Elbert County GaArchives News.....Revolutionary War hero Cleveland honored October 14, 1997
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Chandler Eavenson http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00030.html#0007294 November 8, 2007, 1:05 pm

The Elbert County Examiner Newspaper October 14, 1997
Revolutionary War hero Cleveland honored
By Wayne Ward 
The memory of Jacob Cleveland was permanently etched in granite Saturday as a 
monument honoring the American Revolution hero was unveiled at his grave site 
on the property of [living persons, names omitted]off of Harper's Ferry Road 
by the Samuel Elbert Chapter of the Sons of the American Rvolution. 
Approximately 75 people were on hand for the dedication and some 38 ribbons 
were prepared for the descendants of Cleveland, many of which still live in 
Elbert County. Also on hand were members of the Georgia Society Sons of the 
American Revolution to take part in the ceremony. The local organization 
provided information on the honoree. 

Cleveland was the great-grandson of the first Cleveland in America, who came 
to this land from England in the mid-1600s. Jacob, born in Culpeper County, 
VA, May 6, 1729, grew up in Virginia, met a young lady named Millie White and 
married her on Oct 10, 1756. They lived in Virginia for a number of years and 
reared several of their children. Early in 1780 Jacob and Millie and some of 
their adult children moved to Abbeville District, SC where they made their 
home. They located just 40 to 50 miles from the British headquarters at 
Ninety Six, SC. 

During the American Revolution the British had a strategy of conquering 
several of the Southern colonies and bringing them back into the fold before 
completing the task against General George Washington in the North. Typical
of men of that eara, Jacob and his sons left the farm to support the Patroit 
cause, joining up with a cousin, Col. Ben Cleveland and a force of men 
designed to deal with a reign of terror imposed on the Patroits by the command 
of the British Major Patrick Ferguson. On Oct 6, 1780, the Patroit force of 
about 1400 was at Cowpens, SC, when word was received that Ferguson was only 
40 miles away at King's Mountain, commanding a Tory force of about 1,100, all
American born. 

Ferguson was attacked on Oct 7, 1780, at noon and after one hour of fierce 
fighting the Patriots had won. Four hundred Tories were wounded or killed, 
about 700 were taken prisoner, and Ferguson himself was killed. When the 
battle was over, the Patriots moved back to their farms and work. Jacob and 
Millie in 1782 moved across the Savannah River into a portion of Wilkes County 
now known as Elbert County. The move was probably not over 10 miles to where 
he settled, about two and one-half miles southwest of Edinburg, a prosperous 
settlement at the mouth of Coldwater Creek where it empties into the Savannah 
River and now is Lake Richard B. Russell. On this land Jacob built a colonial 
home of forest logs, and there he died in 1791, laid to rest in what is now 
the old Cleveland Cemetery. 

Additional Comments:
His wife Millie White was the daughter of Jeremiah White and Mary Martin of 
Albemrle Co., VA, some of their other children also moving to Elbert Co. 

File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ga/elbert/newspapers/revoluti2457gnw.txt

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