Samuel Francis Cleveland papers
Scope and Contents
Correspondence, diaries, and other papers kept by Samuel Francis Cleveland, 1847-1893. Material relates to his life and work in Bennington, Waconda, Delphos, and Galena, Kansas. Documented are Cleveland's relationships with wife Lucy Knight Cleveland, sons Mortimer Lindsay Cleveland and Arthur Artemas Cleveland, and father-in-law John Knight; his efforts farming and running a nursery; his travels throughout Kansas; and his political opinions and religious beliefs. Present throughout are indications of crop failures, prairie fires, locusts, buffalo and antelope hunting, debts, family dysfunction and disagreements over guardianship, and strained relationships between white settlers and indigenous peoples.
Other material includes ephemera, legal documents, medicinal recipes, loose notes, and receipts, as well as a leather wallet. Material postdating the death of Samuel Cleveland, from 1893 to 1923, relates to his sons.
Dates
- 1847-1923
- Majority of material found within 1847-1893
Creator
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open for research.
Conditions Governing Use
The Samuel Francis Cleveland Papers is the physical property of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University. Literary rights, including copyright, belong to the authors or their legal heirs and assigns. For further information, consult the appropriate curator.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Purchased from Michael Brown Rare Books, LLC on the William Robertson Coe Fund No. 3, 2022.
Arrangement
Arranged alphabetically by format and chronologically thereafter.
Extent
0.42 Linear Feet (1 box)
Language of Materials
English
Catalog Record
A record for this collection is available in Orbis, the Yale University Library catalog
Persistent URL
Abstract
Correspondence, diaries, and other papers kept by Samuel Francis Cleveland, 1847-1893. Material relates to his life and work in Bennington, Waconda, Delphos, and Galena, Kansas. Documented are Cleveland's relationships with wife Lucy Knight Cleveland, sons Mortimer Lindsay Cleveland and Arthur Artemas Cleveland, and father-in-law John Knight; his efforts farming and running a nursery; his travels throughout Kansas; and his political opinions and religious beliefs. Present throughout are indications of crop failures, prairie fires, locusts, buffalo and antelope hunting, debts, family dysfunction and disagreements over guardianship, and strained relationships between white settlers and indigenous peoples.
Other material includes ephemera, legal documents, medicinal recipes, loose notes, and receipts, as well as a leather wallet. Material postdating the death of Samuel Cleveland, from 1893 to 1923, relates to his sons.
Samuel Francis Cleveland (1815-1893)
Samuel Francis Cleveland (1815-1893) was born in Marlboro, Ulster County, New York, to Elijah Cleveland (1775-1834) and Lucretia Brookins Cleveland (1787-1837). In 1834, the Cleveland family left their home in Preble, Cortland County, New York, for Wisconsin. However, Elijah Cleveland died en route near Elkhart, Indiana, on September 20, 1834. Lucretia Cleveland died in Elkhart in 1837.
In 1847, Samuel Cleveland married Lucy Knight Cleveland (1828-1868) in Michigan. Their son, Mortimer Lindsay Cleveland (1848-1907), was born in Wisconsin. Cleveland left Wisconsin in 1852 to mine gold in California, while his wife and son moved with the Knight family to Bennington, Ottawa County, Kansas. The Cleveland family reunited in the 1860s, and a second son, Arthur Artemas Cleveland (1867-1937), was born in Bennington in 1867.
Samuel Cleveland worked as a farmer, providing crops and stock to businesses in Bennington, Salina, Lindsey, and other towns and villages in Kansas. He also served as postmaster for Bennington.
In the early 1870s, family troubles and crop failures eventually led Cleveland to sell the farm and move with his sons to Waconda, Mitchell County, Kansas. He unsuccessfully continued farming in Wacond, which led to a relocation to Cawker City, Mitchell County, Kansas, in the mid-1870s. In Cawker City, he established a nursery and during the winter months, worked as an agent for nurseries selling fruit trees and grape vines on commission. He also sold insurance and subscriptions to multiple publications on commission.
In 1882, Cleveland moved to Delphos, Ottawa County, Kansas. Mortimer Cleveland settled in Short Creek (later Galena), Cherokee County, Kansas, where he worked in the lead mines. Arthur Cleveland and Samuel Cleveland later joined him in Galena.
Processing Information
Collections are processed to a variety of levels, depending on the work necessary to make them usable, their perceived research value, the availability of staff, competing priorities, and whether or not further accruals are expected. The library attempts to provide a basic level of preservation and access for all collections, and does more extensive processing of higher priority collections as time and resources permit.
These materials have been arranged and described according to national and local standards. For more information, please refer to the Beinecke Manuscript Unit Processing Manual.
- Big game hunting -- Kansas
- Cawker City (Kan.)
- Cherokee County (Kan.)
- Cleveland family
- Cleveland, Arthur Artemas, 1867-1937
- Cleveland, Lucy Knight, 1828-1868
- Cleveland, Mortimer Lindsay, 1848-1907
- Custody of children -- Kansas
- Diaries
- Families -- Kansas
- Farmers -- Kansas
- Farmers -- Kansas -- 19th century
- Farms -- Kansas
- Fathers and sons
- Formulas, recipes, etc.
- Galena (Kan.)
- Indians of North America -- Kansas
- Kansas -- Description and travel
- Kansas -- Economic conditions -- 19th century
- Kansas -- Social life and customs -- 19th century
- Knight, John, 1802-1879
- Legal documents
- Mitchell County (Kan.)
- Nurseries (Horticulture) -- Kansas
- Ottawa County (Kan.)
- Postmasters -- Kansas
- Postmasters -- Kansas -- 19th century
- Receipts (financial records)
- Wallets
Source
- Michael Brown Rare Books, LLC (Bookseller)
- Title
- Guide to the Samuel Francis Cleveland Papers
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Sarah Lerner
- Date
- March 2023
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description note
- Finding aid written in English.
Part of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library Repository
Location
121 Wall Street
New Haven, CT 06511
Opening Hours
Access Information
The Beinecke Library is open to all Yale University students and faculty, and visiting researchers whose work requires use of its special collections. You will need to bring appropriate photo ID the first time you register. Beinecke is a non-circulating, closed stack library. Paging is done by library staff during business hours. You can request collection material online at least two business days in advance of your visit, using the request links in Archives at Yale. For more information, please see Planning Your Research Visit and consult the Reading Room Policies prior to visiting the library.