Name: Cleveland, Moses A.
Date: Aug. 6, 1926
Notes: Cleveland-Moses A., beloved father of Mrs. Sarah A. Tyler, Mrs. Ellen M. Goff, Charles M. Cleveland, Mrs. Mary E. Moss, Grant T. and Oren R. Cleveland, passed away Wednesday, Aug. 4, in his 104th year. Services at residence of his son, Grant T. Cleveland, 14312 Coit road, Saturday, Aug. 7, 2:30 p.m. Please omit flowers. Friends invited. Burial at Mentor, O.
Source: Source unknown; Cleveland Necrology File, Reel #015. Id#: 0056737
Moses Allen Cleveland was descended from solid, old-stock Connecticut families. His grandfather and namesake, Moses Allen, a "gentleman of the old style," was for many years a post rider from Enfield to Hartford, and in the 1830s still wore silver knee buckles, short breeches and silk stockings. Alexander Cleveland, his other grandfather, was a Revolutionary War veteran who ceded fifty acres in rural northwestern Connecticut to his sons Alexander and Oren, Moses' father.
Despite deep New England roots and the promise of his grandfather's gift to his father, stability was never to be a feature of Moses Cleveland's life, even during his youth. The family moved frequently during Moses' childhood, spending time in Barkhampstead, Winchester, and New Hartford, all before he was ten. A farming family, they eked out a living year by year, never quite rising above the level of sufficiency. Partly for these reasons, Moses received only a sporadic education in common schools and at home, though he clearly learned to read and write well, and equally clearly learned to love the idea of self-improvement.
At thirteen, Moses began hiring out as a farm laborer, but disliking farm work, he soon sought other opportunities. His father set him up as a traveling salesman with a small stock of goods such as needles, pins, combs and toy books, and during his travels throughout the state, he became fascinated with machinery, hiring on as a factory hand in Terryville and Scotland. In the fall of 1838, his father arranged an apprenticeship for Moses with Mr. Edwards of Hartford (probably William Edwards, a joiner), to learn the trade of house carpentry. The city, even more than the work appealed to the young man, and Moses developed an insatiable taste for reading and learning by attending lectures at the Young Men's Institute, and availing himself of the library at the Wadsworth Atheneum. In his first letter from home, his family informed him that they intended to remove to Ohio, but Moses remained in Hartford, preferring anything to the unpleasantry of "pioneering." His ties to Hartford seemed only to strengthen as he approached adulthood: he joined the fire brigade (rather than make himself available for military duty), was brought into the Baptist church in a revival, and became involved in the cause of temperance. Although he did not remain a Baptist, Moses carried strong religious perspective with him for the remainder of his life, and remained an unflinching temperance man.
Somewhat surprisingly, Moses abruptly terminated his apprenticeship in July, 1841, intending to move to Boston to work on his own. As fate would have it, however, he missed an early train when changing in Worcester, and decided instead to settle there. For many years Worcester remained one of the centers Moses' his world, and as he had in Hartford, he delved into the local scene, joining the local chapter of the Washington Temperance Society, the lyceum, and the Worcester County Mechanics Association. On October 10, 1842, though only twenty at the time, he further strengthened his ties to the city by marrying a local seamstress, Eliza Ann Williams. "Although I was young to marry," he commented wryly, "I was not too young" (1:38).
Worcester was one of the towns trodden over by William Miller in 1842, as he spread word of the impending end of the world. Moses was a particularly rapt member of the audience, attending Miller's lectures nightly for a week, though refusing to take part in some of the excesses. "Some went so far as to make ascension robes and indulge in other absurdities" he wrote. "Among the young people there was a 'mixing up that was anything by moral, as results proved'" (1:39). Even fifty year later, Moses was still captivated by Miller, and gave him "the credit of sincerity, as well as others who sounded the midnight cry and warning to a doomed world" (1:39). Though Miller had been wrong about when the second coming of Christ would take place, Moses still felt that "no doubt there will be a fulfillment of all events predicted in his word and it only remains for us to live as becomes those who will 'inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.'" (2:28)
In a pattern that would typify his life, just as Moses seemed prepared to settle permanently in one spot, ill fortune drove him on his way. After finishing work on a construction project in December, 1843, the prospect of being left idle through the winter (or, alternatively, "having a desire to engage in a lighter employment" 2:30) Moses decided to try his luck in New York City. There, with no prospects beckoning for a carpenter, he was forced to hire on as a bar tender in the Branch Hotel in the Bowery, which he soon discovered was actually a front for a gambling den, and later in the dining room of the Croton Hotel, a temperance establishment that he said was "more in keeping with my own conscience" (1:42). Again, fate intervened, this time in the form of his first child, Frances Ann, in February, 1844, who quickly made a waiter's wages seem inadequate. Moses was again sent in search of another job, landing as a carpenter in Sag Harbor, and for the next decade or more, he continued in the same pattern: brief periods of employment, usually as a carpenter, followed by relocation and often separation from his wife and children. His reasons for moving varied each time: unemployment, poor prospects, low wages, even his wife's homesickness drove him onward. The Clevelands, their family growing, bounced around between New York, Connecticut, and Worcester, and paying extended visits to relatives in Ohio.
With the depressed economy of 1856, Cleveland moved to Ohio to begin work with the Cleveland & Toledo Railroad, but fell ill with typhus. When he returned to Worcester, where his wife had remained, he discovered his wife well, but shortly after his arrival, she took ill and died, leaving him alone with three small children. Adding to the tragedy, Moses' tool chest, uninsured, was consumed in a fire shortly thereafter. Each of the children was placed in homes with relatives and friends for several months. In October, 1856, Moses married Miss Littlefield, who had herself been raised in another's family home following the death of a parent, and began the slow process of reuniting his family.
Having moved to Ohio (again), Moses returned to Massachusetts during the spring of 1862, to enlist in the army, wishing to "go as a volunteer if at all" (2:78). Finding he lacked the strength and stamina for the infantry, and lacked the horsemanship for the cavalry, Moses joined the 7th Massachusetts Light Artillery regiment, serving in minor campaigns in Louisiana, Mobile, and Texas before mustering out on November 17, 1865, and resuming his incessant wandering in search of a better life for the working man.
Moses Allen Cleveland began writing his autobiography on his birthday, October 30, 1892, recounting the complex and extraordinarily mobile life of a working class New Englander. Written retrospectively, fifty years after the most thoroughly documented period of his life, the autobiography includes valuable reminiscences of a mechanic's life in the 1830s through 50s, the struggle to find his way in the world of southern New England, his family relations, mobility, and his incessant search for solid employment. A skilled tradesman, having apprenticed in his teens to a house carpenter, Cleveland compensated for seasonal and periodic unemployment by regularly relocating and accepting a variety of jobs, including waiter, railroad worker, and manufacturer of boxes and implements for whaling ships -- whatever paid the bills.
Although these numerous moves often took Cleveland away from his wife, children, and community, he was no less devoted to family for it. Through all the separations, births, deaths, and tragedies experienced by Cleveland, and despite the distance between brothers, sisters, parents and children, family ties remained remarkably strong, and perhaps the only constant on which he could rely.
Source: Manuscripts Division, William L. Clements Library, University of Michigan, Finding aid for Moses A. Cleveland Collection, 1864-1917 Finding aid created by Rob S. Cox, September 1997, and Meg Hixon, October 2011
Date: Aug. 6, 1926
Notes: Cleveland-Moses A., beloved father of Mrs. Sarah A. Tyler, Mrs. Ellen M. Goff, Charles M. Cleveland, Mrs. Mary E. Moss, Grant T. and Oren R. Cleveland, passed away Wednesday, Aug. 4, in his 104th year. Services at residence of his son, Grant T. Cleveland, 14312 Coit road, Saturday, Aug. 7, 2:30 p.m. Please omit flowers. Friends invited. Burial at Mentor, O.
Source: Source unknown; Cleveland Necrology File, Reel #015. Id#: 0056737
Moses Allen Cleveland was descended from solid, old-stock Connecticut families. His grandfather and namesake, Moses Allen, a "gentleman of the old style," was for many years a post rider from Enfield to Hartford, and in the 1830s still wore silver knee buckles, short breeches and silk stockings. Alexander Cleveland, his other grandfather, was a Revolutionary War veteran who ceded fifty acres in rural northwestern Connecticut to his sons Alexander and Oren, Moses' father.
Despite deep New England roots and the promise of his grandfather's gift to his father, stability was never to be a feature of Moses Cleveland's life, even during his youth. The family moved frequently during Moses' childhood, spending time in Barkhampstead, Winchester, and New Hartford, all before he was ten. A farming family, they eked out a living year by year, never quite rising above the level of sufficiency. Partly for these reasons, Moses received only a sporadic education in common schools and at home, though he clearly learned to read and write well, and equally clearly learned to love the idea of self-improvement.
At thirteen, Moses began hiring out as a farm laborer, but disliking farm work, he soon sought other opportunities. His father set him up as a traveling salesman with a small stock of goods such as needles, pins, combs and toy books, and during his travels throughout the state, he became fascinated with machinery, hiring on as a factory hand in Terryville and Scotland. In the fall of 1838, his father arranged an apprenticeship for Moses with Mr. Edwards of Hartford (probably William Edwards, a joiner), to learn the trade of house carpentry. The city, even more than the work appealed to the young man, and Moses developed an insatiable taste for reading and learning by attending lectures at the Young Men's Institute, and availing himself of the library at the Wadsworth Atheneum. In his first letter from home, his family informed him that they intended to remove to Ohio, but Moses remained in Hartford, preferring anything to the unpleasantry of "pioneering." His ties to Hartford seemed only to strengthen as he approached adulthood: he joined the fire brigade (rather than make himself available for military duty), was brought into the Baptist church in a revival, and became involved in the cause of temperance. Although he did not remain a Baptist, Moses carried strong religious perspective with him for the remainder of his life, and remained an unflinching temperance man.
Somewhat surprisingly, Moses abruptly terminated his apprenticeship in July, 1841, intending to move to Boston to work on his own. As fate would have it, however, he missed an early train when changing in Worcester, and decided instead to settle there. For many years Worcester remained one of the centers Moses' his world, and as he had in Hartford, he delved into the local scene, joining the local chapter of the Washington Temperance Society, the lyceum, and the Worcester County Mechanics Association. On October 10, 1842, though only twenty at the time, he further strengthened his ties to the city by marrying a local seamstress, Eliza Ann Williams. "Although I was young to marry," he commented wryly, "I was not too young" (1:38).
Worcester was one of the towns trodden over by William Miller in 1842, as he spread word of the impending end of the world. Moses was a particularly rapt member of the audience, attending Miller's lectures nightly for a week, though refusing to take part in some of the excesses. "Some went so far as to make ascension robes and indulge in other absurdities" he wrote. "Among the young people there was a 'mixing up that was anything by moral, as results proved'" (1:39). Even fifty year later, Moses was still captivated by Miller, and gave him "the credit of sincerity, as well as others who sounded the midnight cry and warning to a doomed world" (1:39). Though Miller had been wrong about when the second coming of Christ would take place, Moses still felt that "no doubt there will be a fulfillment of all events predicted in his word and it only remains for us to live as becomes those who will 'inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.'" (2:28)
In a pattern that would typify his life, just as Moses seemed prepared to settle permanently in one spot, ill fortune drove him on his way. After finishing work on a construction project in December, 1843, the prospect of being left idle through the winter (or, alternatively, "having a desire to engage in a lighter employment" 2:30) Moses decided to try his luck in New York City. There, with no prospects beckoning for a carpenter, he was forced to hire on as a bar tender in the Branch Hotel in the Bowery, which he soon discovered was actually a front for a gambling den, and later in the dining room of the Croton Hotel, a temperance establishment that he said was "more in keeping with my own conscience" (1:42). Again, fate intervened, this time in the form of his first child, Frances Ann, in February, 1844, who quickly made a waiter's wages seem inadequate. Moses was again sent in search of another job, landing as a carpenter in Sag Harbor, and for the next decade or more, he continued in the same pattern: brief periods of employment, usually as a carpenter, followed by relocation and often separation from his wife and children. His reasons for moving varied each time: unemployment, poor prospects, low wages, even his wife's homesickness drove him onward. The Clevelands, their family growing, bounced around between New York, Connecticut, and Worcester, and paying extended visits to relatives in Ohio.
With the depressed economy of 1856, Cleveland moved to Ohio to begin work with the Cleveland & Toledo Railroad, but fell ill with typhus. When he returned to Worcester, where his wife had remained, he discovered his wife well, but shortly after his arrival, she took ill and died, leaving him alone with three small children. Adding to the tragedy, Moses' tool chest, uninsured, was consumed in a fire shortly thereafter. Each of the children was placed in homes with relatives and friends for several months. In October, 1856, Moses married Miss Littlefield, who had herself been raised in another's family home following the death of a parent, and began the slow process of reuniting his family.
Having moved to Ohio (again), Moses returned to Massachusetts during the spring of 1862, to enlist in the army, wishing to "go as a volunteer if at all" (2:78). Finding he lacked the strength and stamina for the infantry, and lacked the horsemanship for the cavalry, Moses joined the 7th Massachusetts Light Artillery regiment, serving in minor campaigns in Louisiana, Mobile, and Texas before mustering out on November 17, 1865, and resuming his incessant wandering in search of a better life for the working man.
Moses Allen Cleveland began writing his autobiography on his birthday, October 30, 1892, recounting the complex and extraordinarily mobile life of a working class New Englander. Written retrospectively, fifty years after the most thoroughly documented period of his life, the autobiography includes valuable reminiscences of a mechanic's life in the 1830s through 50s, the struggle to find his way in the world of southern New England, his family relations, mobility, and his incessant search for solid employment. A skilled tradesman, having apprenticed in his teens to a house carpenter, Cleveland compensated for seasonal and periodic unemployment by regularly relocating and accepting a variety of jobs, including waiter, railroad worker, and manufacturer of boxes and implements for whaling ships -- whatever paid the bills.
Although these numerous moves often took Cleveland away from his wife, children, and community, he was no less devoted to family for it. Through all the separations, births, deaths, and tragedies experienced by Cleveland, and despite the distance between brothers, sisters, parents and children, family ties remained remarkably strong, and perhaps the only constant on which he could rely.
Source: Manuscripts Division, William L. Clements Library, University of Michigan, Finding aid for Moses A. Cleveland Collection, 1864-1917 Finding aid created by Rob S. Cox, September 1997, and Meg Hixon, October 2011
Name: Cleveland, Moses A.
Date: Aug. 6, 1926
Notes: Cleveland-Moses A., beloved father of Mrs. Sarah A. Tyler, Mrs. Ellen M. Goff, Charles M. Cleveland, Mrs. Mary E. Moss, Grant T. and Oren R. Cleveland, passed away Wednesday, Aug. 4, in his 104th year. Services at residence of his son, Grant T. Cleveland, 14312 Coit road, Saturday, Aug. 7, 2:30 p.m. Please omit flowers. Friends invited. Burial at Mentor, O.
Source: Source unknown; Cleveland Necrology File, Reel #015. Id#: 0056737
Moses Allen Cleveland was descended from solid, old-stock Connecticut families. His grandfather and namesake, Moses Allen, a "gentleman of the old style," was for many years a post rider from Enfield to Hartford, and in the 1830s still wore silver knee buckles, short breeches and silk stockings. Alexander Cleveland, his other grandfather, was a Revolutionary War veteran who ceded fifty acres in rural northwestern Connecticut to his sons Alexander and Oren, Moses' father.
Despite deep New England roots and the promise of his grandfather's gift to his father, stability was never to be a feature of Moses Cleveland's life, even during his youth. The family moved frequently during Moses' childhood, spending time in Barkhampstead, Winchester, and New Hartford, all before he was ten. A farming family, they eked out a living year by year, never quite rising above the level of sufficiency. Partly for these reasons, Moses received only a sporadic education in common schools and at home, though he clearly learned to read and write well, and equally clearly learned to love the idea of self-improvement.
At thirteen, Moses began hiring out as a farm laborer, but disliking farm work, he soon sought other opportunities. His father set him up as a traveling salesman with a small stock of goods such as needles, pins, combs and toy books, and during his travels throughout the state, he became fascinated with machinery, hiring on as a factory hand in Terryville and Scotland. In the fall of 1838, his father arranged an apprenticeship for Moses with Mr. Edwards of Hartford (probably William Edwards, a joiner), to learn the trade of house carpentry. The city, even more than the work appealed to the young man, and Moses developed an insatiable taste for reading and learning by attending lectures at the Young Men's Institute, and availing himself of the library at the Wadsworth Atheneum. In his first letter from home, his family informed him that they intended to remove to Ohio, but Moses remained in Hartford, preferring anything to the unpleasantry of "pioneering." His ties to Hartford seemed only to strengthen as he approached adulthood: he joined the fire brigade (rather than make himself available for military duty), was brought into the Baptist church in a revival, and became involved in the cause of temperance. Although he did not remain a Baptist, Moses carried strong religious perspective with him for the remainder of his life, and remained an unflinching temperance man.
Somewhat surprisingly, Moses abruptly terminated his apprenticeship in July, 1841, intending to move to Boston to work on his own. As fate would have it, however, he missed an early train when changing in Worcester, and decided instead to settle there. For many years Worcester remained one of the centers Moses' his world, and as he had in Hartford, he delved into the local scene, joining the local chapter of the Washington Temperance Society, the lyceum, and the Worcester County Mechanics Association. On October 10, 1842, though only twenty at the time, he further strengthened his ties to the city by marrying a local seamstress, Eliza Ann Williams. "Although I was young to marry," he commented wryly, "I was not too young" (1:38).
Worcester was one of the towns trodden over by William Miller in 1842, as he spread word of the impending end of the world. Moses was a particularly rapt member of the audience, attending Miller's lectures nightly for a week, though refusing to take part in some of the excesses. "Some went so far as to make ascension robes and indulge in other absurdities" he wrote. "Among the young people there was a 'mixing up that was anything by moral, as results proved'" (1:39). Even fifty year later, Moses was still captivated by Miller, and gave him "the credit of sincerity, as well as others who sounded the midnight cry and warning to a doomed world" (1:39). Though Miller had been wrong about when the second coming of Christ would take place, Moses still felt that "no doubt there will be a fulfillment of all events predicted in his word and it only remains for us to live as becomes those who will 'inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.'" (2:28)
In a pattern that would typify his life, just as Moses seemed prepared to settle permanently in one spot, ill fortune drove him on his way. After finishing work on a construction project in December, 1843, the prospect of being left idle through the winter (or, alternatively, "having a desire to engage in a lighter employment" 2:30) Moses decided to try his luck in New York City. There, with no prospects beckoning for a carpenter, he was forced to hire on as a bar tender in the Branch Hotel in the Bowery, which he soon discovered was actually a front for a gambling den, and later in the dining room of the Croton Hotel, a temperance establishment that he said was "more in keeping with my own conscience" (1:42). Again, fate intervened, this time in the form of his first child, Frances Ann, in February, 1844, who quickly made a waiter's wages seem inadequate. Moses was again sent in search of another job, landing as a carpenter in Sag Harbor, and for the next decade or more, he continued in the same pattern: brief periods of employment, usually as a carpenter, followed by relocation and often separation from his wife and children. His reasons for moving varied each time: unemployment, poor prospects, low wages, even his wife's homesickness drove him onward. The Clevelands, their family growing, bounced around between New York, Connecticut, and Worcester, and paying extended visits to relatives in Ohio.
With the depressed economy of 1856, Cleveland moved to Ohio to begin work with the Cleveland & Toledo Railroad, but fell ill with typhus. When he returned to Worcester, where his wife had remained, he discovered his wife well, but shortly after his arrival, she took ill and died, leaving him alone with three small children. Adding to the tragedy, Moses' tool chest, uninsured, was consumed in a fire shortly thereafter. Each of the children was placed in homes with relatives and friends for several months. In October, 1856, Moses married Miss Littlefield, who had herself been raised in another's family home following the death of a parent, and began the slow process of reuniting his family.
Having moved to Ohio (again), Moses returned to Massachusetts during the spring of 1862, to enlist in the army, wishing to "go as a volunteer if at all" (2:78). Finding he lacked the strength and stamina for the infantry, and lacked the horsemanship for the cavalry, Moses joined the 7th Massachusetts Light Artillery regiment, serving in minor campaigns in Louisiana, Mobile, and Texas before mustering out on November 17, 1865, and resuming his incessant wandering in search of a better life for the working man.
Moses Allen Cleveland began writing his autobiography on his birthday, October 30, 1892, recounting the complex and extraordinarily mobile life of a working class New Englander. Written retrospectively, fifty years after the most thoroughly documented period of his life, the autobiography includes valuable reminiscences of a mechanic's life in the 1830s through 50s, the struggle to find his way in the world of southern New England, his family relations, mobility, and his incessant search for solid employment. A skilled tradesman, having apprenticed in his teens to a house carpenter, Cleveland compensated for seasonal and periodic unemployment by regularly relocating and accepting a variety of jobs, including waiter, railroad worker, and manufacturer of boxes and implements for whaling ships -- whatever paid the bills.
Although these numerous moves often took Cleveland away from his wife, children, and community, he was no less devoted to family for it. Through all the separations, births, deaths, and tragedies experienced by Cleveland, and despite the distance between brothers, sisters, parents and children, family ties remained remarkably strong, and perhaps the only constant on which he could rely.
Source: Manuscripts Division, William L. Clements Library, University of Michigan, Finding aid for Moses A. Cleveland Collection, 1864-1917 Finding aid created by Rob S. Cox, September 1997, and Meg Hixon, October 2011
Date: Aug. 6, 1926
Notes: Cleveland-Moses A., beloved father of Mrs. Sarah A. Tyler, Mrs. Ellen M. Goff, Charles M. Cleveland, Mrs. Mary E. Moss, Grant T. and Oren R. Cleveland, passed away Wednesday, Aug. 4, in his 104th year. Services at residence of his son, Grant T. Cleveland, 14312 Coit road, Saturday, Aug. 7, 2:30 p.m. Please omit flowers. Friends invited. Burial at Mentor, O.
Source: Source unknown; Cleveland Necrology File, Reel #015. Id#: 0056737
Moses Allen Cleveland was descended from solid, old-stock Connecticut families. His grandfather and namesake, Moses Allen, a "gentleman of the old style," was for many years a post rider from Enfield to Hartford, and in the 1830s still wore silver knee buckles, short breeches and silk stockings. Alexander Cleveland, his other grandfather, was a Revolutionary War veteran who ceded fifty acres in rural northwestern Connecticut to his sons Alexander and Oren, Moses' father.
Despite deep New England roots and the promise of his grandfather's gift to his father, stability was never to be a feature of Moses Cleveland's life, even during his youth. The family moved frequently during Moses' childhood, spending time in Barkhampstead, Winchester, and New Hartford, all before he was ten. A farming family, they eked out a living year by year, never quite rising above the level of sufficiency. Partly for these reasons, Moses received only a sporadic education in common schools and at home, though he clearly learned to read and write well, and equally clearly learned to love the idea of self-improvement.
At thirteen, Moses began hiring out as a farm laborer, but disliking farm work, he soon sought other opportunities. His father set him up as a traveling salesman with a small stock of goods such as needles, pins, combs and toy books, and during his travels throughout the state, he became fascinated with machinery, hiring on as a factory hand in Terryville and Scotland. In the fall of 1838, his father arranged an apprenticeship for Moses with Mr. Edwards of Hartford (probably William Edwards, a joiner), to learn the trade of house carpentry. The city, even more than the work appealed to the young man, and Moses developed an insatiable taste for reading and learning by attending lectures at the Young Men's Institute, and availing himself of the library at the Wadsworth Atheneum. In his first letter from home, his family informed him that they intended to remove to Ohio, but Moses remained in Hartford, preferring anything to the unpleasantry of "pioneering." His ties to Hartford seemed only to strengthen as he approached adulthood: he joined the fire brigade (rather than make himself available for military duty), was brought into the Baptist church in a revival, and became involved in the cause of temperance. Although he did not remain a Baptist, Moses carried strong religious perspective with him for the remainder of his life, and remained an unflinching temperance man.
Somewhat surprisingly, Moses abruptly terminated his apprenticeship in July, 1841, intending to move to Boston to work on his own. As fate would have it, however, he missed an early train when changing in Worcester, and decided instead to settle there. For many years Worcester remained one of the centers Moses' his world, and as he had in Hartford, he delved into the local scene, joining the local chapter of the Washington Temperance Society, the lyceum, and the Worcester County Mechanics Association. On October 10, 1842, though only twenty at the time, he further strengthened his ties to the city by marrying a local seamstress, Eliza Ann Williams. "Although I was young to marry," he commented wryly, "I was not too young" (1:38).
Worcester was one of the towns trodden over by William Miller in 1842, as he spread word of the impending end of the world. Moses was a particularly rapt member of the audience, attending Miller's lectures nightly for a week, though refusing to take part in some of the excesses. "Some went so far as to make ascension robes and indulge in other absurdities" he wrote. "Among the young people there was a 'mixing up that was anything by moral, as results proved'" (1:39). Even fifty year later, Moses was still captivated by Miller, and gave him "the credit of sincerity, as well as others who sounded the midnight cry and warning to a doomed world" (1:39). Though Miller had been wrong about when the second coming of Christ would take place, Moses still felt that "no doubt there will be a fulfillment of all events predicted in his word and it only remains for us to live as becomes those who will 'inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.'" (2:28)
In a pattern that would typify his life, just as Moses seemed prepared to settle permanently in one spot, ill fortune drove him on his way. After finishing work on a construction project in December, 1843, the prospect of being left idle through the winter (or, alternatively, "having a desire to engage in a lighter employment" 2:30) Moses decided to try his luck in New York City. There, with no prospects beckoning for a carpenter, he was forced to hire on as a bar tender in the Branch Hotel in the Bowery, which he soon discovered was actually a front for a gambling den, and later in the dining room of the Croton Hotel, a temperance establishment that he said was "more in keeping with my own conscience" (1:42). Again, fate intervened, this time in the form of his first child, Frances Ann, in February, 1844, who quickly made a waiter's wages seem inadequate. Moses was again sent in search of another job, landing as a carpenter in Sag Harbor, and for the next decade or more, he continued in the same pattern: brief periods of employment, usually as a carpenter, followed by relocation and often separation from his wife and children. His reasons for moving varied each time: unemployment, poor prospects, low wages, even his wife's homesickness drove him onward. The Clevelands, their family growing, bounced around between New York, Connecticut, and Worcester, and paying extended visits to relatives in Ohio.
With the depressed economy of 1856, Cleveland moved to Ohio to begin work with the Cleveland & Toledo Railroad, but fell ill with typhus. When he returned to Worcester, where his wife had remained, he discovered his wife well, but shortly after his arrival, she took ill and died, leaving him alone with three small children. Adding to the tragedy, Moses' tool chest, uninsured, was consumed in a fire shortly thereafter. Each of the children was placed in homes with relatives and friends for several months. In October, 1856, Moses married Miss Littlefield, who had herself been raised in another's family home following the death of a parent, and began the slow process of reuniting his family.
Having moved to Ohio (again), Moses returned to Massachusetts during the spring of 1862, to enlist in the army, wishing to "go as a volunteer if at all" (2:78). Finding he lacked the strength and stamina for the infantry, and lacked the horsemanship for the cavalry, Moses joined the 7th Massachusetts Light Artillery regiment, serving in minor campaigns in Louisiana, Mobile, and Texas before mustering out on November 17, 1865, and resuming his incessant wandering in search of a better life for the working man.
Moses Allen Cleveland began writing his autobiography on his birthday, October 30, 1892, recounting the complex and extraordinarily mobile life of a working class New Englander. Written retrospectively, fifty years after the most thoroughly documented period of his life, the autobiography includes valuable reminiscences of a mechanic's life in the 1830s through 50s, the struggle to find his way in the world of southern New England, his family relations, mobility, and his incessant search for solid employment. A skilled tradesman, having apprenticed in his teens to a house carpenter, Cleveland compensated for seasonal and periodic unemployment by regularly relocating and accepting a variety of jobs, including waiter, railroad worker, and manufacturer of boxes and implements for whaling ships -- whatever paid the bills.
Although these numerous moves often took Cleveland away from his wife, children, and community, he was no less devoted to family for it. Through all the separations, births, deaths, and tragedies experienced by Cleveland, and despite the distance between brothers, sisters, parents and children, family ties remained remarkably strong, and perhaps the only constant on which he could rely.
Source: Manuscripts Division, William L. Clements Library, University of Michigan, Finding aid for Moses A. Cleveland Collection, 1864-1917 Finding aid created by Rob S. Cox, September 1997, and Meg Hixon, October 2011
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