Stephen Grover
Stephen Grover Burnett
(Stephen) Grover Cleveland
In a note from Henrietta Beardsley to Octavia Burnett Eichelberger, dated Nov 1910, from a
collection donated by Octavia Burnett Eichelberger to the Vigo County Historical Society and
held in the Vigo County Library: "Stephen Grover Burnett was born in Caldwell,
New Jersey, a few blocks from the house in which Grover Cleveland was born. (Grover Cleveland's)
mother's father and grandfather were named Stephen Grover. At the library of the N.J. Historical
Society, in the records of the First Presbyterian Church, I found that he was one of the first
pastors of the church, and was ordained and installed July 23, 1788. Justus Burnett and his
wife Lois had united with this church Dec. 1784 and were intimate friends with the pastor. When
their first son was born Mr. Grover asked that it be named for him, but the parents had decided
on another name. When the next boy came, they took him to be baptized. The minister did not
ask them the name for the baby, but taking him in his arms said, "I baptize thee in the name of
Stephen Grover Burnett," giving him his own name. He then turned to the parents and smiling
said "I have waited long enough for a name-sake in this family."
I have initiated correspondence with the church to clarify this issue.
Here are some references:
Cleveland, (Stephen) Grover (1837-1908) Father: Richard F. Cleveland. Born in Caldwell, N.J.,
March 18, 1837. Mayor of Buffalo, N.Y., 1882; Governor of New York, 1883-85; President of the
United States, 1885-89, 1893-97; defeated, 1888. Died in Princeton, N.J., June 24, 1908.
Interment at Princeton Cemetery, Princeton, N.J.
...from: http://www.potifos.com/tpg/bio/clea-clif.html#RAU1CGRA5
Stephen Grover Cleveland was born in Caldwell, New Jersey on March 18, 1837. Stephen, the fifth
of nine children, was named after Stephen Grover, whose church Stephen's father, Richard Falley
Cleveland, had recently taken over.
...from: http://www.rain.org/~turnpike/grover/Childhood.html
The first step towards organizing a congregation...was taken under the leadership of Rev. James
Caldwell. On July 17, 1779, a tract of land lying in what is now the center of the Borough of
Caldwell, was given to the First Presbyterian Church. ... The building of a meeting house
began in 1782, but due to the Revolutionary War, they had difficulty getting labor and material,
so the meeting house was not completed until the close of 1786.
NOTE: Justus and Lois were married in 1783, supposedly in this church
On July 23, 1788, Rev. Stephen Grover was duly ordained and installed as the pastor of the First
Presbyterian Church. ...by the summer of 1792...a plan was adopted to build a wooden Meeting
House on the site of today's church. ... The congregation held its first services in the new
building on April 6, 1796.
NOTE: Stephen Grover Burnett was born in September of 1796, eight years after Rev. Grover was
installed, and four months after the first services were held in the church.
The church had several pastors during those early years. One of the most notable was the Rev.
Richard F. Cleveland, who was installed as pastor for the church in May 1834.... Rev. Cleveland
had a landmark in history not only as Pastor of this historic church - on March 18, 1837, in
the little back bedroom of the parsonage, he had a son, named Stephen Grover, in honor of the
first Pastor of the Church. In later years, he dropped the "Stephen" from his name and as
Grover Cleveland, became the 22nd and 24th President of the United States.
...from: http://www.firstprescaldwell.org/hist.htm
Grover Cleveland was born more than forty years after Stephen Grover Burnett...possibly Cousin
Henrietta's little story is just another Urban Legend. We'll see.
Return to Burnett Genealogy Web Page: http://www.garlic.com/~pburnett/genealog.htm