Heyward G. Leavitt's Influence on Sugar Beets and Irrigation in Nebraska

Abstract

From the time Heyward G. Leavitt moved to Grand Island, a town 140 miles west of Omaha, he was actively involved in the establishment of Nebraska's sugar beet industry. Leavitt promoted the growing and processing of sugar beets, including building his own factory. When he saw the necessity for change, he quickly moved to the North Platte Valley of western Nebraska, first developing an irrigation project that was needed to raise sugar beets, then actively promoting the establishment of a sugar refinery in Scottsbluff. Leavitt was a visionary with the ability to attract investors with the large amounts of capital necessary to promote his projects; however, he seldom persevered long enough to profit from these projects. Leavitt was born in New York City, 22 March 1861, to prosperous parents, Henry S. and Martha A. Young Leavitt. His father was a New York banker, his paternal grandfather, David Leavitt, was president of American Express National Bank, and his maternal grandfather, Henry Young, was a banker and a builder of gas plants in Chicago, New York, and elsewhere. After attending private schools, Heyward graduated from Harvard 1882, and Columbia Law School in 1884. He practiced patent law for a time in New York City but left to work with his grandfather Young's gas plants. Around 1887, Leavitt moved to Grand Island, Nebraska, to operate the Grand Island Light and Fuel Company, of which he was president.1