effect that the financial crash made it impossible for them to stay, but that apparently was a reference to the fact that nobody was buying lumber anymore. It's interesting to track down personal moves and find out why and how he could end up in any particular place. I too have moved all across the plains, with western Illinois figuring strongly in the picture, and can relate to families who change geographical locations just to get their kids up and grown.

Bear with me; it may be a while before this one is finished.

Just Passing Through

Autobiography and true stories from out there

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Walking Boots & Pleistocene Geology

Walking Boots & Pleistocene Geology
Biography of Frank Leverett

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Frank Leverett's Field Notes

Leverett, Frank. 1906. Open File Report XLI- Notebook No. 215. US Geological Survey. Online. https://www.michigan.gov/documents/deq/OFR_41_Leverett_NB215_306435_7.pdf.

Leverett, Frank. 1909. Open File Report XLV- Notebook No. 232. US Geological Survey. Online. https://www.michigan.gov/documents/deq/OFR_45_Leverett_NB232_306628_7.pdf.

___. 1929. Field Notes of Frank Leverett. Open File Report LVI, Notebook No. 293, p. 127. Online. https://www.michigan.gov/documents/deq/OFR_56_Leverett_NB293_306664_7.pdf.

___. 1930. Field Notes of Frank Leverett. Open File Report LVII, Notebook 294. Online. https://www.michigan.gov/documents/deq/OFR_57_Leverett_NB294_306670_7.pdf.

___. 1934. Field Notes of Frank Leverett. Open File Report LVIII, Notebook 296. Online. https://www.michigan.gov/documents/deq/OFR_58_Leverett_NB296_306673_7.pdf.

___. 1934. Field Notes of Frank Leverett. Open File Report LXI, Notebook 299. Online. https://www.michigan.gov/documents/deq/OFR_61_Leverett_NB299_306681_7.pdf.

___. 1938. Field Notes of Frank Leverett. Open File Report LXII, Notebook 300. Online. https://www.michigan.gov/documents/deq/OFR_60_Leverett_NB300_306683_7.pdf.

Frank Leverett's Field Notes

It seems there should be an online directory of these somewhere, because it seems people valued Frank Leverett's observations enough to both type them up and save them, for the most part. Also, you can tell by the URL's that they are encased in a massive system, all the same style, so somone somewhere must have a directory to tell how to find any of the thousands of field notes available.

 I, however, have found no directory, and even these, I found virtually accidentally, as they pop up on Google searches occasionally. When they do, I snare them, but I may have missed a few, and certainly there are more out there.

 They make wild reading. He was an intense guy, and noticed everything. That's one thing I liked about him!

Leverett, Frank. 1906. Open File Report XLI- Notebook No. 215. US Geological Survey. Online. https://www.michigan.gov/documents/deq/OFR_41_Leverett_NB215_306435_7.pdf

 

Leverett, Frank. 1909. Open File Report XLV- Notebook No. 232. US Geological Survey. Online. https://www.michigan.gov/documents/deq/OFR_45_Leverett_NB232_306628_7.pdf

 

 ___. 1929. Field Notes of Frank Leverett. Open File Report LVI, Notebook No. 293, p. 127. Online. https://www.michigan.gov/documents/deq/OFR_56_Leverett_NB293_306664_7.pdf

 

 ___. 1930. Field Notes of Frank Leverett. Open File Report LVII, Notebook 294. Online. https://www.michigan.gov/documents/deq/OFR_57_Leverett_NB294_306670_7.pdf

  

___. 1934. Field Notes of Frank Leverett. Open File Report LVIII, Notebook 296. Online. https://www.michigan.gov/documents/deq/OFR_58_Leverett_NB296_306673_7.pdf.

 

 ___. 1934. Field Notes of Frank Leverett. Open File Report LXI, Notebook 299. Online.
https://www.michigan.gov/documents/deq/OFR_61_Leverett_NB299_306681_7.pdf.

 

___. 1938. Field Notes of Frank Leverett. Open File Report LXII, Notebook 300. Online. https://www.michigan.gov/documents/deq/OFR_60_Leverett_NB300_306683_7.pdf.