Charles C. Clayton

Notes:

Farmer and distiller.

Charles married Barbara Hagan on 21 Apr 1830 in Bardstown, Nelson, Kentucky. Barbara (daughter of Benjamin Hagan and Nancy Ann Cissell) was born about 1805 in Nelson County, Kentucky; died on 22 Jul 1890 in Daviess County, Kentucky; was buried in St. Alphonsus Church, St. Joseph, Daviess, Kentucky. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

The most thoroughly-researched work we've seen about Joseph Clayton has been by Paul Nordberg. His earlier monograph "Joseph Clayton of Nelson County, Kentucky" dispensed briskly with a number of misconceptions, at least one of which we'd been responsible for perpetuating. More recently, he revised and extended his work on Joseph and his wife Eleanor, combining it into a single paper called "Joseph and Eleanor (Cole) Clayton of Nelson County, Kentucky." Reversing his earlier conclusion that Joseph Clayton was born in St. Mary's County, Nordberg now argues, we think convincingly, that the preponderance of the evidence indicates that he was born in Chesterfield County, Virginia, a son of Francis and Elizabeth Clayton, as first proposed in 2002 by Ann Whalen:

Briefly speaking, I have changed my mind about Joseph's ancestry because of very good demographic and temporal fit, identifiable uncertainties about interpretation of the genetic evidence, and two very specific ties. (1) Both Francis and Elizabeth Clayton of Chesterfield, and Joseph and Eleanor Clayton of Nelson County, had five reported sons, four of whom were named William, John, Joseph and Thomas. Each name by itself is common, but I estimate that the likelihood of the combination occurring purely by coincidence is less than five in one hundred. (2) As will be discussed more fully below, Drury Ragsdale, captain of the artillery company that Joseph Clayton (later of Nelson County) joined, was a close neighbor of Joseph Clayton of Chesterfield County, and the two families were notably associated in their migrations. The odds of this pair of circumstances happening just by chance seem to me almost infinitesimal. As Thoreau remarked, "Some circumstantial evidence is very strong, as when you find a trout in the milk."

The new paper also cites recent DNA results from a living paternal descendant of Joseph Clayton that, added to already-assembled circumstantial evidence, strongly suggests that Joseph's wife Eleanor was the Eleanor mentioned as a daughter in the 1771 will of Robert Cole.

Nordberg also has an online family tree, and while we recommend that researchers consult the monographs mentioned above, and the older one about Joseph's wife Eleanor which is linked from our page for her, his briefer remarks in his entry for Joseph Clayton are worth excerpting here.

From Paul Nordberg at paulnordberg.net/family-history-reunion/ps07/ps07_325.html:

He fought in the Revolutionary War. He was a matross, an artillery private. He enlisted in 1777 and served through at least March of 1780, when he was stationed in Morristown, New Jersey. His regiment, just being formed when he enlisted, initially did garrison duty at Portsmouth and Yorktown, Virginia, near where enemy ships were "hovering" in Chesapeake Bay near Hampton Roads. (This was the area from which a number of the men in Joseph Clayton's company came.) In March of 1778, the regiment was jointed Washington's army at Valley Forge. For the rest of the War, they fought in Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey. Joseph Clayton took part in several battles.

In 1783, he received £111 13s 7d as the balance of his pay according to an act of 1781, and he was granted a Military Warrant for two hundred acres of land, an entitlement of every soldier who fought until the end of the war. There are signs that he sold out rights to the assigned parcel on Paint Creek to one David Nisbitt, one of a group of land speculators. It seems reasonable to suppose that he married between his military discharge and the move to Kentucky.

He first appears in the records of Nelson County in 1786, when he witnessed the will of John Brients. In 1792, tax books show him with no land, four horses, and seven cattle, appearing immediately after Joseph Clark. In 1793, he had 66 acres of land, five horses and seven cattle, perhaps funded in part with proceeds from the sale of his assigned warrant rights. Various Clarks are on the same page. On October 3, 1793, as he is listed on the court records as a bondsman for the marriage of George Clark and Sarah Brothers, both of St. Mary's County, Maryland. Joseph's serving as bondsman suggests a prior relationship with George, who had come to Nelson County in 1786 or 1787. In 1800, Joseph Clayton is shown purchasing land from James With[e]row. He is regularly present in Nelson County records though 1813. I have found no trace of him after that. In 1823, "widow Eleanor Clayton" gave consent for the marriage of their daughter Catherine. An affadavit in much later pension application of 1851 by 84 year-old Peter Blair, whose brother knew Joseph Clayton during the Revolutionary War, reports that Joseph "as he was informed & believes...died on the [blank] day of [blank] 1824." This information seems a bit squishy, since it is hearsay much after the fact, and occurs amid statements that are factually incorrect in some other particulars. I suspect that Joseph died around 1813 when the records for him seem to end, and that Eleanor stayed with their son John, who has a female over 45 in his household according to the 1820 census.

Joseph married Eleanor Cole. Eleanor (daughter of Robert Cole and Ann Greenwell) was born between 1755 and 1760; died between 1830 and 1848. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate death: Aft 1823

Notes:

The only thing known with certainty about the wife of Joseph Clayton is her given name, Eleanor. But Paul Nordberg's monograph "Eleanor Cole of St. Mary's County, Maryland" makes a strong circumstantial case that she was Eleanor Cole, a sister of Patrick's 5G-grandmother Henrietta Cole (1754-1837). More recently, in early 2021, DNA results from a living Clayton descendant of Joseph Clayton showed strong matches to Robert Cole (d. 1771), known father of Henrietta. As a result, Nordberg has concluded, and we agree, that when the circumstantial evidence is added to the genetic, it can be stated with reasonable confidence that Joseph Clayton's wife was the daughter Eleanor mentioned in the 1771 will of Robert Cole.

Notes:

"Taken together, the various pieces of evidence present a credible case that Francis Clayton descended from a clan around Blackburn and Leyland, Lancashire. It would be ideal to have specific lines and names, of course, but with record loss I doubt that we ever will. The most eligible candidate ancestor appears to be the Richard Clayton who in 1635 settled in Virginia, perhaps five to ten miles from Francis's Chesterfield farm of 1755. I suspect that Richard may have been just one of a larger family group, however, and it would be a mistake to settle on him just because we happen to have a little more information about him than about his namesakes. -- Still, the story makes good sense and is consistent with available evidence. That is not a bad start." [Paul Nordberg, "Family and Ancestry of Francis Clayton of Chesterfield County, Virginia," citation details below]

Francis married Elizabeth. Elizabeth died after 4 Nov 1771. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: Bef 1719, St. Mary's County, Maryland

Notes:

Abstract of the will of Robert Cole, from Linda Reno's stmarysfamilies.com:

Robert Cole, SMC 11/26/1771-12/2/1771. Wife: Sarah, alias Elizabeth. Children: Eleanor, Elizabeth, Mary. If any of these 3 die before marriage or not arrive at age, estate may go to survivors of these 4: Eleanor, Elizabeth, Mary, Henrietta Hayden. Son-in-law: Robert Mattingly. Granddaughter: Elizabeth Mattingly. Heirs of daughters: Jane Mattingly and Margaret Melton, both deceased. Execs: Sons-in-law, Robert Mattingly, Richard Melton, Basil Hayden. Wit: James Roach, Clement Hayden, William Hayden.

From Mary Louise Donnelly, John Medley (1615-1660):

"An inventory of Robert Cole's estate was made on 8/14/1772 with a value of nearly 445 pounds of sterling. He owned seven slaves and the usual items found on a plantation of that period, and some special items such as a desk, a seal skin trunk and a pair of spectacles and case. When the final account of Robert Cole's estate was made on 11/22/1773 his heirs received nearly 513 pounds of sterling (Acc't 69:205)."

Robert married Ann Greenwell before 1743. Ann (daughter of Thomas Greenwell and Mary Medley) was born about 1730 in St. Mary's County, Maryland; died before 1771. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Robert married Elizabeth Tant before 1704 in St. Mary's County, Maryland. Elizabeth (daughter of John Tant and Margaret Bloomfield) was born before 1689 in St. Mary's County, Maryland; died after 1724 in St. Mary's County, Maryland. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Abstract of the will of Thomas Greenwell, 11 Mar 1750:

To son Philip.
To dau. Winefret, Negro man Robin.
To dau.-in-law, Anne Riley.
To dau.-in-law, Elizabeth Riley.
To son-in-law, Bennet Riley.
To my three said children in law, each a two-year yearling.
To son George Greenwell, 1s.
To dau. Anne Cole, 1s.
Rest of estate to my children: Philip Greenwell, Anastasia Greenwell, Monica Greenwell, Mary Greenwell and Raphael Greenwell.
Wife Mary Greenwell and Robert Cole, exs.
Wit: Henry Jernegan, Ignatius Greenwell.

Thomas married Mary Medley before 1724 in St. Mary's County, Maryland. Mary (daughter of John Medley and (Unknown first wife of John Medley)) was born about 1700 in St. Mary's County, Maryland; died after 20 Aug 1743 in St. Mary's County, Maryland. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]