Author: Andrew Duppstadt, DNCR
This article originally appeared in Recall, the magazine of the North Carolina Military Historical Society; republished with permission.
Located in southwestern North Carolina, Cleveland County was formed out of Rutherford and Lincoln counties in 1841 and named in honor of Colonel Benjamin Cleveland, one of the heroes of the Battle of King’s Mountain during the American Revolution. The town of Shelby, incorporated two years after the county’s formation, is the county seat. Parts of Gaston County were annexed to Cleveland on three occasions (1915, 1917, and 1921).
Benjamin Cleveland was born in Virginia in 1738 and moved to North Carolina in 1769. His many occupations included farmer, trapper, and surveyor. He was married to Mary Graves, sister-in-law of Revolutionary general Joseph Martin of Virginia. Nicknamed “Old Roundabout,” Cleveland was a large man around six feet tall and weighing over 300 pounds. From 1775-1777 he served as a Lieutenant and Captain of the Surry County militia. From 1777 until the war’s end, he served as Colonel of the Wilkes County militia. During his military career he became known as the “Terror of the Tories” for his harsh treatment of Loyalists. He earned lasting fame at the Battle of King’s Mountain in 1780 when, after rallying the militia, he claimed British Major Patrick Ferguson’s white horse as a war prize after Ferguson had been killed. After the war, Cleveland moved to Oconee County, South Carolina where he died in 1806. He was buried in a private family cemetery in South Carolina. Cleveland, Tennessee is also named for him.
Today, Cleveland County is home to approximately 98,000 residents and is bordered by Burke, Lincoln, Gaston, and Rutherford counties, as well as York and Cherokee counties in South Carolina. Towns of note besides the county seat of Shelby are King’s Mountain, Boiling Springs, Grover, and Lawndale, and the county is part of the Charlotte-Concord Statistical Area. The county is home to Cleveland Community College and Gardner-Webb University. Attractions include Crowder’s Mountain State Park, the Earl Scruggs Center, many historic sites related to King’s Mountain, and numerous greenways, golf courses, and other outdoor amenities.
For more information and to learn more, visit: https://www.ncmilitaryhistoricalsociety.org/