James and Francis related?

Question

I am wondering if you have found anything connecting James Clemens to Francis Clemens bef 1876 - aft 1904 Clemens-1584, my great-great grandfather. I have traced him to Cornwall, England, but then have hit a wall myself!

Comments

Hi Sheila, I'll see what I can find on Francis. Most of James' children immigrated to New Zealand in 1879 but there are a number of other Clemens families in the area.

Answer 1

The census sources that have his wife and children in them indicate that Frank was born in Pennsylvania and his parents were born in England. He passed away in 1940 in Monterey, California. His death record gives his mothers maiden name as James, it also gives his birth date (although birth dates given at death are not  always correct)

I have added these sources to his page for you to look at, Ros had already added a marriage record.

Comments

There is one possibility for his parents I have found based on his death records parents names. That is Charles Clemens and Jane James who married in St Just, Cornwall in 1857 (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NVR2-X8N). There are quite a few Clemens & James marriages though so it will need more research. They were living in Pennsylvania in 1870 (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MZLN-LTN). Jane then died, and Charles remarried to Susanna. The 1880 census has a nine year old child named Franklin with them which may be Frank (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MW6Y-HV2).

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Charles and Jane already had a wikitree profile. I've added some sources to Charles. (https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Clemens-1667)

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I just found something even more conclusive. Charles parents are William and Grace, Grace's maiden name was Trembath which is Franks sisters middle name.

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Thank you so very much! I am definitely confused by the Trembath! This is a family name, passed down even to my generation, but it actually came from Francis' wife's side. Francis' wife, Edith's mother's maiden name was Trembath. Maybe it was a common last name in Cornwall.

So interesting! Thank you so much for your help!

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This could be. Frank and his wife Edith had a child, Francis, so I may have assumed his name was Francis as well.