What follows is not a complete ancestry report on Samuel Clemens, but a beginning. I got much of the material from his biographies, but also found a lot about his ancestors in Hinshaw’s Encyclopedia of American Quaker Genealogy. Some of Twain’s ancestors were Quakers, thank goodness -- they kept such good genealogical records.
I’ve concentrated on Twain’s paternal ancestors so far, but will add more about the Lampton family as I do further research. Here is what I’ve found:
3. Jane Lampton b. Abt 1803, Columbia, Adair County, Kentucky, d. 27-Oct-1890, Keokuk, Lee County, Iowa, buried: Hannibal, Marion County, Missouri.
5. Parmela Goggin b. ??-Oct-1775, Bedford County, Virginia, m. (1) 29-Oct-1797, in Bedford County, Virginia, Samuel B. Clemens, b. Bedford County, Virginia, d. ??- ___-1805, Mason County, Kentucky, m. (2) 25-Mar-1809, in Adair County, Kentucky, Simon Hancock.
6. Benjamin Lampton b. ??-___-1770, Virginia, m. Abt 1800, in Clark County, Kentucky, Margaret Casey, b. Virginia.
7. Margaret Casey b. Virginia.
11. Rachel Moorman b. Bedford County, Virginia.
12. William Lampton
14. William Casey
21. ---- ----
22. Thomas Moorman b. ??-___-1708, m. Abt 1730, Rachel Clark, d. ??-___-1792. Thomas died Abt 25-Nov-1766, Bedford County, Virginia.
23. Rachel Clark d. ??-___-1792.
45. Elizabeth Reynolds
46. Christopher Clark d. Aft 1762.
89. Elizabeth ----
Two articles about the Clemens and Moorman families were especially helpful. They were both written by Charles O. Paullin, who is himself a relative of Mark Twain. These articles were:
I also found a manuscript in the Seattle Public Library called Mark Twain’s Relatives, by P. O. Shelby (1969), which consists of descendant charts for some of Twain’s ancestors.
None of the sources above have any definite ancestors for Samuel B. Clemens, partly due to the loss of records in Virginia during the Civil War.
STATE COUNTY SURNAME NAME COMMENTS -------------- -------------- ----------- ------------ ----------------------------------------- Virginia Amelia Clement Jno. Heads of Families--Virginia, 1782 Virginia Amelia Clement Stephen Heads of Families--Virginia, 1782 Virginia Amelia Clements Edmd. Heads of Families--Virginia, 1782 Virginia Amelia Clements Isham Heads of Families--Virginia, 1785 Virginia Amelia Clements John Heads of Families--Virginia, 1785 Virginia Amelia Clements Mrs. Heads of Families--Virginia, 1785 Virginia Amelia Clements Sarah Heads of Families--Virginia, 1782 Virginia Amherst Clements James Heads of Families--Virginia, 1783 Virginia Amherst Clements Stephen Heads of Families--Virginia, 1785 Virginia Amherst Clements William W. Heads of Families--Virginia, 1785 Virginia Amherst Clements William, Jr. Heads of Families--Virginia, 1785 Virginia Charlotte Clements Benjamin Heads of Families--Virginia, 1782 Virginia Cumberland Clements Edward Heads of Families--Virginia, 1782 Virginia Cumberland Clements Edward Heads of Families--Virginia, 1784 Virginia Fairfax Clements Jacob Heads of Families--Virginia, 1782 Virginia Mecklenburg Clemmonds Edmund Heads of Families--Virginia, 1782 Virginia Pittsylvania Clements Isaac Heads of Families--Virginia, 1782 Virginia Pittsylvania Clements Isaac Heads of Families--Virginia, 1785 Virginia Pittsylvania Clements Susannah Heads of Families--Virginia, 1785 Virginia Sussex Clemons Thomas Heads of Families--Virginia, 1782
Note: There were no records in this index for Bedford or Campbell counties.
I've recently found an excellent source for additional information about Mark Twain's ancestry, especially for his Clemens ancestors. Here is the link to the site, maintained by the Mark Twain Museum in Hanibal, MO: http://www.marktwainmuseum.org/Genealogy.html.
This file was last updated on 3/2/2005.
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