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Erasmus D. Leavitt Papers

Creator:
Calumet and Hecla Mining Company.  Search this
Leavitt, Erasmus D., 1836-1916  Search this
Former owner:
National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Mechanical and Civil Engineering  Search this
National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Work and Industry  Search this
Extent:
20.4 Cubic feet (4 boxes, 82 folders)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Account books
Blueprints
Diaries
Drawings
Letterpress books
Notebooks
Scrapbooks
Place:
Upper Peninsula (Mich.)
Date:
1861-1955
Summary:
Papers document prominent nineteenth-century steam engineer Erasmus D. Leavitt.
Scope and Contents note:
The Leavitt Papers include a Civil War diary, personal account books, photographs, drawings, and engineering materials relating to steam engines.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into three series.

Series 1: Engineering Materials, 1861-1955

Series 2: Photographs, 1890s, undated

Series 3: Engineering Drawings, 1874-1906
Historical:
The Calumet and Hecla Company, which was formed in about 1866, was one of the largest mining operations in the Lake Superior region of Upper Michigan. Over 3 billion pounds of copper were removed from its extensive mines by the time operations ceased in 1939. To facilitate the work in both the mines and smelting plants, the company installed some the largest steam engines ever built. The aggregate amounted to over 55,000 horsepower.

Noted 19th century steam engineer Erasmus Darwin Leavitt was hired to design the series of huge multi-cylinder engines. Each had sufficient power to support several operations at one time. While an engine drove one of the hoists, it might also power pumping, conveying, and air compressing machinery. At the peak of operations there were at least 50 steam engines of all sizes providing power to Calumet and Hecla. Falling copper prices during the 1920s and the economic depression of the 1930s ultimately forced the mines to close. The engines were of no further use and their countless tons of cast iron and steel ended up in the scrap drives of World War II.
Biographical:
Erasmus Darwin Leavitt was born in Lowell, Massachusetts, in 1836 and died in 1916 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He was educated in the Lowell public schools, entered the machine shop of the Lowell Manufacturing Company in 1852, and served three years as an apprentice. He spent one year with Corliss and Nightingale and was later assistant foreman of the City Point works in South Boston, where he was in charge of building the engines for the flagship "Hartford." From 1859 to 1861 he was chief draftsman for Thurston, Gardiner & Co., of Providence, Rhode Island, leaving to enter the United States Navy in the summer of 1861.

Leavitt served during the Civil War and he was detailed to the Naval Academy at Annapolis as instructor in steam engineering. Resigning in 1867, he resumed the practice of mechanical engineering, making a specialty of pumping and mining machinery. He was consulting engineer of the Calumet and Hecla Mining compan from 1874 to 1904 during which time he designed the equipment. He was also consulting engineer for Henry R. Worthington, the Dickson Manufacturing Company, City of Boston and City of Cambridge, and designed the pumping engine for the City of Louisville, Kentucky. He was advisory engineer and designed machinery for the Bethlehem Steel Company and for South African mining companies. He was a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and formerly its president; the American Society of Civil Engineers, American Institute of Mining Engineers, Boston Society of Civil Engineers, American Society of Naval Engineers, an honorary member of the British Society for the Advancement of Science, life member of Franklin Institute, and member of Institution of Civil Engineers and of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers of Great Britain. He was also a fellow of American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

In 1884 Mr. Leavitt received the honorary degree of Doctor of Engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology of New Jersey. Leavitt retired from active practice in 1904. He married Annie Elisabeth Pettit in 1867, and had three daughters, Mary, Margaret and Annie.

Source

Cambridge Chronicle, March 18, 1916
Related Materials:
Materials at Other Organizations

Michigan Technological University Archives and Copper Country Historical Collections

Calumet and Hecla Mining Company Collection
Provenance:
Collection materials donated by Calumet and Hecla, Inc. in 1960 and by Thomas E. P. Rice, 1977.

The collection came to the Smithsonian in 1960 from Calumet & Hecla, Inc. In the course of a reorganization in 1952 mining had been dropped from the company name as the emphasis was on chemicals, foundry work, and forest products. Its remaining mining activites in other areas of Michigan were phased out during the 1960s and in 1968 Calumet & Hecla merged with Universal Oil Products, Inc. Late in 1970 Universal Oil Products scrapped what was left of the Calumet & Hecla physical plant and its remaining assests were auctioned off.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research but is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Topic:
Engines  Search this
Hoisting and conveying  Search this
Mineral industries  Search this
Mining  Search this
Pumping  Search this
Steam-engines  Search this
Waterworks  Search this
Genre/Form:
Account books
Blueprints
Diaries
Drawings
Letterpress books
Notebooks
Scrapbooks
Citation:
Erasmus D. Leavitt Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
Identifier:
NMAH.AC.0966
See more items in:
Erasmus D. Leavitt Papers
Archival Repository:
Archives Center, National Museum of American History
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep8c5e7ffde-5f5f-415c-ae48-45a3c941509b
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0966

Call it north country : the story of upper Michigan / by John Bartlow Martin

Author:
Martin, John Bartlow 1915-1987  Search this
Physical description:
vi, 281, ix p. ; 24 cm
Type:
Books
Place:
Upper Peninsula (Mich.)
Date:
1986
Topic:
History  Search this
Social life and customs  Search this
Call number:
F572.N8M3 1986X
Data Source:
Smithsonian Libraries
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:siris_sil_307307

Returning to earth / Jim Harrison

Author:
Harrison, Jim 1937-  Search this
Physical description:
280 p. ; 22 cm
Type:
Fiction
Place:
Upper Peninsula (Mich.)
Date:
2007
C2007
Topic:
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis--Patients  Search this
Death  Search this
Mixed descent  Search this
Families  Search this
Memory  Search this
Data Source:
Smithsonian Libraries
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:siris_sil_1031650

A narrative of one year in the wilderness / by George M. [sic] Cannon

Author:
Cannon, George H (George Henry) 1826-  Search this
Subject:
Cannon, George H (George Henry) 1826-  Search this
Physical description:
ii, 73, [1] p. : ill., facsims., map, port. ; 28 cm
Type:
Books
Place:
Upper Peninsula (Mich.)
Date:
1982
1982]
Topic:
Description and travel  Search this
Discovery and exploration  Search this
Call number:
F572.N8 C22
F572.N8C22
Data Source:
Smithsonian Libraries
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:siris_sil_164429

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