The Atlanta constitution. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1885-19??, 1892-12-13
GROWERS ANCESTORS.
SOMETHING ABOUT BEAN HILL,
CONN, WHERE TEET LIVED.
And Something About His Ancestors-They
, Were Men of Mark, but Quiet Men
" Others Who Lived at Bean Hill.

Norwich. Conn, December Ply reason
OF their historical ass0ca tons and the mem
cries that cluster about them, the ancestral
homes of our distinguished men are always
objects of more than passing interest, but
in the case of cx-President Cleveland the
subject riyets the attention all the more
closely because the little town where the
family homestead stands is in itself most
romantic bit of antique and rugged New
England and the ancestral home of two
other chief magistrates beside.
This yankeefied place has the yankecficd
name of Bean Hill, and lies in the eastern
part of Connecticut 1t is ncxt-door
ncighbor to Norwichtown, and Norwichtown
is suburb of Norwich, the '.Rose of New
England whose rounding and terraced
hills and intersecting valleys, picturcsquely
| dotted with mingled woodland, rock, and
Srecnsward nestle c0yly between the high
banked 1antic and Shetuckct rivers, which
there join to form the winding and winsomc
Thames.
Willard Fillmore and Rutherford r. Hayes
arc the other two ex-presidents that Bean
Hill has indirectly turned out, and the an
clent hamlet it still doing business Az the old
stand. Add to all this the fact that Mrs
Cleveland is the granddaughter of lady
who came from grand old Lebanon, the
i've governors, including that national hero,
Jonathan Trumbull-the original Brother
jonathan of revolutionary fame Wash
ingtons pillar of strength and main source
OF supply for the sineWs OF war-and the
part played by this section of the Nutmeg
:, State III shaping the deStnies of the dc
hocracys leading exponent is made CON
spcuously apparent.
Blood will tell, and like father. Ike son.
rs an adage that holds good in rclnoter de
grecs or c0nsanSunity. Hence it is not sur
piiSihs 10 discover that the three genera
tons OF Cleyclands, who lived and moved
ana mad there being in these parts, were
men OF mark imbucd with solid and en-
during traits of character, or that their
bravery, pluck, piety and intellectual gifts
nave been transmitted to their illustrious
descendant
Great oaks from little acorns grow. but
these nonarchs of the forest never sprout
rom peanuts. Though he wears ne grand
lathers hat, the dnn%eracy's chieftain j.,
pnng from. nd consulted S. 'r~1amd ', clergy,
- y ney all said ii was dyspe 80, DO
IL may easny 81 al'' s-1-ed that no higher
mark OF confidence and esteem could be
bestowed III on William Cleveland in The
community IN which he lived than that CON
feired when he returned to his native town
III ISl2-aiter few years absence since
early manho0d-Whercby he was ''sct an,rt
Tor the Office of deacon of the First Eonrrc-
gational church" Having no ambition for
political distinction, it was more to his lik-
ing than any other office that could have
been bestowed, conferring As il did y mora
substantial divinity than the title Of mayor
For twenty-five years from the time Of his
re-cntrance to Norwich until the day of his
death in August, 1887. William Cleveland
was deacon in the old First church, and
enjoyed the distinction OF sitting in one of
the dcacon's chairs Oh either side of the
pulpit, reyercntly fulfilling the duties of
his position. Nor was it purely digna toriaI
The tithingman, the mcddlesome marti-
net of old time New England church life,
armed with his long s'afI whose heavy
knob at one end was to whack the heads Of
the boys, while the hares foot Mt the other
end was TO tickle the faces of the girls. if
they became bypnotzed with sleep by the
preachers long sermons that fusSy, petty
functonary and his office and as the dea-