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Local Couple Feted On Golden Wedding Anniversary Sunday

Hampton Union , November 1938



Mr. and Mrs. Irvin E. Leavitt of Hampton who recently observed their golden wedding anniversary. Mr. and Mrs. Leavitt are well known to summer residents there where they have conducted a summer boarding house, The Willows, for the past 35 years.
[Photo by Higgins in The Union Leader, Manchester, N.H.]

1888 ……………………………….1938
Mr. and Mrs. Irvin E. Leavitt
cordially invite you to attend their
50th Wedding Anniversary
Sunday, November twenty seventh
from two to five o’clock.

Mr. and Mrs. Irvin E. Leavitt of North Shore road observed their golden wedding anniversary last Sunday afternoon. Their home, “The Willows,” was a scene of gay festivity as friends and relatives gathered from miles around to extend their felicitations. Throughout the day telegrams, flowers and telephone calls poured in to congratulate the happy couple on this joyful occasion.

Flowers were received by wire from Mrs. Leavitt’s sister, Mrs. Addle Kichline of Pacific Beach, Calif. and Mr. Leavitt’s brother, William Leavitt of Harden City, Kansas. Among telephone calls received was a three-way conversation with Mr. and Mrs. Roland Stevens of Hartford, Conn. Many lovely gifts were sent from distant points. A large antique serving tray on which an oil painting of the Leavitt Homestead, painted by their daughter, Mrs. Byron Smith, was among the gifts received.

During the afternoon there was a musical program, consisting of marimba solos by Miss Joyce Smith of Wollaston, Mass. a granddaughter of Mr. and Mrs. Leavitt, and vocal solos by William Elliot, Hampton. Mrs. Annie Elliot of Hampton accompanied each on the piano.

The golden wedding cake was frosted in white and decorated with yellow roses. Each guest was presented with a wrapped piece of the anniversary cake on heart shaped antique plates. Mr. and Mrs. Leavitt were married Nov. 27, 1888 at Epsom, the ceremony being performed by Rev. John B. Merrill, the bride’s father. Mrs. Cora Ramsey of Andover, Mass., a bridesmaid, was present at the golden anniversary.

Mr. Leavitt was born in Hampton, in February, 1862, a descendant of one of the original settlers. His wife, formerly Miss Agnes Merrill, was born in Haverhill, Mass. For more than 35 years the couple have conducted “The Willows,” a summer boarding house. Mr. Leavitt is vice president and a director of the Hampton Cooperative Bank.

The couple have three daughters, Mrs. Charles H. Palmer and Mrs. William Elliot of Hampton and Mrs. Byron D. Smith of Wollaston, Mass., one son, Eugene Leavitt, also of Hampton, and five grandchildren.

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