Thompson Levitt was born in Little Weeton, Yorkshire, 12 September 1819, and married Jane Hodgson
(1815 - 1895) in Yorkshire in 1839. They had eight children in Yorkshire, England. Thompson, Jane,
and four of their children immigrated to the United States arriving in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in
August 1865.
The Apple River depot
Their obituaries in the local papers emphasize their religious outlook:
Thompson was remembered:
"Once more death has cast a gloom over us and this time has taken from our midst an old and highly respected citizen,
Thompson Levitt, who after a few weeks of sickness has passed to his better home. He was first attacked by lagrippe
which turned to pneumonia, and caused his death... Mr.
Levitt was a kind husband and father and his neighbors and friends well remember him as a man who was always ready
to help any one in need and speak a cheerful word where ever he could. Funeral services took place at his home Wednesday
at 1:30 o'clock. His remains were interred in Highland Cemetery.
Another one from us has gone,
A heart we loved is stilled
A place is vacant in our home
Which never can be filled. -- A Friend"
Jane's obituary says, in part,
"Mrs. Jane Levitt (nee Hodgson) was born at Walkington, Yorkshire, England, June 28th, 1815,
and died Feb. 2nd 1895 at her residence in the South ward after fourteen weeks illness, and was buried in West Ella
cemetery on Monday afternoon. Services were held at the M. E. church, Rev. Griswold officiating. The deceased was
united in marriage with Thompson Levitt in 1839, and came to this county in 1865. They lived on a rented farm for
several years in Monticello, Wis., then purchased one in the same township, where they resided until Mr. Levitt died
in 1891. The deceased with her daughter, Cynthia, then moved to this village. Mrs. Levitt was a woman of undaunted
courage and of a wonderfully retentive memory. Her chief companion was the Bible, which she studied with untiring
devotion. Her religion was a simple as a child’s love for its mother and deep as the springs of her life. Six
children, four daughters and two sons, remain to mourn her departure."
The children of Thompson and Jane Levitt