Cousins - February 21, 2017
In 1966 Robert F. Kennedy delivered a speech that included an instance: There is a Chinese curse which says “May he live in interesting times.” Like it or not, we live in interesting times. They are times of danger and uncertainty; but they are also the most creative of any time in the history of mankind.
We have seen through the lens of recorded history a thin slice of the Clendenin Clan. The prevailing image is of a family who has lived and thrived at the very edges of some of the grandest moments in time. We lived a mere 20 miles from Hadrian’s Wall, the Roman Empire’s declaration of the boundary of civilized men. We led the way of European settlers’ movements westward, a migration that could not be stopped or controlled. We straddled the boundaries of Yankee Doodle and Johnny Reb’s Civil War. It seems we could not stay still for any length of time. On the heels of the Indian Removal Act of 1836 we soon found ourselves Intruding into Indian Territory. We had lived so long and successfully in Southern Oklahoma Territory that we could not imagine why those they came to call Sooners would even dream of wanting to live in the dry and barren lands west.
Those of us, who are the children of Samuel A. & Myrtle (Cypert) Clendenin’s children, have lived in interesting times. We could not have asked to live in better times. We are now scattered from Atlanta to Alabama; Arlington to Alaska; Ardmore to Alcatraz and back. Life, I suppose, has given us “A’s.” At the writing of this document all of the 1st cousins are living (with the exception of Paul Clendenin’s branch that was pruned before some of us were born)
Before DNA tracking the most effective way to follow a family tree was through a Genealogy document. They are often not 100% accurate. Gaps, wrong dates and omissions and additions were common. One of the tricks is learning to read and follow a particular lineage.
No organization does this task better than the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints (Mormons) in their historical records deep under a mountain in Utah. Our own 2nd Cousin Ivol Cypert and his wife Loraine worked for two years as volunteers at the center.
Several years ago I received an exhaustive packet from a Carol Clendenin of Stephenville, TX. She referred to herself as Cuz Carol but she was many times removed from our line. I had previously met her in Cloudcroft, NM. Therefore the following documentation is from her and her research in Utah.
Cousins - February 21, 2017
Cousins not in photo - Leibert And Tommy Anthony / Sammy Lynn Clendenin
More than anything else we are an ordinary clan with an extra ordinary history. Our story was either forgotten or intentionally hushed but in the year of our Lord, 2017, let it be remembered. The death of Sam and Myrtle’s last child brought us as near all together as will likely ever happen again. It is this writer’s hope that some curious descendant, in years to come, will find our tale told on some antique device and be lifted up in wonder……………………….It has been interesting.
“They shall be like a tree planted by water, sending out its roots by the stream. It shall not fear when heat comes, and its leaves shall stay green; in the year of drought it is not anxious, and it does not cease to bear fruit.” Jeremiah 17:8
© APRIL, 2017, Monty and Bruce Clendenin
http://www.accessguy.com/family/GlenOfTheFairHill/
Monty Clendenin – padremonty7@gmail.com - 256-453-2181
Bruce Clendenin – bruce@accessguy.com
Acknowledgements
Charlestown – Britannica Online Encyclopedia
Don Norman – Hackerscreek.com/Norman/Clendenin
Cathy Hershberger Miller – The West Virginia Encyclopedia
The Origins of the Glendinnings – The Society of Genealogists
Joel Hager’s – Roots Web’s Southern West Virginia Research
The West Virginia Encyclopedia by Gerald S. Ratliff
Kanawha County History
RootsWeb: OK Carter County: Ancestory.com
The Daily Ardmoreite – Find A Grave Memorial
The Clendenin Massacre – Gregory A. Clendenin
Intruders – by Richard Mize
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormons)
Descendants of Charles Clendenin – Carol Clendenin
The Military Annals of Tennessee Confederate – Jill K. Garrett and Marise Lightfoot
The War in the Backwaters -- William R. Morris
Divided Loyalties – Wayne County -- Civil War Marker
The Civil War in Wayne County, Tennessee
General John Bell Hood’s Invasion of TN -- Edgar D. Byler, III
Tennessee Department of Tourism – Wayne County Historical Society
West Virginia Division of Culture and History
Google Search – Google Images
Leibert Anthony - Clendenin Oak Sketch