Tehama-Sacramento County CA Archives Biographies.....Clements, John 1844 - ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ca/cafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com February 22, 2007, 5:51 pm Author: Lewis Publishing Co. (1891) JOHN CLEMENTS was born near New Orleans, Louisiana, June 21, 1844. His father, Henry Clements, was born in Bristol, England, and his mother, Rebecca (Rowland) Clements, was also a native of England. The ancestors of both were purely English. Mr. and Mrs. Clements arrived in Louisiana from their native land the day previous to the birth of their son John. They afterward removed to St. Louis, Missouri, but the father, being a strong Union man, found that place uncongenial to him during the agitation preceding the war, and he removed to Bloomington, Illinois. Later he returned to St. Louis and resided there for a number of years. At this writing (1890) he is a resident of Red Bluff, and is sixty-eight years of age. The subject of this sketch was educated at St. Charles College, twenty miles west of St. Louis. In 1862, when eighteen years of age, be enlisted in the Union army, Company K, Eighty-second Illinois Infantry, and while engaged at the battle of Lookout Mountain, he received a wound in the shoulder. When he recovered he was placed in detached service, United States Military Railway, under General McColum, of Ohio, and continued in that service until the close of the war. In 1865 he returned to Chicago and from there went to Omaha, Nebraska, where he engaged in the service of the Union Pacific Railway Company. The road was being built across the continent at that time, and he remained in the employ of the company until they reached Promontory. Then he came to California, first to Sacramento and then, June 21, 1868, to Red Bluff. When he arrived at this place he was in poor health and had only $42 in his pocket. With Mr. George Champlin he engaged in the sheep business. Being an engineer, the charge of the Red Bluff water works was offered him and he accepted the position, running them nearly four years. He was then appointed Postmaster of Red Bluff by President Hayes and was reappointed by President Garfield, holding the office for about eight years. After this he engaged in the grocery business. He began on the corner of Main and Oak streets, and had the misfortune to go through two fires, sustaining a loss of over $13,000. Since then, with remarkable courage and enterprise, he built one of the most substantial business blocks second only to one other fine building in the town. It is a large brick block with two stores below and offices above. Mr. Clements is now conducting his grocery business on Walnut street and enjoys a good trade. In 1876 he built a comfortable residence, and was married to Miss Augusta Lorn, a native of San Francisco. Her parents were natives of Germany and came from the extreme western border of that country. Mr. and Mrs. Clements are the parents of two daughters, Blanch and March, both born in Red Bluff. They are members of the Episcopal Church. For three years Mr. Clements has been Past Master of the Masonic lodge. He is Past High Priest, and has been for seven years a Royal Arch Mason. For two years he has served as Commander of the G. A. R. He is also a member of the A. O. U. W. Politically he is a Republican, and was nominated by that party for Assemblyman and ran far ahead of his ticket. Additional Comments: Extracted from Memorial and Biographical History of Northern California. Illustrated, Containing a History of this Important Section of the Pacific Coast from the Earliest Period of its Occupancy to the Present Time, together with Glimpses of its Prospective Future; Full-Page Steel Portraits of its most Eminent Men, and Biographical Mention of many of its Pioneers and also of Prominent Citizens of To-day. "A people that takes no pride in the noble achievements of remote ancestors will never achieve anything worthy to be remembered with pride by remote descendents." – Macauley. CHICAGO THE LEWIS PUBLISHING COMPANY 1891. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ca/tehama/bios/clements893bs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.poppet.org/cafiles/ File size: 4.4 Kb