Transcribed from Goodspeed’s History of  Tennessee from the Earliest Time to the Present; Together with an Historical and a Biographical Sketches of from Twenty-Five to Thirty Counties of East Tennessee, Besides a Valuable Fund of Notes, Original Observations, Reminiscences, etc., etc. (Chicago and Nashville:  The Goodspeed Publishing Co., 1887), pp. 962-987.  See footnote below for on-line access.

R. L. CLEVELAND, a merchant of Cleveland, was born in Bradley County, December 15, 1849, a son of Jesse F. and Caroline (SPRIGGS) CLEVELAND. The father was born in Monroe County, and when a young man came to Bradley County, where he married a native of the county. He was a farmer by occupation, a Whig, and after the war a Democrat. He died in 1876 , and his wife in 1873. Their family consisted of ten children, of whom four sons and three daughters are living. The grandfather, CLEVELAND, was a pioneer settler of East Tennessee. our subject was educated in the common schools. At the age of twenty-one, with a small capital, he began selling goods in the northern portion of Bradley County. In 1882 he came to Cleveland, where he has since been successfully engaged in merchandising. By industry and prompt attention to business he has secured a fair share of this world’s goods. He is a stanch Democrat, casting his first presidential vote for SEYMOUR and BLAIR. In 1873 he married Saloma DAVIS, a native of Bradley County, who has borne him four sons and one daughter. Mr. CLEVELAND is a Southern Methodist.

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This biography was transcribed by Sherry Pollard. We thank her for transcribing all the Goodspeed’s biographical sketches.

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