Cemetery RecordLot 35.3
Grave Status Occupied
Update Date 9/22/1997
Occupant Information
Name Ella Clarissa Cleaveland
Sex Female
Social Sec. No.
Date of Birth 1/1/1849
Date of Death 7/5/1860
Interment Date
Cause of Death Drowning in Lake Calhoun
Place of Birth Massachusetts
Place of Death Minneapolis, Minnesota
Age
10
Marital Status
Single
Mother
Clarissa (Sikes) Cleaveland
Father
Honorable Arba Cleaveland
Children
none
Occupation
Military Status
Baptized
9/7/1856 (church record)
Purchased By
Street
City, State, Zip
Phone
Date Purchased
Amount Fee Paid
Date Int Fee Paid
Interment Fee
Name
Address
City, State, Zip
Phone
Name
Relationship
Address
City, State, Zip
Phone
Purchaser Information
Ella Clarissa Cleaveland
2/7/1861
0.00
W11
Spouse Information
Next of Kin Information
Lot 35.3 update Date 9/22/1997
Name Ella Clarissa Cleaveland
Comments/History Ella 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.