Northumberland-Philadelphia County PA Archives Biographies.....Clement, John Kay 1820 - 1882
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Author: Biographical Publishing Co.

GENERAL JOHN KAY CLEMENT, deceased, was one of the most prominent criminal
lawyers of the state of Pennsylvania, and participated in many of the most
famous cases tried in the section in which he lived. He lived at Sunbury,
Northumberland County, Pa., where he acquired a very extensive practice, mainly
criminal, and was for many years a well-known figure in the public eye. He was a
son of Evan C. and Hannah (Kay) Clement, and was born in Philadelphia, Pa.,
January 1, 1820. Gen. Clement descended from a prominent family of Quakers in
England, the earliest ancestor of whom we have any record being Gregory Clement,
who was one of the famous body of Regicides and with four others was hanged.
When Gregory was arrested in 1660, his son James escaped and emigrated from his
native country to America, landing on Long Island. He subsequently located in
Camden County, N. J., near Camden, where he founded the village of Clementon
nearly 150 years ago. He became a large landowner and surveyor and his
descendants continued at that occupation for a number of generations following.
His companion in the pathway of life was Sarah Field and among the children who
blessed their union was one Jacob. Jacob Clement married Ann Harrison and they
were the parents of Samuel Clement, the great-grandfather of our subject.

  Samuel Clement, the great-grandfather, married Rebecca Collins, a
grand-daughter of Francis Collins, who came to America in 1688, locating in New
Jersey, where he became a man of distinction. He served for a time in the
capacity of a judge and was a member of the Provincial Legislature of New Jersey:

  Samuel Clement, the grandfather of our subject, married Mary Foster and they
reared Evan C., the father of our subject, who was born in Camden County, N. J.
In connection with his father, Evan engaged in the manufacture of glass and
became a man of considerable means. He was a soldier of the War of 1812, serving
with the rank of sergeant-major. He was a life-long resident of Camden County,
dying there in 1827, at the age of thirty-seven years. He was united in marriage
with Hannah Kay, a daughter of John Kay, who was a great-grandson of John Kay,
the first settler of the name, who was several years speaker of the Provincial
Assembly of New Jersey. John Kay, the father of Mrs. Clement, married Kesiah
Thorne, a daughter of Capt. Joseph Thorne, a soldier of the Revolutionary War.

  Gen. John Kay Clement, the subject of this biography, was but seven years of
age when his father died and, as the latter had failed a short time previous to
death, John was thrown upon his own resources at that youthful age. He received
his early education in the Friends' School at Philadelphia, and at the age of
eighteen years entered upon the study of law, a profession for which he proved
himself eminently fitted. He studied in the office of his cousin, Richard
Howell, of Camden. N. J., and at the age of twenty-one years was admitted to the
bar at Trenton, N. J., in 1841. Shortly thereafter he removed to Schuylkill
County, Pa., making his home first at Minersville and subsequently at
Pottsville. While residing in that county he was made brigadier-general of the
state militia, and he also practiced law there until 1854, when he moved to
Sunbury, Northumberland County. Being a man of unusual power and eloquence as a
speaker and pleader, he had by this time attracted considerable attention as a
lawyer, and in 1859 he was elected district attorney of Northumberland County.
He was re-elected to that office in 1871, and received an appointment to the
same office in 1877. He practiced law to the exclusion of everything else,
making a specialty of criminal law, up to the time of his death, and he took
rank among the leading criminal lawyers of this state. From 1871 to 1878 he was
engaged as counsel for the prosecution or defense in every important case
brought to trial and his efforts in almost every instance were attended by
success. "Bear" Dolan, the first "Molly Maguire" convicted, was prosecuted by
him in 1872; and Peter McMannes, the last one tried, was defended by him.
Besides being an eloquent speaker, Gen. Clement excelled as a man of great
reasoning power and his knowledge of the law was almost unlimited. Politically
he was a Democrat prior to the Civil War, but subsequently he stanchly supported
the principles of the Republican party, and for some years was a member of the
Sunbury Council. Gen. Clement took an active part in the Civil War, showing
great patriotism and devotion to the cause for which the government was
fighting. He was captain of the Pottsville Light Artillery, which organization
still exists as Company F, 4th Reg., N. G. P., and he served in the First Battle
of Bull Run as aide to Col. Cameron. In 1862 he was made provost marshal of the
Fourteenth District of Pennsylvania and served efficiently until 1864. During
the war he also served as a private in Company D of the 4th Pennsylvania
Emergency Troop.

  On May 18, 1854, Gen. Clement formed a matrimonial alliance with Mary S.
Zeigler, of Sunbury, a daughter of Isaac and Mary (Eyer) Zeigler. She is now
living in Sunbury at the advanced age of seventy-two years. Five children
blessed their home, only one of whom survives. Gen. Clement passed to his
eternal reward on October 15, 1882.


Additional Comments:
Extracted from:

Book of Biographies of the Seventeenth Congressional District
Published by 
Biographical Publishing Company of Chicago, Ill. and Buffalo, NY (1899)

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