Cleland Cousins: A Genealogy and Biographical Album of Cleland and Allied Families by Glenn William Oliver and Rebecca Deal Oliver traces the lineage and lives of the Cleland family and their connections to various other families such as Baker, Clair, and Collins, spanning centuries and continents. This comprehensive genealogical work details the Clelands’ origins in Lanarkshire, Scotland, their settlement in County Down, Ireland, and their eventual migration to America. The authors meticulously compile records from tombstones, wills, family letters, and personal accounts to create a detailed narrative of the Cleland family’s history, focusing particularly on Samuel Cleland, who emigrated to the United States in the early 19th century, and his descendants.
From time to time, Clelands of County Down have come to America and settled permanently, establishing American branches of this ancient family whose roots reach down through several centuries. There are also a number of Cleland families in this country whose original immigrant ancestor came directly from Scotland, some of these coming at an earlier date than the immigrants from Ireland. Someday, we may be able to learn our exact connection to these “cousins”.
The line from Patrick Cleland terminated with his grandson, Patrick, who, having no surviving children, left, upon his death in 1785, the family estates of Cleland of Ballymagee, County Down, to a distant relative, James Dowsett Rose. This line had no connection with the line established from Arthur Cleland. It is reasonable to presume that the Clelands who came to America in the 18th and 19th centuries were descended from Arthur Cleland, the first of the Cleland family to settle in Ireland.
We know of several who did come but we have no record of their American descendants, except for a scant record of one immigrant. It is very likely that many Clelands in this country will find help in Chapter I of this book in tracing their Irish lineage. It appears that others besides Samuel settled on Orange County, New York, for the names of Gawn, Hance, William and John Cleland show up in the Surrogate Court records in Goshen, New York.
Of the immigrants from Ireland, this story dwells on Samuel Cleland, born July 24, 1786 in Ballywoollen, Parish of Killyleagh, County of Down, on his wife Jane Martin, and on his sons and daughters whose descendants may be found clear across the American Continent from the Hudson River to Puget Sound and from Montana to Texas.
The founder of this branch of the Cleland family in the United States was Samuel Cleland, sixth generation in Ireland, born July 24, 1786, the son of James (#11) and Sarah (Cleland) Cleland of Ballywoollen, County of Down. His wife was Jane Martin, born September 27, 1791, the daughter of Robert Martin of Ballywoollen.
Little is known about Jane’s family except that her father owned the largest farm in Ballywoollen. However, it is established that the Martins of Ballywoollen were derived from the Martins of Galway, one of the principal families in Ireland from the 11th to the 17th century. They were one of the celebrated “Tribes of Galway” who came to Ireland with “Strong-bow” about 1171. The ancestors of “Strongbow” were descended from the Dukes of Normandy and came to England with William, the Conqueror. They were lords of Clare, in Suffolk, from which they took the name Declare; and were created earls of Pembroke, in Wales. The first Earl Gilbert De Clare, being a famous archer, was designated “of the Strong Bow”. His son Richard brought settlers to Galway.
What has been learned of Samuel and Jane Cleland, themselves and of their descendants has been gathered from a variety of sources: from tombstone inscriptions, wills, books and newspapers; from accounts written by different grandsons, old letters, photographs and bible records; and from personal knowledge of living members of the family.
Samuel Cleland was a farmer in Ballywoollen as were his father and three of his brothers. His next younger brother farmed in Tullyveery and his youngest brother became a merchant in Killyleagh. What first brought Samuel to the United States, we don’t know, but we will venture to guess that land was scarce in County Down and that letters from friends in the Irish community of Orange County, New York had influenced him. At any rate, 1810 found Samuel Cleland sizing up the prospects of the beautiful countryside along the lower Hudson River with its wooded hills and uncleared fields. He stayed long enough to know that this was what he wanted – if he could also have the sweetheart he had left behind in Ballywooll.
Cleland and Martin Coat of Arms
Notes About the Book
- No copyright.
Surnames
Cleland, Baker, Clair, Collins, Fisher, Gowdey, Haylett, Hume, Moody, Oliver, Richards, Ross, and Wells
