The pioneer settler of Dayton, Ohio, Benjamin Van Cleve was the oldest of his five siblings who moved to Cincinnati where he farmed and did blacksmith work until he was killed by Indians.
Benjamin Van Cleve (February 24, 1773  November 29, 1821) was a pioneer settler of Dayton, Ohio in the United States. Benjamin Van Cleve was the oldest child of John and Catherine Benham Van Cleve of Monmouth County, New Jersey. Three siblings were born at Monmouth County in the 1770s. Two other siblings were born when the family lived in Washington County, Pennsylvania in the 1780s. The family moved west and arrived at Cincinnati, Northwest Territory on January 3, 1790. In Cincinnati, John Van Cleve was a blacksmith and farmed, until 1791, when he was killed outside Cincinnati by Native Indians. 
