Jonathan Leavitt (minister)

Gravestone of Josiah Leavitt, grandfather of Rev. Jonathan Leavitt, Hingham Cemetery, Hingham, Massachusetts

Rev. Jonathan Leavitt (1731–1802) was an early New England Congregational minister, born in Connecticut, and subsequently the pastor of churches in New Hampshire and Massachusetts, both of which dismissed him from his posts. Several of Rev. Leavitt's descendants became among the most noted abolitionists of their day, even though he himself was dismissed from one pastorate for allegedly abusing his runaway slave, and from another for his Loyalist sentiments.