CLEVELAND HOUSE

Inscription

CLEVELAND HOUSE
ROSE E. CLEVELAND ACQUIRED
FAMILY HOME “THE WEEDS” 1884.
ACTING FIRST LADY FOR BROTHER
GROVER CLEVELAND 1885-1886.
AUTHOR, EDITOR, AND EDUCATOR.
WILLIAM G. POMEROY FOUNDATION 2026

In 1853, Richard Cleveland, father of future president Grover Cleveland and his sister Rose Cleveland, moved his family from their previous residence in Clinton, NY to the Village of Holland Patent. Unfortunately for Richard, he would pass away shortly after the move, leaving the new family residence, known as “The Weeds,” to his wife Ann Cleveland, who continued to occupy the property. While the older Cleveland children began moving out and embarking on their careers, Rose remained until she too began her education, financed by her older brother Grover. Her mother continued to live on the property until her death in 1882. The property then briefly passed to her sister Margaret, who sold it to her in 1884 for $1,000.

Later that year, her brother won his bid for the White House and was sworn in as the twenty-second president of the United States in March 1885. Because he was a bachelor, Rose agreed to fill the role of First Lady, which she held until 1886, when her brother married Frances Folsom who then assumed the role.

After her stint as First Lady, Rose engaged in a variety of literary and educational pursuits, editing a magazine in Chicago and teaching at Sylvanus Reed’s School for Girls in New York City.

In 1886, The Weeds caught fire due to a defective fireplace in her library, damaging her book collection along with other furnishings. The house itself survived, and Rose arranged for its repair shortly after the fire.

Rose frequently traveled across the United States and Europe, and held other properties in addition to The Weeds, including a farm in Maine, but returned there in 1899, where she lived until 1910 when she went to Italy with her life partner Evangeline Marrs Whipple. The two moved there permanently in 1912, where they lived until Rose contracted Spanish Flu in 1918.