Author:
James M. Cleveland, Jr.
[ Edit | View ]
|
Date Posted: Mon, Mar 14 2005, 8:46:23
Vikki,
Below is all the information that was given to me by my family. Most or all of it you probably already know. I will send you on a another e-mail some grave pictures I have of my GG Grandfather, My G Grandfather and their wives. Also, I will send a picture of my GG Grandmother, Catherine Wright Cleveland.
CLEVELAND GENEALOGY--FACT AND LEGEND
Our oldest known ancestor is Olliol Molt, King of Ireland, 463 A.D. He is the ancestor of the Coffey family.
Martha Elizabeth Coffey was the wife of John Cleaveland the First and the mother of six sons, who were the heroes of the King's Mountain Battle of the Revolutionary War.
Thorkil de Cliveland, Duke of Yorkshire, 1066, owned ten manors at the time of the Norman Conquest. He was the only Englishman to retain his title, along with nine of his manors, by apparently making a Chinese deal with the conquerors. He gave Robert de Brus, a Norman King, Skelton Castle. The Cliffs of Cleaveland (Cleaveland. England) are named for him.
Legend has it that Oliver Cromwell and Elizabeth Cleaveland had a son, Alexander Cleaveland. There is an old English book, The Life and Adventures of Alexander Cleaveland, Natural Son of Oliver Cromwell.
Alexander's brother (or half-brother), Moses, went to Massachusetts and established the Cleaveland family of the North, from which President Grover Cleveland is descended.
Alexander settled on the shores of the Chesapeake and was one of the original Virginia Planters. He lived to be 112 and outlived two of his three wives, the third surviving him by only three days.
Oliver Cromwell's uncle, Thomas, ran the administration of King Henry VIII and was the founder of the Church of England, which he started in order to save the then and future wives of the king from the fatal combination of his Catholicism and fickleness.
Oliver Cromwell became a great soldier and statesman and a deeply religious man. He guided England through the first and second civil wars and was responsible for beheading Charles the First.
Cromwell was offered the crown eight times, but refused, and led England under the title "Lord and Protector" for many years until his death.
There have been three Oliver Cromwell Cleavelands. including one Georgian who signed Georgia's secession from the Union.
Colonel Benjamin Cleveland has been quoted in many books as saying that he was a direct descendant of Oliver Cromwell. Colonel Benjamin, a legend in his own right. was a woodsman, soldier, planter. and Judge
He stood 6' 7"", weighed 250 pounds, and was the leader of the King's Mountain victory in the Revolutionary War.
In his later years. he reached 350 pounds. and he and his plantation were both known as "Roundabout", the plantation because it was circled by the Yadkin River, Colonel Ben for obvious reasons. "Roundabout" is still a working plantation, located east of North Wilksboro, N.C., and Owned by Mr. Chatham.
Colonel Ben lost "Roundabout" through faulty title and moved to the Savannah River between what are now Toccoa, Georgia and Westminster, S.C., at the forks of the Tugaloo and Chauga Rivers. and he is buried there. The plantation is still known as the Cleveland Plantation and is now owned by Mr. Wilkerson.
Cleveland. Tennessee, and Cleveland County. North Carolina, are named for Colonel Benjamin Cleveland.
All of Colonel Ben's brothers moved with him to the Savannah River, each living one day's journey upriver apart.
Reverend John, the oldest and smallest, was a colonel at King's Mountain. His plantation was located where 1-85 now crosses Lake Hartwell, and he, along with other family members, is buried on a hill above the South Carolina Welcome Station.
Reverend John had large land holdings, was a powerful speaker for the Baptist religion, operated a ferry at this ford, and was high sheriff.
Many noted travelers stopped to visit the brothers on their journeys through the wilderness, including the noted English botanist. William Bartram.
General Benjamin Cleveland, for whom Cleveland, Georgia is named, was a hero of the War of 1812, fought with and was a friend of Andrew Jackson. He was a planter, soldier, builder, and politician, was elected to the Georgia legislature as a Republican for over 20 years and had extensive land holdings in North Georgia. These included the Nacoochee Valley, near Helen, Georgia, the Tallulah Gorge, and most of the land now covered by the waters of Lakes Rabun and Burton in Rabun County. He lived for many years in Clarksville, Georgia. General Ben led numerous campaigns against the Indians in the southeast.
There are. today. many prominent Cleveland scattered throughout the Southeast: John Cleveland. mayor of Highlands North Carolina, Ken Cleveland. former mayor of Clarkerville, Georgia and Duke Cleveland, South Carolina congressman. are among them. The former mayor of Greenville, South Carolina, was also a Cleveland.
[ Post a Reply to This Message ]
|
Feedback: 