Clemence
Family of Rhode Island
From Representative Men and Old Families of Rhode
Island,
Vol. III, J. H. Beers, Chicago, 1905
pp. 1688 - 1689 [click images to enlarge]:
STEPHEN
HENRY CLEMENCE, one of the well-known citizens of Johnston, of which town
he has been a highly esteemed resident for more than forty years, descends
from an old Rhode Island family.
Thomas Clemence, the progenitor of the Rhode Island Clemence family, is of record in Providence as early as 1649, on November 3d of which year he was granted twenty-five acres of land. He was made a freeman in 1655, and became a man of some consequence and importance in the town, as is evidenced by the fact of his representing it in the Colonial Assembly in 1666 and 1672 and being a member of the town council in 1667. The children born to him and his wife Elizebeth, were: Richard, Thomas, Elizabeth and Content. The father died in 1688 and the mother after 1721. Of the children of Thomas and Elizabeth Clemence, Content died in Providence, June 30, 1696; Elizabeth married James Mathhewson and left posterity; Thomas died unmarried in Providence; Richard is the next in this line.
Richard Clemence, son of Thomas, married Sarah, daughter of John and Sarah (Whipple) Smith, who died Oct. 14, 1725, he passing away Oct. 11, 1723. Their children, according to the town records, were: Sarah, born Nov. 11, 1688; Mary, May 24, 1689; Ann, Dec. 11, 1690; Thomas, Aug. 6, 1693; Abigail, Dec. 4, 1695; and Richard, July 19, 1698. It appears by the father's will, dated Oct. 11, 1723, that Sarah married an Angell; Abigail, a Thornton, and that Mary, at the time of the making of the will, was unmarried. The Clemence name has been perpetuated through one or both of the sons of Richard Clemence, grandsons of the first Thomas and Elizabeth Clemence. Of these sons, Thomas Clemence came into possession, by the will of his father, of the lands, tenements and meadows in Providence on both sides of the Woonasquatucket river, which made up the homestead and other lands.
The Clemences have not been a numerous family, but they have been one generally highly esteemed and respected, men and women of a good type of substantial and useful citizenship. They seem to have been a Providence county family, of the old original town of Providence, out of which have been created other towns in which the family have lived. The name Clemence has had, both prior to and during the revolution, a military connection with the history of the locality alluded to, members of the family holding military commissions in the State service and performing duty during the Revolution.
Without having made a direct connection with either Thomas or Richard Clemence, of the third generation, and the Richard following, it is quite evident that one exists. "Richard Clemence, Jr.", according to the Johnston records, married Oct. 16, 1760, Alney (Olney) Wright, daughter of Stephen. This Richard Clemence, Jr., was the great-grandfather of Stephen Henry Clemence, whose name introduces this sketch.
Wright Clemence, son of Richard (Jr.) and his wife Alney, resided in the town of Burrillville, and there died. He married Nov. 1, 1788, Sarah, daughter of Elam Crossman, late of Glocester, and they had a family of three children, as follows: Lillis married Joseph Steere, and resided in Burrillville; Stephen was a farmer and resided with his brother, Richard R., and with him died, unmarried; Richard Right was the next in the we are tracing.
Detail of an undated map from the
Johnston Town Hall Clerk's office
Richard
Right Clemence, son of Wright and Sarah, was born Feb. 8, 1791, and in
early life apprenticed himself to the learn the trade of a carpenter, which
he followed for many years, at times employing a number of hands and apprentices,
as he did a large business in his line for the time. He furnished,
and drew with oxen, lumber for the old Red bridge at Providence, and built
a house still standing on Broadway, which is regarded as a landmark.
The latter years of his life were devoted to farming in Glocester, and
there he died in Nov. 28, 1873; he was buried in a private yard in that
town. He was a successful man, accumulating a fair amount of property,
was very industrious, and held the respect of all who knew him. He was
a Democrat in his political views, but never cared for nor sought public
office. He married Mary Place, a native of Glocester, daughter of
Reuben Place, and she died May 16, 1866, aged seventy-one years, one month,
thirteen days. Richard Right and Mary (Place) Clemence were the parents
of ten children, of whom eight grew to mature years, as follows:
Laura Ann, born April 9, 1815, married Willard Bradford, whom she survived,
and for some time previous to her death made her home with her brother,
Stephen H., in Johnston; Sarah Johnston, born May 31, 1816, died unmarried
Dec. 4, 1831; Seril Wright, born Oct. 27, 1818, married to Abra Ann Brown,
was a mechanic, residing at Slatersville at the time of his death; Phebe
Sweeting, born May 24, 1820, married Francis Mann, and died in Smithfield;
Reuben Amey, born June 11, 1822, married Elsa Mann, and resided in Glocester,
where he was a prominent and successful farmer ( a sketch of his life will
be found elsewhere in this publication); Mahala Mowry, born April 19, 1824,
died Jan. 3, 1832; Richard Place, born Oct. 26, 1826, died Dec. 9, 1831.
Stephen Henry was born Jan. 13, 1834; Lucy Ellen, born Oct. 14, 1836, died
in young womanhood, April 30, 1853; Amy Elizabeth, born Oct. 20, 1840,
married Henry Colwell, a farmer, and resided at Slatersville, where she
died.
STEPHEN HENRY CLEMENCE, son of Richard Right and Mary, and the last
surviving member of his father's family, was born in Glocester Jan. 13,
1834, and was reared to farm work. His education was received in
the district school and at the Smithfield Seminary at North Scituate, then
presided over by the noted Hosea Quimby. For a time he taught a select
school in his native town, but resided on the homestead, engaged in farming,
until 1864, a few years after his marriage, when he removed to Johnston
and settled on his present farm, which he had purchased. It was long
known as the Pardon Sweet place, having been in the Sweet name for several
generations. This farm is located on Greenville avenue, about one
mile west of Manton Village. Mr. Clemence has been engaged in farming
and dairying since settling there, and has been very successful.
 Sign at Clemence-Irons House, owned by SPNEA |
 Architectural drawings from the Thomas Clemence House book. |
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 Right: Plan of first floor showing framing -> |
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 The "stone ender" side plan and photograph |
| Plan of second floor showing framing. | |
On Jan. 11, 1860, he was married in Smithfield to Elsie A. Paine, daughter of Mathewson and Fidelia (Darling) Paine, and a descendant, on both sides, of old Rhode Island families. Mr. and Mrs. Clemence had the following children: Mary A., born April 4, 1862; Ida M., Feb. 18, 1864; Stephen H., Jr., June 24, 1867 (of whom more follows); Richard R., March 24, 1870. The latter is assisting his father in the management of the farm, and is unmarried.
Stephen Henry Clemence is a Democrat in politics, although, like his
father, he has never cared for office, but like all other good citizens
of the locality, he is active in the support of measures which he
considers will be of benefit to the community in which he resides.
For many years he has been a director of the National Exchange Bank at
Greenville. He attends the Broadway Baptist church at Olneyville
of which church his wife and daughters are consistent and valued members.
Mr. Clemence has always been a hard-working, industrious man, known for
splendid business judgment and high integrity, and he ranks among the most
substantial, successful and influential citizens of the town. He
is universally esteemed and respected.
STEPHEN H. CLEMENCE, JR., was born June 24, 1867, and reared on the
farm of his father. He had such educational advantages as the community
afforded and assisted his father in the management of the farm. In
1893 he completed the pleasant home which he now occupies, within a short
distance of the old homestead, on the Greenville pike. He married
on March 16, 1893, Miss Susan Alice Carey Flint, daughter of William H.
and Frances J. (Brown) Flint. Her maternal grandfather was Arnold
Brown, a direct descendant of Chad Brown, the ancestor of the Rhode Island
family of that name. She also comes of ancient and distinguished lineage
on the paternal side, and is a member of the Daughters of the Revolution.
Mr. and Mrs. Clemence are the parents of the following interesting family:
Elsie Frances, born April 25, 1895; Alice May, born March 25, 1900, and
Bernice Emily, born June 20, 1906.
Mr. Clemence is, like his forefathers, in political views a Democrat,
but he is in no respect a politician. He has built up an excellent
business in the line of milk and dairy products, and has proved himself
a young man of a high order of intelligence, thrift and enterprise, distinctly
of the modern aggressive type of business man.
The Thomas Clemence Book, bound, xerox copies of handwritten data collected in 1941. Survey by Edward W. Husband, Chief Draftsman. Historic America Buildings Survey, District of Rhode Island, 1937 to 1942. Copyright ?
Info on the house from the book:
1 1/2 stories; materials of construction: oak timbers; completely restored
in 1938-1939 to its 1679 conditions. Drawings by noted colonial architect
Norman Morrison Isham.
Timeline:
- 1/9/1654: Thomas Clemence, probably a carpenter, from England, purchased of an Indian named "Missowyamake" a meadow containing about 8 acres with a brook at each end, near the Woonasquatucket River.
- About 1679: house built presumably by Thomas Clemence, who is said to have two dwellings
- 1681: Thomas Clemence deeded to son Richard his farm comprising 60 acres (Bk. 9, pp. 81-82.)
- 1688: Thomas Clemence died, property was passed to eldest son, Richard Clemence.
- 10/11/1723: Richard Clemence died, and the property was bequeathed to eldest son Thomas Clemence. With additional purchases, the property had increased to 300 acres.
- 1744: Thomas Clemence the younger, b. 1693, agreed to sell the farm to John Angell. The farm was transferred to Jacob Whitman, Jr., in trust for Abigail (Angell) Goddard, wife of William Goddard (married 1786). The Goddards lived in the homestead after 1752.
- 12/18/1826: Farm sold by Abigail Goddard and her children to Elder Stephen Sweet, totalling 355 acres.
- 1854: Following the death of Elder Stephen Sweet in 1854, the farm was partitioned May 15, 1855, among several heirs, in which division his daughter Sarah Manton (Sweet) Irons, wife of Amasa Irons, became possessed of the homestead, barns and other buildings, about 15 acres.
- 1892: Miss Ellen E. Irons, born 1855, acquired the homestead lot, west of Goddard Road, and dwelt in this house until her death in 1938.
- 1938: The house and land was purchased by Henry D. Sharpe
- 1938-1939: House restored to its 1679 condition by Henry D. Sharpe, Providence, RI; builder, Joseph Bullock.
- 1939-1941: House is open to the public as a museum, the caretaker living next door, Peter Bucci, #34 George Waterman Road.
The following info was gleaned from a tour:
The building, called a "rare surviving example of a stone-ender",
is named for the first and last families that lived there - three generations
of the Clemence family, followed by three generations of the Angell family,
and finally, three generations of the Irons family. The last resident,
Emily Irons, died in 1930, and the property was sold for back taxes in
1937 (I think they said the amount was $2,200!). The
house is about 50% original, having been remodeled and rennovated several
times.... the original farm was 300 acres, the original stone-ender house,
once 17 rooms. It now has about 4 - and none of the furnishings
are original. The house is beautiful, the most striking indoor
parts are the fireplaces.
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This Clemence monument is from the "Clemence Lot", Glocester, RI . Click for more grave stone images from Glocester, plus Foster and Warwick. |
Images, information & transcription by Beth Hurd, 2001
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