Robert Adrian Van Cleave was born in Hinds County, Mississippi, in 1840.
Prior to the Civil War, Van Cleave moved to Yazoo County, where he joined the
Confederate army in the spring of 1862. After serving for a time in Capt.
William Gartley’s company of cavalry, Van Cleave joined Co. I, 1st Mississippi
Light Artillery, also known as Bowman’s Battery. A private, the young soldier
participated in all the actions of the unit throughout the Vicksburg Campaign
and surrendered with the army at Vicksburg. When the war ended, Van Cleave returned
to Yazoo County and married Eliza Sheppard in 1865, and then the couple moved
to Ocean Springs two years later. In their adopted home, Van Cleave became one
of the most influential men in town.
Van Cleave was drawn to the area because of relatives who were active in
business and real estate. Following in their footsteps, R.A. Van Cleave
established a store in a rural section of Jackson County along Bluff Creek.
Although the business failed, he was respected enough that the community was
later named Van Cleave (though spelled ‘Vancleave’). After failing to establish
a business in the county, Van Cleave moved to Ocean Springs proper, where he
started a mercantile business in the 1870s. The R.A. Van Cleave Mercantile
Store (not exactly a creative name) was a one-story frame building. At the same time (in 1872), he was appointed
as Postmaster, despite the fact that he was a staunch Democrat and his
appointment came during the Grant administration (locals claimed there were
simply no qualified Republicans in the county). He served in this role for ten
years, running the post office from within his store, which was located on
Washington Avenue. In 1881, the store
was robbed. The robbery was foiled by a store clerk who was asleep in a back
room. Awakened by the intruder, the clerk fired a pistol at the would-be thief.
Although he missed, it was enough to compel the robber to flee the store, who
escaped with $157.58 in postage stamps (in denominations of one, three and five
cents each). Caught within a matter of days, the thief was convicted in Federal
court in Jackson and sentenced to four years in the Southern Illinois
penitentiary in Chester, Illinois.
In addition to his mercantile business, Van Cleave started buying
commercial property in Ocean Springs, especially lots near the railroad depot.
In 1870, rail service arrived in Ocean Springs via the New Orleans, Mobile
& Chattanooga Railroad, later purchased and operated as the L&N
Railroad. It was near the depot that Van Cleave opened his store and built his
family home, where he and Eliza raised seven children. He also built a hotel at
the corner of Washington and Robinson. Opened in 1880, the Van Cleave Hotel (left) was
a two-story wooden building with a wide gallery on two sides. According a
contemporary newspaper ad, the hotel was “elegantly fitted up, and with large,
well ventilated rooms lighted by gas,” all designed for the “accommodation of
regular and transient boarders.” Between the opening of the hotel and the loss
of the building in a fire in 1920, the hotel changed names numerous times. It
was called, at various times, the Meyer Hotel, Gillum Hotel, City Hotel, Frye
Hotel, The Inn Hotel, Iberville Hotel, Commercial House and Commercial Hotel.
Van Cleave no longer owned the hotel when it burned. 
On September 9, 1882, Van Cleave had the honor to receive former
Confederate President Jefferson Davis at his hotel. Davis was visiting Ocean
Springs in order to review the Reichard Battalion and German Guards of New
Orleans, a unit of the Louisiana state guard which had come by train for the
festivities. Col. Augustus Reichard was a native of Germany who immigrated to
the United States in 1845. A cotton dealer and slave-owner, Reichard
(right) volunteered to raise German volunteers for the Confederate army and became
colonel of the 20th Louisiana Infantry. In 1862, all of his property in New
Orleans was confiscated by the hated Benjamin Butler. The next year, Reichard
left the country and made his way to Egypt. He returned to New Orleans in 1868,
and was later active in Confederate veterans’ organizations. Stopping at
Beauvoir on the way to Ocean Springs, the guardsmen welcomed Davis and his
daughter Winnie on board as the band played the “Bonnie Blue Flag.” Upon
arrival in Ocean Springs, they were greeted at the depot by the Ocean Springs
Fire Company, whose president happened to be R.A. Van Cleave. Marching in a
heavy rain, the troops made their way to the Van Cleave Hotel, where Davis was
received with a champagne brunch. Later, a military ball was held at the nearby
Ocean Springs Hotel, owned by W.B. Schmidt. No doubt, the opportunity to
receive Jefferson Davis in such grand fashion was a proud moment for the former
Confederate private. 
Another opportunity for fame presented itself three years later, although
not nearly on the scale of grandeur as the Davis reception. On that occasion,
the Liberty Bell was being moved by rail back to Philadelphia after being on
exhibit at the World's Industrial and Cotton Centennial Exposition in New
Orleans. Beginning the journey back on June 13, 1885, the Liberty Bell was
transported via a special flat car (left), and was accompanied by the mayor of New
Orleans and other city officials. Somehow, Van Cleave made arrangements for the
train to make a quick stop in Ocean Springs. Wearing a “paper hat and wooden
sword,” Van Cleave led a group of veterans to the depot, where they fired a
“derelict cannon” and made a few speeches. It is hard to imagine that the
august body escorting the famed Liberty Bell were impressed at all by the
gesture. After a three-day journey by rail, the Liberty Bell was back home in
Philadelphia. The trip to New Orleans was the first time the bell had ever been
removed from Independence Hall.
Besides being a respected and successful businessman, Robert A. Van
Cleave was also called on to serve as Ocean Springs’ first (provisional) mayor,
although his term, coming at the organization of the city government, lasted
only a few months. Appointed mayor by a committee of citizens in June 1892 and
approved by Mississippi Governor John M. Stone, Van Cleave decided not to seek reelection
in the December election. After leaving the political scene and retiring from
his various business interests, R.A. Van Cleave died in 1908 at age 68. He is
buried in Ocean Springs’ Evergreen Cemetery alongside his wife, who died in
1912. The Van Cleave family continued to have a prominent role in Ocean Springs
life. From 1894, when a new, two-story store (above right) was constructed, to 1926, the
family’s mercantile business thrived. The R.A. Van Cleave & Son Company, specializing
in “fancy groceries and feed of different kinds,” continued after R.A. Van
Cleave’s death under the leadership of William S. Van Cleave, a son.
Unfortunately, the store burned in 1926. William died in 1938, and is also
buried in the Evergreen Cemetery (below right). Photo and Image Sources:
http://www.govancleave.com
http://oceanspringsarchives.net
http://www.louisianatravel.com
http://expguy2.blogspot.com
http://oceanspringsarchives.net
http://oceanspringsarchives.net
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