The following information was assembled from numerous sources and cannot be used directly as proof of Qualifying Service or Lineage.
It is considered a research aid and is intended to assist in locating sources that can be used as proof.
John Cleland, Sr. was born February 16, 1758, the son of a Scottish immigrant from Edinburgh named James Cleland and his wife, Thankful Wilder Cleland.
John Cleland, Sr. was working as a farm laborer when he enlisted on February 28, 1778, as a private in Captain Thomas Abbe’s Company of Colonel Samuel Wyllys’ Regiment of the Connecticut Militia. He was discharged on February 28, 1780. It is reported in documents from his pension application file that he was involved in a number of skirmishes during his two years of service.
Very soon after his discharge from the Connecticut Militia, John Cleland, Sr. married Thankful Easton on April 27, 1780, in Wapping, CT, which later became known as East Windsor. Thankful Easton was born April 12, 1757, in East Hartford, CT, the daughter of Joseph Easton (mother’s name unknown).
John Cleland, Sr. then enlisted again on September 10, 1780 in Captain Ozias Bissell’s Company of Colonel Levi Well’s Regiment of the Connecticut Militia, and was engaged in guarding the coast at Greenwich until his discharge in December of 1780.
Sometime after being discharged from his second enlistment, John and Thankful Cleland moved to Stafford, CT, where he was engaged in farming. The couple had eleven children while living in Stafford: Beriah (1781-1853), Edna (1782-1870), Samuel (1784-1787), James (1786-1787), Samuel (1788-1879), Thankful (1790-?), John, Jr. (1792-1876), James (1792-1792), Oliver (1793-1878), Nathan (1795-1887), and Martin (1797-1872).
The family then moved to Otsego County, NY in 1807 with the eight surviving children. Their son, John, Jr. soon relocated from Otsego County to Charlotte, Chautauqua County, NY in 1810, and was then joined there by his brothers Nathan and Oliver in the spring of 1811.
After receiving favorable reports about the conditions in Chautauqua County, John Cleland, Sr. and the rest of his family then moved there from Otsego County in autumn of 1811, to settle on a 300 acre homestead that was eventually completely cleared for cultivation.
John Cleland Sr. and his wife Thankful remained in Charlotte, where he was awarded a pension in 1818 for his service as a Soldier of the Revolution, and he died there on February 16, 1827. Thankful Cleland was awarded a widow’s pension in 1837 while she was living in Stockton, Chautauqua County, NY, where she died on January 19, 1844. Both John and Thankful Cleland are buried at Pickett Cemetery in Charlotte.
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