The

 

Clopton Chronicles

 

The Ancestors and Descendants of

Sir Thomas Clopton, Knt. &

Dame Katherine Mylde

 

 

A Project of the Clopton Family Genealogical Society

 

 

 

Volume I

 

Tales To Tell

 

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

 

Chapter I

 

Saints and Sinners, Wise Men and Fools

The Birth of a Family

 

 

“Heaven take my soul, and England keep my bones!” – William Shakespeare

 

 

Of Norman Blood

Regarding the First Clopton

by Suellen Clopton Blanton

 

The Place of the Lutons:  Kanewella

Regarding Thomas Clopton, Knt. &

His Wife Katherine Mylde

(to be released in the coming months)

 

After Sir Thomas' death, Dame Katherine took as her second husband Sir William de Tendring of Stoke-by-Nayland.  Through this marriage she became the distant grandmother of three queens of England: two of the unfortunate wives of Henry the VIII, Ann Boleyn and Catherine Howard, and Queen Elizabeth I. Dame Katherine, who died in 1403, is buried at the Church of St. Mary the Virgin, Stoke-by-Nyland, Suffolk. Their memorial brasses are among the finest in England.  The Clopton Arms:  ermine spot on the bend in base, may be seen on the mantle of the depiction of Dame Katherine.  .  It is believed that those claiming Clopton ancestry through William Clopton, Gentleman, of Eastwood, County Essex, and York (now New Kent) County, Virginia and his wife, Ann (Booth) Dennett are descendants of both these marriages.

 

Saint Crispin’s Day

Regarding William Clopton, Knt., & His Uncle

Thomas Erpingham, K.G.

by John Henry Knowlton &

Suellen Clopton Blanton

 

Black Death

Regarding Sir William Clopton & His Wives

Margery Drury and Margery Francis

(to be released in the coming months)

 

Sir William fought in the Battle of Agincourt under the banner of the Duke of Gloucester on October 25, 1415 along side his uncle, Sir Thomas Erpingham.  This date marked a stunning victory of the English over the French during the mid-point of the Hundred Years’ War.  Following an unexpectedly long march in an attempt to find a practicable ford over the Somme, the exhausted invaders of 6000 were caught at Agincourt (Azincourt in the Pas-de-Calais) by a French force numbering between 20,000 and 30,000 men under the constable Charles I d’Albret.  But because of the land and serious tactical errors committed by the French their numerical advantage was forfeited.  The English archers led by Sir Thomas Erpingham, repelled preliminary attacks by the cavalry and three hours of battle ended in disaster for the French.  It is thought a plague visited the countryside,  and Margery Drury, her son, William, and two of her daughters, Margery and Anne, all died in 1420.  William died March 10, Margery in June, and the two girls both died in October. 

 

Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard

by Thomas Gray

 

The Red Rose or the White

Regarding John Clopton, Sheriff of Counties Norfolk & Suffolk

(to be released in the coming months)

 

A widower with five children, John Clopton, courted young Elizabeth Paston.  She refused his marriage proposal, and her parents locked her in a dark room without food and almost beat her to death.  Bloody but definitely unbowed, she held her ground.  John would spend the rest of his long life overseeing the construction of Long Melford’s Holy Trinity Church.  And Elizabeth, why, she married twice, and became one of the wealthiest women in England.  In 1485, John was summoned to be made a Knight of the Bath at the coronation planned for the young Edward V.  However, while John was shining his armor, his kinsman was busy plotting murder, and John’s chances of becoming a knight died along with the little Princes in the Tower.

 

Two Hundred Men in Velvet

Regarding Mary Clopton, of Fore Hall & Her Husband

William Cordell, Knight, of Melford Hall, Long Melford, County Suffolk

by Suellen Clopton Blanton

 

Where Mightier Do Assault Than Do Defend

Regarding Richard Southwell, Knt. &

Saint Robert Southwell

by John Henry Knowlton

 

Five Centuries in Christ

The Great Church of Holy Trinity

Long Melford

(to be released in the coming months)

 

John Clopton was the principal benefactor of Long Melford’s Holy Trinity Church, a magnificent example of medieval architecture.  The “Jewel in the Crown of Suffolk,” it is blessed with splendid glass windows, graceful brasses, and impressive tombs.  It was dedicated on Trinity Sunday, 1484.

 

 

A Pretender At the Door

Regarding Sir William Clopton & His Wives

Joan Marrow, Katherine Hopton & Thomasine Knyvet

(to be released in the coming months)

 

While Sir William Clopton was off to do battle with one Lambert Simnel, his wife, Thomasine Knyvet, added to her duties of maintaining the household and bearing children, the responsibility of guarding her husband’s properties.  Warfare defined the world of the Clopton and women from the ninth to the seventeenth century.  A knight’s lady acted on their behalf in their absence during war.  The wives and daughters exercised authority, defended the family’s lands and title.  While women received no formal education, surviving documents show they could read and write.  Noblewomen left records of their household accounts, instruction to administrators of the family’s holdings, and letters to their husbands to keep them abreast of decisions made while they were at battle.  Like the other women of the castles and manors, Lady Thomasine would be expected to serve food and drink to the warrior bands and tend the injured and sick.

 

Midnight Romps & Wilted Roses

Regarding William Clopton, Lord of Castlings Manor &

His Wife Margery Waldegrave of Lawford Hall

by Suellen Clopton Blanton

 

The Magna Charta Sureties

 

Knights of the Garter

(to be released in the coming months)

 

The descendants of William Clopton and Margery Waldegrave are eligible to belong to The Descendants of the Knights of the Garter.  King Edward III founded the Knights of the Garter in 1348 as a noble fraternity consisting of the King, the Prince of Wales and 24 Knights Companion.  This group was chosen for their chivalry and their valor at the Battle of Cre’cy in France two years earlier.  The Society of the Friends of St. George’s and Descendants of the Knights of the Garter was established in 1931 and exists to help in preserving St. George’s Chapel and in providing the necessary furnishings and equipment for this historic but living church, which is the shrine on the Order of the Order of the Garter.  It is the burial place of many British sovereigns.  On June 19, 1999, Edward Windsor, Earl of Wessex, and son of Queen Elizabeth, II., married Sophie Rhys-Jones, now the Countess of Wessex at St. George’s Chapel.

 

Brief Communion

Regarding Thomasine Clopton &

Her Husband John Winthrop

by Suellen Clopton Blanton

 

On An Infant Dying As Soon As Born

By Charles Lamb

 

A Goodly Sweet Child

Regarding Anne Clopton of Kentwell Hall &

Her Husband Simonds D’Ewes, Bart., of Stowlangtoft

by Suellen Clopton Blanton

 

All For Love

by Lord George Gordon Noel Byron

 

For Conscience Sake

Regarding William Clopton, M.A. &

His Wife Elizabeth Sutcliffe

(to be released in the coming months)

 

William Clopton graduated from Emmanuel College, Cambridge, considered by his time to be "a nursery of Puritanism."  The Cloptons had married and remarried into a network of the great Puritan families of East Anglia.  For many, their ties with the Church of England was all but a distant memory.  Their timing could not have been worse.  Charles II regained the monarchy in 1660 and proceeded to make life miserable for the Puritans.  William was one of more than 2,000 clergymen who refused to embrace the High Church or Anglo-Catholic rituals, and were "ejected from their livings.”  Their son, William, would flee to America and become the patriarch of the American Cloptons.

 

 

Chapter II

 

Second Genesis, Chapter One

A New Beginning

 

 

“I believe in the United States of America as a Government of the people, by the people, for the people; whose just powers are derived from the consent of the governed; a democracy in a republic, a sovereign Nation of many sovereign States; a perfect Union one and inseparable; established upon those principles of freedom, equality, justice and humanity for which American patriots sacrificed their lives and fortunes.  I therefore believe it is my duty to my country to love it, to support its Constitution, to obey its laws, to respect its flag, and to defend it against all enemies.” – William Tyler Page

 

 

The Story of An American Patriarch

Regarding William Clopton, Gentleman, &

His Wife Ann Booth

(to be released in the coming months)

 

Raised on tales of the exciting adventures of his kinsmen in the American Colonies, the urge to escape his straight laced Puritan family got the better of him, and at fifteen, William Clopton, of Eastwood, County Essex, apprenticed himself to one Joshua White of London.  He would eventually settle at St. Peter’s Parish, New Kent County, Virginia and begin living the life of a Virginia planter with his wife, Ann Booth.

 

Fair Freedom’s Land

A Hymn

by Dr. J. E. Rankin

 

An Army of Skeletons

Regarding Private David Clopton

by Carole Elizabeth Scott, Ph.D.

 

Sweet Be the Sleep of Those Who Prefer Liberty to Slavery

Regarding Jeremiah Coleman & His Brother, Jesse

by John Henry Knowlton

 

May You Live a Thousand Years My Friend!

Regarding The Honorable John Clopton

by Suellen Clopton Blanton

 

Bringing In the Sheaves

Regarding Some Clopton Ministers &

The Reverend John Day

by Suellen Clopton Blanton &

Laurel C. Sneed

 

Sewing Bees and Duels at Dawn

Regarding Anthony Clopton &

His Wife Rhoda Hoggatt

by Carlyn McCullar Bain &

Suellen Clopton Blanton

 

Work While Thou Hast Life for Christ

Regarding Mary Jane Smithey &

Her Daughter Martha Smithey Wilson

 

Seeking The Lost

A Hymn

by W. A. Ogden

 

 

A Quilt or Many Colors

Regarding William Edmund Clopton, Sr. &

His Wife Mary Ann Apperson

A Descendant of William Clopton of St. Paul’s Parish, Hanover County, Virginia &

His Wife Joyce Wilkinson, of Black Creek

(to be released in the coming months)

 

After being married about 20 years and having met with financial difficulties, William Edmund Clopton, Sr., and his wife, Mary Ann Apperson, determined to find a new home and started to Georgia.  They encountered so much trouble with the Indians there, they turned their course to the West and went to Kentucky.  The nights were fraught with danger and the men stood guard each night.

 

The Old Doctor’s Son

Regarding Sarah Clopton &

Her Husband James Lovick Pierce

A Descendant of William Clopton of St. Paul’s Parish, Hanover County, Virginia &

His Wife Joyce Wilkinson, of Black Creek

(to be released in the coming months)

 

Sarah Clopton, the daughter of Alford Clopton and his wife, Sarah Kendrick, married into one of the most famous family of Methodist ministers in nineteenth century Georgia.  Her husband, James Lovick Pierce, Sr., D.Div., was the son of Lovick Pierce, I, D.Div. of Halifax County, North Carolina, his mother, Ann Foster, of Green County, Georgia.  As a theologian his father rated him above his son, George Foster Pierce, D.Div., but his “delicate nervous organism” prevented him from reaching the status enjoyed by his brother.

 

 

Chapter III

 

A Right Smart Fight

The American Civil War

 

 

“This Southern Confederacy must be supported now by calm determination and cool brains.  We have risked all and we must play our best, for the stake is life or death.” – Mary Chesnut

 

 

Those Who Served

by John Henry Knowlton, Jr., Ottis Edwin Guinn, Sr. & Suellen Clopton Blanton

 

A rough draft of those who served during the American Civil War.

 

God Save the South

A War Song of the Confederacy

by George H. Miles, of Baltimore

 

In Praise of Mint Juleps

Regarding The Honorable John Bacon Clopton &

His Wife Maria Gaitskell Foster

by Suellen Clopton Blanton

 

Let Me Kiss Him For His Mother

A War Song of the Confederacy

 

A Beast Comes Calling

Regarding William Henry Clopton, Sr. &

The Widow of President John Tyler, Julia Gardiner Tyler

by Suellen Clopton Blanton

 

Virginia

A War Song of the Confederacy

by Catherine M. Warfield

 

A Tempest in the Briar Patch

Regarding Marianne Clopton &

Her Daughter Sarah Elizabeth Reid

by Ottis Edwin Guinn, Sr. & Suellen Clopton Blanton

 

Georgia, My Georgia!

A War Song of the Confederacy

by Carrie Bell Sinclair

 

Dr. Thom

Regarding Dr. Thomas B. Clopton & His Wives

Martha Harwell, Harriet B. Claiborne &

Cornelia A. Harrison Palmer

by Suellen Clopton Blanton

 

Farwell To The Star Spangled Banner

A War Song of the Confederacy

 

Beware the Subterfuge of Charlatans

Regarding Dr. Albert Gallatin Clopton

by Suellen Clopton Blanton

 

Battle Hymn

A War Song of the Confederacy

 

Ragged Rebbles and the Kilkenny Cat

Regarding Waldegrave James Clopton &

His Wife Frances D. Lamar

by Lois Eulalia Armstrong Goocher & Suellen Clopton Blanton

 

Fun and Games in Old Fauquier

Regarding Dr. Nathaniel Vanderwall Clopton &

His Son John Marshall Skinker Clopton

by Leonard Alton Wood & Suellen Clopton Blanton

 

When Tories Come Calling in the Middle of the Night

Regarding John Franklin Bradford &

His Sister Amanda Susan Bradford

A Descendant of Walter Clopton, The Elder, of “Callowell,.” New Kent County, Virginia &

His Wife Mary Jarratt

(to be released in the coming months)

 

For the good folk of Springfield, Alabama, a reign of terror would end when John Franklin Bradford killed a man who needed killing in the worst way.  John told his slaves to put a chain around the dead man’s neck and drag him to the turnip patch and bury him.   His mother, Susannah Truss Bradford asked her son not to be so cruel, so John compromised and told the men to carry the body and not to drag it.  The miscreant was buried dressed as he was and in a coffin less grave.  His sister, Amanda, wife of Lewis M. Herring, owned and operated the Herring Hotel in Springville.  Many people from Birmingham and Gadsden enjoyed driving to Herring Inn where they rocked on the wide porch or strolled to Springville Lake to feed the fish, then enjoyed a leisurely lunch.  The children liked to romp on the tailored lawn under the shade of the spreading elm trees.  The register contained the named of many statesmen, dignitaries, European travelers, and even movie stars.

 

The Degrees of Providence

Regarding David Clopton & His Faithful Slave

Edy

by Carole Elizabeth Scott, Ph.D. & Suellen Clopton Blanton

 

Our Confederate Dead

What the Heart of a Young Girl Said to a Dead Soldier

A War Song of the Confederacy

by James R. Randall

 

The Death of an Old Land Mark

Regarding The Honorable David C. Clopton & His Wives

Mary F. Chambers, Martha E. Ligon & Virginia Caroline Tunstall

 (to be released in the coming months)

 

Upon the death of Judge David C. Clopton, in 1892, a great flurry of commentary blanketed newspapers throughout the South.  In addition to the expected recitation of his career, his ancestry from a “conspicuous Virginia Family,” was duly noted, and, oddly, the shape of his head, complexion and eyes received praise.  Of his wives, it was his third who is best remembered, the unflappable Virginia Caroline Tunstall, widow of Clement Claiborne Clay, who was himself, a descendant of the ancient Cloptons.

 

The Battle of Richmond

A War Song of the Confederacy

by George Herbert Sass, Charleston, South Carolina

 

Fire, Fear and Death:  The Fall of Richmond

Regarding Edward Andrew Jackson Clopton &

His Wife Anne Waring Latane’

by Miles George Turpin

 

The Southern Homes In Ruin

A War Song of the Confederacy

by R. B. Vance, of North Carolina

 

Lest We Forget

Regarding Captain William Latane’

by Miles George Turpin

 

When Peace Returns

A War Song of the Confederacy

by Olivia Tully Thomas

 

 

Chapter IV

 

Love, Life, and Renewal

Reconstruction

 

 

“But as you already know your rights and privileges so well, I am going to ask you to excuse me if I say a few words to you about your duties.  Much has been given to us . . . and we must take heed to use aright the gifts entrusted to our care.  It is not what we have that will make us a great nation; it is the way in which we use it.” – Theodore Roosevelt

 

 

Of Possums and Land Barons and Wonders of the Sea

Regarding William Henry Harrison Clopton &

His Wife Martha Isabel Lancaster

by Suellen Clopton Blanton

 

All This Nonsense

Regarding Dr. John Fielding Clopton & His Wife

Wilhelmina Somerville Piggott

(to be released in the coming months)

 

When Dr. John Fielding Clopton began his fourteen years of service at Williamsburg’s Eastern State Hospital for the Insane, the method of treatment for the mentally ill consisted of “employment of fresh air, generous diet, exercise, personal cleanliness, constant occupation and rational amusements.”  An experiment attempting to ease the inmates back into society by permitting them to go out into the community to socialize, so shocked the good citizens that many of the administration and staff were fired.  He had a deep appreciation for the ladies, but once he met the lovely young Wilhelmina Somerville Piggott, he had eyes for no other.  Dr. Clopton courted her madly and eventually won her heart.  They would end their days together at Norge, Virginia.

 

When All is Said and Done

Regarding Eugenia Clopton Wiley &

Her Daughter Sally Lamar Blount

(to be released in the coming months)

 

Eugenia Clopton Wiley and her husband, James Henderson Blount, were parents of one of the most interesting characters in the Clopton family tree.  Their daughter Sally Lamar Blount, spent her life fighting for causes.  They were for the most part,  losing causes, but she never lost her desire to hurl herself enthusiastically into the fray.  She early learned the art of political debate, having spent much of her youth in Washington, D.C., where her father served eighteen years as a Georgia senator.  She was four square against alcohol and women getting the vote.  Her grand passion, however, was the United Daughters of the Confederacy.

 

The Unfortunate Mattie Lee

Regarding Martin Kendrick Clopton &

His Wife Sarah Elizabeth Greathouse

 (to be released in the coming months)

 

Martin Kendrick Clopton died of typhoid fever, August 10, 1864, in a Confederate hospital at Greenville, North Carolina, leaving a young widow, Sarah Elizabeth Greathouse, and four children.  Her father, The Reverend Greathouse served two terms in the Alabama legislature from Dadeville and was on committee that wrote a new State Constitution when Alabama was re-admitted to the Union after the Civil War.  Soon after, he moved to Texas, and Sara, with her children, went with him where tragedy waited.

 

Texas Bound

Regarding Sarah Susan “Sallie” Clopton &

Her Husband Willis Newell Floyd

(to be released in the coming months)

 

In 1857 the young Sallie, her husband, and their two small sons joined family and friends and left Georgia, bound for Texas.  The devastation, deprivation, tribulation, and grief brought by the American Civil War was courageously endured by Sallie, now widowed, and her five children. 

 

Fried Chicken, Sweet Lips & Bad Poetry

Regarding John Palmer Clopton &

His Wife Mattie Stallings

(to be released in the coming months)

 

John Palmer Clopton, of Americus, Sumpter County, Georgia, pursued his beloved Mattie Stallings with passionate letters and bad poetry.  A letter, touching in its simple words of love, which he wrote to her before their wedding day, as survived, and reads in part:  John loves his Darling and believes she loves him so let the world wag as it may we will be happy for my Dear Girl it will (be) my ambition to so love you... John thinks of his Pet every Day your Boys hands will be awful rough to join hand with you the cotton Burrs are picking them up and I dont like to see a man with Gloves on when he marries it is all ok for the Lady to wear them.  Sadly, his life with his "Pet," was cut short.  He died of typhoid fever five days after his daughter's first birthday.

               

A Potpourri of Blessings

Regarding Nancy Ellen Clopton &

Her Husband Benjamin Franklin Wheeler

(to be released in the coming months)

 

When Nancy Ellen Clopton, of Hart County, Kentucky, was fourteen, she married, Benjamin Franklin “Doc,” Wheeler, who had served with the United States Army during the Civil War. She quickly gave birth to two children.  She was an excellent seamstress and produced countless quilts.  She wove blankets and could knit and crochet.  Her greatest gift, however, was that of a healer.  Physician of the day did not hesitate to administer laudanum, opium, and morphine to adults and infants alike, often doing far more harm than good.  But in her wisdom, Aunt Sis, as she was affectionately known, followed a more ancient and gentle path and sought out the herbs growing in her beloved mountains of Kentucky.  The lowly barberry, was cherished to sooth sore throats.  Garlic found many uses, from garlic oil to soothe an earache to smelling salts made from the pungent herb to sniff to relieve hysteria.  Wild rue relieved gas pains and colic and could also induce uterine contractions.  Teas of chamomile relieved headaches and colds, comfrey, to heal wounds and burns.

 

Fair Willie

Regarding Wilhelmina Clopton &

Her Husband Clifford Anderson Lanier

(to be released in the coming months)

 

Clifford Anderson Lanier’s brother, the beloved Georgia poet, Sidney Clopton Lanier, saved Clifford’s life during the War.  Sidney thereafter suffered poor health for the rest of his too brief life.  .  He blamed himself, gave up his own budding career as a poet and devoted his life to supporting not only his family but his brother as well.  Clifford was the husband of Wilhelmina Clopton, of Eatonton, Putnam County, Georgia.

 

Pea Ridge Memories

Regarding Benjamin Arnold Bustin

(to be released in the coming months)

 

Benjamin Arnold Bustin, a veteran of the Spanish-American War, was a prolific writer who left an abundance of memories of his life.  Remarkably, in his later years he was blind, but that didn’t stop him from recording his thoughts.  He lived most of his life in the Pea Ridge Community of Eatonton, Putnam County, Georgia.  Even when recalling the harrowing days of battle, sustained by gruesome food, he never lost his sense of humor. 

 

An Honorable and Contrite Heart

Regarding The Honorable William Capers Clopton

by Suellen Clopton Blanton

 

 

Chapter V

 

Party Lines and Other Dangers of Southern Living

The Twentieth Century

 

 

“When an American says that he loves his country, he means not only that he loves the New England hills, the prairies glistening in the sun, the wide and rising plains, the great mountains  and the sea.  He means that he loves an inner air, an inner light in which freedom lives and in which a man can draw the breath of self-respect.”  - Adlai Stevenson

 

 

Three Little Cloptons In Virginia

Regarding Irene Horsely Clopton Waters & Her Sisters

Julia H. Clopton Cresap & Alice C. Clopton Watson

by Irene Horsley Clopton Waters

 

A Fruit Jar of Whiskey & A Chicken in the Pot

Dr. Malvern Bryan Clopton & His Brother

Colonel William Hugh Clopton &

A Few Good Men

by Suellen Clopton Blanton

 

Papa Whipped Me, So I left for Parts Unknown

Regarding Julian Campbell Clopton

Based on an Article by James M McMillen

 

Kith & Kin & Kissin Kousins

Regarding The Reverend Wallace Theodore “Ted” Jones

by Wallace Theodore “Ted” Jones

 

O Worship the King

Regarding Concord United Methodist Church

Eatonton, Putnam County, Georgia

by Suellen Clopton Blanton

 

 

Volume II

 

Ancient Genealogies

 

 

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

 

Chapter I

 

The Descendants of Guillaume Peche,

Lord of Cloptunna and Dalham

A Genealogy of the First Sixteen Generations

Published October 1999; Revised February 8, 2000; Revised February 16, 2000; Revised November 12, 2000; Revised November 20, 2000; Extensively Revised December 2000; Extensively Revised January 2001

 

 

 

 

Chapter II

 

The Descendants of Johane or Joan Clopton

& Her Husband, Roger Beauchamp, 2nd Baron Beauchamp of Bletsho

The Royal Lines

 

Under Construction.  To be released in the year 2001

 

Johane (or Joan) Clopton married into one of the most eminent and powerful families of England, the Beauchamps.  A companion in arms of the victorious William the Conqueror, the family was represented by the Earls of Warwick and Albermarle, and the Barons of St. Amand, Barons of Bletsho, Hache, Kydderminster and Powyke.  Counted among her direct descendants are most of the Kings and Queens of England who have held the throne since Henry VII.  Through this ancient marriage descend both Charles Philip A. G. Windsor, the Prince of Wales and his late wife, Diana Frances Spencer, Princess Di.  Many Clopton descendants, although not all, also trace their ancestry from this couple by Thomas Claiborne, Jr., of “Sweet Hall,” King William County, Virginia, and his wife, Ann Fox, of “Huntington,” King William.

 

 

Chapter III

 

The Descendants of William deTendring, Knt., of Tendering Hall &

His Wife Dame Katherine Mylde

A Genealogy of the First Eleven Generations

Published December 2000; Extensively Revised January 2001

 

Chapter IV

 

The Cloptons of Warwickshire

Published March 2000

 

The Cloptons of Warwickshire were most certainly connected to the Cloptons of Suffolk.  However, only the most circumstantial evidence exists to connect the families, namely the time frames all synchronize and the uniqueness of the surname.  Until more substantial documentation is found, the Cloptons of Warwickshire will be treated as separate and distinct from the Cloptons of Suffolk.   This is a most colorful family with connections to the great William Shakespeare. 

 

 

Volume III

 

American Genealogies

 

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

 

Chapter I

 

 

The Descendants of Ann Clopton, of “Callowell,” &

Her Husband Nicholas Mills II, of St. Martin’s Parish

compiled by Ann Avery Hunter, Kenneth Eugene Mills,

Jane Johann Gresham & Mary Jane Ritchie Johann

Published October 1999; Revised January 31, 2000; Extensively Revised February 2000

 

Ann left her beloved New Kent County to make her home and raise a family in Hanover County, Virginia.  Her kinsman, the great orator, Patrick Henry, and his wife, Sarah Shelton, were their neighbors.  Her children would marry into the Thompson, Rice, Wyatt, Hopkins, Jackson, and Anderson families.

 

 

Chapter II

 

The Descendants of Elizabeth Clopton, of New Kent County & Her Husbands, Alexander Moss & William Walker, Sr.

 

Under Construction.  To be released in the year 2001

 

Like her sister, Elizabeth would leave New Kent and live in Powhatan County, Virginia.  Her daughter, Ann Moss, would marry Lieutenant William Diuguid, a first cousin of her sister’s neighbor, Patrick Henry.  Tragically, two of the three children from her marriage to William Walker, died, and the fate of the third child is unknown.

 

 

Chapter III

 

The Descendants of Robert Clopton, I &

His Wives Sara Ann Scott and Mary Crump

compiled by Michael Gregory Clopton, Sallie Lou Colvin McClintock &

Jack Hugh Thacker

Published October 1999; Extensively Revised March 2000

 

Their son would give his life serving as a private under Captain Thomas Massie’s Company of Foot in the Sixth Continental Virginia Regiment commanded by Lieutenant Colonel James Hendricks.  His records include a company muster roll dated June 16, 1777.  Under remarks, it states simply, “Dead.”  Descendants of the Clopton-Crump marriage may trance their ancestry to the Rev. Richard Buck who came to Virginia in 1610.  Rev. Buck was the colonial clergyman who officiated at the marriage of the Indian princess Pocahontas to John Rolfe at Jamestown on April 5, 1614. 

 

 

Chapter VI

 

The Descendants of William Clopton of St. Paul’s Parish

Hanover County, Virginia & His Wife Joyce Wilkinson of Black Creek

compiled by Suellen Clopton Blanton, Robert Malcolm Fortson, Jr.

Carole Elizabeth Scott, Ph.D., Miles George Turpin, & Leonard Alton Wood

Published October 1999; Extensively Revised March 2000

 

Identifying the early American Cloptons was fairly simple as long as the family was associated with St. Peter’s Church, New Kent County, Virginia.  The names were all neatly entered into the church registry.  Unfortunately, from a genealogical point of view, the family began drifting away and joining other churches whose registries have not survived the years.  The descendants of the Clopton-Wilkinson marriage made the task of identification even more difficult by their love affair with the names William, Waldegrave, and Alford.  Their children married into the Alford, Divers, Ford and Jones families.

 

Chapter V

 

The Descendants of Walter Clopton, The Elder, of “Callowell,”

New Kent County, Virginia & His Wife Mary Jarratt

compiled by Carlyn McCullar Baine, Roger Alan Bartlett,

Reva Gene Gist Bradford, Tilden Eugene Clopton, Carl L. Cochrane,

Dean Evan & Mila Jane Burnett Reiszner

Published October 1999; Revised November 1999; Extensively Revised February 2000

 

The great mystery is that some of the thirteen children identified as their children may, in fact, be the children of another Clopton male.  There are a number of Clopton adult men of this period who have not yet been connected with a family who may be the father of several of those children connected with the Clopton-Jarratt marriage.

 

 

 

 

Volume IV

 

Abbreviated Genealogies of Certain

Allied Families

 

 

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

Chapter I

 

European Connections

 

 

The Descendants of Richard Doggett of

Boxford, County Suffolk, The First Five Generations

compiled by Martin Wood, L.L.B., M.A. & Suellen Clopton Blanton

Published October 1999

 

His descendants would make their mark in the newly established British Colonies in America.

 

 

The Descendants of Adam Winthrop, I, of Lavenham &

His Wife Joane Burton, The First Four Generations

compiled by Suellen Clopton Blanton

Published October 1999; Revised December 20, 1999; Revised November 20, 2000

 

Possibly the most distinguished ancestor of Adam Winthrop and his wife, Joane Burton, was John Winthrop.  He would one day become the first governor of Massachusetts.

 

 

 

Chapter II

 

American Allied Families

 

 

The Descendants of Jesse Bartlett &

His Wife Frances Callaway

compiled by Roger Alan Bartlett

 

Jess Bartlett and his wife, Frances Callaway were pioneers who arrived in Texas in 1831, when it was still part of Mexico.  They lived through the harrowing Texas Revolution of 1836.  This site is a project of Roger Alan Bartlett, their great-great-great-grandson.

 

 

The Descendants of Thomas Jefferson Johnston, Esq. &

His Wives Mary Gilbert & Martha Bass, The First Three Generations

compiled by William Purcell Clopton, James Penick Marshall, Jr. &

Suellen Clopton Blanton

Published October 1999

 

Born February 15, 1771 in Virginia, Thomas Jefferson Johnston, Esq. Migrated to Eatonton, Putnam County Georgia.  He married first, Martha Bass and secondly, Mary Gilbert of Bedford County, Virginia.

 

 

The Descendants of Elisha King, Sr. &

His Wives, Mary, Kesiah Sanders & Margaret Hall,

The First Four Generations

compiled by William Purcell Clopton, James Penick Marshall, Jr. &

Suellen Clopton Blanton

Published October 1999

 

Born August 3, 1773 and died about August 7, 1855 in Milledgeville, Baldwin County, Georgia, he married first Mary, who died after 1796.  He married next Kesiah Sanders and following her death after 1820, married Margaret Hall who died before October 26, 1847 at Eatonton, Putnam County, Georgia.

 

 

The Descendants of Captain Samuel Reid &

His Wife Agnes Kay, The First Five Generations

compiled by Ottis Edwin Guinn, Sr. James Penick Marshall, Jr.,

& Suellen Clopton Blanton

Published September 1999 (revised November 11, 1999)

 

A soldier in the American Revolution, Captain Reid was born July 8, 1728 in Ireland  His wife, Agnes Kay, was born at Ireland and died at Green County, Georgia.  He died in 1810 at Eatonton, Putnam County, Georgia.

 

 

The Descendants of Robert Ruffin, I, of “Richneck” &

His Wife Elizabeth Prime, The First Seven Generations

compiled by Dorothy Maddox Bishop, Virginia Ruffin Crilley &

Suellen Clopton Blanton

Published October 1999

 

Robert Ruffin was born about 1646 at Isle of Wight County, Virginia and died about 1693 at “Richneck,” Surry County, Virginia

 

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THE CRITIC’S CORNER

MYSTERIOUS CLOPTONS

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