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Charlotte Ouisconsin Van Cleve
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Charlotte Ouisconsin Van Cleve

7/1/1819 – 4/1/1907

Disposition

4/4/1907 (Buried)

Location

Grounds | Section 10 | Lot 189 | Grave 4
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Charlotte Ouisconsin Clark was born on July 1, 1819, at Fort Crawford, Prairie du Chien as her father’s regiment was moving from Detroit to Fort Snelling. Charlotte was the first white child to be born in the territory that would later become Wisconsin. In fact, her middle name, Ouisconsin, is a French spelling of Wisconsin. On March 22, 1836, Charlotte Ouisconsin Clark married Horatio Phillips Van Cleve, a graduate of West Point Military Academy and Second Lieutenant with the United States Fifth Infantry Regiment. Once married and settled in St. Anthony Falls with Horatio, Charlotte became the first woman elected to the Minneapolis Board of Education and served from 1876 to 1878. She also founded the Sisterhood of Bethany and was instrumental in the incorpo ration and operation of Bethany Home in 1879.

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