Stover PipeLine #3,
December, 1975
 

Dear Stovers,

   The enclosed "Newbraskey Homesteader" represents just about everything about A. J. Stover that I could get my hands on at this point in time.  Thanks for any contribution you may have made!  Some of the 'dark' items should perhaps have been left out, but... well, I felt all items were part of the story.  I hope that I didn't betray anyone's confidence by passing along some of the items.  The flavor or verbal stories is diluted somewhat by putting them in print; however, I'm sure that some of the stories with be 'new ones for you and hope that you enjoy them.
   I hope that if any of you feel you were mis-quoted, or detect any mistakes, that you will drop a line!  If any of the stories bring to your mind another story not included, please jot it down!

   Thanks for your inputs regarding Bert's vital dates!  June 22, 1876 and March 3, 1940 it is!

   Regarding Bette Ewer Hinz's story of her wayward great- grandfather, Charles Wamsley:  Dorothy Rodehorst says that Charles' father was an Earl, not a Count!  (Which is a demotion and makes Charles' errant ways a little less degrading.)

   I was grateful to receive recently a couple of pages from a book, "Biographical Souveniers of Buffalo, Kearney, and Phelps Counties," by Battey, from the Kearney Library.  The section I received includes a good background on Joseph Clayton and his father, Henry.  The information in the book was apparently collected from first-hand interviews sometime in the 1890's, and is fun reading.  I'm curious to know if A.J. Stover, Thomas Hutchinson, or Ellen Ewer Higgins have similar 'chapters' in the book.  Joseph's mother is given as Margaret Young;  I always understood it to be Lucy, although that may have been a nick- name.  The additional information about Henry prompted another try at retrieving Henry's Civil War record from the National Archives.

   There's confusion about Joseph Clayton's birthdate, and at this point, I'm bewildered:
   - Gram May said he was born May 24, 1845, in Muskingum Co., Ohio, and that he lied about his age when he enlisted in the Cavalry in 1861.
   - Joseph's Cavalry discharge gives his age at the time of enrollment, Aug. 17, 1861, as 17 years, implying an 1844 birthdate.
   - His Marine discharge gives his age at the time of enrollment, Dec. 26, 1862, as 17 years, implying an 1845 birthdate.
   - A declaration for pension dated June 6, 1914, gives his date of birth as May 24, 1844, in Muskingum Co., Ohio
   - A pension questionnaire dated March 12, 1915, gives his date of birth as May 24, 1845, Bristol Township, Morgan County, Ohio.
   - Joseph's headstone at Major's reads 1844, as does the above-mentioned book.

   Any theories?  If he lied once about his age in 1861, perhaps he felt it important to continue the lie, but occasionally forgot??  Maybe he felt his homestead claim would be jeapordized if he were found out?

Next, PipeLine #4, Henry Clayton
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