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Below is a family biography included in The History of Bedford County, Tennessee published by Goodspeed Publishing Company in 1887.  These biographies are valuable for genealogy research in discovering missing ancestors or filling in the details of a family tree. Family biographies often include far more information than can be found in a census record or obituary.  Details will vary with each biography but will often include the date and place of birth, parent names including mothers' maiden name, name of wife including maiden name, her parents' names, name of children (including spouses if married), former places of residence, occupation details, military service, church and social organization affiliations, and more.  There are often ancestry details included that cannot be found in any other type of genealogical record.

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THOMAS S. CLEVELAND was born April 25, 1840, in Bedford County, Tenn. His father, Jeremiah Cleveland, was a native of Greenville, S. C., born March, 1806, and of English and German descent. About 1833 he immigrated to Bedford County, Tenn., and located on the farm where our subject is now living. He married Miss Sallie E. Stone, a native of Maury County, born about 1815, and of English descent. To this union were born six children. Jeremiah Cleveland was a merchant before his coming to this State, and a farmer afterward. He owned about 1,500 acres of land on Duck River, in this county, besides a large tract of 3,000 acres on the Mississippi River. He had about $50,000 of stock in the Nashville & Chattanooga Railroad, and was one of the first board of directors to locate the road. He died in 1878. The mother of our subject died in 1840. Thomas S. Cleveland was educated at the Cumberland University at Lebanon, and lived with his father until May, 1861, when he enlisted in Company G, Seventeenth Tennessee Infantry, and was elected as third lieutenant or his company, and as such served twelve months. He then joined the artillery of Gen. John H. Morgan’s command, and was captured in Ohio in July, 1863, and retained until 1865. He then returned to Wartrace, Bedford County, where he has ever since remained engaged in farming. In 1867 he married Miss Annie E. Wright, a native of Floyd County, Ga., and a daughter of Moses R. Wright, and a niece of Judge Wright, who was a member of the United States Congress. To our subject and wife were born five children: Sallie S., Lizzie H., Hattie D., Annie L. and Carrie C. Mr. Cleveland is a member of the Masonic fraternity, also of the R. A. He and wife are members of the Baptist Church, and live on the old homestead, consisting of 600 acres of land. Mr. Cleveland is a grandson of Capt. Robert Cleveland, and a grandnephew of Col. Benjamin Cleveland, both of whom served with distinction in the Revolutionary war.

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This family biography is one of the numerous biographies included in The History of Bedford County, Tennessee published in 1887 by Goodspeed.  The History of Bedford County was included within The History of Maury, Williamson, Rutherford, Wilson, Bedford & Marshall Counties of Tennessee. For the complete description, click here: History of Maury, Williamson, Rutherford, Wilson, Beford and Marshall Counties of Tennessee

View additional Bedford County, Tennessee family biographies here

View a historic 1888 map of Bedford County, Tennessee

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