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Civil War Veteran
Co M 2nd Iowa Cavalry
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From PAST AND PRESENT OF SHELBY COUNTY IOWA, by Edward S. White, 1915, B. F. Bowen & Company, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana.
WILLIAM FISKE CLEVELAND
One of the men who have conferred honor and distinction on the city of Harlan, Iowa, is William Fiske Cleveland. A man who has now reached the allotted three score and ten years, he has been closely identified with the history, of Shelby county for the past thirty-seven years and in that time has been one of the leaders in everything pertaining to its welfare. As a private citizen, as...
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Civil War Veteran
Co M 2nd Iowa Cavalry
++++++++++++++++++++++++
From PAST AND PRESENT OF SHELBY COUNTY IOWA, by Edward S. White, 1915, B. F. Bowen & Company, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana.
WILLIAM FISKE CLEVELAND
One of the men who have conferred honor and distinction on the city of Harlan, Iowa, is William Fiske Cleveland. A man who has now reached the allotted three score and ten years, he has been closely identified with the history, of Shelby county for the past thirty-seven years and in that time has been one of the leaders in everything pertaining to its welfare. As a private citizen, as a public official and as a man interested in public spirited' enterprises of all kinds, he has made a record which has made his name known throughout the state of Iowa. It is not possible within the limits of this article to treat his life in detail but enough will be set forth to show the important place he has occupied in the history of his county.
William F. Cleveland, the son of George Washington and Almira (Barrett) Cleveland, was born August 30, 1844, at Waterville, Oneida county, New York. His father was born in 1808 in the same county, at the town of Westmoreland, and died December 4, 1884. His grandparents were Anson and Mehitable (Hammond) Cleveland. Anson Cleveland was born in Mansfield county, New York, December 24, 1777, and died May 5, 1832. Mehitable Hammond was born in Coventry, Connecticut, November 2, 1774, and died in 1868. When the wife of Anson Cleveland was a small girl she stood on the continental road and watched George Washington and his soldiers march by as they were on their way from Boston to New York. The mother of William F. Cleveland was born at Wilton, New Hampshire, August 27, 1808, and died March 11, 1886.
George Washington Cleveland was educated in the schools of Westmoreland, New York, and then entered the University of New York from which he graduated with the degree of Doctor of Medicine in the spring of 1831. He first practiced his profession at Homer, Michigan, for two years, after which he removed to Sherburne, New York. He practiced in this place a few years and then permanently located in Waterville, New York, where he followed his profession until his death fifty years later. As a physician he ranked among the best in the state of New York and was called into consultation in all parts of the state. Dr. Cleveland was married October 10, 1832, to Almira Barrett, the daughter of Benjamin Fiske and Betsie (Garrish) Barrett. Mr. Barrett was born January 16, 1770, at Billerica, Middlesex county, New York, and died at Springfield, New York, October 31, 1844. Mrs. Barrett was born in Westminster, Massachusetts, November 10, 1774, and died December 17, 1836. Dr. Cleveland and wife were the parents of four children: Alice, George, William F. and Orlando. All of these children are now deceased except William F.
The education of William F. Cleveland was received in the schools of Waterville and included the thorough training of the academy at that place. After leaving the academy Mr. Cleveland clerked in a store in his native town until after the close of the Civil War. He then went to Nashville, Tennessee, and clerked in a clothing store for two years. By that time he had come to the conclusion that there were great possibilities in the South for business and decided to go to New Orleans and engage in the clothing business for himself. He went to the Crescent City and found employment in a clothing store as a clerk, thinking that he could in this way determine whether the city offered the opportunities which he had been led to think it had. In a short time he became a partner in the store where he first found employment and was in a fair way to make a name for himself in the commercial life of that city. After living there eight years his health became impaired and he felt that he would have to seek more congenial climate on that account. Accordingly he sold out his interest in the store and secured a position with the United States government as a contractor. The government sent him to the state of Wyoming at his request and there he remained for the next two years during which time he recovered his health. Wishing to again engage in business for himself he resigned his position with the government and came to Shelby county, Iowa, where he opened up a general mercantile establishment in the fall of 1877. He remained at Shelby until 1885, when he was elected to the position of treasurer of Shelby county and was compelled to move to Harlan, the county seat. He was re-elected to the same office at the expiration of his first term and served until 1889. He has now been in the county for twelve years and had so conducted his affairs as to win the unqualified endorsement of his fellow citizens: His education and wide experience enabled him to take a broad and intelligent view of public policies and his party were insistent that he be nominated for the important position of state senator.
The year 1889 marks the entry of Mr. Cleveland in politics and his subsequent career has reflected great credit on his county as well as his state. He was elected as senator from the senatorial district of Shelby and Cass counties in that fall and in the following session of the General Assembly took a leading part. He was made the chairman of the committee on appropriations and was instrumental in getting the legislature to pass the one hundred and fifty thousand appropriation for the Iowa state building at the World's Fair which was held at Chicago in 1893. He introduced the bill which provided that all capital punishments should tale place in the penitentiary but, owing to the house being Republican, the bill was defeated although supported by public opinion. The same bill was introduced by a Republican in the succeeding session and passed, a fact which does not take from Mr. Cleveland the hOnor of being very largely responsible for it being placed on the statute books of the state.
While a member of the state legislature Mr. Cleveland was elected cashier of the Harlan Bank and, upon serving out his term as senator, he assumed the duties of that position. He filled the position of cashier for four years and then resigned to engage in the hardware business in Harlan. He continued in this business under the name of W. F. Cleveland &. Company for the next eight years and then disposed of his interests in the company and entered the real estate field, where he has since made a pronounced success. He has been dealing largely in Arkansas land and has built up a big business in that state.
In the year 1910, the Democratic party of his congressional district prevailed upon him to accept, the nomination for Congress and, although the Republican majority in the district has always been overwhelming, yet he made the best fight that has ever been made in his district. His opponent was Walter L. Smith and although he was elected, Mr. Cleveland reduced the normal Republican majority from nine thousand to less than two thousand, a fact which bears ample testimony as to his standing in his district. In 1912, Mr. Cleveland was a candidate for presidential elector in his district on the Democratic ticket and led his ticket by five thousand, being triumphantly elected. He not only had the honor of carrying the election returns to Washington but was the first Democrat within the past sixty years to go to Washington to carry the Iowa vote for a Democratic president.
The history of Mr. Cleveland would not be complete without mention of his connection with Masonry. He has for many years been one of the leaders in the fraternity in his state and at the present time is devoting his time to the preparation of the Masonic history of the state of Iowa. In view of the fact that Mr. Cleveland is the leader of the Masonic fraternity in his state it seems eminently fitting to give his Masonic record in detail.
He was initiated October 25, 1865; passed November 8, 1865; raised December 12, 1865. These three degrees were conferred in Sanger Lodge No. 129, located at Waterville (New York). In 1866 he was affiliated with Phoenix Lodge, No. 131, at Nashville, Tennessee, and three years later transferred his membership to Quitman Lodge, No. 76, at New Orleans, being elected worshipful master of the latter lodge in 1877. He was affiliated with Parian Lodge, No. 321, at Harlan, Iowa, in 1887 and was elected worshipful master of that lodge in 1898. He was erected senior grand warden of the grand lodge of Iowa in 1901 and in 1906 was made grand master of the grand lodge of Iowa. The grand lodge of the state of Iowa recognized him as peculiarly well fitted to write the Masonic history of the state and in 1909 made him the official historian of the fraternity for the state of Iowa, and he completed the history June 10, 1914.
His connection with the Royal Arch began in 1867, when he was exalted in Cumberland Chapter. The Royal Arch was installed in Harlan in 1886 and he then transferred his membership to Olivet Chapter, No. 107, at Harlan. He was elected high priest of the Harlan Chapter in 1894 and in the following year (1895) was elected grand scribe of the grand Royal Arch chapter of Iowa. This honor was followed by his election as grand king in 1896, deputy grand high priest, in 1897 and grand high priest of the grand chapter in 1898. He was president of the Order of High Priesthood from 1900 to 1906, was re-elected to this position in 1908 and is still filling the office. He has served on the committee on correspondence of the grand chapter since 1902. He has been the grand representative of the grand chapter of the District of Columbia since 1890. He was elected president of the correspondence round table of the United States at Indianapolis, Indiana, in the year 1912 and is still filling this position.
Mr. Cleveland became a member of the Council at Nashville, Tennessee, in 1868, that being the first council organized within the state of Tennessee. He organized Adaphi Council, No. 4, at Harlan, Iowa, in 1890 and was thrice illustrious master for four years. He organized the grand council of Iowa in 1900 and in the same year was elected deputy grand master, being elevated to the grand mastership in the following year. He has been grand representative of the grand council in New York since 1901. He was elected general grand steward of the general grand council in 1903 and elevated to the office of general grand marshal in 1906. His election to the position of general grand conductor followed in 1909. In 1912 he was elected general grand captain of the guard at Indianapolis, Indiana.
Mr. Cleveland became a member of the Order of Knights Templar at New Orleans, in 1872, becoming a member of the Indivisable Friends Commandery, No. 1. He organized Mt. Zion, No. 19, at Harlan, Iowa, in 1886, being the first eminent commander of the commandery. He was elected grand junior warden of the grand commandery of Iowa in 1888, grand captain general in 1889, deputy grand commander in 1890 and grand commander in 1891. He was appointed grand representative of the grand commandery of Tennessee, in 1893, and still holds the position. He was chairman of the semi-centennial anniversary of the grand commandery of the state of Iowa which was held at Templar Park, Spirit Lake, Iowa, July 15, 1914. He was elected as an honorary member of the grand commandery of the state of Missouri at Springfield, Missouri, in May, 1913.
Mr. Cleveland received the degrees from the fourth to the thirty-second in October, 1907, in the Zarepath Consistory, Scottish Rite, at Davenport, Iowa. He received the honorary degrees of the Knights Commander of the Court of Honor in the supreme council in October, 1913, at Washington, D. C. He received the degrees in Kalp Chapter of the Acacia fraternity at Ames, Iowa, April 20, 1912. He was appointed a member of the committee on grand lodge recognition by F. W. Craig, grand master, in February, 1911.
Mr. Cleveland was married October 2, 1871, to Kate L. Collins, the daughter of Eli A. and Anna Collins. She was born at Galena, Illinois; her father was born in Pennsylvania and her mother in Ohio. To this first union of Mr. Cleveland were born two children, William John and Anna. The son died in 1876 and the daughter is the wife of W. W. Belknap and makes her home in New York. The first wife of Mr. Cleveland died August 18, 1885, and on February 16, 1893, Mr. Cleveland was married to Mrs. Ella (Noble) Pratt, the daughter of Peter and Susan Noble, both natives of Clinton county, Ohio. Mr. Noble was born June 11, 1831, his wife on June 18, 1836; he died October 7, 1913, and she passed away on June 3, 1889. Mr. Noble was a young man when he moved from Ohio to Indiana and lived in the latter state for a number of years on a farm south of Indianapolis. From there he moved to Plattsville, Wisconsin, where he was engaged in the implement business for several years. Mr. Noble then removed to Walnut, Iowa, and became interested in the grain business and in 1884 located in Harlan where he lived until his death. Mr. and Mrs. Noble were the parents of six children: Edward P., Willard, Ella, Herman, Carrie and Leona. All of the children are still living.
Mr. Cleveland and wife have two children, William Fiske and Dorothy, both of whom are still living with their parents. They are being given the best education possible in order to become useful members of society. The family home is one of the most beautiful in the city of Harlan and is located on West Baldwin street. Mr. Cleveland has one of the finest as well as the most valuable libraries in the county. The family are members of the Episcopal church and interested in the work of their church. Mr. Cleveland has taken a hearty interest in everything pertaining to the welfare of his city. He and his family are connected with various societies and organizations in their city and have always given their unreserved support to all worthy measures. Thus it may be seen that Mr. Cleveland has filled an important place in the history of his town, county and state, while as a Mason, he is known throughout the United States. In everything with which he has been connected he has conducted himself in such a way as to merit the high esteem of his fellow citizens and he has made a name for himself which is a credit to his home city and an honor to his family. |
