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Sarah Ann Maria Leavitt (Lougee)
Sarah was born Dec 2, 1822 in Clinton, Kennebec, Maine to Nathan
Leavitt and Elizabeth Hanson. She was the step-sister
of Harriet Elida Baldwin. (Note that Sarah is often confused with Sarah Ann Leavitt born in 1817 in New Hampshire to Nathaniel and Nancy Colby Leavitt; married Franklin Eastman in 1837 an died in 1857.)
Lowell Institute
for Savings Bank Records show that Sarah Leavitt had an account
there as a weaver in the mills in 1841. She married Darius Lougee as his second wife on June 25, 1843 in Lowell
and eventually they also divorced. By 1847, Darius was the Branch President in Lowell.
Children of Sarah Ann Maria Leavitt and Darius Lougee were as follows:
- Sarah Jane Lougee was born on 14 Jun 1844. She died from dropsy of the brain on 1 May 1845 at Lowell, Middlesex, MA.
- Elizabeth "Lizzie" Matilda Lougee was born on 1 Dec 1845 in New Hampshire. She died on 12 Jan 1916 at Billerica, Middlesex, MA, at age 70. She was buried at Lowell Cemetery, Cushing Ave., Lowell, Middlesex, MA.
- Joanna "Anna" Lougee was born on 31 Mar 1847. She married Charles W. Jones on 7 Sep 1869 at Lowell, Middlesex, MA. She died on 22 Feb 1892 at age 44. She was buried at Lowell Cemetery, Cushing Avenue, Lowell, Middlesex, MA.
- Sophia "Fida" Alpetta Lougee was born on 2 Nov 1848. She died unmarried on 28 Feb 1887 at Lowell, Middlesex, MA, at age 38. She was buried at Lowell Cemetery, Cushing Ave., Lowell, Middlessex, MA.
- Darius M. Lougee was born on 5 Dec 1850. He died on 6 Sep 1851 at 62 Lawrence Cr., Lowell, Middlesex, MA.
In 1854 Darius and Sarah separated and divorced, as he prepared to migrate to Utah Territory to join the other Saints. Darius Lougee migrated to Utah alone, arriving in Utah in September 1855, where he married polygamous wives. Sarah refused to follow and remained in Lowell, leaving Mormonism, and running a boardinghouse there. By 1862, she was doing well enough to open a savings account in Lowell. By 1870 she was prospering as a well-to-do boardinghouse keeper for some 35 cotton mill boarders (men, women, and a few children). The 1870 Census of Lowell lists mother Sarah A. Lougee with daughters Lizzie M., Fida A., and Anna (Jones) along with Anna's newly-wed husband Charles Jones (of Maine), all living in Sarah Lougee's boarding house.
Sarah's two daughters who never married, Sophia "Fida" Alphetta and Lizzie Matilda Lougee, lived with her and assisted with the boardinghouse. In fact, according to a 1906 letter that Hannah Baldwin Crosby wrote, Lizzie Lougee was the accountant in this family enterprise who kept all the books and directly collected the subsidized rent monies from the boarders and the mill corporation with whom they had a contract.
Fida Lougee died in 1887, Joanna Lougee Jones died in 1892, and their mother Sarah Ann Maria Leaveitt Lougee died May 29, 1899. In addition, Lizzie's father, Darius Lougee, now suffering from extreme senility, had left Utah, apparently about 1893, and had returned to Lowell. However Lizzie was unable to care for her insane father, who ended up in the Tewksbury State Hospital and Almshouse (2 miles southeast of Lowell), where he died in 1901, leaving Lizzie Lougee alone. Therefore Lizzie's Mormon aunt, Hannah Baldwin Crosby, tried to get Lizzie to move to Utah. In Hannah's 1906 letter to her daughter-in-law Adelia Bunker Crosby, she mentioned that she had “a neace [in Lowell], that I wish was with you," referring to Lizzie Matilda Lougee. As noted above, Lizze Lougee had worked for many years as the accountant for the family’s boardinghouse they ran in Lowell. Hannah felt that her niece Lizze should move to Utah to help Adelia Bunker Crosby, who ran a hotel in Panguitch and was now also managing her dead husband’s furniture store. Hannah informed Adelia that Lizze “was rased in abordin house cept[kept] hir mothers boocks and seteld with the borders every month[;] she is alone in this world and feels sad. Hir mother, my [half-]sister Sarah is dead”. Hannah felt “She cold [could] tend the store for and help you in meny ways to liten your load.” However, nothing came of this plan, and Lizzie died in Billerica, Massachusetts (2 miles south of Lowell) in 1916.
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