D. J. Leavengood

D. J. LEAVENGOOD, 732 College avenue, Rosedale, Kansas, ranks as one of the leaders among the enterprising and public spirited citizens of the town, where for some years he has figured as a prosperous and up-to-date contractor and builder.

Mr. Leavengood is a native of Ohio, born in 1851, and there passed his childhood and youth. His father, a Pennsylvanian, and a blacksmith by trade, left his anvil in Ohio when the Civil war was inaugurated between the north and the south, and joined the Union cause. He went to the front as a member of the Eightieth Ohio Infantry. That was in 1861, and he died the following year, leaving a widow and large family of children. Of their twelve children, nine are now living, namely: William H., Phoebe, Benjamin, Daniel J., Sarah, John, Mary, Catherine and Isaac. The last named is now a prominent attorney at Myrtle Creek, Oregon. The mother of this family was before her marriage Miss Mary Lower. She was a native of Ohio, born in 1825.

At the age of eighteen, D. J. Leavengood left his old home in the Buckeye state and came west, as far as Iowa, where he engaged in contracting and building. Subsequently, he came over into Kansas and at Logan embarked in the furniture business. From there he moved to Burlington Junction, and thence to Rosedale, where he has since been identified as a contractor and builder. Besides erecting many of the prominent buildings of Rosedale, he built the Smith baking plant, and the Estel flats in Kansas City.

Since becoming a resident of Rosedale, Mr. Leavengood has been honored with various local offices, including those of city clerk, member of the council and president of the school board, having filled the last named position four years. Fraternally, he affiliates with the Odd Fellows and the Knights and Ladies of Security, and, politically, he is a Republican.

In 1872, Mr. Leavengood married Miss Harriet Carpenter of Knoxville, Iowa, daughter of Julian A. Carpenter and wife, nee Sharpenstein, the former a native of Ohio and the latter of Kentucky. Mr. Carpenter was a Methodist preacher in Iowa. Mr. and Mrs. Leavengood have five children, as follows: Ora, wife of Dawson Daugherty of Holton, Kansas; Omar N., a mail carrier of Rosedale, who married Miss Clare Luther; Clyde S., who married Miss Grace Espenlaub, is one of the leading druggists of Rosedale; Mrs. Ethel Messecar; and Miss Estella, at home.