Thomas-Franklin-Stewart County GaArchives Biographies.....Cleveland, Oliver C. 1829 - living in 1913 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ga/gafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00001.html#0000031 October 27, 2004, 9:56 pm Author: William Harden p. 980-981 OLIVER C. CLEVELAND, the prosperous and progressive farmer of Thomas county, has had a life rich in the adventures both of war and peace. When a mere youth of eighteen years, he saw service in the Mexican war. A few years later, he joined the great tide of men that surged toward the gold fields of California, and came safely home after a perilous journey thither and home again, only to find his country on the eve of a great Civil war. The South had need of such valiant young men and strong fighters as Oliver C. Cleveland was, and he knew no more of peaceful days until the war was over, and the cause for which he had given so much of his youth, was lost. It is fitting that after the hardships of his early days, Mr. Cleveland should spend the remainder of his life as an agriculturist in his native state, and it is doubly fitting that his biography be included in the annals of his community, not only because of the part he played in the historical events of the nineteenth century, but because of the place he has won for himself in the hearts of his fellow citizens, in the neighborhood of his home, by his kindly spirit and true manhood. Mr. Cleveland first saw the light of day in Franklin county, Georgia, March 30, 1829. His father, Benjamin Cleveland, was born in the same county in the year of 1792, the son of John Cleveland, who was a native of the Greenville district of South Carolina, and was descended from English ancestors who settled in the colonies in early times. John Cleveland moved to Georgia from South Carolina as a young man, and he was among the first to settle in Franklin county. He resided in that locality for a great many years, and then moved to Mobile, Alabama, where he died at a good old age. His wife was a Miss Gilbert before her marriage, and she bore him one daughter, and six sons, of whom the father of the subject of this history was one. Benjamin Cleveland was reared and educated in Franklin county. He was married in the district in which he had spent his boyhood, and a few years later moved to Troop county, where he purchased a tract of land, cultivating it by means of slave labor. He also engaged in the mercantile business in the same district for several years, but finally sold out and moved to Stewart county, where he remained until his death, at the age of eighty-seven years. His wife, Amelia Hooper Cleveland, died at the age of seventy-five years. She was a daughter of Richard Hooper, and reared five sons and four daughters. All of these sons afterward served in the Confederate army. Their names were James M., Richard H., Benjamin F., John W., and Oliver C. Reared and educated in the county to which his parents moved soon after his birth, that is Troop county, Oliver C. Cleveland received in its schools, as well as in its woods and meadows, the foundation of that education which he has since acquired, guiding a natural intelligence by wide reading and keen speculation. In the year 1847, he enlisted in Company B, Georgia Battalion of Mounted Infantry, of which Lieutenant-Colonel James S. Colhoun was commander. He was mustered in for service in the Mexican war at Mobile, and then set sail with his company over a difficult and circuitous route to Mexico City, which had surrendered before the arrival of the forces of which he was a part. After a few weeks in the City of Mexico, he was transferred to Cuerna-vaca, where he remained until peace was declared, and on his return home, he was honorably discharged from the army. In 1850, the year after the famous gold-craze was inaugurated, Oliver Cleveland went to California. He chose to travel via the Isthmus, and was one hundred and twenty days en route. He landed at San Francisco, then a city of tents nestling among the sand hills, and from thence he went to the mines. He remained in California, engaged in mining and other occupations until the year 1860. At that time, he returned home, choosing the southern route, this time. He travelled the entire distance of 2,760 miles by stage, the trip consuming nineteen days and nights. He had been home just a year when the war between the North and South broke out. On the nineteenth of April, 1861, he enlisted in Company A, Second Georgia Battalion, and was sent at once to Virginia to save the Gossport navy at Norfolk. From Norfolk, he went to Goldsboro, North Carolina, to drill new recruits to the Confederate ranks. His first term of enlistment expired in April, 1862, and he reenlisted in the same company. He was sent to Virginia, then, and served under Generals Welthers and Mahone in Longstreet's corps, and took part in many of the great battles of the war, including the battle of Gettysburg. A few days before Lee's surrender he was granted a furlough, and returned home, and was there when peace was declared. After the war, Mr. Cleveland engaged in farming in Stewart county, until 1872, when he moved to Terrell county. He remained at the latter place until 1885, in which year he came to Thomas county, and settled in the Oak Hill district, on the farm where he has since resided. Mr. Cleveland has been twice married. His first wife was Martha L. Armour, and he was thirty-nine years of age when he was united in marriage with her. She was a native of Troop county, and a daughter of William and Sarah (Harper) Armour. She died in 1879, and later Mr. Cleveland married Mrs. Sarah Grace. Mrs. Sarah Cleveland was a native of Sampson county, North Carolina. Her father was John Shearman, of Scotch-Irish ancestry, and a life-long resident of North Carolina. Mrs. Cleveland was first married to John S. Herring, of Sampson county, North Carolina. Her second husband was Thomas Grace, who died in 1880. Mr. Cleveland had one son by his first wife. This is Monroe E. Cleveland, who is married and now resides in Oklahoma. Additional Comments: From: A HISTORY OF SAVANNAH AND SOUTH GEORGIA BY WILLIAM HARDEN VOLUME II ILLUSTRATED THE LEWIS PUBLISHING COMPANY CHICAGO AND NEW YORK 1913 This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/gafiles/ File size: 6.6 Kb