“Captain Francis Cleveland, one of the pioneers of Scioto county, died at the residence of Mr. Robert Montgomery, on Front street, last Sunday at ten o’clock, in the 86th year of his age. Like all other pioneers of the county and city, Captain Cleveland was a most useful citizen, and was instrumental in inaugurating and assisting in enterprises and undertakings, the full benefits of which were to accrue to a later day and age. Captain Cleveland was one of the surveyors of the Miami Canal, and after assisting in the location of other public works, he located the division of the Ohio Canal, extending from a point a few miles above Chillicothe to this city. When the contract for construction was let, Captain Cleveland was assigned to the division extending from Portsmouth north, being known as resident engineer, and acting in that capacity till the completion of the canal in 1832. Captain Cleveland was a reliable and faithful attaché and remained in the employ of the Board of Public Works until the system we now have was completed.”
“As a citizen of Portsmouth, Capt. Cleveland always stood high in the estimation of his fellow men, and for years filled the positions of City Clerk and City Engineer. He built the edifice, now occupied as the Infirmary, which in its best days was Scioto’s finest residence. In 1835 he went to Indiana to survey and locate the White River Canal, and after spending a season there, returned to this city, which has since been his place of residence.”
“Captain Cleveland was a native of Connecticut, having been born at Litchfield, December 26th 1796. He passed a few years of his life in mercantile pursuits in New York City, and in 1821 came to Ohio, and embarked in business in Zanesville. He married his first wife1 there, who lived but a short time and died in 1823. In 1834 he married his second wife in the person of Miss Margaret Waller, who died October 26th, 1848.”
“The deceased had that robust and vigorous constitution that was so characteristic of the early inhabitants, and until late years enjoyed unusually good health. On Nov. 4, 1872, the day before the Presidential election, he received a stroke of paralysis, while in the Council Chamber, being at the time City Clerk, where he was afterward found, but unable to articulate. He never fully recovered from the stroke which began to tell on him, until it closed his earthly career.”
“Mr. Cleveland was, for a time, prominent in politics, having been a candidate for Congress in this district in 1848 on the Democratic ticket. He also ran for the State Senate in 1851 (the first election under the new Constitution), against Colonel O. F. Moore2, the Whig candidate, but was beaten by a few votes. He was for several years connected with the newspaper business in this city. In 1848 he assumed editorial control of the Portsmouth Inquirer, a weekly paper which had its office in the three story brick building now occupied by Rhodes & Maxwell, and on which a portion of the old sign is still visible. He was also for quite a period editor of the Daily Dispatch, a Democratic daily published in the same office with the Inquirer.”
“Captain Cleveland was a very prominent member of the masonic fraternity, and was among one of the oldest masons in the State. He attained the 32°. The fraternity followed his remains to Green Lawn Cemetery. The funeral services took place at All Saints Church, Monday afternoon, and were conducted by Rev. H. L. Badger.”3
The Headstone of Francis Cleveland at Greenlawn Cemetery
- Harriet Stewart
- Colonel Oscar Fitzallen Moore
- A pioneer gone: Death of Captain Francis Cleveland. (1881, June 25). Portsmouth Times, p. 3.
