Roger CLEVELAND 1645 - 1734

Roger Cleveland is thought to be the first Cleveland in our Southern line to come to America.

Born about 1645 in Loughboro, Lichester, England, Roger Cleveland is first seen in government records in Virginia on November 16, 1670, as a farm tenant in a Land Appeal Lane vs. Bryan.

Roger is thought to have been married twice, as he is attributed with a son John, born in 1675 in Gloucester Co., Virginia - before his marriage to Dorcas ALEXANDER. This John is now thought to be in our Arizona Clevelands' lineage.

In 1679 a deed shows Simon Miller sold 440 acres in Old Rappahanock County, VA to Roger CLEVELAND; the deed says Roger CLEVELAND was "of Gloucester";, and a "planter"; “…that I Symon Miller of the County of Rappae: Boatewright, for a valuable consideration already received have sold unto Roger Cleaveland of the Pish of Abington in the County of Glocester, Plantr, a parcell of land conteyning foure hundred and forty acres lying on the North side of Rappae: River…” {2}

Roger Cleveland, at age 38, married Dorcas ALEXANDER in 1683 in Gloucester Co., VA.

Their daughter, Elizabeth, was born in 1684 and baptized at Abingdon Parish on 31 Oct 1684 in Gloucester Co., VA.

 

A son, Alexander, was born in 1687 and baptized July 31, 1687 in Abingdon Parish.

The photo at left is a recent picture of Abingdon Parish Episcopal Church.

 

 

Unfortunately, Roger's wife, Dorcas, died in 1687, possibly in Occoquan, Prince William Co., VA. The children would have been John age 12, Elizabeth age 3, and Alexander a new born.

At some point, Roger CLEVELAND moved to Spotsylvania County, VA (a part that later became Orange County) and is found in records there in 1734, at the age of 89. {3}

No death record of Roger Cleveland has been found yet

    Sources:
  1. From website - http://gracegenes.tripod.com/deedrcleveland.htm From
  2. Old Rappahannock County Deeds & Wills 1677-1682 Part II pp 236-237 Nover Cort 79
  3. Minutes of the Council and General Court of Colonial VA, Vol 58, p 254, Virginia State Library, Richmond, VA. also Spottsylvania County VA Records by Crozier, p 17; Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
  4. Virginia Cleveland Ancestor Discovered: National Genealogicial Society Quarterly, Vol 46, p 152, September 1958
  5. Records of Gloucester, VA, Vol. II, 1948
  6. From message board on Ancestry.com – July 2005 http://boards.ancestry.com/thread.aspx?mv=flat&m=697&p=surnames.cleveland
  7. Abingdon Parish Register of Gloucester County, Virginia; discovered in the Virginia Archives in Richmond 1958 by George Martin.