Second Generation

8. Elizabeth Coffey was born circa 1714 in Essex Co., VA. Elizabeth died in Orange Co., VA in 1770.

Elizabeth Coffey and John Cleveland²⁶ were married on 20 April 1734.²⁷

Some researchers, which was probably based on the work of Lyman Draper, have confused the records of Elizabeth and Martha, reporting that it was Martha who married John Cleveland. It was Elizabeth, the younger daughter of Edward and Ann who John Cleveland married. They lived most of their lives at Blue Run, Orange Co., VA and were the parents of several famous sons.

One son was Benjamin Cleveland, a Colonel in the Revolutionary War (Kings Mountain and It's Heroes, Draper, Lyman C., New York: Dauber and Pine Bookshops. 1929 (first published Cincinnati, 1881).

The Coffey and Cleveland families were neighbors in Virginia and later in North Carolina. There were at least two other Coffey-Cleveland marriages.

Elizabeth Coffey and John Cleveland were the parents of Elizabeth Cleveland, born 6 Jun 1842, Orange Co., VA and Col. Benj. Cleveland, here of Kings Mountain Battle, Revolutionary War. Elizabeth Cleveland died 17 April 1826, Madison Co., KY, and is buried there. She married David Gillaspy, date unknown, probably in Orange Co., VA. David was born 1748-49, and died 24 Mar 1813, Madison Co., KY, and is buried there. Source: Coffey Cousins newsletter, June 1991

Draper wrote about Alexander Cleveland, Jr. and Sr. and reports "...that John Cleveland, with his father, the younger Alexander Cleveland, early migrated to Virginia, and married a Miss Martha Coffee. He settled on the since famous Buss Run, in Prince William County, where he engaged in the employment of a house-joiner." John Cleveland, son of Alexander Cleveland and Mildred Presly, was born on 31 July 1714 in Gloucester Co., VA. John died in Blue Run, Orange Co., VA in November 1778.

There was a John Cleveland who died in Albemarle Co. in 1786. He sold 259 acres in that county to Edward Johnson on Dec. 13, 1774, witnessed by Alexander Cleveland. At the moment there is no known connection to this John Cleveland, or to this Cleveland family. Marvin Coffey speculates that he was a son of William (born 1718), Benjamin (born 1721) or Jeremiah (born 1723), or Micajah. Micajah is said to have had two sons John. He could also be a son of Alexander and Margaret.

The following can be found in Vol. III, Men of Mark in South Carolina, a collection of biographies edited by J. C. Hemphill, published in Washington, DC in 1908. This particular biography pertains to Dr. Jesse Franklin Cleveland of Spartanburg, SC and is not quoted in full:

"The earliest known ancestor of the family in this country was Alexander Cleveland, senior, who came from England [other sources question whether Sr. came to America at all] and settled on the Bull Run, in Prince William county, Virginia. His son, Alexander, Junior, and his grandson, John, removed to Blue Run, Orange county, Virginia. John, who was born in 1695, removed to Wilkes county, North Carolina, where he reared a large family. Two of his sons, Benjamin and Robert, were soldiers in the Revolution, and were distinguished for leadership and bravery at King's Mountain and elsewhere."

The question this raises is the validity of John's birth year of 1695.

Elizabeth Coffey and John Cleveland had the following children:

34	i.	Mary Cleveland was born in 1736 in Orange Co., VA.²⁸
+35	ii.	Benjamin Cleveland.
+36	iii.	Rev. John Cleveland.
+37	iv.	Elizabeth "Betty" Cleveland.
+38	v.	Capt. Robert Cleveland.
39	vi.	Jeremiah Cleveland was born on 10 December 1746 in Blue Run, Orange Co., VA.²⁹ Jeremiah died in Virginia in 1806.
+40	vii.	Larkin Cleveland.
+41	viii.	Martha "Patty" Cleveland.
42	ix.	Reuben Cleveland was born in 1752 in Blue Run, Orange Co., VA.²⁸ Little or nothing is known of Reuben, but was mentioned in his father's will. He may have died prior to 1792, and thought to have had a son named John.