Lydia Christine

Introducing our Lydia Christine

 It's amazing to me how quickly and deeply I've loved all of our children, even before I've ever seen them. Then once I finally see them it seems so natural for them to be here, a part of me. Children are wonderful.  Your capacity to love just grows with each one.  They are so precious.

As we held Lydia and were mulling over possible names, I kept having an overwhelming feeling that this little girl was going to see struggles during her life and would need to be strong through them. I had been reading a lot about some of my ancestors and felt strongly that we should name her Lydia.

We named Lydia after one of the bravest, strongest, hardest working and enduring women I know.  She is my ancestor, Lydia Sanborn Leavitt. I am a descendant of her's through by Grandmother Chloe Hatch on my Dad's side.  Lydia Sanborn was born in 1737 and her family played a part in the birth of our country.  Our Lydia's middle name Christine was chosen by Heath. Ever since we found out she was going to be a girl Heath has wanted to name her Christine. He would say, "Its a beautiful name like a crystal."

From the Leavitt family history book,
 "In 1752 Nathaniel Leavitt married Lydia Sanborn, the daughter of Jeremiah Sanborn and Lydia Dearborn Sanborn. He was 25; she was 15. He took his bride to Exeter and established
their home. Over the next 24 years the young family was perfectly positioned to participate in the eventful birth of a new nation. One by one, 12 children came, all born at
Exeter, Rockingham, New Hampshire. Each child came into an atmosphere of high drama, for these were dramatic times.

The year of their firstborn, Joseph, was the year of the noted Fort Duquesne expedition. For
several succeeding years the people were much occupied with the French and Indian wars which demanded a new group of soldiers every season.

 Their daughter, Lydia, was born in the year her father and grandfather marched off with the Crown Point expedition
(Bell, page 233).
Moses was born at the height of a great small pox epidemic that decimated much of the population, but seems to have spared this family.

 Nathaniel Jr. came into the world in the middle of the furor over the infamous Stamp Act,
which continued to burden the people, not being repealed until 1767, the year of Dudley's birth.
The oppression of unwarranted taxation continued, fomenting a spirit of resistance, which
erupted with the Boston Massacre when John was just three months old. Josiah, Jonathan and
Stephen were born during the years leading up to the War for Independence and Hannah and Mary, who were twins, were born in 1776.

Just as Nathaniel and his brothers had marched beside their father, Joseph, in the French and Indian Wars, so now he marched into the Revolutionary War with his two eldest sons, Joseph and Moses (D.A.R. Lineage Books, vol. 161). Jeremiah was just 16 years old. He would have been the eldest son at home and there were dramatic difficulties there. Not only was Lydia preparing to give birth to
Hannah and Mary, but one year old Stephen died that year, 1776. One can only imagine the pain of that occurrence. Through these years they somehow managed to shelter, feed and clothe this large family. The political and military upheaval notwithstanding, the family of Nathaniel and Lydia Leavitt had managed to thrive."

A distant cousin of mine penned this after reading some of Lydia Sandborn Leavitt's journals.

"On the evening of the 19th of April 1776 came a rumor to Exeter, New Hampshire that the British had marched forth from Boston and had opened fire at Concord. The inhabitants of Exeter were put in great commotion. The people thronged the streets discussing the momentous news late into the night hours. Near daybreak the next morning, an express rider appeared in Exeter, summoning any and all volunteers to gather and march immediately. Men gathered quickly and excitedly, and made ready to march. Ammunition was gathered, arms were prepared, and any other groundwork was completed as quickly as possible. Around nine o’clock that morning, a throng of one hundred and eight men, fully armed and equipped, gathered near the town courthouse. Hardly a second was wasted as the men prepared to run to the aid of their countrymen. “Are you ready?” barked the newly-appointed head officer. “Yes! March!” And they were off."

"The mothers and wives and sisters of the volunteers had busied themselves in fitting the men out for the march, and bade them adieu with tearful eyes, but with no word of discouragement. As the men marched by, Lydia Sanborn Leavitt stood in the doorway of a cabin at the end of town. Her eyes were brimming with tears and her hand remained upright in an attentive and respectful salute. Her heart was as heavy as an immovable stone. Her husband, Nathaniel, and her two sons Joseph and Moses walked amongst the volunteers, eventually turning to walk backwards and wave to Lydia until she was no longer visible. Lydia sighed, clutching one-year-old Stephen in her arms and trying to block out both her emotional and physical pain. In addition to caring for Stephen, Lydia was expecting twins, and the stress on her body, added with the trauma of watching her husband and sons march off toward an unknown fate, was almost too much to bear. Although perhaps feeling abandoned, Lydia was far from alone. 16 year old Jeremiah, humbled by his father’s charge to watch over mother Lydia, stayed close at hand. "

"The younger Leavitt children, including 12 year old Nathaniel, 9 year old Dudley, and 7 year old John stood close to their mother, trying to act beyond their years, but fighting a losing battle against tears. Inside the home, 4 year old Josiah and 3 year old Jonathan sobbed as they clutched tightly the skirt of their 19 year old sister, Lydia. In addition to her father and brothers, the younger Lydia dealt the additional emotional stress of watching her husband-to-be, Samuel Shannon, follow Nathaniel, Joseph, and Moses into the oncoming hardships. Lydia had always known the day would come when the men would be called to arms, going so far as deciding to postpone her marriage with Samuel, but the day actually arriving proved much more difficult than she or her mother could have ever imagined."

"Samuel, along with all other able-bodied men of the town, had previously signed and agreed to a declaration known as the Exeter Association Test earlier that same year. The document, which was all but required for men over age 21, read: “We the subscribers do hereby solemnly engage and promise that we will, to the utmost of our power, at the risk of our lives and fortunes, with arms oppose the hostile proceedings of the British fleets and armies against the United American Colonies.” Now that the time to prove their convictions was at hand, devotees to the declaration did not falter in their dedication in risking their “lives and fortunes” against the “hostile proceedings of the British.” Such was life in the American Colonies near the end of the 18th century. "

"Wives, sisters, and daughters watched as their husbands, brothers, and sons marched away to oppose an enemy who they had once served and revered. Among those who walked away were the father and sons Leavitt, as well as Samuel Shannon. Difficulties continued for Lydia Sanborn Leavitt, but with glimmers of hope. Not long after her husband’s departure, her little son, Stephen, died. This dark spot in her life was later somewhat brightened by the birth of her twins, Hannah and Mary. Even more miraculously, the family managed to carry on strong without the strength and leadership of their father and oldest brothers. 3 years passed before Lydia and her children saw the men in their family again. However, Nathaniel, Joseph, and Moses returned home to Exeter, safe and sound. Samuel Shannon also returned, and he and the younger Lydia were married soon afterward."

I hope that one day our Lydia can look to her namesake and gain strength from all that Lydia Leavitt endured and how she kept her family strong through such difficult times.