The Alexander-Cleveland House is one of the few examples of eighteenth-century frame housing in this part of the county and is among the very oldest standing structures in Elbert County. The plain style house, originally part of the "lost" town of Edinburgh, has belonged to the same family for over 130 years. PART I. HISTORICAL INFORMATION A. Physical History: 1. Date of erection: This house was most probably built in William Alexander bought the land on which the house stands on September 14, (Deed Book A, p. The date and the initials "W.A." are found carved into both exterior chimneys of the home. The date carved on the chimneys has been seen to read and does look more like than The date of for the erection of the house is extremely unlikely.
The first documented settlement in Elbert County did not occur until the The tract on which the house stands was not surveyed and granted by the State of Georgia until (Grant Book I, p. 2. Architect: None known. ALEXANDER-CLEVELAND FARM HABS NO. GA-30 (page 2) 3- Original and subsequent owners: From the Surveyor General Department, Office of the Secretary of State, Archives and Records Building, Atlanta, Georgia Grant February 28, surveyed September 22, Book I, p. granted to John Doss, 200 acres on waters of Savannah River in Wilkes County, plat attached. From Elbert County Recorder's Office, Elbert County Courthouse, Elberton, Georgia Deed September 14, recorded May 19, Book A, p. 14, John Doss and his wife, Jean, to William Alexander, 200 acres for 500 pounds sterl- ing.
Deed May 31, recorded April 19, Book D, p. 59, William Alexander to John McGowan for 50 pounds sterling. Deed May 2, recorded November 12, Book S, p. John McGowan to Zachariah Bowman for Deed November 25, recorded September 9, Book Z, p. Jeremiah M. Warren, administrator of Zachariah Bowman estate, to Thomas Rouzee, 375 acres for Deed November 19, recorded October 18, Book CC, pp. Thomas M. Rouzee to William Cleveland, 254 acres for plat attached. William Cleveland died on July 9, The inven- tory of his estate is found in Return Book X, pp. filed August 6, Deed September 26, recorded November 9, Book GG, p. H. P. Norman, administrator of es- tate of John 0. Terrell, to J. J. Jones, 253 acres, plat attached. It could not be determined how John 0.
Terrell, William Cleveland's brother-in- law, acquired this property. Deed January 15, recorded January 15, Book II, p. 42, J. J. Jones to Robert W. Cleveland (son of William), acres for Deed December 24, recorded December 24, Book JJ, p. 79, Robert W. Cleveland to Alice 0. Brewer, acres for ALEXANDER-CLEVELAND FARM HABS NO. GA-30 (page 3) Deed October 31, recorded November 2, Book JJ, p. Alice 0. Brewer to Robert W. Cleveland, acres for Deed November 25, recorded November 25, Book 36, p. Heirs of Robert W. Cleveland to Mary J. Cleveland (his daughter), lot 2, acres, for Deed April 13, recorded April 13, Book p. P. J. Cleveland and Tom Cleveland, executors of estate of Mary J. Cleveland, to Paul J. Cleveland (her brother), Deed April 13, recorded April 13, Book p. P. J.
Cleveland to Thomas J. Cleveland (his son), acres for 4. Original plans and construction: The two-story portion of this mortise-and-tenon frame house is the original por- tion. It features a gable roof and exterior chimneys. There were two windows on the east and west sides of the second floor. On the interior, each floor had two rooms. The stairway was apparently reached by an exterior en- trance on the west front. Another very similar house existed nearby, the Rouzee-Stratton house. An old photo ("Log Cabin is All That Remains of the Unique Stratton Home," Elberton Star, June/July shows a two-story clapboard-over-frame house with a shed-roofed front porch and a one-story shed-roofed addition on the rear. An exterior chimney, twice shouldered, is visible on the side of the house.
The greatest difference is the roof, which on the Stratton House is hipped and on the Cleve- land-Alexander House is gabled. This house was probably built for Winslow Rouzee before 5. Alterations and additions: A one-story addition across the rear of the house contains two rooms. Because the joists in this section run north-south while those in the two-story section run east-west, it is thought that this rear portion was an addition. The two sections have the same paneling and ceiling details, though, so the rear addition was probably made early. ALEXANDER-CLEVELAND FARM HABS NO. GA-30 (page 4) The porch that extended across the west front was en- closed in the early twentieth century. Paul J. Cleveland, who was born in remembers it as a porch.
A photograph of the house shows that the porch was already enclosed. This section has a central door leading into a small foyer, and bedrooms on either side. A one-story kitchen was added to the north side of the east addition in about Brick-like asphalt siding was put over the original weatherboard siding ca. The asphalt also covered the second-story windows on the west side. The standing-seam metal was laid over the original shingles ca. I960. Paul J. Cleveland remembers that plaster covered the interior walls when his father moved to the house in the The family removed the crumbling plaster to reveal the paneled walls seen today. Neither electricity nor running water were ever installed in the house.
Historic interior appearance: Members of the Cleveland family remember the twentieth-century furnishings and room uses. In the foyer stood a pitcher and basin on a table for the use of guests. The bedrooms on either side of the foyer were used by R. W. Cleveland's children. The parlor held the family Bible on a table in the center, an elaborate pump organ, and a marble-top dresser along the east wall. The living room fireplace once had racks in it for cooking. The room just east of it was the bed- room of R. W. Cleveland. Paul also remembered it being used as a dining room and thought that cooking may have been done there before the addition of the kitchen. The storeroom in the southeast corner of the house was lined with shelves. A cloth-covered frame was used to cover the doorway.
The kitchen had a handmade pine cupboard with a punched- tin front in the southeast corner. In the southwest cor- ner was a large wooden flour barrel. When flour was no longer available in wooden barrels, the family bought 50-pound sacks and stored them in the barrel. The lid to the barrel was still in this room in August, A wood stove stood in the northeast corner of the room. On the second floor, the north room was used as a school- room, attended by neighborhood children as well as the Cleveland children, until a one-room schoolhouse opened nearby in ca. The south room was never finished. Although the chimney runs along the south wall, no fire- place existed there. * ALEXANDER-CLEVELAND FARM HABS NO. GA-30 (Page 5) B.
Historical Context: At the time it was built, the Alexander-Cleveland house was a part of the community of Edinburgh, which was located at the confluence of Coldwater Creek and the Savannah. All that remains of the Edinburgh town today are the stone ruins of a grist mill on the Savannah River. An article taken from the Atlanta Journal which appeared in the Elberton Star on Septem- ber 17, listed Edinburgh, Savannah, Augusta, Ruckers- ville, and Petersburg as the "five chief towns" in early Georgia. V. C. Wall related the following facts about Edinburgh in the Elberton Star on September 20, "About Edinburgh was a flourishing town. The first news- paper in northeast Georgia was published there.
It bore the name of 'Edinburgh News.' Like old Pendleton (South Carolina), it was a summer resort for lower country people. A mile or two above the site of the town there stands now a house of good state of preservation. It could not have been built much later than fine two-story building, put together with homemade nails and pegs...(Note: this would be the Rouzee-Stratton House). Major J. H. Jones' father, who lived this side of Coldwater, kept a general store there. Major got his early training there. This town prospered until the Civil War, William Cleveland running the store, mill, blacksmith shop, ferry, besides farming." Edinburgh began to go downhill at the time of the Civil War. There is no record of a town incorporation or post office at Edinburgh.
Early deeds make mention of town lots in Alexandria (see Book S, p. There is no doubt that Alexandria and Edinburgh are the same towns; deeds refer to Alexandria as adjoining the Alexander-Cleveland tract as Edinburgh did. Today the Alexander-Cleveland house is situated between the communities of Rock Branch and Ruckersville, about three miles from each. Ruckersville has seen much decline since it was first settled in by Virginia aristocrats. Joseph Rucker, who helped establish the town, owned sawmills, a tanyard, har- ness and shoe shops, and grist mills (Jones-McRee, pp. No business establishments are located in the community today. The Rock Branch community, north of the Alexander-Cleveland House, has never been incorporated, but is more prosperous than Ruckersville today.
It supports two stores, a ballfield, several churches and many homes. Paul Cleveland, son of R, W. Cleveland, lives in the community with his children. ALEXANDER-CLEVELAND FARM HABS NO. GA-30 (page 6) The development of Edinburgh (Alexandria) is apparent in the deed in which McGowan sold the Alexander-Cleveland tract to Zachariah Bowman (Deed book S, p. May 2, The tract bounds "on the line of the old warehouse lot." The tract is 150 acres more or less, with the exception of a lot including "the ferry landing and lot sold by said John McGowan under the plan of the town of Alexandria." Bowman was in the area by when the Georgia State Legislature authorized the operation of a ferry across the Savannah River at Coldwater Creek (Mclntosh, p.
This ferry, long known as Bowman's Ferry, was operated from ca. until by Henry Harper (see Harper-Featherstone Farm, HABS No, Bowman may have operated the grist mill on the Savannah River about one mile from the Alexander-Cleveland House. Only the quarried granite foundations remain. Thomas Rouzee, the next owner of the house, was the son of Winslow Rouzee, who owned land north of the Alexander-Cleveland tract. The Winslow Rouzee house, which later became known as the Stratton House, was built prior to and shared a close history with the Alexander-Cleveland House and the town of Edinburgh. Thomas Rouzee married Louisa Cleveland in In Louisa's brother, William, was living in the house with them and working as a merchant in the town of Edinburgh.
The family ties were additionally strengthened by the marriage of William and Louisa's brother Peter, to Amelia Katherine Rouzee in When William Cleveland bought this tract from his brother-in-law in he already had land on the Savannah River. This purchase brought his holdings to acres (Deed book CC, p. 516 acres; deed book CC, p. 633 acres). In he bought 607 more acres (Deed book DD, p. bringing his total to acres. The must have been a prosperous period for William Cleveland. A letter to the editor of the Elberton Star by V. C. Wall on September 20, reported that William Cleveland ran the store, mill, blacksmith shop, and ferry at Edinburgh in addition to being a farmer. He married Lucy A. M. Terrell, daughter of his neighbor, Sarah A. Terrell, a widow, and they had three children.
On July 9, William Cleveland died of typhoid fever, apparently while going to war. Wall wrote, "Just as the Georgia regiment marched to battle front he died with typhoid fever. That was the end of prosperous Edinburgh...." ALEXANDER-CLEVELAND FARM HABS NO. GA-30 (page 7) William Cleveland's widow, Lucy, married Peter Stratton, a Canadian, who soon acquired the two-story Rouzee-Stratton House so similar in style to the Cleveland Alexander House. William Cleveland's son, Robert W. , lived with his grandmother, Sarah A. Terrell, after the death of his father. He bought back the homestead in He married Mary Catherine Jones and they had six children. When each of his boys married, Robert W. Cleveland built them a house on the land he owned. After R.
W.' s death in the land was divided so that each son received a tract which included his house. The Alexander- Cleveland House and acres were inherited by Mary L. (Mamie) Cleveland, who lived there until Mamie's brother, Cade, still farms the Cleveland land along with his son Windell. He rents all of the land which was a part of the R. W. Cleveland estate in addition to several other tracts. The Cleveland family's attachment to their land is well known in Elberton County. When it is considered that the same tract of land has been farmed by direct family descendants since it becomes clear that this family remains loyal to the land. Cade Cleveland in particular has become something of a local legend in his efforts to stop the Richard B. Russell Dam Proj ect and leave his farmstead intact.
Cade's son, Windell, was quoted in a newspaper article: 'It's not takin' your life, but in other words, it's the same as takin' your life--takin' something you've worked for years to build up. . . .Land is precious,' said Windell, 'I tell you, people just don't realize what it means.'" (Atlanta Journal April 22, Prepared by: Marcie Robertson Assistant Historian HABS Summer PART II. ARCHITECTURAL INFORMATION A. General Statement: 1. Architectural character: The mortise-and-tenon framing make this two-story structure a significant building type. Interior horizontal paneling and other decorative fea- tures are unusual. ALEXANDER-CLEVELAND FARM HABS NO. GA-30 (page 8) 2. Condition of fabric: Deteriorated; altered by asphalt covering over the weatherboard siding. B. Description of Exterior: 1.
Overall dimensions: The two-story structure with one- story additions measures x A one-room kitchen on the northeast corner measures x 15'-liy. 2. Foundations: The structure is set on fieldstone piers which are in danger of collapse from underlining. A few log piers were used on the interior, and iron wedges were used to level the structure. 3. Walls: A red brick-patterned asphalt shingle covers the weatherboard siding, which was exposed 5". 4. Structural system, framing: All the framing members are rough-sawn except the sills, corner posts and large beams, which are hewn. Framing: The house is wood-frame construction with mor- tise and tenon joints fastened together with pegs on horizontal members. The main horizontal members are 4" x The main vertical members are 4" x 8".
The 3" x 4" studs are spaced 2' to 3' on center. The diago- nal wall bracing is 3V x 7". The four vertical corner posts, L-shaped, running through the first and second floors, are 12" x 12" logs with an 8" x 8" piece removed so that each leg is 4" x Sills: The main house sills are hewn logs approximately 16" x 11V or 16" x 8", and the average span is approxi- mately There is a double sill at the fireplace. The sills are lap-jointed together at midspan and corners with IV Peg fasteners. The kitchen sills are crudely constructed of logs 8" in diameter. Floor joists: The stripped pine logs are 5" to 7" in diameter and span east-west between the sills I'-ll" on center and are notched into the sills. The notching is 4" x 4" square.
The joists under the east rooms span north-south I'-ll" on center. The kitchen joists are approximately 7" in diameter, on center, spanning east-west, and crudely constructed. ALEXANDER-CLEVELAND FARM HABS NO. GA-30 (page 9) Ceiling joists: The first-floor ceiling joists in the one-story sections are 3" x 5", notched into the top plate, 2' on center. The ceiling joists in the gabled section are 3" x 7", 2' on center, notched into the top plate. Roof rafters: The rafters are 3" x 3", 2' on center, with a single peg mortise and tenon connection at the peak. The roofing boards are approximately x 6" boards with the roofing attached to them. 5. Porch: fh.e porch on the west front of the kitchen addi- tion is recessed under the gable roof.
There is a wall at the north end of the porch and the flooring is x 11" boards sloping out. 6. Chimneys: The two gable-end chimneys are red brick laid in common bond. A pair of shoulders occurs at approxi- mately 14' and 21' above grade, and there is corbeling at the top. The south chimney is partially surfaced with cement. The foundations are fieldstone. The north chim- ney has a double flue. 7. Openings: a. Doorways and doors: The west front door is paneled. The other exterior doors are vertical boards braced horizontally. b. Windows: All of the windows had nine-over-six-light double-hung sash, except for the two on the south- east corner, which have six-over-six-light sash. 8. Roof: The two-story section and the one-story kitchen have gable roofs with the ridges running north-south.
The one-story additions have shed roofs. The roofs are covered with standing-seam metal. C. Description of Interior: 1. Floor plans: The house has an irregular floor plan. The two-story section has two rooms on each floor. The one-story addition on the west front has a central foyer and bedrooms on each side. The one-story addition on the east has two rooms. The kitchen is one room. ALEXANDER-CLEVELAND FARM HAES NO. GA-30 (page 10) 2. Stairways: The straight-run stairway is enclosed. On the second floor it is protected by a balustrade and rail- ing. 3. Flooring: The flooring is tongue-and-groove planking x 5V\ butt-jointed throughout the house. The kit- chen planking is x 6". 4.
Wall and ceiling finish: The walls are surfaced with horizontal tongue-and-groove boards, x 9" to with beading on the bottom edge. The chair rail is 3' above the floor. The baseboards are 6V' with a beveled top edge. 5- Doors and doorways: Most of the interior doors are paneled. They have a 6" cased opening with molding. 6. Decorative features: The fireplaces have plain surrounds and molded mantels. 7. Hardware: The doors have iron latches and box locks. D. Site: 1. General setting: The house sits on a knoll approximately 50' east of the road. There is a row of fruit trees to the east and south. There is a small fence in front, woods across the road and to the northeast. There is a large field to the southeast. 2. Landscaping: A dirt walkway led from the road to the front door.
On either side of the front door were flower beds with cedar trees, rose bushes, and metal basins of flowers. The beds were bordered by upright wooden planks and stones. 3. Outbuildings: a. Barn: The barn was built in with timbers from a defunct grist mill located about a mile away from the house on the Savannah River. Timber was hauled from the mill by William Terrell. A Mr. Sharpson and his sons dismantled the mill. George McMullin, Peyton McKuen, and Ivey Harling, all local carpen- ters , helped build the barn (Paul J. Cleveland). ALEXANDER-CLEVELAND FARM HABS NO. GA-30 (page 11) The transverse-crib barn measures x and is frame covered with weatherboarding.
The central section is open at either end and was used to house a wooden hay wagon, which was still in the barn in August There is a window-like opening at the second level. The gable roof is covered with standing-seam metal. On the interior, the south section of the barn, used for grain storage, is divided into two rooms, each opening into the transverse alley. The north sec- tion, used for stables, is similarly arranged. b. Smokehouse: The smokehouse, probably built ca. is a one-story weatherboard-over-frame structure measuring x The gable roof is covered with shakes. Most of the timbers in the structure are sawn lumber, but there are some hewn logs at the sills. Three logs, 4" in diameter, are used as beams. About twenty wooden meat hooks hang from these beams. c.
Chicken coop: The wood-frame coop measures x The shed roof is covered with tin. d. Wells: There are two wells on this farm, both dug ca. The first well did not appear to supply sufficient water so a second one was dug. Both turned out to be satisfactory and they were used interchangeably. Before the wells were dug, water was brought from a spring on the property. The well south of the house is covered with a tin gable roof supported on four posts with fencing in between, enclosing an x space. The well is surrounded by a wooden board frame and has a windlass made from a 12" diameter tree trunk. The well east of the house was enclosed by a struc- ture that is now a small pile of broken boards. Prepared by: Richard J.
Cronenberger Project Supervisor HABS Summer ALEXANDER-CLEVELAND FARM HABS NO. GA-30 (page 12) PART III. SOURCES OP INFORMATION A. Early Views: Four photographs in the possession of Paul Cleveland have been photocopied for inclusion here. These include: 1. West front with family, (HABS No. GA-30-26). 2. North side and west front, ca. with Mr. and R. W. Cleveland. (HABS No. GA-30-27). 3. Roy Cleveland and dog in south yard, ca. (HABS No. GA-30-28). 4. R. W. Cleveland feeding chickens in front of kitchen on north side, ca. (HABS No. GA-30-29). B. Aerial views: Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service, Elberton, Ga. site FSN air photo photo shot for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. University of Georgia Air Photo Files, Map Room, Science Library, Athens, Ga. 1.
photo Index sheet 4 of 10. (Actual photo not on file, but index photo on file). 2. photo Index sheet 3 of 4. (Only photo and index photo on file.) 3. photo Index sheet 1 of 3. (Only index on file). C. Interviews: Paul J. Cleveland; interviewed at his home, Route 3, Elberton, GA August 12, Tom Cleveland; at Alexander-Cleveland House, August 11, D.