Clevelands on the Island

27

BY THEODORE C. WYMAN

ALL THROUGH THE YEARS that I have worked on genealogies of various branches of the family I have come to realize that, in a way, I have been surrounded by family history. And a part of that family history has to do with the time I lived for ten years on the island of Nantucket. At that time I knew, in a general way, that some of my grandmother's family, originally the Cleavelands, later written Cleveland, had lived on the Vineyard. And then as I worked on a history of the Cleveland family, I found that a very large number of that family had lived on the Vineyard and on Nantucket. Not only had they lived on Nantucket, but several of them had been captains of whaling ships and they had descended from the Moses Cleveland from whom I had descended. That Moses Cleveland and his brother Aaron Cleveland, from whom President Grover Cleveland had descended, were the sons of Moses Cleveland who came from Ipswich, England in 1635 and who was one of the early settlers of Woburn.

Most of the information came from a genealogy of the Cleveland family at the New England Historic Genealogical Society in Boston, but there was more information to be found in the Whaling Museum in Nantucket. And I was able to find the graves of two of the Cleveland family on the island, one of them that of Capt. Henry Cleveland (1798-1875) who was captain of the whaleship Richard Mitchell. So it seems that, to some extent, my own life had followed a pattern similar to that of many of the Cleveland family. They had lived on the islands, followed the sea to many parts of the world, and served in various wars. And that seems to be what I have done.

In a genealogy of the Cleveland family that I finished in 1971, I included a record of many of the family who had lived on the Vineyard and on Nantucket. And some of the records were made because of my interest in the connection of the Cleveland family with so many of the island families I have known. There was also the connection with the whaling industry as sea captains and ship owners as well as service in the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812 and the Civil War, and settlement in other parts of the world.

There was all that, but what I shall include here are just a few of the records found in a genealogy of the Cleveland family at the New England Historic Genealogical Society, and then some things found in various records at the Whaling Museum while on a visit there in 1972. As for the records found in the genealogy of the Cleveland family, they might be confusing to read by anyone who has never been interested in putting

28

HISTORIC NANTUCKET

together a family genealogy. So I shall just include some infor mation that was of interest to me.

SETH CLEVELAND, who died on Nantucket in 1823, married Mary Jones, daughter of Ebenezer and Delight (Davis or Dimick) Jones. He was a mariner and in the War of 1812 he and his son Zimri ran an open whaleboat to the mainland for provisions, choosing stormy nights to avoid English cruisers in Vineyard Sound. When overtaken by daylight they would sail to the nearest land, hide their cargo in bushes and sink their boat in shoal water until dark.

REUBEN CLEVELAND of Nantucket who died in London, England in 1850, dwelt first in London about 1801 to 1804 after going to London in merchant service from Nantucket. He afterwards settled at Milford Haven, Wales, and later at Grantham, England, became a linen draper and was one of the few Americans who returned to England and became wealthy.

DAVIS CLEVELAND who married Rebecca Russell of Nantucket, daughter of Seth and Abigail (Meader) Russell, was a mariner who was a Dartmoor prisoner. He died at sea in 1821 while steering a boat when a sperm whale dropped its jaw over the stern, biting him in two.

HENRY CLEVELAND whose grave I found in the New Town Burying Ground in Nantucket, married Rebecca Coffin Russell. He dwelt at Nantucket, removed to New Bedford to 1846, and always afterward lived on Nantucket, At New Bedford he manufactured whale oil. He became captain of a whaler, and was part owner of the ship Richard Mitchell. He sailed from Nantucket and New Bedford.

SETH FOLGER CLEVELAND died at Wailuku, Sandwich Islands, Hawaii on May 1, 1873. He was a mariner who dwelt at Nantucket to 1850, was at sea to 1852, San Francisco, Cal., and Calimines to 1855, and afterward in Sandwich Islands.

Now for a few things found during a visit to Nantucket in 1972. There was a chance to go through various records in the Whaling Museum and from Whaling Masters 1731-1925; History of the American Whale Fishery, Alexander Starbuck; and Charles W. Morgan The Last Wooden Whaleship by Edouard A. Stackpole, there was some information that was of interest to me. Of particular interest was the information about some Clevelands who were captains of whaling ships from Nantucket. If some of the Clevelands lived and died on Nantucket, then there must be some record of them in the old burying grounds on the island, so I started out to search for some of those

CLEVELANDS ON NANTUCKET 29

records and covered a great deal of ground without any success. There was nothing I could find in the Old Quaker Burying Ground, and in both sections of the Old North Burying Ground, so I checked with the Peter Foulger Museum and they had a record of some Clevelands in what was known as the New Town Burying Ground. So I found there two graves of which they had a record, and one of them was of one of the old whaling captains. The graves and inscriptions I found were: Capt. Henry Cleveland 1798 - 1875 Rebecca, wife of Henry Cleveland 1809 - 1878 (From the Cleveland Genealogy in Boston she was Rebecca Coffin Russell.)

Then there was the grave of Susan P. Cleveland with an interesting inscription which read:

Erected by a number of young men friends of the deceased to the memory of Susan P. daughter of Zimri and Sarah Cleveland who was drowned in Madaket Harbor July 24, 1849 Ae. 24 yrs. 9 ms. 16 ds. "Gaily and brightly the waves danced before thee and woo'd thee with smiles to disport on their breast. The Angel of Death on their bosom hath found thee and born thee away to the land of the blest."

And so I thought she must have been quite some lady to have a number of young men who would erect a stone in her memory. Then, later, in looking through the Cleveland Genealogy at the New England Historic Genealogical Society, there was the record from a Boston newspaper that said Susan Pease Cleveland had been drowned at Madaket by the careless upsetting of a pleasure boat when Phebe Allen, too, was drowned. And it was of interest to me to note that she was the daughter of Zimri Coffin Cleveland who, with his father Seth Cleveland, had so many adventures in the War of 1812. As Seth Cleveland descended from Moses Cleveland, as I did, then Zimri and Susan also descended from him, so that makes her some kind of cousin to me. And the same is true of Henry Cleveland.

Now for some records in the Whaling Museum of men from the Cleveland family who were captains of whaling ships.

1835 — Ship Richard Mitchell — 385 tons Captain Henry C. Cleveland Managing owner or agent — P. Mitchell & Sons

30

HISTORIC NANTUCKET

Whaling ground — Pacific Ocean

Date of sailing — July 20 Arrival — Dec. 27, 1838 Result of voyage — Sperm oil — 1172 bbls. Whale oil 937 bbls. 1854 — Ship Three Brothers — 3.84 tons Captain Charles E. Cleveland

Managing owner or agent — G. & M. Starbuck & Co. Whaling ground — Pacific Ocean

Date of sailing — July 10 Arrival — April 20, 1859 Result of voyage — whale oil 6000 bbls. Sent home — 179 Sperm, 31000 bone (whale bone) Largest quantity ever brought in. Captain William Cleveland Whaling bark Morning Star Voyage Nov. 10, 1853 - May 18, 1857 1503 bbl Sperm

There were also some records at the Whaling Museum about Benjamin D. Cleveland. From 1883 to 1921 he was captain of ships sailing from New Bedford, San Francisco and Boston, and in 1916 he was captain of the Charles W. Morgan. I could not find any record of him in the Cleveland genealogy in Boston. Perhaps I just could not find it, or perhaps it was because the genealogy was published in 1899.

There is more information from: The Charles W. Morgan, The Last Wooden Whaleship, by Edouard A. Stackpole

Captain Benjamin D. Cleveland bought the Charles W. Morgan for a voyage to Desolation Island (in the Kerguelen group) in the South Indian Ocean. On Sept. 7, 1916 the Morgan sailed on her thirty-fourth voyage to the Cape Verde Islands. She sailed from Brava Nov. 21, 1916 and reached Desolation on Feb. 7, 1917. On her way home she had to sail through enemy submarines and arrived in New Bedford Oct. 23, 1917.

So there is some information about members of the Cleveland family who followed the sea and who lived on Nantucket. And of interest to me is that Benjamin Cleveland sailed to the Cape Verde Islands and then south as I did the same thing on a voyage to Rio in 1925.