Editing Grover Cleveland (section)

==Early life==

===Childhood and family history===
[[Image:Caldwell Presbyterian Church Manse, Caldwell, NJ.jpg|thumb|Caldwell Presbyterian parsonage, [[Grover Cleveland Birthplace|birthplace]] of Grover Cleveland in [[Caldwell, New Jersey]]|left]]
Stephen Grover Cleveland was born on March 18, 1837, in [[Caldwell, New Jersey]], to Ann (née Neal) and [[Richard Falley Cleveland]].<ref>Nevins, 8–10</ref> Cleveland's father was a [[Congregationalism in the United States|Congregational]] and [[Presbyterianism in the United States|Presbyterian]] minister who was originally from [[Connecticut]].<ref>Graff, 3–4; Nevins, 8–10</ref> His mother was from [[Baltimore]] and was the daughter of a bookseller.<ref>Graff, 3–4</ref> On his father's side, Cleveland was descended from English ancestors, the first of the family having emigrated to [[Massachusetts]] from [[Cleveland, England|Cleveland]], England, in 1635.<ref>Nevins, 6</ref> On his mother's side, Cleveland was descended from Anglo-Irish Protestants and German [[Quakers]] from Philadelphia.<ref>Nevins, 9</ref> Cleveland was distantly related to General [[Moses Cleaveland]], after whom the city of [[Cleveland]], Ohio, was named.<ref>Graff, 7</ref>

Cleveland, the fifth of nine children, was named Stephen Grover in honor of the first pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Caldwell, where his father was pastor at the time. He became known as Grover in his adult life.<ref>Nevins, 10; Graff, 3</ref> In 1841, the Cleveland family moved to [[Fayetteville, New York]], where Grover spent much of his childhood.<ref>Nevins, 11; Graff, 8–9</ref> Neighbors later described him as "full of fun and inclined to play pranks",<ref>Nevins, 11</ref> and fond of outdoor sports.<ref>Jeffers, 17</ref>

In 1850, Cleveland's father Richard moved his family to [[Clinton, Oneida County, New York|Clinton, New York]], accepting a job there as district secretary for the [[American Home Missionary Society]].<ref>Nevins, 17–19</ref> Despite his father's dedication to his missionary work, his income was insufficient for the large family. Financial conditions forced him to remove Grover from school and place him in a two-year mercantile apprenticeship in Fayetteville. The experience was valuable, though brief. Grover returned to Clinton and his schooling at the completion of the apprentice contract.<ref>Tugwell, 14</ref> In 1853, missionary work began to take a toll on Richard's health. He took a new work assignment in [[Holland Patent, New York]], and moved his family once again.<ref name="nevins21">Nevins, 21</ref> Shortly after, Richard Cleveland died from a [[gastric ulcer]]. Grover was said to have learned about his father's death from a boy selling newspapers.<ref name="nevins21" />

===Education and moving west===
[[Image:PCLEV001-009.jpg|thumb|upright|An early, undated photograph of Grover Cleveland]]
Cleveland received his elementary education at the Fayetteville Academy and the [[Clinton, Oneida County, New York#Former schools in Clinton|Clinton Grammar School]] (not the Clinton Liberal Institute).<ref>Nevins, 18–19; Jeffers, 19</ref> After his father died in 1853, he again left school to help support his family. Later that year, Cleveland's brother William was hired as a teacher at the [[New York Institute for the Blind]] in New York City, and William obtained a place for Cleveland as an assistant teacher. Cleveland returned home to Holland Patent at the end of 1854, where an elder in his church offered to pay for his college education if he promised to become a minister. Cleveland declined, and in 1855 he decided to move west.<ref>Nevins, 23–27</ref>

He stopped first in [[Buffalo, New York]], where his uncle-in-law [[Lewis F. Allen]], gave him a clerical job.<ref>Nevins, 27–33</ref> Allen was an important man in Buffalo, and he introduced his nephew-in-law to influential men there, including the partners in the [[law firm]] of Rogers, Bowen, and Rogers.<ref>Nevins, 31–36</ref> [[Millard Fillmore]], the 13th president of the United States, had previously worked for the partnership.<ref>Graff, 11</ref> Cleveland later took a clerkship with the firm, began to [[read the law]] with them, and was admitted to the [[Bar examination in the United States|New York bar]] in 1859.<ref name="graff14">Graff, 14</ref>

===Early career and the Civil War===
Cleveland worked for the Rogers firm for three years before leaving in 1862 to start his own practice.<ref>Graff, 14–15</ref> In January 1863, he was appointed assistant [[district attorney]] of [[Erie County, New York]].<ref>Graff, 15; Nevins, 46</ref> With the [[American Civil War]] raging, Congress passed the [[Conscription Act of 1863]], requiring able-bodied men to serve in the army if called upon, or else to hire a substitute.<ref name="graff14" /> Cleveland chose the latter course, paying $150, {{Inflation|US|150|1863|fmt=eq}}, to George Benninsky, a thirty-two-year-old [[Polish people|Polish]] immigrant, to serve in his place.<ref>Graff, 14; Nevins, 51–52</ref> Benninsky survived the war.<ref name="graff14" />

As a lawyer, Cleveland became known for his single-minded concentration and dedication to hard work.<ref name="nevins52">Nevins, 52–53</ref> In 1866, he successfully defended some participants in the [[Fenian raids#Canada West|Fenian raid]], working on a ''[[pro bono]]'' basis (free of charge).<ref>Nevins, 54</ref> In 1868, Cleveland attracted professional attention for his winning defense of a [[libel]] suit against the editor of Buffalo's ''Commercial Advertiser''.<ref>Nevins, 54–55</ref> During this time, Cleveland assumed a lifestyle of simplicity, taking residence in a plain [[boarding house]]. He devoted his growing income to the support of his mother and younger sisters.<ref>Nevins, 55–56</ref> While his personal quarters were austere, Cleveland enjoyed an active social life and "the easy-going sociability of hotel-lobbies and [[Western saloon|saloons]]".<ref>Nevins, 56</ref> He shunned the circles of higher society of Buffalo in which his uncle-in-law's family traveled.<ref>Tugwell, 26</ref>