Cornelius Clover County History
Clover
Family Research Compendium
County History Articles about
Cornelius Clover, son of John Clover
There are two articles here. One is by Merit A. Clover, the son of
Cornelius Clover. The second was by Walter M. Clover son of Merit
Clover.
History of Neosho and Wilson
Counties, Kansas 1902 Pages
255 & 256
Sent by N. Louise Wolf LaRue of
Billings, MT
Thanks to Pat Vaseska for typing this.
Merit A. Clover was
prominent as a citizen and successful as a farmer of Big Creek Township
Neosho County, Kansas. In point of settlement he can be classed
almost with the pioneers for he came to the county when all the river
lands were unclaimed and open to settlement and he settled upon the
southeast quarter of section 19, twp 27, range 19, 4 miles east of the
city of Chanute.
Records show the
Clovers to be genuinely American. They had a representative in
the first battles of the Republic of the United States in the person of
John Clover, grandfather of the subject of this review. He was
born in Germany, came to the U.S. in time to help win its independence
and then settle down in the state of New York. His son, Cornelius
Clover, was the father of our Merit A. Clover. Cornelius was born
in the state of NY in 1793, moved to OH soon after his marriage and
afterward settled in Indiana. In 1836, he made his final move to
Illinois where he died in 1863. He was by trade a millwright and
carpenter and passed the greater portion of his life engaged in these
pursuits, having at the same time some farming interests. He was
twice married, his first wife dying many years before his advent to IL
and leaving him the following children, viz., Armenia, now aged 82;
Perry deceased; Clarissa A. White; Elizabeth Boydston, deceased; Mary
J. Stockton, deceased; Cornelius T., deceased; and Rebecca Kees.
For his second wife Cornelius Clover married Narcissus Billingsley who
bore him the following named children: LaFayette, Josephus, both
deceased; Merit A., our subject; John F., Marcellus and Lucinda.
The mother of these last named died in 1883 at 80 years of age.
(L. LaRue notes this is an error; should be 1893.)
Cornelius Clover
was in the war of 1812, being the youngest son of the family, and
served with an older brother, William Clover.
Merit A. Clover of
this review came to manhood’s estate on an IL farm and acquired a
country school education which, reinforced by years of practical
experience, fits him for any of the ordinary duties of
citizenship. Farming has claimed his attention from early manhood
to the present and he has engaged in it intelligently and
successfully. He helped fight the last battles and skirmishes of
the Civil War, enlisting 11 Mar. 1865 in Co. H, twenty eighth Illinois
Infantry, which regiment from thence forward served in Alabama and
Texas. He was in the battle of Fort Spanish and that of Whistler
near Mobile, and in frequent “bushwhacking” engagements in
Alabama. The regiment was sent to Texas to capture Kirby Smith
but the old Confederate had crossed the Rio Grande River into Mexico
and the pursuit was given up. Mr. Clover was discharged at
Brownsville, TX in the spring of 1866, as a Co. Corporal and
immediately went back to his Illinois home.
On the 17th of
April 1867, Mr. Clover married Hester Ann Wheatley, a daughter of
Spencer Wheatley, referred to in the Wheatley sketches in this
work. Coming west the next year and becoming settlers of Neosho
County, Mr. & Mrs. Clover erected on their claim a small log house
in which they resided during all the years the initial work of farm
improvement and home development was going on. He had but $25.00
of the $125.00 he started life with in Allen County in 1868, when he
reached Neosho County and from this infinitely small nucleus has his
present position of semi opulence come. So far as the active work
of the farm goes, he is retired and the splendid estate of over 400
acres which he has accumulated is in the hands of tenants.
Mr. Clover has
taken a lively interest in local politics in his county. He has
served two terms as justice of the peace and two as township trustee
and was elected in the fall of 1890 to represent his county in the
lower house of the state legislature. He became a Populist as a
result of the reform movement of 1890 and has acted with that party
since. He is a man of progressive ideas, of intelligent action
and of sound business judgment. He has reared his family under
Christian influences and is a member of the Methodist Church. His
three surviving children are Walter M.; Josephus; and Alta Cordelia,
wife of John F. Ermy of Bourgon Co., Kansas. Their one daughter,
Irene died in infancy.
Walter M. Clover,
with the exception of four years passed in Wyoming, the entire life of
Walter Clover since infancy has been spent at or in the vicinity of
Chanute, KS where he has been engaged in a variety of pursuits.
During his career, he has been a farmer, real estate & insurance
man, merchant, and at present is the proprietor of a thriving grocery
business at 601 S. Malcom St. While his personal interests have
been heavy, demanding a large share of his attention, he has not been
indifferent to the responsibilities of good citizenship, and has served
capably as mayor of Chanute, KS and in other capacities of an official
character.
Mr. Clover was born
14 June 1868 in Henderson County, Illinois, and is the son of Hon.
Merit A. and Hester Ann (Wheatley) Clover. Merit A. Clover was
born in Warren Co., IL, a son of Cornelius Clover, who was born in
Oneida Co., NY in 1893, a son of John Clover. John Clover was
born in Germany, when he came to America during Colonial times and
settled in Oneida Co., NY, whence he enlisted for service of the
Continental Line. Cornelius Clover was reared and educated in New
York State, and soon after his marriage moved to Ohio, then to Indiana,
and in 1836 to Illinois, where he became a farmer in Warren County and
later in Henderson County where he died in 1863. Hester Ann
Wheatley Clover was the daughter of Spencer Wheatley and member of a
family that had resided in Maryland for a number of generations.
Spencer Wheatley, one of 6 children, came west to Henderson Co., IL in
1860, remained there 8 years and then changing his residence to Neosho
Co., KS. He bought a claim from an earlier settler, built a small
house, and there was engaged in farming until his early death, 2 Feb.
1872, at the age of 44 years. His widow survived him for a long
period and died in 1894 when she was 63 years of age. They were
the parents of 9 children: Hester A., the wife of M.A. Clover; Samuel
S.; James J.; William A.; Elmira who married Ira Noyes of Allen Co.,
KS; Elizabeth E., the wife of Jacob E. Hamblin of Humboldt; Isaac B.,
of Iola; George W., a lawyer; and Augustus J. The year following
Merit A. Clover’s marriage, he came to the West and settled in
Neosho Co., KS where he erected a small log house.
Walter
M. Clover was an infant when
brought by his parents to KS, where he attended rural schools and
subsequently pursued a course at the State Normal School at
Emporia. He commenced his independent career as a farmer on land
rented from his father and an additional 80 acres adjoining, but later
moved to Allen Co., where he continued as a renter for 2 years.
Following this he purchased land in Big Creek Twsp, but in 1903, he
moved to Chanute and engaged in the real estate and insurance
business. Fifteen years later, he disposed of his business and
resumed agriculture, but in 1920 went to Lingle, Wyoming and
established himself in business there. He bears an excellent
reputation in business circles and is fraternally affiliated with the
Modern Woodmen of America. On March 1, 1891 Mr. Clover was united
in marriage to Miss Mattie Sears, who was born in Nickerson Twsp, Reno
Co., KS, bring the first white child born in that twsp. Her
father, William O. B. Sears was a native of Iowa and one of the first
settlers of Reno Co., which he later sold, moving then to Greenwood
Co., where his death occurred. He married Amanda Harper.
Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Clover: Walter Mayne
(should be Wayne—L.L.) who married Bessie Mixon (should be
Nixon—L.L.) and has 2 children, Wayne J. and Betty Dell; Faye who
married Charles Martin and has one daughter, Hester Lorene; and Hester
Ann who married James M. Finley and has one son, James Elwood.
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Edited, and Maintained by June Byrne
For the Clover Family Historical
Society
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June Clover Byrne
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Last Updated 9 October 2011
