Repository: Heinz History Center
Title: Cleeland Family Papers and Photographs
Creator: Cleeland Family
Collection Number: MSS 831
Extent: 1.5 linear feet (2 boxes)
Date: 1880s-1990s
Abstract: The Cleeland/Cleland Family settled in Butler County, Pennsylvania, where a branch of the family still resides. The family traces its heritage to Sir William Wallace, the nephew of Alexander Cleland who is the first known documented Cleeland ancestor. The Cleeland Family Papers and Photographs contain materials which document the genealogy and history of the Cleeland family from Scotland to Butler County, Pa., and include publications, correspondence, and genealogical information.
Language: The material in this collection is in English.
Author: The guide to this collection was written by Sarah Ecklund.
Sponsor: This collection has been made accessible as part of an NHPRC-funded Basic Processing grant.
Publisher: Heinz History Center
Address: 1212 Smallman St.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15222
library@heinzhistorycenter.org
URL: https://www.heinzhistorycenter.org

History

The Cleeland/Cleland family traces its heritage to Sir William Wallace and immigrated to Butler County, Pa. around 1802. The first mention of the Cleeland family is Alexander Cleland (also documented as Kneland), born around 1230 in Scotland. He married Margaret Wallace, the sister of Sir Malcom Wallace, Sir William Wallace's father. James Cleland, Alexander Cleland's son, joined his father in the war for Scottish independence, and fought against the English at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1394. After several generations a descendent named Arthur Cleeland became the first of the clan to settle in America. He emigrated from Ireland with his wife, Eleanor McMillan, and nine children, around 1791. Soon after the turn of the century the family settled in Butler County, Pa., where Cleeland bought 400 acres of land.

Arthur Cleeland's sixth child was Robert Cleeland (1774-1838) who is the father of John Cleeland. John Cleeland (1811-1904) married Elizabeth "Betsy" Morrison (1819-1883) in 1835 and established their family home in Perry Township, Mercer County, Pa., in 1870.

David Long Cleeland (DLC) was born to John and Betsy Cleeland in 1855, worked in a grist mill until he was 19 years old, and was educated in Perry Township and at Sandy Lake College. He learned watch-making and became a jeweler and optometrist in Butler County. He later established D.L. Cleeland & Son with his son Carl. DLC was also one of the organizers of the Second United Presbyterian Church. His wife was Florinda "Flora" Cubbinson (1860-1949) and they had five sons: Carl, Earl, Frank, Roy, and David.

David Cleeland II, born in 1896, is the youngest son of David and Flora Cleeland. He graduated from Butler High School and the University of Washington in 1917. He served as a 2nd lieutenant in the United States Army in World War I from 1917 until 1919 before returning home to study painting. He was commissioned by Time magazine in 1929 to do oil paintings for the magazine's cover, and his subjects included Mrs. Herbert Hoover, Admiral Richard E. Byrd, Chief Justice Harlan Stone, and Col. Charles Lindbergh. David Cleeland II also painted the only known portrait of comedian Will Rogers in 1930.

Earl Cleeland is DLC's eldest son (b. 1879) and served as a chaplain in the United States Army during World War I. He graduated from Washington and Jefferson College and Princeton Theological Seminary. Earl Cleeland taught English in China and researched the Cleeland family for 39 years at the New York Public Library. He designed a Cleeland coat of arms based upon his research and his brother Carl then used the seals in the lids of eyeglass cases at their father's optometry office. Earl Cleeland also served as rector at the Little Church Around the Corner in New York City.

Earl Cleeland's daughter, Florinda, was educated in New York and moved to Riverside, California after she married fellow artist Joe Leighton. Her copper enamel murals have been displayed at Riverside City College and the International Lounge of the University Commons of the University of California Riverside.

Scope and Content Notes

The Cleeland Family Papers and Photographs contain publications, correspondence, and genealogical information documenting the Cleeland family from 13th century Scotland to 20th century Butler County, Pa. The bulk of the materials concern David Long Cleeland's relatives and descendants.

Box one consists of genealogical information and materials for family reunions assembled by Lucille (Cleeland) Tooke, a descendant of DLC. Correspondence includes letters from Lucille Tooke's daughters, April and Anne, while on their trip to Europe in 1973. Further correspondence is between Lucille Tooke and various Cleeland family members concerning their family history and family reunions in the 1990s. Publications on Scottish history and William Wallace were collected by Lucille Tooke while on her trip to the Cleland family estate in Cleland, North Lanarkshire, Scotland in 1983. Photographs further document her trip and depict landmarks around the village.

Box one also contains the Cleeland family circle chart which was completed by Elizabeth Simpson of Adelaide, Australia, daughter of Sir John Cleeland, and includes Cleeland family members and branches from 1297 up to the 1920s. Also included is one of the associated notebooks created by Lucille Tooke in 1977 which contains genealogical information on Arthur Cleeland (DLC's great-grandfather) and his descendants.

Genealogical publications in the collection include The Ancient Family of Cleland by John Burton Cleland (1905) and A Peep into the Past of The Cleeland Family by Mertie Cleeland Temple which is purposed to supplement the circle chart. In addition, the Preliminary Compilation of Possible Genealogy of Cleland Family, compiled by Betty Cherry (1994) includes historical background of the Plantations of Ulster, maps of land ordinances of Pennsylvania and Ireland, and a timeline of Cleeland family settlements.

Other publications in this box include Thoughts in Verse and Rhyme (1948) by June Cleeland David and The Pittsburgh Press "Outdoors Guide" (1961) by Roger Latham, Lucille Tooke's second cousin who was the outdoors editor for The Pittsburgh Press for 22 years.

Box two contains Time magazine covers (1929) featuring portraits by David Long Cleeland II and a print of a painting he completed of Ingrid Bergman in 1947. In addition, the box contains portraits of Cleeland family members including Helen Palmer Cleeland (Carl L. Cleeland's wife) and their children, Lucille and Robert Cleeland (1898-c1950s.)

Box three contains color-coded binders and folders containing geneological notes and correspondence and are associated with the Cleeland family circle chart in box one and expand upon the various Cleeland family branches.

Conditions Governing Access

None.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift from Lucille Cleeland Tooke in 1987 and 2000.

Archives accession # 1987.72 and # 2000.0200.

Preferred Citation

Cleeland Family Papers and Photographs, 1880s-1990s, MSS 831 , Library and Archives Division, Senator John Heinz History Center

Processing Information

This collection was processed by Sarah Ecklund on 09/26/2012.

Conditions Governing Use

Property rights reside with the Senator John Heinz History Center. Literary rights are retained by the creators of the records and their heirs. For permission to reproduce or publish, please contact the Library and Archives of the Senator John Heinz History Center.

Subjects

Personal Names

Cleeland Family -- Genealogy
Cleeland, Arthur
Cleeland, Carl
Cleeland, David Long (1855-1913)
Cleeland, David II
Cleeland, John (1811-1904)
Cleeland, Robert (1774-1838)
Cubbinson, Flora (1860-1949)
Morrison, Elizabeth "Betsy (1819-1883)
Tooke, Lucille Cleeland

Guide to the Cleeland Family Papers and Photographs 1880s-1990s