Will County IL Archives Biographies.....Clement, Arthur C 
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Deb Haines ddhaines@gmail.com November 10, 2007, 12:22 am

Author: Genealogical and Biographical Record of Will County

ARTHUR C. CLEMENT. The founder of LA the Clement (or Clements, as it was then 
spelled) family in America was Robert Clements, Jr., who came from England 
thirty years after the sailing of the "Mayflower" and settled in Haverhill, 
Mass. He was one of three trustees to whom the town was deeded by the Indians. 
In the subsequent years he became a man of great influence in the village, 
where his father and family joined him and where he continued to reside until 
death. Benaiah Clement, a descendant of Robert, Jr., spent much of his life in 
Windsor, Vt., where he was born; he died at forty-nine years of age. His son, 
Charles, was born in Windsor in 1810. In the spring of 1833 he came west on 
horseback, and after a short time in Peoria, Ill., settled in Joliet, where he 
bought one acre, including what is now the northwest corner of Bluff and 
Exchange streets. He built the first frame building in the town, which he sold 
later. With Mr. Wilcox he engaged in the mercantile business for two years. In 
company with that gentleman, Mr. Allen and others he established the Joliet 
Courier and published the same in Merchants' Row on North Bluff street. In the 
possession of our subject is the first impress of the first edition of this 
paper, which bears the date of April 20, 1839. On account of ill health Mr. 
Clement returned to New England and temporarily retired from business 
pursuits. About 1860 he returned to Joliet and started a dry-goods store on 
the corner of Jefferson and Ottawa streets, where the Will County Bank now 
stands. In 1863 he sold out and engaged in loaning money on real-estate and 
farm lands. In politics he voted with the Democrats, and on that ticket was 
many times elected to the city council. He died in this city December 11, 
1878. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Cordelia Wilcox, was born in 
Elbridge, N. Y., in 1825, and died in Mayville, that state, in 1893. She was a 
daughter of Loami Wilcox, a farmer, and a sister of the gentleman who engaged 
in business with her husband. The family of Mr. and Mrs. Clement consisted of 
a son, Arthur C., and a daughter, Alice C., Mrs. Chaney, of Chautauqua, N. Y. 
In the first frame house built in Joliet the subject of this notice was born 
January 16, 1852. He was reared in Chester, N. H., until ten years of age, and 
afterward studied in the Joliet public schools. In 1868 he entered Cornell 
University, from which he graduated in 1872 with the degree of B. S. He began 
the study of law in the office of Olin & Phelps and later studied in the 
Chicago College of Law for a year, being admitted to the bar at Mount Vernon, 
Ill., in 1875. Entering upon practice he was a member of the firm of Phelps & 
Clement until 1878, when his father died and he, as administrator, settled up 
the estate and continued the loan business started by his father. In 1885 he 
formed the firm of Clement & Oliver, dealers in real estate and loans, but 
that connection was dissolved in 1891, and he continued alone for some years. 
In 1897 the firm of Clement & Chaney was formed, and this partnership 
continues to the present time. He has built and improved considerable real-
estate. He built the Clement block and remodeled and enlarged it so that it 
now contains eight stores, with a frontage of one hundred and thirty-two feet 
on Ottawa street and eighty-eight feet on Jefferson street. He also built his 
residence at No. 300 South Eastern avenue. Besides his other interests he is a 
stockholder in the Will County National Bank, in which he has been a director. 
For one year he held the office of president of the Silver Cross hospital, 
filling the position at the time the hospital was being erected. A charter 
member of the Union Club, he was for six years a member of its board of 
directors and also served as treasurer. He also held membership in the Stone 
City Club. In Auburn, N. Y., Mr. Clement married Georgia, daughter of Alfred 
Smith, a large farmer of that place. They are the parents of two children: 
Charles, a student in the Northwestern Medical College; and Laura, a high 
school student.

Additional Comments:
Genealogical and Biographical Record of Will County Illinois Containing 
Biographies of Well Known Citizens of the Past and Present, Biographical 
Publishing Company, Chicago, 1900

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