Proof of Lawrence Clinard’s Children

I’ve been working on early Robertson County, Tennessee family histories in my community for years and have been excited to find new discoveries in the last month. Our Robertson County Archives girls have been hard at work the last few years indexing new information. By re-visiting some of my research I had set aside, I made some great new discoveries. I had never been able to find the resolution of the estate of our Lawrence Clinard who was born in 1769 and settled in Robertson County around 1804. I hunted high and low through all the Clinard wills and estate settlement records, copying all of them as I went, as they are all related.

The estate settlement records are a great place to find out who their family, friends and neighbors were, as they were buying the deceased person’s household and farm items. The poor widows had to buy their own things if her husband had not left a will or specified she get something in the will.

This past week I decided to look for a deed to copy that I didn’t have for here on the farm, so I started looking at the deed indexes. There were some new ones I hadn’t seen so I pulled out the Deed Book 3, Page 486 and there it was… A list of who we thought were Lawrence Clinard’s children selling land to a neighbor, Benjamin Rawls on 28 December, 1841, and they were listed as his heirs – however there was a name typo and instead of Lawrence it said Lewis, who was a son. A few more pages over there was another property being sold with the same list of sellers.

At the bottom of page 486
the list begins of Lawrence’s children

On pg. 487 the transaction continues with a list of the children of Lawrence at the end. This is for a 47-acre tract of land on the Abendegos Fork of Sycamore Creek in Robertson County.

The second transaction was also in Deed Book 3, beginning on pg 513. There are also several transactions between the brothers but I’ll post those later when I figure them all out.

Deed Book 3, pg 513 contained the second transaction

Deed Bk 3, pg. 514

My excitement had me hopping, and I summoned the county historian, Yolanda Reid to come read through the transactions and tell me what it meant. She said we had to find Lawrence’s original land purchase descriptions and match them to the two properties the “heirs” were selling to confirm this was the dispersal of Lawrence’s land by his heirs. We went to the Survey Book 1 and read through the two tracts and that confirmed my find.

In Survey Book 1 of TN Land Grants, 47 acres was surveyed on
April 6, 1826 for Lawrence Clinard by A. Stewart.

A 56-acre tract was surveyed for Lawrence Clinard by A. Stewart in Janury, 1826 that matches the other tract’s description.

Lawrence Clinard’s Tennessee Land Grant document for a parcel of land
containing 56 acres, signed by Tennessee Governor William Hall.

So, that confirms most of the children that we thought were Lawrence’s, gives us an approximate time Lawrence died, and adds a new son to our list that we had no idea who he belonged to – John Clinard, born in 1795 in North Carolina.

We now know that Lawrence died sometime before Dec 28, 1841 as that is the date on the transaction in Deed Book 3, page 486 where his children are selling his 47-acre tract.

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We know from the translated Moravian Diaries in Salem, N.C., that Lawrence and Rosina Miller were married Feb. 24th, 1789 at Salem Tavern in Salem, North Carolina.

Friedland Diary, 1789.

[A few extracts translated.]

“Feb. 22. The banns for Lorenz Kleinert and Rosina Miller were published for the last time and on the 24^th they were married in the Salem tavern. By request we visited them at the home of Friedrich Miller.”

Lorenz Kleinert and Rosina Miller banns in the Moravian Diaries

The village of Old Salem has been preserved in Winston-Salem and today you can still dine at the Tavern. My mother and I had dinner when we visited. So this is how it would have looked in 1789 when Lorenz/Lawrence and Rosina were married. Supposedly Rosina was Moravian and Lorenz was Lutheran, so they married at the tavern instead of a church.

Salem Tavern, built in 1789 in Salem, N.C.

So here are Lawrence and Rosina Miller’s children:

1) Catharina Kleinert: 

Born: abt 1790 •  Died: March 5, 1791

I went to Salem, N.C., Moravian Archives and researched the family there as well. Sadly, I found references to our Lawrence’s daughter dying just two years after they married.

Friedland Diary, 1791.

[Extracts translated.] (by Adelaide Fries)

“March 5. Toward evening we heard that the only daughter of our neighbors Lorenz and Rosina Kleinert had drowned in their spring. I went at once, but all attempts to resuscitate her were in vain.

March 6. Our neighbor, Lorenz Kleinert, asked that his little daughter Catharina be buried in our God’s Acre, and no objection was raised by our committee.

March 7. The remains of the above-mentioned child were interred on God’s Acre, after an address on Thess. v, 1-6. Many people came from Edods [Abbotts] Creek.”

The death of Lawrence and Rosina’s daughter, Katarina, is noted in the Moravian Diaries in Salem, N.C.

2) Henry Clinard

Born: abt 1792 in North Carolina • Died after 1850, Robertson County, Tennessee

2) John Clinard

Born: abt 1795 in North Carolina • Died before Oct. 1836, Robertson County, Tennessee

3) Joseph Clinard

Born: 1797, Rowan County, North Carolina • Died around 1880, Robertson County, Tennessee

4) Philip Clinard

Born 1801 in Tennessee • Died Before Feb. 1827. We are pretty sure this is also a son as the dates fit and Joseph acts as the administrator of his estate. I have not had time to double check the census records with number of boys if someone wants to check that before I can get to it.

5) Andrew W. Clinard

28 Jan, 1805 in Robertson County, Tennessee • Died: 20 June 1888

6) Sarah Elizabeth Clinard

(marries Jesse S. Parker, a neighbor, noted on deed with “wife” Sarah)

Born: abt 1807 in Robertson County, Tennessee • Died: 9 Nov., 1888, Cartwright, Sangamon, IL.

We found this image on ancestry.com
of our Sarah Elizabeth Clinard Parker!

7) Pheby/Phebe Clinard

Born abt 1808 in Robertson County, Tennessee • Is living with brother Lewis on 1850 census.

8) Lewis/Louis Clinard

Born: abt 1814 in Robertson County, Tennessee  – Died: 1861, Robertson County, Tennessee

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I’ll have to stop there for now, but when I come back we’ll introduce John Clinard, son of Lawrence. He has a GREAT story that I’ve just started digging into! I hope you cousins find this exciting too!