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Yes, Diane, I am interested. Thank You,
Kathy kathy(a)katsoft.com
> A short time back, I posted information on a story by Patience Clay
> Chapman. About 5 years ago, I copied it from Compuserve files. This is
> Patience, the daughter of Mitchell and Phoebe.
A short time back, I posted information on a story by Patience Clay
Chapman. About 5 years ago, I copied it from Compuserve files. This is
Patience, the daughter of Mitchell and Phoebe. I had planned to scan it,
even though it's very large, so I could send copies. However, I'm going
to have to get it done for me, as I'm having scanner problems. Just
thought I'd let anyone interested, know that I didn't forget. So if your
e-mail can receive attachments, let me know. Should be another few days.
Diane Bingham
dbing(a)inreach.com
I am enjoying all of the information on the Clay lines that appear on
the list, wishing for more information on the Jane that I am looking
for.
Does anyone have any information on the siblings, specifically sisters,
of Mitchell Clay, husband of Phoebe? I'm still looking for my Jane Clay
in the Bedford, Franklin county, Va. area in the mid 1700s. Any help is
appreciated.
Thanks,
Judi Markham Galloway
Houston, Texas
Sandra, If it is the one I am thinking about it is the yard of the Mercer co.
courthouse in Princeton, WV. I haven't seen her picture. but the famous Clay
statue is the one I am talking about.Nan
SandraG627(a)aol.com wrote:
> In a message dated 2/27/99 8:05:13 PM Eastern Standard Time, kathy(a)katsoft.com
> writes:
>
> > It is the statue of Mitchell and Phoebe (Belcher) Clay in what is now
> > Mercer Co. WV, then Virginia. They were the first pioneer family.
> > Kathy
> Kathy, thanks so much for the pictures, where were they taken, I will go by
> next summer on my annual gene trip!
> Sandy in Fla
>
> ==== CLAY Mailing List ====
> Reminder! Remove (<snip>) as much of the original message
> as possible when replying to a List posting. Include only
> that part of the original message important to your reply.
In a message dated 2/28/99 7:22:06 PM Eastern Standard Time,
jg1044(a)worldnet.att.net writes:
<< Subj: Siblings of Mitchell Clay (??????)
Date: 2/28/99 7:22:06 PM Eastern Standard Time
From: jg1044(a)worldnet.att.net (judi galloway)
Reply-to: jg1044(a)worldnet.att.net
To: CLAY-L(a)rootsweb.com
I am enjoying all of the information on the Clay lines that appear on
the list, wishing for more information on the Jane that I am looking
for.
Does anyone have any information on the siblings, specifically sisters,
of Mitchell Clay, husband of Phoebe? I'm still looking for my Jane Clay
in the Bedford, Franklin county, Va. area in the mid 1700s. Any help is
appreciated.
Thanks,
Judi Markham Galloway
Houston, Texas
>>
Hi Judi. I don't have a Jane as a Sister of Mitchell, only a Hannah & Judith.
Sorry. Tim Spradling
Story of Clay's Rocks.....
MERCER COUNTY HISTORY
published by Mercer County Historical Society, Inc, in Mercer County History 1986..
CLAYS ROCKS: The unwritten Story after 210 years.
Hill 2687, a mile and a quarter east of Cooks Chapel, at Pipestem, has a
local name, Clays Rocks. With the name comes a little story that accurately
hands down a bit of local history about the first settlement of Mercer County in
1775. Wilbur Farley, of Pipestem learned the story from his grandfather, Lewis
William Farley, called Big Will. He was told the story to many, including me. My
purpose is to record the story and to see what I can make of it.
Two hundred and ten years ago is a long time for accurate history to be preserved
by story telling alone. Special circumstances made it possible in this instance.
First, the story was the property of the Farley family, who has been here since
1774. Second the story is tied to a conspicuous landmark. Third, the story concerns
the Clay family, who achieved the ultimate notoriety of a Shawnee raid in 1783.
Clays Rocks is a hilltop erosional remnant of Princeton sandstone conglomerate.
It is on the rolling upland that separates the drainage basins of Pipestem Creek and
Toms Run. There are many cliffs and ledges of sandstone on canyons rims in the
Pipestem neighborhood that are much more massive and imposing. But Clays Rocks is
met in the woods as a pleasant surprise, a pretty place. Most noteworthy is a
teetering rock of some fifteen tons, which can be rocked by the
shifting weight of a man walking on it. So the landmark deserves a name and has
one. The story that comes with the name is this. In the spring of 1775, Mitchell
Clay moved his large family to
Clover Bottom on the Bluestone, their last stop in inhabited county being at the
Farley settlement
at the lower end of Crumps Bottom, then Culbertsons Bottom. They came up the nose
of the
ridge from just below the mouth of Toms Run, and got to Clays Rocks, the first
evening. There,
the parents first noticed that son Zekel, about eight years old was missing.
Mitchell sent his
oldest son and oldest daughter back to find him. They had to go clear back to the
Farley
settlement where they found him.
It seems that the Clays had emptied the corn shucks, from their bed ticks into an
inviting
pile and Zekel has used a lull in the preparations to crawl into the shucks for some
more sleep. He
was restored to his family at Clays Rocks that evening.
Of course, an oldtimer who knows the story of the naming of Clays Rocks will keep
talking, if you let him, about the Clays, the Farleys, Indian trails, Pipestem, or
many other
interesting subjects. I have isolated the basic story of how Clays Rocks got its
name.
A more extended version of the story was published by J.E. Faulconer in his column
in the
Hilton Times in 1970, citing the same Wilbur Farley as informant. Its heading was
Indians burn
boy at stake, referring to the Shawnee raid on Clover Bottom in 1783, eight years
after the
settlement. I dont know how much of the additional information came from Mr.
Farley, and how
much Mr. Faulconer got from other sources. The statement that the Clays fourteen
children
made the march is simply wrong; three of them hadnt been born yet. (This proved to
be a critical
point in my solving the most interesting paternity case for 1813 in the Guyandot
country, but that
is another story.)
Mr. Faulconers version of the story names the oldest daughter
Tabitha and the oldest son
Bartley. This is important information for those of us interested in the Clay
family history, if we
can believe it. For the Mercer County History - 1984, I made the first attempt to
list the fourteen
children in order of birth. I called Tabitha the third child (second daughter) and
Bartley the fifth
child (second son), and I still like that listing. I take the sworn statement of
Patience Clay
Chapman in December 1833, that she was then 73 or 74 years old, to establish the
fact that show
was the oldest of the Clay children. To me, the Clays Rocks story gives good
information to the
age only for Zekel.
The more serious historical content of the story is that it tells us how the Clays
came to
Clover Bottom (now better known as Lake Shawnee). They did not come up what is now
U.S.
460, as I has assumed. They came down New River to the lower end of Crumps Bottom,
to the
home of Thomas Farley and his wife, Judith Clay. The Farleys and the Clays came
from Henrico
County by way of the Blackwater River of present Franklin County. Judith Clay
Farley was
closely akin to Mitchell Clay.
Which way did the clays go on the second day? Mr. Farley and others can tell us
about the
Indian trail that continued to Pipestem Knob and on to the Bluestone, but the basic
story does not
say thats the way they went.
We know from surviving documents that the brothers Mitchell, David and Zekel Clay
served fifty-one days under Major James Robertson in the summer of 1774, either at
Fort Field,
near the mouth of Joshua Run on Crumps Bottom , or at Woods Fort, on Rick Creek in
Monroe
County. For several reasons, its a near certainty that they were on Crumps
Bottom. We also
know that Robertson sent out three-day patrols to Clover Bottom, thence the glades
beyond Flat
Top, thence to the mouth of the Bluestone and back to fort field. Surely Mitchell
clay knew the
best beaten path from clays Rocks to Clover Bottom and thats the way they went.
My guess is
that the trail followed the high ground; roughly, Route 20 to Athens, with its
reasonably good
crossing of Laurel Creek gorge, then by Mercer Healing Sprigs to cross Brush Creek
at Gardner,
and by Rocky branch and Kegley Trestle Road to Clover Bottom.
On March 27, 1810, Charles Clay was appointed overseer of the road from Big Laurel
Creek to the Clover Bottom. This may well have been along the trail where he had
been carried as
a one-year old (by my figures), thirty-five years before. And parts of the trail
are very likely still
parts of the present road system.
I yield to others the problems of figuring out the precise route, and the honor of
starting an
annual pioneers appreciation day hike over it. At my age, Im content to pay my
respect at
Clays Rocks and to try to guess whether my double great-great-great-great
grandmother, Mary
Clay, at age three, coaxed her father into making the rock teeter, or had to settle
for the help of her
older brothers and sisters.
This is all I , Kathy E. Clark-Tilson, Kathy in Fla, kathy(a)katsoft.com knows. I
just Xeroxed
this from the Mercer County History 1986. The writers name is not even listed on
what I had
copied. It listed sources, which I thought was going to have it, but it listed
Faulconer, J.E.,
Indians Burn Boy at Stake Hilton Times, 1970 , Giles county Historical Society,
Giles Co. Va,
1982, Johnson, David E. A History of the Middle New River... looks like there was
more... but
the librarian made the copies for me, and I probably need the next page...will have
to secure same
on my next trip to Charleston, WV this summer. Just thought you might find this
interesting, long,
but interesting.
I am sending this to the list rather than individually, as I am getting numberous
requests for data, so I will just share what I know with all at once....
Ref the Clay statues that I offered....here is what I know....
First of all it is located on the front lawn of the Mercer County Court House,
Princeton, WV
I am not sure of the date that it was errected or who made it... I thought I
had that but so far I have been unable to locate it... still looking thru Clay
data...
The Mercer County Historical Society, Inc. has an address of P.O. Box 5012,
Princeton, West Virginia, 24740. If anyone finds out more, before I do or before I
find my data, please share with us.
The plaque beneath the standing figures of Mitchell and Phoebe (Belcher) Clay
states:
MITCHELL
and
PHOEBE CLAY
Mitchell and Phoebe Belcher Clay became the first white settlers in what is now
Mercer County, West Virginia, when in 1775 they brought their family to their 800
acre tract of land at Clover Bottom on Bluestone Creek in Fincastle County,
Virginia. Eight years later in August 1783, the family was attacked by an Indian
party, two of the Clay children, Bartley ad Tabitha were killed in the raid.
Another son, Ezekiel was captured and taken to Chillicothe, Ohio, where he was later
burned at the stake.
-----------------
At the top of the writing in the seal of the bicentinial.... It has Americian
Revolutionary Bicentennial 1776-1976 engraved around the bicentennial star. That
could very well help put an age on the statue. Obviously it was placed there on or
after 1976, probably in 1976.
Kathy -- in Fla kathy(a)katsoft.com
Kathy, could you tell me a little about your John Thomas Clay? We are seeking
some connection for our John Clay, we think born around 1796. He said he was
from Virginia but we have NO documentation on him at all. Thank for you any
help. Myra Guidry Clay
MYVER(a)aol.com
Kathy...the statue is very moving...can almost feel their grief. Do you
know who sculpted the work? Was it actually meant to depict their likeness?
Thank you again for sharing this with us.
Diana Lynne
-----Original Message-----
From: kathy(a)katsoft.com <kathy(a)katsoft.com>
To: CLAY-L(a)rootsweb.com <CLAY-L(a)rootsweb.com>
Date: Saturday, February 27, 1999 8:05 PM
Subject: Re: Clay statue
>Carp1024(a)aol.com wrote:
>
>> What State????
>>
>
> It is the statue of Mitchell and Phoebe (Belcher) Clay in what is now
>Mercer Co. WV, then Virginia. They were the first pioneer family.
> Kathy
>
>______________________________
The reference to the family tracing its line back to Jamestown appeared on p. 18
of "Lucius D. Clay An American Life." The book is a biography of Lucius Clay so
there isn't the kind of detailed documentation one might find in a family
history. In the notes, pp. 692-693, the author refers to the following:
"The Clay Family" by Hon. Zachery Smith and Mary Rogers Clay, 1906
"The Georgia Branch of the Virginia Clays and Their Celebrated Cousins" Home and
Family 4 July 1926
A genealogical chart of "The Colonial Clay's of Virginia and Some of Their
Descendants 1443-1943" compiled by Clifford Charles Clay of Atlanta, 1943
Clay Genealogical Folder, Georgia Department of Archives & History
information from his cousins in Atlanta
Letter from L. W. Rigsby to Miss Ruth Blair 13 Sep 1924, Clay Genealogical
Folder, GA Dept of Archives & History, in which Rigsby wrote that he had been
informed that Senator "Steven Clay ... admitted that W. M. Clay, his
grandfather, and David Clay were brothers [sons of Pearse Clay] ... However,
Polliticians [sic] are given to claiming kin with those who can vote and it is
possible that if such an admission was made that it was made for political
effect. Yet there is some evidence to justify the investigation."
Please let me know if this helps or if you know of conflicting information. I
know others who are descended from Pearse. I'm descended from John C. Clay of
Cobb and have also been unable to connect his line with the Clay family of VA.
Ken Daniell
Lorigh1(a)aol.com wrote:
> Nicholas Harden Clay ( my husband's ggrandfather) was A.S. Clay's uncle. I
> would like to the documention from this book, I have never been able to find
> any to connected the Clay's of Washington Co. Ga, ( where A.S. Clay's father
> Wiliam James was born) to the Clay's of Va. Loraine Griffin
>
> ==== CLAY Mailing List ====
> To Subscribe to CLAY-L, address your e-mail to:
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Hi folks,
This is my first listing with your site so forgive if is not right.
I am looking for my great grandfather John W.|Clay born 11 Jan.1864 who
married Rachel B.Behanna born 16 Aug.,1874. John is the son of Zachariah
&Charlotte (THOMAS)CLAY.
One of the distant cousins says we are from Capt. John Claye of the Jamestown
colonist. If you can help please post or e-mail me at gata111(a)aol.com
Thanks
George
In a message dated 2/27/99 11:39:43 AM Eastern Standard Time, you wrote
> Rebecca Clay Pearis, daughter of George and Rebecca Pearis, was born
> 23 Apr 1796 in Giles County VA.
I will send my lines too, but does anyone know where this was in 1796? I know
that Giles was formed in 1806 from Mont. and Taze??
thanks for your help
sg
In a message dated 2/27/99 8:05:13 PM Eastern Standard Time, kathy(a)katsoft.com
writes:
> It is the statue of Mitchell and Phoebe (Belcher) Clay in what is now
> Mercer Co. WV, then Virginia. They were the first pioneer family.
> Kathy
Kathy, thanks so much for the pictures, where were they taken, I will go by
next summer on my annual gene trip!
Sandy in Fla
In a message dated 2/27/99 9:41:32 PM Eastern Standard Time,
PMcMillion(a)aol.com writes:
<< Subj: Another Mitchell/Phoebe line
Date: 2/27/99 9:41:32 PM Eastern Standard Time
From: sprad666(a)aol.com
Reply-to: CLAY-L(a)rootsweb.com
To: CLAY-L(a)rootsweb.com
Mitchell CLAY + Judith CLAY (d/o ?)
Charles Lewis CLAY + Ora STEWART (d/o Ralph STEWART & Mary CLAY)
Henry Byron CLAY + Nancy Anna THOMPSON (d/o John Henry
THOMPSON & Rebecca HEDRICK)
Andrew Byron CLAY + Sarah ACORD (d/o William Calvin ACORD &
Sarah MCMILLION)
Henry Byron (Bee) CLAY + Frances Azel YOUNG (d/o
Albert
Lanis YOUNG & Bessie Belle DANIELS)
Elizabeth Hope CLAY & Julius Emmett
SPRADLING, JR. (s/o Julius Emmett
SPRADLING, SR.
& Ella Jordan HUFFMAN)
Julius (Tim) Emmett
SPRADLING, III (ME)
Nicholas Harden Clay ( my husband's ggrandfather) was A.S. Clay's uncle. I
would like to the documention from this book, I have never been able to find
any to connected the Clay's of Washington Co. Ga, ( where A.S. Clay's father
Wiliam James was born) to the Clay's of Va. Loraine Griffin
Mitchell Clay + Phoebe Belcher
Mitchell Clay, Jr. + Judith/Juda Clay
John Thomas Clay + Phoebe Anne French
Henry T. Peters + Rebecca F. Clay
Burrell Workman + Amanda J. Peters
Henry Sanford Meadows + Mary Etta Workman
Leonard B. Meadows + Dessie M. Walker
Ralph M. Meadows + Barbara M. Curtis
Kathy ---- ME
Mitchell Clay + Phoebe Belcher
John A. French + Obedience Clay
John Thomas Clay + Phoebe Ann French
Henry T. Peters + Rebecca F. Clay
Burrell Workman + Amanda J. Peters
Henry Sanford Meadows + Mary Etta Workman
Leonard B. Meadows + Dessie M. Walker
Ralph M. Meadows + Barbara M. Curtis
Kathy ---- ME
William Clay + Ann Old
Mitchell Clay, Jr. + Judith/Juda Clay, d/o William
John Thomas Clay + Phoebe Anne French
Henry T. Peters + Rebecca F. Clay
Burrell Workman + Amanda J. Peters
Henry Sanford Meadows + Mary Etta Workman
Leonard B. Meadows + Dessie M. Walker
Ralph M. Meadows + Barbara M. Curtis
Kathy ---- ME
Mitchell Clay and Judith Clay
Meridith Clay and Nancy Bailey
Booker Clay and (1)"unknown"
Lewis Kottle Clay and Letitia Cook Bryant
James Osborne Clay and Lena Alba Baughman
Alpha Osborne Clay and Flossie Marie
Harrison
Lewis Clay and Nancy (Me)
Booker had two children ..Lewis Kottle and James Newton Clay born in
1859-61 before he married Lucinda McMillan. Lewis was sent to Kentucky
to stay with an uncle and James was raised by his grandparents,
Meridith and Nancy (Bailey) Clay. Since birth records of these years
were destroyed we can not find the mother of these two boys.
Carp1024(a)aol.com wrote:
> What State????
>
It is the statue of Mitchell and Phoebe (Belcher) Clay in what is now
Mercer Co. WV, then Virginia. They were the first pioneer family.
Kathy
Great idea...here is mine.
Mitchell m Phoebe
Mitchell jr m Judith Clay
Bartley m Nancy Prince
Julia Ann m John White
Mary Frances White m Theordore Ruggles
Mary Frances Ruggles m Bluford White
Constance White m John Leeper
Diana Lynne Leeper-Majeski (me)
Also:
Ralph Stewart m Mary Elliott
Charles Stewart m Nancy Clay
Absalom Stewart m Rachel Hager
Elizabeth Stewart m Robert Ruggles
Theodore Ruggles m Mary Frances White
and so on.....................................
Diana Lynne
-----Original Message-----
From: Diane Bingham <dbing(a)inreach.com>
To: CLAY-L(a)rootsweb.com <CLAY-L(a)rootsweb.com>
Date: Saturday, February 27, 1999 11:37 AM
Subject: Mitchell and Phoebe lines
>Hi all - I think posting our lines from Mitchell and Phoebe is a great
>idea. I have met so many "cousins" that I can't keep them straight. So
>here goes mine.
>
>1. Rebecca, daughter of Mitchell and Phoebe, was born in 1768, probably
>in Franklin County VA. She married Capt. George Pearis on 5 Oct 1784.
>She died 15 Apr 1944 in Mercer County
>
>2. Rebecca Clay Pearis, daughter of George and Rebecca Pearis, was born
>23 Apr 1796 in Giles County VA. Married John Davidson Brown, son of Lowe
>Brown and Jane Davidson, on 22 Feb 1811. She died 15 June 1874 in Denton
>County TX.
>
>3. Samuel Pepper Brown, son of Rebecca and John, born 28 July 1822 in
>Giles County. He married Mary Russell, daughter of Joseph Russell and
>Elizabeth Gray,on 16 Nov 1846 in Collin County TX. He died in 1878 in
>Denton County TX.
>
>4. Robert Emery Brown, son of Sam and Mary, born 22 Feb 1852 in Collin
>County TX. Married Lucinda Singletary, daughter of Joseph Wilson
>Singletary and Susannah Dickey. He died 1 Jul 1928 in Detroit Michigan.
>
>5. Robert Emery Brown, Jr. son of Robert and Lucinda, born 10 April 1901
>in Childress TX. Married Bonnie Kate Thompson, daughter of James Monroe
>Thompson and Sara Frances Crook, on 24 Dec 1929 in Richmond TX. He died
>22 Jan 1982 in Houston TX.
>
>6. Diane Brown, daughter of Bob and Bonnie. This is me, so I am the 6th
>generation (or is it 7th?) from Mitchell and Phoebe. I'm looking forward
>to seeing everyone' offering. Diane Bingham
>