Clayton, Ewer, Stover, Cedar community

JOSEPH CLAYTON (1844-1926)

- a biography by Rod Stover
(about 1977)

Cedar life....

May Stover told of a visit by a Clayton cousin:

Louis Clayton was Joseph's cousin - Ernest was named Ernest Louis after him. Who his (Louis') father was, I do not know.

Joseph had a brother, Henry, who had a son and a daughter. The son’s name was George, and he spent one summer out here. My mother was not very favorably impressed with him, he was rather lazy and had to sleep with my brother Earl, the house was small, and he usually wet the bed and laid it onto Earl.

[also see Joseph's father, Henry Clayton]

**Probably Joseph Clayton's brother, Henry and family, including George, date unknown, photo courtesy Kim Stover's album of Gram May's stuff.**

In March of 1897, Rosalies' mother, Ellen Wamsley Ewer Higgins, died and was put to rest in Major's Cemetery. May Stover recalled the day of Ellen's funeral as blizzardy, and both May and Ernest recalled watching the funeral procession from a window in their home.
[more about Ellen Wamsley Ewer Higgins]

A few months later in 1897, the Cedar local news included the following items:

Earl Clayton received a fine gold ring as a prize in a word contest. He had over 500 words made from the word "enthusiastic."
The present owner of the Higgins property has made several improvements which add to the appearance of the place.
Mr. Clayton's new house and Mr. S.G. Higgins' are near, so that part of Cedar is booming.

**Uncle Charlie, before 1900, photo courtesy Kim Stover**

Ellen Higgins' brother, Charles Wamsley, visited kin in the Cedar community in August through October, 1897. Uncle Charlie left a detailed record of his visit in a diary shared by his great grand-daughter, Mrs. Mary Durley of Potosi, Wisconsin. There are several references to the Claytons, the Abe "Link" Ewers, and to Sampson Grant Higgins.

[see also a letter from Bette Ewer Hinz in PipeLine#2 and more diary details in PipeLine#7]

Uncle Charlie's diary:

Aug 9, 1897

...Got to Joe Clayton's at 12:30

Aug 12

Went with Joe Clayton. Stop with Abe Ewer tonight. Link and Sam are busy at his house.

Aug 19

Joe and Earl are gone threshing

Aug 21

Rosa Clayton and the children and I eat supper with Lizzie. Went to a meeting in the afternoon with Joe and Rosa. - We stopped at the cemetery and visited Ellen's grave.

Aug 27

Joe and Earl are off threshing for Joe.

Sep 6

Went to Kearney with Sam G. Higgins

Sep 28

Sampson G. Higgins moved his corn and fodder today. - Working on a new house for Sam.

Sep 30

Sam moved into his house.

Oct 1

We stopped with Sam in his new house.

In about 1899, the Cedar local news in the Kearney paper noted that "Joseph Clayton went as a delegate to the convention at Broken Bow." This article is only a small indication of how active Joe Clayton was in civic affairs. Ernest Clayton related that he "held many places of honor and trust. He served on the Buffalo County Board of Supervisors for many years, was Director of Schools... and was Commander of Cedar Mountain Post (G.A.R.)..."

In the early 1900's, many of the sons and daughters of the original settlers had become adults and were taking their places in the Cedar community. Sam Higgins left his blacksmith shop on the Clayton farm and moved to Missouri. According to Ernest Clayton, "after Uncle Sam left Nebraska, Uncle Abe built a small shop and did blacksmith work for the farmers in that neighborhood and got all he wanted to do." Uncle Abe's (A.L. Ewer) shop was near his original home on the NE 40 of Section 25.

**May Clayton driving; unknown couple in carriage. Appears to be the back of Rose Hill school.**

Edna McCoy, Grace Miller, Mary May Clayton.
(Click for slight enlargement)

Both photos from the early 1900's from the Ernest Clayton collection courtesy David Ludwig.

According to Ernest Clayton, his father "donated the land for a school house and the school was named Rose Hill School after my mother. May did teach a year or two at Rose Hill - also at Sunflower. She got paid $40 per month, two $20 gold pieces. And she paid $5 a month board." Rose Hill was at the SW corner of the Clayton farm. Apparently, most of the local youngsters attended Rose Hill, including the Clayton kids, A. J. Stover's children, and A.L. Ewer's youngsters. According to Dorothy Rodehorst, "the teacher always boarded at Clayton's except when Edith Stover taught there, she stayed at home." May Clayton also taught at Rose Hill according to Bette Ewer Hinz (A.L. Ewer's daughter). From May herself: "The last year I was in school Dist. 64 Buffalo County there were 33 pupils, all sizes and ages."

**Mary May Clayton. If a formal school photo, probably 1904 at age 17**

**Rose Hill School, about 1906, photo courtesy V. Todd Stover**

**Assumed to be Raymond Earl Clayton, about 1900. Photo from Mrs. Allen (Marge) Stover's collection.**

   At least two young men in the community were looking for adventure outside the Cedar community. Bertrand J. Stover, a neighbor of the Clayton's to the south, and Raymond Earl Clayton traveled West in the Fall of 1905. They headed Northwest by train, purchased horses on the way, and visited the Wagners (Bert's older sister, Dora A. "Doll" Stover Wagner) who had recently relocated from the Cedar community in St. Johns, Washington. They helped the Wagners with their harvest in the Fall of 1905, then found employment in Idaho and Montana. [Also see Bert Stover biography]
   Tragedy terminated the adventure when Earl was killed in a mine accident near Butte, Montana, on July 21, 1906. Earl had just celebrated his 24th birthday. According to Roy Wagner, the miners had encountered a pocket of deadly gas, and Earl was overcome at the base of a shaft ladder which would have led him to safety.
   Apparently, there was no family rift as May Clayton went on to marry Earl's companion, Bert Stover, only a few years later on January 14, 1909. A comment from Bette Ewer Hinz: "My mama once told me that May was engaged to Lewis Payton, but broke it off suddenly and married Bert when he came back from the West."

From the Cedar farm to Pool (Pool's Siding)
According to Ernest Clayton, "Dad and I had a farm sale, I believe in 1908. The house was built before that in Poole..." Ernest was also attracted by the lure of the West... "I went out West to see the country and spent a good wad of money. It was good experience... I worked most of the year besides blowing a $1000 nest egg."

		So, it was about 1908 when Joe and Rosalie moved from the farm to their new home in Poole. Glenn Stover thought the house was built by a contractor named Pruner; both Glenn and (sister) Dorothy Rodehorst commented that Joe was disappointed in the quality of materials and the workmanship of the house. [The same one that I grew up in. - rrs] According to Dorothy, "The big porches were in style then and I believe that Aunt Clara [Clara Ewer Harford, Rosalie's older sister] had a bit in that."
Poole was a promising young community at the time, and was known as “Pool’s Siding.”
	[see "Poole in the Past" for details.]
It was in this prosperous community at Pool's Siding that Joseph and Rosalie Clayton made their retirement home. Besides the proceeds from the farm sale, Joe's Civil War service injuries entitled him to a pension; Ernest said that Joe received $13 a month for years, and my records show that his pension was increased to $19 per month in 1912, to $25 in 1915, to $30 in 1920, and eventually to $50 per month. [image of 1863 discharge, 140 kb, postmarked May 31, 1912 courtesy Kim Stover] On January 14, 1909, Bertrand Stover and May Clayton were married in Kearney, Nebraska, and moved to their new house next door to the Clayton's in Poole. Bert became the village blacksmith and when Ernest Clayton returned from his Western adventures, he bought in with Bert. (Did Bert buy from Mr. Goodby?) According to Allen Stover, "It was in the Poole shop where Ernest put up a large sign 'Save it, we have no garden.' Undoubtedly referring to the amount of bull that was usually found in a place like that." Ernest and Bert were partners until 1915, when Ernest and Ruth McConnell were married and moved back out to the Clayton farm.
	[see "The Poole Stovers" for more on Bert & family.]
Ernest and Bert were partners until 1915, when Ernest and Ruth McConnell were married and moved back out to the Clayton farm. About the time of the Clayton's and the Stover's arrival at Pool's Siding, the residents were considering the advantages of incorporation. Joseph Clayton played an important role in the early history of Poole, and the J.C. Mahoney log gives us a picture of what was happening in Poole around 1910 and Joe's contributions to those happenings.
	[see Poole Village Board Minutes, particularly the naming of Clayton Street.]

Although very young at the time, Dorothy Stover Rodehorst has a few recollections of the early Poole home life. She recalls that she and Keith Stover would visit with Grandpa Clayton while May Stover did the washes of both families in the wash house. Dorothy also recalls the barn that Grandpa Clayton had for his cow; the barn was complete with a finished off room, probably used as an office or for a hired man. It was in this room where Ernest kept the silica that he and a friend had mined from the Loup west of Poole. Mrs. Clayton experienced Joseph's new community involvement as Chairman of the Board of the Village of Poole, but early in 1913, Joseph Clayton's beloved Rosie passed away, a victim of gall bladder infection. The Ravenna News reported her passing:
	Mrs. Joseph Clayton Dead Wife of a Prominent Cedar Township Resident Called to Her Reward. Mrs. Clayton, wife of Mr. Joseph Clayton, one of the old settlers and foremost citizens of Cedar Township, died at her home on Tuesday of this week, February 11, age 54 years. The funeral was held at the family home on Thursday of this week and the remains were laid to rest in the family burial ground in the Cedar Creek Cemetery.
It seems that in those days, obituaries of women were characteristically brief, with little mention of their contributions to their families, or very little in the way of personal information. Ernest Clayton said that he was just old enough to fully appreciate his mother, and that he has warm memories of her as a very kind person.

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