Family Research

Well...I've been so busy doing research on my ancestors.
Yep...let me tell you people...when you catch the geneology bug...it's hard to get rid of it.
I love this so much.
My mother was doing the Griffis and Green side of our family.
So...I decided to do the Clem side of my family. Which is my maiden name for those who remember me before I got married.
Oh, I'm doing Barton too. In my spare time.
Kirtus's family is so much harder than mine. Maybe because I don't know the people and places as well as my own.
Okay...I have found out so much.
Well...my grandfather.
Fred Clarence Clem....well...what can I say about him. He was something else. He loved to tell big tall tales. He was quite an interesting man...but afflicted with alcoholism. So, he was born in Limestone County, AL. His family were migrant farm hands...which means they moved from place to place depending on the work that needed to be done. In 1942 he joined the Army and they put him in the military band. My grandfather was extremely talented. He could play pretty much any instrumet by ear. Which means...he couldn't read music but could listen and then play it back. Very Very talented to be able to do this. I am able to do the same thing. I guess that is where I got my good ear from. ;) I believe he was much more talented than I.
So...he traveled all over the US with this band. He never fought in the war. Which I guess is a good thing. While he was traveling he must have ended up over in North Carolina which is where he met my Grandmother. They came back to AL where they married on 2.13.1943.
Now...they had a child...my aunt Libby and then from what I understand he left to fin a job or play in a band. I remember hearing from my mom that he went to play ina band...but I've always thought that meant...like at a honkey tonk...but now I know it was the Military band.
Eventually, he came back and they moved all over the South. My dad who was born in 1948 was born in TN. Finally they ended up in Lone Oak, Texas.
My grandfathers dad was Joseph Edward Clem. He had about 7 kids or so...they were farmers so they never stayed in one place long. They never actually owned their own land...they rented and farmed other people's land.
Joseph's dad was Thomas David...who people called David. David married a woman named Indiana. Pretty cool huh? They too were farmers...but David died in 1859. He was very young. He left Indiana with 7 kids at home from the ages of 6 months to 12 years old. The two oldest were boys and were sent to the field to help make a living for their family. None of the boys were school except Joseph and one other...most of the children could not read or write and never learned. (So sad)
David's dad was Thomas David the 1st. I don't know much about him yet...but I do know his dad's name was Adam Clem and his mother's name was Jemima Crockett. yes...she is related to Davy Crockett. No shit!!! I'm so excited. My dad and his family are so excited to be related to Davy Crockett. Okay...so...here is where we stop.
yep...Adam has no proof of parents. I mean...he had to come from some where right?
You just don't appear out of thin air!
So, I have a theory...There is a group that came from Germany...Johann Conrad Klemm in 1747. He had a son name Johann Valentine Klemm...who was lost and then found when he died in 1791 in Georgia...St. Paul Parish, Georgia...the same location that Adam was born. In his will he lists his wifes but not his childen. He does leave things to his children...but to "all my children."
Okay, so his wife's information doesn't show having a son named Adam...but Valentine's marriage to her was late in his life. So, we think there might have been another woman he was married to and she passed early.
We think Adam is some how linked to this family; Johann Conrad Klemm, through Johann Valentine Klemm. When Valentine left PA he was a KLEMM. When he passed he was CLEM. People changed their names all the time back then. Adam named a son Valentine. That is a very odd name for a boy...so...well...that is what we think...just no proof yet.
Also, my dad's cousin said he remembers hearing from his family that the Clem's use to be spelled with a K!!!
I told Dad we will probably never know, unless someone has a family bible. Many places were burned in the South by the Yankees when they marched through...many documents were lost then. Many documents...like bibles may have been buried with their owners.
Also, alot of poor people back in that day..poor like my family was...didn't keep records. They had their children at the house and documents of birth or death was not written down or collected.
Also, in 1765...Georgia was a British colony.
Well...as you can see...tis is my passion for the moment. So, my blogs may be limited at the moment.
I found out that we have a relative that fought under the command of Nathan Bedford Forest. My father's grandfather's father in-law. Hiram Wright. He was a decorated confederate solider and actually earn the prestiagous confedeate cross.
Recently the Sons of the Confederacy replaced his tombstone with a decorated tombstone of the confederacy.