Cemetery RecordChanhassen Pioneer Cemetery
Lot 35.2
Grave Status Occupied
Update Date 9/22/1997
Occupant Information
Name Emmesette Arabell (aka Emma) Cleaveland
Sex Female
Social Sec. No.
Date of Birth 1/1/1847
Date of Death 7/5/1860
Interment Date
Cause of Death Drowning in Lake Calhoun
Place of Birth Belchertown, Massachusetts
Place of Death Minneapolis. Minnesota
Age
12
Marital Status
Single
Mother
Clarissa (Sikes) Cleaveland
Father
Honorable Arba Cleaveland
Children
none
Occupation
Military Status
Baptized 9/7/1856 (church record) - First Independent Church of Excelsior and Chanhassen
Name
Relationship
Address
City, State, Zip
Phone
Purchaser Information
Purchased By
Emmesette Cleaveland
Street
City, State. Zip
Phone
Date Purchased
2/7/1861
Amount Fee Paid
0.00
Date Int Fee Paid
Interment Fee
0.00
Spouse Information
Name
Address
City, State, Zip
Phone
Next of Kin Information
Name
Relationship
Address
City, State, Zip
Phone
Lot 35.2 Update Date 9/22/1997
Name Emmesette Arabell (aka Emma) Cleaveland
Com ments/H !story Emmesette was born circa 1847-1849 according to the Massachusetts 1857
census. In a letter written home by Theodore Bost, dated 7/29/1860, he writes:
Mr. and Mrs. Cleaveland went away with their 4 children on the 4th of July to visit
their sister and brother-in-law who is a minister in Minneapolis (Reverend Henry
Nichols). On the 5th, the two families went to bathe in the lovely lake famous for
its rocky shore and gradually sloping bottom. The two older girls (Emmesette, age
12, and Ella, age 10) ran into the water, but all of a sudden one of them began to
struggle and call for help; the second one went to give her a hand and also lost
her footing. Their 12 year old cousin ran to rescue them and also got into deep
water. Then Mr. Cleaveland threw himself into the water and his brother-in-law
too, then his sister-in-law and someone else. One after another, they sank
without a word. Mrs. Cleaveland wanted to rush in after the others, but two men
who came running up held her back while trying to save the drowning people; but
one of them got tangled up in a shawl and his friend had a hard time rescuing him.
Others who drowned were: Reverend Henry M. Nichols, age 36, of the Plymouth
Congregational Church; Nancy Sikes Nichols, age 35, who was Mrs. Cleaveland's
sister; Henry B. Nichols, age 12, who was the son of the Reverend. The Nichols
family was buried at the Pioneer Cemetery in Minneapolis on Lake and Cedar.
They were disinterred in 1921, and moved to Crystal Lake Cemetery.
Only her birth year of 1847 can be confirmed, not the month and day. January 1st
was added because the software required something in the field.