Stover PipeLine #10,
November, 1977
 

Greetings, Clayton and Ewer relatives!

   Enclosed is a another 'installment' dealing partly with Joseph Clayton, and mostly with some of the early history of Poole.  I thought it would be appropriate to include some information about Poole, as Joseph was a prominent citizen of the village in its early years.  Besides, most of us grew up in or near Poole, ad some of our roots are there!  I should exhaust the information I have about Poole and about Joe Clayton in one more installment.

   Bette Hinz provided some information about the dugout that Allen mentioned.  "... the dugout across the road from Grandma Higgins - I don't know if Higgins ever lived there or not but about the time I was born a family named Harris lived there - they were called Aunt Mary and Uncle Taylor by the neighbors.  Uncle Taylor died and Aunt Mary moved back to Missouri or Arkansas where they had come from."

[Now, in 1999, the author is confused.  Regarding the dugout:  "..across the road from Grandma Higgins.."  ??  That would be East of the Higgins house, as the land South of the Higgins quarter is featureless. Allen Stover described the dugout as across the road north (see Pipeline#9) of the Clayton farm. Yet, in July, 1998, at the Tanya Spaulding arranged reunion at the Higgins' house on the SE quarter, we were excavating near the house for signs of the dugout.  Were we looking in the wrong quarter section??  ... end RRS insert]

   As you know, Joe Clayton's mother was Margaret Young. Apparently, she was known as "Lucy," as that is the name that Gram May always used.  I recall some reference to a distant relationship with the Youngs in the area, but never did know exactly what the relationship was, nor did I particularly care until I found out that Lucy's maiden name was Young.

   An Alex Young (Mason Alexander Young biography from Battey's "Biographical Souvenir ..Buffalo" ..) homesteaded the quarter section just south of Joe Clayton's original homestead.  Dorothy Rodehorst has a somewhat bizarre story about Alex Young - I sure wish that I could have recorded her story, but I'll have to reconstruct it from memory:

   There was once a young man by the name of Alexander Young who went a courting in the woods near his home in Ohio - He went out at night without enough fuel for his lantern.  (Explanation later.)  He met a young lady, had a little affair, and became an expectant father.  Her father was not very pleased with the condition of his daughter, and coerced young Alex into facing up to his responsibility and marrying her.  Perhaps the father was simply taking advantage of the situation or his good fortune, for his daughter did not have all her wits with her - she was kind of an idiot.
   Back to the lantern - Had Alex enough fuel for his lantern and had he kept it lit, he probably wouldn't have made such a serious mistake.
   Anyway, to make a short story longer, the Young couple homesteaded in Nebraska and had some more children, some of which were a bit short on wits, as well.  One of Alex's daughters got in trouble at a young age; Alex was furious, and threatened to throw her out.  His neighbor and friend, Joe Clayton, intervened and pleaded with Alex to be fair and humane, and went so far as to threaten to make public the story of Alex's own background.  This was apparently enough to soften Alex somewhat, as he allowed his daughter and grandson to remain in their home.
   Mrs. Alex Young was not much of a housekeeper, and the place was a mess most of the time.  Dorothy said that Joe Clayton would mutter, "the dang fool, he married her, the least he could do is shovel the place out once in a while."  Dorothy added that "dang fool" was about as strong a phrase as Grandpa Joe would ever use.

   I admit to some embellishment of the story [it's more likely that I left out even more embellishments], but that's the gist of it.  I relayed the fundamental parts of the story to Ernest Clayton, who commented "I've also heard everything you wrote about Alex" and added that he didn't think that Joe and Alex got along too well.  Ernest said that his Dad claimed Alex Young as his second cousin.  ["Second" cousin might mean First Cousin, once removed?]

   The parts of the story that interest me most are: 1) the Young surname, 2) the fact that Joe Clayton knew Alex in their younger days, and 3) the fact that they were cousins.  This information should lead to further information about the parentage of Joe's mother, Margaret (Lucy) Young.  Do any of you have any further information about the connection with Youngs?  Are any of the Young descendants still around Buffalo County?  Any local history books that may give a rundown on Alex?  Battey's Biographical Souvenirs has chapters on two or three different Youngs, but not Alex.

   Thanks for writing!  Enjoy hearing your versions of things, and apologize for not responding sooner, but time gets scarce, and the situation will be getting worse.

   'til next time,

1999 addendum:

   Had I speculated that M.A. Young was the same as Alex Young thirty years ago, when I had my hands on a copy of Biographical Souvenir, I might have studied the Young biography, which reveals some remarkable parallels in his life and that of Joseph Clayton.
 

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