New York Myth

Clover Family Research Compendium

New York Myth

New York

   I originally published this article in the Clover Family Chronicles in 2006 in Issue 6, page 166. It is copyrighted 2006 by June Clover Byrne.

   It often seems to me that I have spent way too much time pointing out myths in our Clover research. I have often had to tell my unfortunate readers that what they have believed for so long is not true. Well, this time the problem is with the New York/Connecticut Clover family.
    The following have been some of the most important records in the family of John Clover, whose children were baptized in Connecticut in 1790 [See Connecticut page for further information.]. The following are entries from the IGI.
    John Clover married Sarah Collins in Springfield, Massachusetts, on 26 August 1781.
    John Clover married Sarah Collins in Springfield, New Jersey on 26 August 1781.
    John Clover married Mary Warner 8 March 1781 in Albany, New York.

    I considered these pieces of information to be very important and I have been chasing all over Albany and Massachusetts to see if I could find these records. I thought if I could find them, I might be able to find out more information on the origins of John Clover. I have spent a lot of time, effort and a great deal of money on this problem over the last few years to my immense frustration. I even went to the unusual (for me) extreme of hiring a Massachusetts professional to find the record. He also failed.
    However, I have recently discovered that these IGI entries are so much baloney. While researching Clovers in New Jersey, I discovered the following two entries in a book on the marriages in New Jersey prior to 1800:
John Cliver married Mary Warner 8 March 1781.
Peter Cliver, of Springfield, married Sarah Collins 26 August 1781.
    If you compare these two entries with the above IGI entries which were all sent in by the same person, it becomes very clear that the person who submitted these entries to the IGI made a serious error. I would not have objected if she had merely thought that these two marriages were for Clovers. I am long past worrying about spelling. But when she changed the state where the marriage occurred and changed the name of the groom to make the record fit, she created something that is just a waste of time.
    I am telling everyone this because I think it is very important to discard our previous misconceptions which were based on this fantasy and approach this family with new eyes and an open mind. We need to reexamine our theories about this family. We now have no reason to believe that John Clover was ever in Massachusetts. We know nothing about his past prior to 1782 except that his children all say that they were born in New York or Connecticut so that he was somewhere in that area for some years prior to 1790. Let us move forward from that point.

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Created, Edited, and Maintained June Clover Byrne
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This page is copyrighted 2007 June Clover Byrne
This Page Last Updated 4 January 2008