Skip to main content

Samuel Francis Cleveland papers

 Collection
Call Number: WA MSS S-4542
Scope and Contents

Correspondence, diaries, and other papers kept by Samuel Francis Cleveland, 1847-1893. Material relates to his life and work in Bennington, Waconda, Delphos, and Galena, Kansas. Documented are Cleveland's relationships with wife Lucy Knight Cleveland, sons Mortimer Lindsay Cleveland and Arthur Artemas Cleveland, and father-in-law John Knight; his efforts farming and running a nursery; his travels throughout Kansas; and his political opinions and religious beliefs. Present throughout are indications of crop failures, prairie fires, locusts, buffalo and antelope hunting, debts, family dysfunction and disagreements over guardianship, and strained relationships between white settlers and indigenous peoples.

Other material includes ephemera, legal documents, medicinal recipes, loose notes, and receipts, as well as a leather wallet. Material postdating the death of Samuel Cleveland, from 1893 to 1923, relates to his sons.

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

The Samuel Francis Cleveland Papers is the physical property of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University. Literary rights, including copyright, belong to the authors or their legal heirs and assigns. For further information, consult the appropriate curator.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Purchased from Michael Brown Rare Books, LLC on the William Robertson Coe Fund No. 3, 2022.

Arrangement

Arranged alphabetically by format and chronologically thereafter.

Dates
1847-1923
Majority of material found within 1847-1893
Extent
0.42 Linear Feet (1 box)
Related Names
Michael Brown Rare Books, LLC
Cleveland, Samuel Francis, 1815-1893
Language of Materials
English
Script
Latin