VILLAGE OF FAYETTEVILLE – George Cleveland made an anticipated stop in Fayetteville on Sept. 18 to take a look around the village once called home by his grandfather, who happens to have been the only man ever elected to two non-consecutive terms of the United States presidency.
Since the lifetimes of George and Grover Cleveland were decades away from crossing on this earth, the similarly mustachioed descendant did not spend his earliest years playing on the White House’s south lawn like some may think, though he still felt the connection when he toured his grandfather’s childhood residence at 109 Academy St. on Saturday, often finding himself running his fingertips along the walls of the halls and rooms that Grover roamed through.
“I’m a great believer in vibrational history,” George said. “When you stand in the place where something happened—if it’s related to you personally or if it’s an event of great historical significance—that’s always kind of fun.”
During the first year of his life, Fayetteville Mayor Mark Olson lived in the very same house, as one of eight children. It is now owned by Nancy Needham, who moved in when she was looking for a place to retire in the mid-1990s.
Stephen Grover Cleveland was born in New Jersey in 1837, but he lived in Fayetteville from 1841 to 1850 before his family moved to Clinton. A portion of his later teenage years saw him return to the village to work as a clerk at the McViccar’s dry goods store, which was located in what is now Limestone Plaza.
He eventually became the sheriff of Erie County, the mayor of Buffalo and the governor of New York prior to serving as the all-in-one 22nd and 24th president, but even in view of that ascension through the political realm, his grandson said numerous writings have pointed to Fayetteville as the source of some of the man’s fondest memories.
Going on 70, the current Tamworth, N.H., resident has grown used to anyone’s surprise that only one familial generation exists between him and Grover Cleveland, his succinct saved response chalking up the explanation to coition and math.
In 1886, a year and a half into his first term as president, Grover married 21-year-old Frances Folsom, who was 25 years his junior. In 1897 the two had Richard, whose second wife Jessie Maxwell Black gave birth to George in 1952.
During his visit, the village’s honorary guest was given a complete tour of the Fayetteville Free Library. The staff had his grandfather’s wooden bobsled on hand in addition to a program from Grover Cleveland Day, held on the 100th anniversary of his presidential visit to the village in 1887.
Later in the day, George sat down for an open-to-the-public interview in the back of the library with Larry Cook, an area-born presidential historian whom he met at the Missouri Cherry Blossom Festival.
Cook said the more he has learned about Grover Cleveland, the more he realizes that his personal side reveals a “treasure trove” of information.
“His life could be made into a novel or movie,” Cook said. “It contains all the politics and romance and a little bit of scandal and medical drama.”
Throughout the 45-minute interview, Cook and the president’s living likeness discussed the secretive operation on a malignant tumor in Grover’s mouth, his alleged impropriety involving an illegitimate child, and the fact that he was a bachelor at the time he entered the Oval Office.
It was agreed upon, however, that Grover was an avid fisherman and hunter who remained honest, entrenched in his faith and ultimately unwilling to profit from post-presidency public service.
The pair also alluded to Grover’s sister Rose, who fulfilled the role of acting first lady at the start of his first administration, as well as his daughter Ruth, who was said to have inspired the naming of the Baby Ruth candy bar.
George said he has galavanted all over New York, particularly its western parts, but that the past weekend marked his introductory trip to his grandfather’s first home in the state.
“I see why he loved his Fayetteville years so much,” George said. “No question about it.”
Known for his 8,000-piece collection of president-related memorabilia, Larry Cook has authored the books Presidential Coincidences, Amazing Facts and Collectibles and Symbols of Patriotism: First Ladies and Daughters of the American Revolution.
On the side of his work as a radio station news director and voice actor, George Cleveland has committed to full-scale reenactments of his grandfather’s wedding and second inauguration, experiences he considers a form of time traveling to the late 1800s. In the process, he employs a physical impression of Grover that entails the lowering of his voice and the stuffing of a pillow under his shirt to replicate a slight weight gain, all while dressed head to toe in period-appropriate garb.
