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Record Group:	Cleveland Family
Series:	Records, 1838-ca. 1909
Accession #:	2001.043
Series #:	PCLEV001
Guide Date:	1/2002 (EC)
Volume:	0.45 c.f. [2 boxes]

Content Note | Contents

Biographical Note

Stephen Grover Cleveland was born in Caldwell, NJ on 18 March 1837, the fifth child of Presbyterian minister Richard Falley Cleveland and Ann Neal Cleveland. When Grover was four, the Clevelands moved their family to Fayetteville, New York. In addition to Grover, the Clevelands had eight other children: Ann Neal, William Neal, Mary Allen, Richard Cecil, Margaret Louise Falley, Lewis Frederick, Susan Sophia and Rose Elizabeth.

In 1855, Grover Cleveland settled in Buffalo. With the help of his uncle, Lewis F. Allen, Cleveland found a position in a law firm and began to study the law. He was admitted to the New York bar in 1860. It was in Buffalo that Grover Cleveland began his political career with the Democratic Party. He served in various positions including ward supervisor, sheriff, assistant district attorney and, in 1882, mayor of Buffalo. That same year Cleveland was elected Governor of New York. From Albany, Cleveland went to Washington, DC, serving as the 22nd President of the United States (1885-1889) and then again as the 24th President (1893-1897).

Grover Cleveland married Frances Folsom (1864-1947) in June 1886. The couple had five children: Ruth (1891-1904), Esther (1893-1980), Marion (1895-1977), Richard Folsom (1897-1974) and Francis Grover (1903-1995). After leaving the presidency in 1897, Grover Cleveland moved his family to a home he had built in Princeton, NJ. Here he worked on his book, Presidential Problems, gave public lectures and served as a trustee of Princeton University. After a brief illness, Grover Cleveland died at his home in Princeton on 24 June 1908.

Bibliography Brodsky, Alyn. Grover Cleveland: A study in Character. New York: Truman Talley Books, St. Martin’s Press, 2000.

Jeffers, H. Paul. An Honest President: The Life and Presidencies of Grover Cleveland. New York: Harper Collins, 2000.

Content Note

This series consists of a small collection of letters, photographs and memorabilia of Grover Cleveland and his family. The late Dorothy Budd Bartle, President Emerita of the Grover Cleveland Birthplace Memorial Association, Caldwell, NJ, collected this material and donated it to the State Archives. Most of the records were purchased from Albert Vreeland, a descendant of Grover Cleveland’s sister, Susan Cleveland Yeomans. Included in the collection are an 1838 Thanksgiving address given by Cleveland’s father in Caldwell, letters from Rev. Cleveland and his wife to their daughter Mary, a wedding announcement of Grover Cleveland and Frances Folsom, and several portraits of President Cleveland and his family.

Contents

No.	Caption	Image
Box 1
*Manuscripts:*
1.	Thanksgiving Address of Rev. Richard Cleveland, Caldwell, NJ, 29 November 1838.	(PDF, 1.9 Mb)
2.	Rev. Richard Cleveland to daughter Mary re: news of home (including reference to her brother "Grove") and fatherly advice, Fayetteville, NY, 14 August 1848.
3.	Ann Neal Cleveland to daughter Mary re: news of home, Fayetteville, NY, 25 October 1848.
4.	Wedding announcement of Grover Cleveland to Frances Folsom sent to Master T. G. Yeomans, Washington, DC, 2 June 1886 [announcement and envelope].
5.	Frances F. Cleveland to unknown, Executive Mansion, Washington, DC, ca. 1886-1889 or ca. 1893-1897 [fragment].
6.	Grover Cleveland to sister Susan re: family news, Princeton, NJ, 18 June 1904.
7.	Envelope addresses from Frances F. Cleveland to Mrs. Reid, Brooklyn, NY, postmarked West Ossipee, NH, 7 September 1909.
Photographs [B&W continuous-tone unless otherwise noted]:
8.	Ann Neal Cleveland, no date [4.25"x6.5"; 'by Mundy, 11 Broad St., Utica, NY].
9.	Grover Cleveland, no date [2.25"x3.5"].
10.	Grover Cleveland, ca. 1885 [4.25"x6.5"; by McDonald & Sterry, Albany, NY].
11.	For President, Grover Cleveland of Buffalo, NY, ca. 1884 [8"x10"; half-tone; by Gies & Co. Buffalo, NY]
12.	Lewis Frederic Cleveland, no date [4.25"x6.5"; by B. E. Atkinson, Palmyra, NY].
13.	Rev. Richard Falley Cleveland, no date [7"x9"].
14.	Rose E. Cleveland, no date. [4.25"x6.5"; by Roseti, 297 Fifth Ave., New York, NY]..
15.	Ruth, Esther, Marion and Richard Cleveland, ca. 1899 [6.25"x8"].
16.	View of the White House, no date [4.75"x3.75"; engraving].
Box 2
Souvenir ribbons [pasted onto a single sheet of paper]:
17a.	The World's Industrial and Cotton Centennial Exposition, New Orleans, 1884-1885 [2.5"x10"; features image of President Grover Cleveland].
17b.	Souvenir, Worlds Fair, Chicago, 1893 [2.25"x7.5"; features images of Frances F. Cleveland and the White House].