John Marshall Clemens (August 11, 1798 – March 24, 1847) was the father of author Mark Twain.

Biography

Clemens was the scion of a

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

family that owned both land and slaves in that state. The Clemens were said to be a Cornish American family originally from

Looe Looe (; kw, Logh, ) is a coastal town and civil parish in south-east Cornwall, England, with a population of 5,280 at the 2011 census. Looe is west of Plymouth and south of Liskeard, divided in two by the River Looe, East Looe ( kw, links ...

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

, England, however the Looe museum provides evidence showing that they instead emigrated from

Corby Corby is a town in North Northamptonshire, England, located north-east of Northampton. From 1974 to 2021, the town served as the administrative headquarters of the Borough of Corby. At the 2011 United Kingdom census, 2011 Census, the built-up ...

. He was born in

Campbell County, Virginia Campbell County is a United States county situated in the south central part of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Located in the Piedmont region of Virginia, Campbell borders the Blue Ridge Mountains. The county seat is Rustburg. Grounded on a t ...

, the eldest of five children, to Samuel B. and Pamela Goggin Clemens. He was named after U.S. Chief Justice John Marshall. His father died in 1805, whereupon the family moved to

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

. Pamela Clemens remarried in 1809, and John Clemens started working at age 11, as a clerk at an

iron mine Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the f ...

. He undertook the study of law in a local law office and became a licensed lawyer at the age of 21. At that same age, he became legally responsible for financial obligations deemed to be owed to his Kentucky stepfather for the costs of supporting the Clemens children and keeping family slaves. The burden of this debt left him without financial resources. He married Jane Lampton on May 6, 1823, in Columbia,

Adair County, Kentucky Adair County is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. Its county seat is Columbia, Kentucky, Columbia. The county was founded in 1801 and named for John Adair, then Speaker of the House in Kentucky and later Gov ...

. She was a religiously conservative Presbyterian, while he was an agnostic freethinker who admired

Tom Paine Thomas Paine (born Thomas Pain; – In the contemporary record as noted by Conway, Paine's birth date is given as January 29, 1736–37. Common practice was to use a dash or a slash to separate the old-style year from the new-style year. In th ...

. They moved to

Fentress County, Tennessee Fentress County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, the population was 18,489. Its county seat is Jamestown. History Fentress County was formed on November 28, 1823, from portions of Morgan, Overton a ...

, where he practiced law, operated a general store, and served as a

county commissioner A county commission (or a board of county commissioners) is a group of elected officials (county commissioners) collectively charged with administering the county government in some states of the United States; such commissions usually comprise ...

, county clerk, and acting attorney general as a conservative Whig. From 1832 to 1835 he was postmaster in Pall Mall. He speculated unsuccessfully in land and opened four stores which were unsuccessful.Harold K. Bush, ''Mark Twain and the Spiritual Crisis of His Age'' (2007) pp. 30–36. In 1835 the Clemens family, which by then included five children, moved to

Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...

, initially to the town of

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, where his son Samuel, who was to become famous as the author Mark Twain, was born on November 30, 1835. John Clemens practiced law and operated a general store in Florida for several years before moving to Hannibal in 1839. His retail business ventures were not successful, but he was active in civic affairs. He served as a steamboat and railroad commissioner and became a

county judge The term county judge is applied as a descriptor, sometimes as a title, for a person who presides over a county court. In most cases, such as in Northern Ireland and the Victorian County Courts, a county judge is a judicial officer with civil ...

. He served in the Missouri militia but did not serve in the debacle of the Honey War. John Clemens was the father of five sons (including Orion) and two daughters. He died in March 1847 from

pleurisy Pleurisy, also known as pleuritis, is inflammation of the membranes that surround the lungs and line the chest cavity ( pleurae). This can result in a sharp chest pain while breathing. Occasionally the pain may be a constant dull ache. Other sy ...

and

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severi ...

. His widow suspected syphilis was involved and ordered an autopsy which the young Samuel Clemens may have witnessed.

Cabin

The cabin in which the Clemens family is believed to have lived in Fentress County, Tennessee, is displayed as part of the collection of the

Museum of Appalachia The Museum of Appalachia, located in Norris, Tennessee, north of Knoxville, is a living history museum that interprets the pioneer and early 20th-century period of the Southern Appalachian region of the United States. Recently named an Affili ...

in Norris, Tennessee.Information obtained from museum interpretive sign inside the cabin, 1 May 2009.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clemens, John Marshall 1798 births 1847 deaths County commissioners in Tennessee Missouri lawyers American people of Cornish descent John Marshall People from Campbell County, Virginia County officials in Missouri County officials in Tennessee Tennessee lawyers 19th-century American politicians People from Columbia, Kentucky People from Fentress County, Tennessee People from Pall Mall, Tennessee 19th-century American lawyers Deaths from pneumonia Deaths from pleurisy