The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1907-04-05
Death of Mrs. Charlotte @.
Van Cleve.
WAS WELL KNOWN WOMAN
First White Child to Visit Minneapolis;
She Was Famous Throughout
the State.

consin Van Cleve, aged eighty eight
years, the oldest pioneer of the state
| and one of the oldest residents of Min
neapolis, died yesterday afternoon at six
O'Clock at her residence, COB Fifth street
southeast.
Mrs. Van Cleve, daughter of Nathan
| Clark, was the first white child of pure
| blood born in what is now the state of
| Wisconsin.
She was born at Prairie du CHEN,
Wisconsin, July l, 1919, while the regi-
, ment of which her father was an officer,
was on its way to found a fort at the
| mouth of the st. Peter river" the fort
that is now known as Fort Smelling. Six
| weeks later the regiment finished its
journey up the Mississippi ON fat boats
and landed at its destination. The baby
of the party was Ouisconsin Clark, the
| first white baby TO visit Minnesota.
Here her father lived until Charlotte
was eight years old. Lieutenant Clark
go, Wis, and Charlotte was shortly af
terward sent to New Haven, Conn.,, to
| school. When she returned to the then
wilderness she met the man who after
wards became her husband, Lieutenant
Horatio Phillips Van Cleve, U. S. A.
Mr.. Van CIeve was then young man
just out of West Point. The couple were
married March %, 1886, at what was
then Fort Winnebago, Michigan Terri
| tory, now Winnebago, Wisconsin.
Lieutenant Van Cleve soon afterward
resigned his commission in the army
and he and his young wife went to live
| in Cincinnati, but in 1856 they were
| back in Minnesota, where they have
| lived ever since; the greater part of the
tirne in Minneapolis. Ks
In 1861 M. Van Cleve enlisted in the
volunteers as Colonel of the Second Min
nesota infantry. When the war ended
he was Brigadier General Van Cleve.
Mr.. Van Cleve died April "a, 1891.
Mrs Van Cleve had seen Minneapolis
grow from nothing. She watched the
first railroad train come into st. An
thony. Her father, who was then COM
missary general in Colonel Snelling's
regiment, directed the building of the
first grist mill at the Falls of st.
Anthony. She had been a member of
Andrew Presbyterian church since 1862.
She was one of the organizers of the
Sisterhood of Bethany. She was its first
president and continued for many years
in that capacity. She was member of
the State Historical society. She was
prominent in the foreign mission work
of her church, devoting much of her
time to public speaking in behalf of the
work.
ancestry. Her grandfather was Colonel
Thomas Seymour of Revolutionary
fame.
Mrs. Van Cleve was during her whole
life very healthy, vigorous woman.
but about six years ago she sustained
serious fall which injured her hip perm
anentIy. Since that time she has been
confined to her home Her death came
peacefully. She was unconscious for
forty-eight hours before she breathed
her last and never at any time was
there the least indication of pain.
Mrs. Van Cleve was the mother of
twelve children, seven of whom are liv-
ing: Mrs. w. w. Hall of Honolulu;
Seymour Van Cleve of New York City;
f. NJ. Van Cleve of Melleville, Montana;
John r. Van Cleve of Seward, Alaska;
and Carl Z. Van Cleve of Minneapolis.
All of the children except Mrs. Hall and
John r. Van Cleve were in Minneapolis
at the time of her death.
She leaves twenty -four grandchildren
and three great grandchildren. The
great grandchildren are Mary Nicoll of
Tripoli, Syria; Philip Henry Dugro, Sec
ond, of New York, and Helen Beinecke
of Leipsic, Germany.