Grover Cleveland Biography

Dromo's Den

CLEVELAND, Grover, statesman, born in Cadwell, New Jersey, March 18, 1837. His father, Richard F. Cleveland, was a Presbyterian clergyman, who named his son after Rev. Stephen Grover, long a minister in the Presbyterian church at Cadwell. After the death of his father, he became clerk and assistant teacher in the New York Institution for the Blind, and started west in 1855 in search of employment. He stopped at the home of his uncle, Lewis F. Allen, and aided in compiling a volume of the "American Herd Book" at a salary of ten dollars a week. He afterwards studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1859, and acted as clerk at a salary of $600 a year, a portion of which he gave to his widowed mother, who died in 1882. In 1863 he became assistant district attorney of Erie county, and formed a law partnership with Isaac V. Vanderpool. In 1870 he was elected sheriff of Erie county, and three years later became a member of the firm of Bass, Cleveland & Bissell. His logic and mastery of language gave him high standing at the bar and brought him forward as a candidate for mayor of Buffalo, in 1881, to which office he was elected by a majority of 3,530 votes. He entered the office and soon became known as the "veto mayor," owing to his fearless and wise administration in guarding against illegal and extravagant expenditure of money, thus saving nearly $1,000,000 the first six months. In 1882 he was the democratic candidate for governor of New York and defeated his opponent; Charles J. Folger, with a plurality of 192,854 votes. His state administration was a continuance of his policy as mayor, according to which he carried out his announced policy, that is, "to make the matter a business engagement between the people of the state and myself, in which obligation on my side is to perform the duties assigned me with an eye single to the interest of my employers." The national democratic convention at Chicago in 1884 nominated him for president of the United States with a vote of 683 out of a total of 820. His republican opponent was James G. Blaine. The canvass was remarkable for the discussion of personal character and qualification of candidates. He received 219 votes and Mr. Blaine 182 in the electoral college. He was nominated a second time, but was defeated by Benjamin Harrison; in this election he secured 168 electoral votes and President Harrison 233. The democratic party nominated him a third time in 1892 and he was elected by a large majority. In the electoral college he had 277 votes, Harrison, 145, and James B. Weaver, the candidate of the people's party, 22. The most important events of his first administration were the removal of white intruders from Oklahoma by proclamation, and the expedition of a naval force to protect Americans during a revolution in Panama. Those of his second administration were the repeal of the silver act of 1890, calling for the purchase of $4,500,000 of silver bullion monthly, also the ordering of government troops to Chicago during a railroad strike to protect interstate commerce and the mail service, by which many lives and, much property were saved. Another important event was the settlement of the Venezuelan boundary dispute between Great Britain and Venezuela, in which he appointed a commission of inquiry. President Cleveland married Frances Folsom in the white house, June 2, 1886. This marriage was the first of a president in the white house. His second daughter, Esther, was the first child born in the executive mansion. Cleveland was also the first of our presidents who served a second term without being elected as his own successor. His state papers and public addresses give him high standing among the statesmen of America. He died June 24, 1908.

The Teachers' and Pupils' Cyclopædia, Vol. I. (Kansas City: Bufton Book Co., 1909) 370-371.