Person:Moses Cleveland (1)

From Orphan to Patriarch, a New England Transformation

Life in England

5 year old Moses Cleveland and his five siblings were orphaned in Ipswich, Suffolk, England when their parents died in May and June of 1626. St. Stephen's Parish was charged with their care. Moses' younger brother Aaron died in 1627.^[1] No further circumstances of the Cleveland orphans upbringing are known, however it seems clear that Moses received a basic education (see below).

By the time of his immigration to Massachusetts from England, Moses was in the charge of Edward Winn, a carpenter.^[7][8] Edward was in turn employed by Barnabas Davis. So it is probable that Moses was the second carpenter-servant, in addition to Edward Winn, that Davis retained in 1637 and later, about 1639, brought with him to the Colonies. Given Moses' young age in 1637, about 16, he may have been an apprentice at this stage. Davis wrote that he retained the pair of carpenters at Broughton and brought them to London. While still in England, Moses and Edward were in the service of Davis and then for a time one Roger Hogge, as their travel to Massachusetts was delayed because Davis was not paid by his employer, William Woodcock, who died about that time. William Woodcock's brother John re-hired Davis and his carpenter-servants and sent them to New England.^[9]

Arrival in New England

Many secondary sources suggest Moses Cleveland arrived as an indentured servant, however Barnabas Davis states that he was hired. Moses was not a typical Puritan, although he came to New England amid the Great Migration of Puritans, many of whom went through Ipswich. He came to New England because of circumstances, not religious conviction. He was admitted to full communion in the First Church of Charlestown in 1692, over 50 years after he arrived in the the area. Moses was baptized as an infant into the Church of England, his parents were buried in that faith, and Moses and his siblings were placed in the custody of the Anglicans following their parents' deaths.^[8][9][10]

Moses Cleveland soon established himself In Massachusetts. He moved to Woburn ‎(now a neighborhood of Boston)‎, apparently following Edward Winn who was a signer of the formation documents of that town. Moses was granted land in Woburn in 1642, and in 1643 was made a freeman.^[8][10]

It is not certain what labor Moses Cleveland and Edward Winn did on behalf of Davis and Woodcock during this early period. Surely they were sent to New England for some purpose, and Davis lived nearby in Charlestown. However Davis does not claim building expenses for this period in his lawsuit against Woodcock. Perhaps Davis had given up on the business, and turned his attention to the suit instead. In this case Moses Cleveland and Edward Winn were free to pursue their own course, which is evidently what they did in the new town of Woburn. A new town would have given ample opportunities for a pair of carpenters.^[9]

Life in Woburn

In 1648 Moses married Edward Winn's daughter Ann and was granted another 30 acres in Woburn. In succeeding years Moses added to his land holdings and served Woburn in a number of capacities such as road mending, swine tending, cattle herding, militia service, and served on a land committee.^[8][10]

Moses and Ann had eleven children, 4 daughters and 7 sons. Their home, in an area then called New Bridge and North Woburn, is thought to have been on Pearl Street.^[10] One daughter, Joanna, died in childhood. The other ten children of Moses and Ann, including a second daughter named Joanna, survived their parents and lived into the 18th century.

A signature of Moses reportedly exists, of about 1662, acknowledging refusal of a circular letter presented in Woburn from Charles II King of England.^[8][10] This indicates that Moses was literate and had received some education. As a professional carpenter he would have had some mathematical skills.

Moses died intestate in Woburn in 1702 at age 81 having been a widower for many years. Intestacy is sometimes taken for lack of a substantial estate. Moses, who lived to an advanced age, may have distributed his estate to his ten adult children during his life.^[8][10]

1. ↑ ^1.0 1.1 Glazier, Prentiss. English Notes. Connecticut Nutmegger (Connecticut Society of Genealogists). (1979)
   12:578.

   'Moses Cleveland, son of Isaac and Alice, was baptized at St. Stephen's in Ipswich, co. Norfolk [sic], 2 February 1621. Aaron, another son, was baptized 1 May 1623 and buried 7 April 1627; Enoch, another son, was baptized 8 May 1625. Alice, the mother, was buried 4 May 1626; her husband, Isaac, was buried 3 June 1626, "leaving six children to the charge of the parish." '

2. ↑ Cleveland, Edmund Janes, and Horace Gillette Cleveland. The Genealogy of the Cleveland and Cleaveland Families: an attempt to trace, in both the male and the female lines, the posterity of Moses¹ Cleveland who came from Ipswich, County Suffolk, England, about 1635, was of Woburn, Middlesex County, Massachusetts; of Alexander Cleveland of Prince William County, Virginia; and of ancient and other Clevelands in England, America and elsewhere; with numerous biographical sketches; and containing ancestries of many of the husbands and wives; also a bibliography of the Cleveland family and a genealogical account of Edward Winn of Woburn and of other Winn families. (Hartford, Connecticut: Case, Lockwood, and Brainard Company, 1899)
   1:23.

   'died at Woburn January 9, 1701-2'

3. ↑ Johnson, Edward F. Woburn Records of Births, Deaths, and Marriages . (Woburn, Massachusetts: Andrews, Cutler & Co., 1890-1919)
   2:36, Deaths.

   'CLEVELAND. ... Moses, Sen., s, of -----, Jan. 9, 1702.'

4. ↑ Cleveland, Edmund Janes, and Horace Gillette Cleveland. The Genealogy of the Cleveland and Cleaveland Families: an attempt to trace, in both the male and the female lines, the posterity of Moses¹ Cleveland who came from Ipswich, County Suffolk, England, about 1635, was of Woburn, Middlesex County, Massachusetts; of Alexander Cleveland of Prince William County, Virginia; and of ancient and other Clevelands in England, America and elsewhere; with numerous biographical sketches; and containing ancestries of many of the husbands and wives; also a bibliography of the Cleveland family and a genealogical account of Edward Winn of Woburn and of other Winn families. (Hartford, Connecticut: Case, Lockwood, and Brainard Company, 1899)
   1:24, 26.

   'Moses1 Cleveland arrived in this country, according to all accounts and traditions, about the year 1635, ...'
   'Perhaps Moses1 landed at Plymouth, but more probably at Boston, where, in 1635, there were far better docks.'

5.   Cleveland, Edmund Janes, and Horace Gillette Cleveland. The Genealogy of the Cleveland and Cleaveland Families: an attempt to trace, in both the male and the female lines, the posterity of Moses¹ Cleveland who came from Ipswich, County Suffolk, England, about 1635, was of Woburn, Middlesex County, Massachusetts; of Alexander Cleveland of Prince William County, Virginia; and of ancient and other Clevelands in England, America and elsewhere; with numerous biographical sketches; and containing ancestries of many of the husbands and wives; also a bibliography of the Cleveland family and a genealogical account of Edward Winn of Woburn and of other Winn families. (Hartford, Connecticut: Case, Lockwood, and Brainard Company, 1899)
   1:26.

   'He likely remained from 1635 to 1640 in Boston or vicinity.'

6. ↑ Cleveland, Edmund Janes, and Horace Gillette Cleveland. The Genealogy of the Cleveland and Cleaveland Families: an attempt to trace, in both the male and the female lines, the posterity of Moses¹ Cleveland who came from Ipswich, County Suffolk, England, about 1635, was of Woburn, Middlesex County, Massachusetts; of Alexander Cleveland of Prince William County, Virginia; and of ancient and other Clevelands in England, America and elsewhere; with numerous biographical sketches; and containing ancestries of many of the husbands and wives; also a bibliography of the Cleveland family and a genealogical account of Edward Winn of Woburn and of other Winn families. (Hartford, Connecticut: Case, Lockwood, and Brainard Company, 1899)
   1:26.

   ' "he went to Woburn with his master," and there settled in 1640-1.'

7. ↑ Cleveland, Edmund Janes, and Horace Gillette Cleveland. The Genealogy of the Cleveland and Cleaveland Families: an attempt to trace, in both the male and the female lines, the posterity of Moses¹ Cleveland who came from Ipswich, County Suffolk, England, about 1635, was of Woburn, Middlesex County, Massachusetts; of Alexander Cleveland of Prince William County, Virginia; and of ancient and other Clevelands in England, America and elsewhere; with numerous biographical sketches; and containing ancestries of many of the husbands and wives; also a bibliography of the Cleveland family and a genealogical account of Edward Winn of Woburn and of other Winn families. (Hartford, Connecticut: Case, Lockwood, and Brainard Company, 1899)
   1:25-26.

   'The Original Lists of Persons of Quality, Emigrants, &c., to American, 1600-1700, by John Camden Hotten, mentions several joiners who came to Massachusetts 1635, bringing servants whose names are not given. There is a tradition that Moses Cleveland was a ship's carpenter's apprentice, and worked his passage over. It is generally stated that he came from Ipswich an indentured apprentice to a joiner, housewright, or master builder, name of his master not ascertained, conjectured to be Edward Winn (whose daughter he afterward married), for "he went to Woburn with his master," and there settled in 1640-1.'

8. ↑ ^{8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5} Cleveland, James Butler. A genealogical register of the descendants of Moses Cleveland of Woburn, Mass., an immigrant in 1635 from England, with a sketch of the Clevelands of Virginia and the Carolinas. (Albany, N.Y., Salt Lake City, Utah: Munsell, printer, Genealogical Society of Utah, 1881, 1979)
   p. 11.
9. ↑ ^{9.0 9.1 9.2} Lechford, Thomas, and James Hammond Trumbull. Note-book kept by Thomas Lechford, Esq.,: lawyer in Boston, Massachusetts Bay, from June 27, 1638 to July 29, 1641. (Cambridge [Massachusetts]: John Wilson and Son, 1885)
   p. 378.
10. ↑ ^{10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 10.6 10.7} Cleveland, Edmund Janes, and Horace Gillette Cleveland. The Genealogy of the Cleveland and Cleaveland Families: an attempt to trace, in both the male and the female lines, the posterity of Moses¹ Cleveland who came from Ipswich, County Suffolk, England, about 1635, was of Woburn, Middlesex County, Massachusetts; of Alexander Cleveland of Prince William County, Virginia; and of ancient and other Clevelands in England, America and elsewhere; with numerous biographical sketches; and containing ancestries of many of the husbands and wives; also a bibliography of the Cleveland family and a genealogical account of Edward Winn of Woburn and of other Winn families. (Hartford, Connecticut: Case, Lockwood, and Brainard Company, 1899)
    Vol. 1 pp. 23-32.