Moses Cleaveland Journeys To Ohio
Moses Cleaveland was the head of a group that surveyed Ohio, and the city of Cleveland was given a misspelled version of his name.
Moses Cleaveland
When the Revolutionary War broke out, Moses Cleaveland was a student at Yale.
Cleaveland decided to finish his studies and graduate in 1777, after which he signed on with the Continental Army.
He was commissioned as an Ensign, the lowest rank of officer, but within two years had been promoted to Captain in the Corps of Engineers.
Connecticut Politics
After the war, Cleaveland established a successful law firm.
He was elected to the Connecticut General Assembly for several years and attended that State’s ratification convention where he supported the Constitution.
Furthermore, he spent two decades in the State Militia, eventually becoming a Brigadier General.
The Western Reserve
By 1796, Cleaveland had become one of the principal investors in the Connecticut Land Company.
This Company purchased the ownership of the small amount of western lands the State kept after ceding most of its holdings to the United States.
The property, which was traditionally called New Connecticut but by now was referred to as the Western Reserve, needed to be surveyed.
Moses Cleaveland was asked to take up the task.
To Cleveland
Moses led a team of 52 people across New York, down the Great Lakes and into northern Ohio.
Along the way they encountered two groups of Native Americans, both of whom were against the settlers' encroachment but were pacified by gifts from the travelers.
Eventually, the group came to the area where the Cuyahoga River empties into Lake Erie.
Cleaveland thought the place perfect to establish a town and he laid out lots and a public square.
Back Home
This settlement was named Cleveland in Moses’ honor.
There is no accurate account of why the letter ‘a’ was dropped from the name, though the story goes that it was misspelled on a map and never corrected.
The Public Square he surveyed still exists, though it is officially known as Monument Park.
Interestingly, Moses Cleaveland went home to Connecticut after a year and never again returned to the city that now bears his name.
Do you want to learn about other Ohio Founders?
Enjoy these articles:
Tomas Worthington Fathers Ohio
The First Sheriff in Ohio - Ebenezer Sproat
Return Johnathan Meigs’ Raid- The Battle of Sag Harbor
For more information on Moses Cleaveland, there is a good bio from the Cleveland Encyclopedia which can be read for FREE here.
There are no full biographies on Cleaveland that I am aware of and surprisingly few about early Ohio.
‘The Story of Early Ohio’ is a collection first written in 1898 that has since been update and is one of the more complete portraits of the time.
Pick up a copy through the Amazon affiliate link below (you’ll support this site, but don’t worry, Amazon pays me while your price stays the same).
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