Among the major cases in which Leavitt was involved was that of Ohio politician Clement Vallandigham, in which Leavitt wrote an opinion on Vallandigham's well-known habeas corpus case, which Leavitt decided.[3]
Later activities and death
Leavitt moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, upon his reassignment to the Southern District of Ohio in 1855.[2] He moved to Springfield, Ohio following his retirement in 1871.[2] He engaged in literary pursuits after his retirement.[2] He was a member of the World's Convention on Prison Reform in London, England in 1872.[2] He died on March 15, 1873, in Springfield.[1] He was interred in Spring Grove Cemetery in Cincinnati.[2]
In a short memoir Leavitt wrote for his children, he described his feelings about a Congressman's job, which he described as "positively irksome and repulsive." Leavitt added: "In times of party division, it is impossible for anyone in Congress to preserve a conscience void of offense toward God and at the same time to bear true allegiance to the party by which he has been elected. The member must vote with his party irrespective of the public good or expect to be visited with the fiercest denunciation."[6]
The Ohio officer and justices' guide : embracing the duties of justices of the peace, constables, and other township officers : including officers acting under the school law, with appropriate forms : also, directions and forms for executors, administrators & guardians, with treatises on the law of partnership and bailment, and the duties and liabilities of common carriers, carriers of passengers, and innkeepers : with a collection of forms of deeds, articles of agreement, bonds, powers of attorney, wills, &c. &c., Humphrey H. Leavitt, Printed by J. Turnbull, Steubenville, Ohio, 1843
