John Swearingen Clary Sr. (1759 - 1823)

Born 23 Jul 1759 in Frederick County, Maryland

Ancestors

Descendants

Died Sep 1823 at age 64 in Arkansas, United States [uncertain]

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Marie Keeton [send private message]

Biography of John Swearingen Clary Sr.

The birth of John Swearingen Clary is recorded in the register of Prince George's Parish (Vestry proceedings, Vol. 2 Md. Hist. Society). He spent his childhood in Maryland; then his family moved southward and settled in present-day Kentucky, at that time a part of Virginia. According to family tradition, he was a soldier in the Revolutionary War. The National Archives contain the records of two John Clarys who were privates in Virginia regiments. One is known from his pension papers (son of Harwood Clary of Virginia); the other may have been this John S. The church birth register listed him as John Swearingen Clary; he was called John Clary as a young adult; he was called John Clary Sr. in the 1820 census of Madison County, Illinois; he was John S. Clary in a Tennessee deed and in the 1830 census of Sangamon County, Illinois; he was John Clary Sr. in 'The Clary Family in the New State of Illinois' In 1778-1779, John S., his brother Elisha, his father William, plus Zachariah Clary, probably a cousin, settled as pioneers in Kentucky County, Virginia, which at that time included all of present-day Kentucky. Virginia was encouraging immigration into this area by granting preemption rights to any settler who chose unappropriated land, built a house or cabin, and grew a crop. By 1780, when John S. received title to his land, he was 21. In colonial days, the Kentucky area was claimed by Virginia. Daniel Boone and others explored the area in the mid 1700's, and the first permanent settlement occured in 1774. The next year Daniel Boone blazed the famous Wilderness Road through the Cumberland Gap into Kentucky. For many years this road was a major avenue of western migration. In 1780 the vast area of Kentucky was divided into three counties. One of these was Lincoln County, where in 1785 and 1786 John Clary and his wife Susannah were buyers and sellers in several land transactions. Susannah's father, Abraham Price, was a neighbor of the Clarys. Between 1787 and 1791 three daughters were born to John and Susannah. By the time of son John's birth in 1793, the family had moved south into the new state of Tennessee. Sumner County (TN) records show John, Elisha and William Clary serving frequently on juries during the 1790's. Court minutes of the period show that corn, beef, bear meat, venison, prime buffalo beef, and salt could be used to pay up to 7/8 one one's taxes "if delivered to where the troops are stationed." In 1806, White County was formed from parts of other counties that had previously been parts of Sumner County; here John Swearingen Clary continued to live until 1818. Tennessee Clarys in the War of 1812 included several Johns; our John S. may have been one of them. After about 21 years in Tennessee, John S. Clary moved to Illinois, where a new state was being formed. His three married daughters remained in Tennessee, as apparently did his brothers, Elisha, William, and Daniel. Son John and family travelled by horseback. The other Clarys followed by either land or water. From White County (TN) to Washington County (IL) there are connecting streams the entire distance, starting with Caney Fork, then following four rivers - Cumberland, Ohio, Mississippi, and Kaskasia. By July 1818, John S . Clary's party (including Armstrongs and others) had reached Washington County, Illinois. Here they were recorded in a special 1818 census of Illinois Territory, taken to determine whether the population was sufficient to justify statehood (Ill ... Library, Vol.24). John Clary's entry showed him and "four others." Continuing on to Madison County, which at that time adjoined Washington County, they settled in Springfield Township, where the 1820 federal census had separate entries for John Clary Sr. and his sons John Clary Jr. and William Clary. The entry for John Sr. listed no females over 45; presumably his wife Susannah had died by 1820. John Clary Jr., arriving in April 1819, was the first settler in their community, and John Sr. evidently reached the area not long after; in the 1819 term of the Madison County board, John Clary Sr. was one of three judges of election appointed for Springfield Township. The first community became known as Clary's Grove, named for John Jr., its first white settler. "Clary's Grove was one of the first neighborhoods to be inhabited by whites. ...Among the prominent families were the Clarys, Armstrongs, Watkinses, Joneses, Potters and Greenes; all fine staunch people, but whose boys were typical sons of the frontier; fond of drinking, hard riding, horse racing, dancing, fiddling, and all rude sports and contests of strength." 'Journal of Illinois ... Hist. Soc.' In 1821, county boundaries were changed, and Clary's Grove fell within the newly-formed Sangamon County. The 1830 census of Sangamon County listed "John S. Clary," age 60-70. The other member of his household, a woman 50-60, may have been a second wife. This is the last record we have found of John Swearingen Clary. However, R. D. Miller, in 'Past and Present of Menard County', says, "Clary ... removed to Arkansas, but several of his children remained in Illinois." He may have gone to Arkansas with his youngest son, William Price Clary, who made such a move in the early 1830's. John S. Clary is not shown near or with William Price Clary in Arkansas in 1840, nor in Illinois, so is resumed to have died before then. Norma Bonties, a Clary family historian, wrote in an undated letter to Melba Luther, "William and his father John went to Arkansas." From 'Clary Genealogy' by Ralph Shearer Rowland and Star Wilson Rowland 1980..

John may have decided to visit his daughters in Tennessee and died there or on his way to or from.

Entered 5 May 2015 by Russell W. Clary

John Swearingen Clary Sr.

Born: July 23, 1759, Maryland

Died: 1821-22 Bond Co., Illinois. Per quill pen document on following page and Probate Court record of his estate administered by Robert and Celi Stuart. Estate closed in 1826. (Edit note: This sentence actually pertains to a cousin of John Swearingen Clary Sr., John Clary Sr. of Bond Co., IL. Their families came to Illinois from Tennessee at approximately the same time, maybe even together.)

Married: Susannah Price About 1770s

We believe in Kentucky County, Virginia. Daughter of Benjamin Price, a settler there, one of a family of 10. Benjamin Price served in the Revolutionary War.

John and Susannah had a family of three girls and four boys. Their records of birth are not yet available. Nor is the marriage record available. (Edit note: John and Susannah had a family of three girls and two boys: John Swearingen Clary Jr. and William Price Clary. The other two boys, Zachariah and Elisha, were sons of John Clary Sr. of Bond Co., IL.)

This writer opened this genealogical project by starting a search of a group of Clarys whose names appeared in the First Federal Census of 1790 listed in Rowan County, North Carolina. None proved to be in our line. The Courthouse Records revealed land transactions of several Clary families, none of which referred to our particular line. The City Library at Salisbury, North Carolina has been selected the care taker of all genealogical material. Their microfilm records and other data supplied us with nothing concerning our family. We carefully reconstructed several old Clary Families – typed the material and supplied Salisbury Library, as well as the State Historical Library at Raleigh, with copies for their records. We have since learned that our material has served other searchers. Our material was obtained from a number of different counties. Rowan County in North Carolina was a large mother county and has since been sub-divided into several separate counties.

Incidentally we conducted searches in a number of counties in Virginia while we were working the area, finding records of several old families, which we also typed and supplied to the State Historical Library at Richmond. We have learned that our records there also have been reviewed by searchers. The older counties in Virginia were worked particularly.

A few generations of our Clary progenitors, the very first to arrive in America, are missing from this record for we have not found such records. To serve future readers, as a reminder of this, we have placed several blank sheets at the beginning of our family charts.

It appears that our family clung together during the troubled years under colonial rule of the British and wherever they moved, they went as a body. As related in our previous family chart under the names of William and Sarah Clary, John and Elisha Clary, their sons, followed the line of travel, as they went across the Allegheny Mountains into the great Northwest Territory to the West. This vast area was sparsely settled except by native Indians and British troops. (early 1770s)

We regret that we do not know the exact dates of this move nor are we able to trace their route. Family lore has it that The Clarys were well acquainted with Daniel Boone and it is assumed they might have used the new Wilderness Road which Boone carved into the wild unknown region.

We have not found the record of the marriage of John Swearingen Clary to Susannah Price so we can only assume that such union occurred in Maryland, Virginia or the Northwestern Territory. Hence this record is lacking. Marriage records of our line of early Clarys are also lacking, including all this family. We hope that at some future date we will close our record successfully. One record reveals John Clary in Virginia’s State Regiment, 4 C.L. Also his brother Elisha in 1780. No other record. - from 'The Clary Family in the New State of Illinois' by Clarence William Clary - 1970.

Entered by Russell W Clary - 25 November 2015.

Notes

Spouse:

Susannah Price b. 1765 in TN.

Children:

Rebecca Clary b. 1787 in TN

Sarah Clary b. abt 1789 in TN

Mary Clary b. abt 1791 in TN

John Swearingen Clary Jr. b. 2 Jan 1793 in TN

William Price Clary

http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=:2235654&id=I528150039

Sources

• "Maryland Births and Christenings, 1650-1995", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:HYP4-5CT2 : 12 February 2020), John Sweringen Clary, 1759.

• Clary Genealogy by Ralph and Starr Rowland, Menard County history, marriage and land records.

Acknowledgments

Thank you to Kitty Smith for creating WikiTree profile Clary-445 through the import of Bunnells-Powells-Whites-etc.ged on Jul 1, 2013. Click to the Changes page for the details of edits by Kitty and others.