Former Representative James Colgate Cleveland, a nine-term Republican Congressman from New Hampshire, a lawyer and a conservationist, died on Sunday in New London, N.H. He was 75 and lived in New London.
The cause was complications from a stroke, said his administrative assistant, William R. Joslin. He said Mr. Cleveland continued to practice law until his hospitalization a few weeks ago.
Mr. Cleveland won a narrow victory in his party's 1962 Congressional primary. But his meticulous attention to the problems and needs of his district, in northwestern New Hampshire, built a loyal constituency that kept sending him back to the House until he decided not to run again in 1980.
He was an expert in the fields of transportation, water resources, economic development and Congressional reform. As a senior member of the House Committee on Public Works and Transportation, he saw to it that his district received its share of Federal dollars for economic development.
He served in the New Hampshire State Senate from 1951 to 1963, and his reputation there was that of a Republican liberal. But his votes on Capitol Hill were those of a cost-cutting conservative who once observed that if Congress closed shop for a couple of years "it might be the best thing that ever happened in this country."
Mr. Cleveland was born in Montclair, N.J., but he always considered his family's summer place in New London his true home. He graduated magna cum laude in 1941 from Colgate University, which was named after one of his forebears, William Colgate. He was then commissioned into the Field Artillery and won the Bronze Star for valor as a forward observer in the Philippines.
He received his law degree from Yale Law School in 1948 and went into practice in New London and Concord, N.H. He was a founding partner of Cleveland Waters & Bass, with offices in both towns.
He was a sponsor of the New Hampshire Industrial Development Authority, founding chairman in 1986 of the Trust for New Hampshire Lands and a past Colgate trustee.
Mr. Cleveland is survived by his wife of 45 years, Hilary Paterson Cleveland; three sons, Cotton Mather [Cotton is a daughter], of New London, David P., of West Orange, N.J., and Dr. Lincoln M., of Manhattan; a daughter, Susan Sclater Cleveland of New London; two sisters, Mary Sholty and Patience Cleveland, both of Los Angeles; a brother, Mather, of Nashville, and three grandchildren.
Subject of entry 551 of "Our Voices, Our Town/A History of New London, New Hampshire/1950-2000" by Ann Page Stecker, 2000 (findagrave.com)