The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1885-12-03
oLEvELAND,s CRADLE.
A Fisherman Brings to Light Some Inter
esting History.


A Fisherman Brings to Light Some Inter
esting History.
To say that tue cradle in which
Grover Cleveland was rocked and
which was itself made by one of his
ancestors is now in Pulaski would
hardly be believed. 1t came in
such a roundabout way that it
seems almost miraculous, and yet
it bears such unquestionable testi
mony of its own geuuineness that
it challenges contradiction. The
Cleveland family has been known
IN Clermont county, Ohio, for near
ly century. jeremiah and Steph-
en- were brothers Of the presidents
father, Aaron, and Grover was nam
ed for his uncle Stephen. Jerry
married Lizzie Robinson and set
tled on Lucy's run, near Batavia,
where the ruins of his shop still
stand. He was in those early days
compelled to take payment for work
in truck. His son Aaron yet sur
wives and is a gauger by the grace
of his cousin Grover.
Ohio was then (about 1830) rap
idly filling up and the rapid in
crease in population bethought
these pushing boys of going into
the cradle making business. Their
uncle Jerry before them was a
clock maker and a cradle maker.
Some of his clocks still run with
works in them stamped with his
name 156 years ago. There was
no means of advertising in those
days and manufacturers were very
particular to put their name on
their wares so that it couldn't be
gotten off. The old Franklin print
ing presses have the name engraved
in the iron and then a brass plate
put over 1t, and SO with the Cleve-
land clocks and cradles. The boys
took readily to the old business and
soon had big business afoot. The
beautiful Miss Trout in Broom
county who made herself famous In
early times by refusing to marry
Thos. i. Hamar, was rocked in
Cleveland cradle. Gen Hamar was
q big man in his day and he it was
who appointed Gen. Grant to West
Point. Relations of Gen. Grant in
the southern part of the county
still own a Cleveland cradle which
they claimed rocked the great gen
eral Grover himself was rocked in
one of these cradles, made about
the time the Grant cradle was
made.
His father was a preacher of
great note and large family. He
lived in New York and New Hamp-
shire, and finally accepted call
over in Ohio, being induced to it
by his brothers. His work was
some sixty miles from Batavia and
be sent his family to live with his
brothers. Grover was an infant
then and of course was rocked in
one of the family cradles. Soon the
preacher found that it would be
hard to make a living for a large
family in such a sparsely settled
country and he moved back to New
York. And this is the cradle now
in Pulaski. During the war the
4th Ohio cavalry patrolled this
country. They were the advance
guard of Gen. o. @. Mitchell (the
geography Mitchell) after Donel
son, and they remained in Giles,
Lincoln, Bedford and Coffee coun
ties for many months. A german
suttler with this regiment sold
goods in Pulaski for some months
and he had his family with him
and his wife had the veritable
Cleveland cradle rocking her little
Hans in it. His store was sacked
by John Morgan's cavalry on
memorable day in Pulaski's history,
and the suttler being in citizens
clothes escaped detection. The
yankees had been run off and the
german suttler concluded to get as
tar away from the war as possible,
and hired Green jackson, a colored
man still living in Pulaski, to haul
his family away down in Lawrence.
1t cannot be told how the cradle
got into this germans hands, but
there can be no mistaking it, and
here it remained in obscurity until
early last spring when the fates
again took it in tow and brought it
again before the world.
Messrs. Jno. Arch Richardson
and A. F. Finley were fishing at
Murah's mill, at the mouth of Su-
gar creek last March and while
there heavy rains fell and the floods
came. Mr.. Richardson was out on
the dam early one morning casting
for salmon when he saw a strange
looking object in the drift and get
ting a lex and poking it out he
brought up the cradle and carried
it TO camp. 1t was more for fun
that he carried it up, and after jest
ing over it they laid it aside bot
tom upwards and cut up fish on it. |
When they started home they
threw it in the wagon for seat, and
when they got here, in throwing it
out, the end board split and paper |
dropped out The en- was made OF
two pieces aud they were followed |
on the inner face and glued togeth-
er, so as to tightly enclose the pa.
per. Carved on the board which |
appeared on close inspection, was:
'Mdde BIZ"
81. & 8. cLEvELANDE,"
Batavia, o."
The paper inside was nearly illeg-
ible but enough can be made out
TO know that it was made for Ste
phen Grover, son of Aaron. B.
Cleveland. Correspondence was at