Wayne County, NC - Heritage Series Reprinted with permission of the Mount Olive Tribune and cannot be reproduced without permission. Professor Samuel W. Clement "Our Heritage" By Claude Moore November 23, 1990 Professor Samuel Wilson Clement of Duplin County will be long remembered for his dedication to the cause of education as headmaster of Grove Academy in Kenansville, founder and principal of Clement Institute in Wallace and as superintendent of the Duplin County Schools. Mr. Clement was born in 1833 near Oxford, in Granville County, and was the son of William and Jane Gooch Clement. The Clements were of French Huguenot extraction and came into Virginia during the colonial period. Mr. Clement's great-grandfather, Simon Clement, moved to North Carolina from Amelia County, Virginia, in 1755. Young Clement was prepared for college at the Old Tar River Academy. He entered the University at Chapel Hill in 1853. In that same class were: Dr. Daniel McLean Graham of Wallace; Major Robert Bingham, of the famous Bingham School; the Hon. Thomas S. Kenan, later Attorney-General of N.C.; Maj. John W. Graham of Hillsboro; and the Hon. Benjamin Franklin Grady of Duplin. After two years at Chapel Hill, Mr. Clement taught school for a year, and returned to the university, graduating in 1858. For two years he taught at Long Creek in Pender County. In 1860, he became the principal of Old Grove Academy, Kenansville, which had been founded back in 1785. When Dr. James Sprunt went into the Confederate Army as chaplin, he also became principal of the Female Seminary. He continued in this position until the end of the war. In 1865, Mr. Clement became principal of the Clinton Male Academy, where he served for two years. The Academy was operated by Mr. B. F. Grady and Prof. Murdoch McLeod from 1867 to 1876. Mr. Clement then returned to Kenansviile as principal of the Female Seminary. Because of ill health, he sold his holdings in the Seminary to Prof. R. W. Millard, and settled on a farm in Duplin. In 1873, Prof. Clement went to Birmingham, Alabama, where he prepared the plans and specifications upon which the public schools of that city were conducted for many years. He returned to North Carolina in 1874, and settled permanently in Wallace, which was then called Duplin Roads. At that time there were no public high schools in Duplin. He established Clement Institute where he was principal as well as professor of Greek, Latin and mathmatics and came to be considered one of the best educators in the state. To him, education meant a retention of knowledge and not a mere skimming of the surface. He could never have understood the modern methods of education. Clement Institute was later converted into a military school. The qualities of leadership which he developed in his students is indicative of the quality of education to which he was dedicated. Some of his students were: the late Judge Oliver H. Allen, the Hon. F. M. Simmons, U.S. Senator; the Rev. David Wells Herring, for 42 years a missionary in China; the Hon. Alfred D. Ward of New Bern; Dr. Benjamin R. Graham of Wallace; and hundreds of others who helped to shape the destiny of North Carolina in business, politics and religion. Mr. Clement first married Miss Margaret Spier of Sampson County, but she died in a short time without children. He later married Miss Anna Bryan, the daughter of John A. Bryan and Eleanor Torrans Bryan, who lived on a plantation three miles east of Kenansville. Mrs. Clement was related to many of the most distinguished citizens of North Carolina. Mr. and Mrs. Clement had the following children: John B. Clement, Phillip Clement, both of Charleston, S.C.; William J. Clement of California; Mr. Albert O. Clement, photographer, of Goldsboro, who married Mrs. Eliza Faison Morisey, of Turkey; Mrs. Jennie Stewart of Virginia; and Mrs. Anna B. Hall of Roanoke Rapids. During World War II, the writer became acquainted with Mr. Philip Clement, who was at that time postmaster of Charlestdn, S.C. In 1898, Mr. Clement was elected superintendent of the Duplin County Schools, a position which he held with much credit until 1904. His motto was always thoroughness of instruction. He gave up the superintendency in 1904 and retired to his farm where he engaged in bee culture. He died on October 4, 1912 and is buried in the old Rockfish Presbyterian Church cemetery, one mile east of Wallace. The facts contained in this article are largely taken from the historical notes of the late Judge Henry A. Grady. ============================================================== USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, data may be used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. The electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or for presentation by other persons or organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for purposes other than stated above must obtain the written consent of the file contributor, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Guy Potts ==============================================================