Paul Clover son of John Peter Clover

Clover Family Research Compendium

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Paul Clover son of John Peter Clover

Paul Clover in New Jersey

I have included here every record I have found on Paul Clover, son of John Peter Clover. There are really very few and collecting them has been an uphill battle. If you know of ANY record with his name in it which I do not have here, no matter how tiny, please send it to me. I think it is really helpful to have all of the information on one person in one place. Certain things become clearer.

Paul was born between 1747 and 1754 because of his father's estate records.
New Jersey Calendar of Wills, 1761-1770
1768, October 3. Clover, Paul of Hunterdon County. Ward. Son of Peter Clover of Lebanon, said county, deceased. Makes choice of John Anderson, Esq. and Christopher Voght, both of Lebanon, as his guardians. 1768, October 3. Guardians-John Anderson Esq. and Christopher Voght. Fellow bondsmen- Coonrad Pickel of said place. Witness-Jacob Mattison.

Because of this guardianship record, we have proof that Paul was the son of John Peter and Catherine Clover. Since Paul chose his own guardian he would have had to have been at least 14 at that time and under 21. So I think we can be sure he was born between 1747 and 1754. The ages of his first children are not sure enough to be of help with this date. They fit nicely into this time span. There is a lot of stuff on the internet that says that he was born 1750 but as far as I know, that date is just a guess. If anyone has a record which shows his age, I would be delighted to see it.

1756, October 22. Sharpenstine, Paul, of Lebanon, Hunterdon County,[New Jersey]; will of. Wife, Elsa. Godchildren--Paul Clover, Paul Sharp, Paul Engel, and Paul Eick. Executors--Joh: Dilse, of Amwell and Jacob Gerhart, Jr. of Lebanon. Witnesses--Jacob Eick, Jacob Anders (signs in German script), David Fetter. Proved November 20, 1756. Lib. 8 p 412.

1756, November 17. Inventory, ₤ 301.6.1, inc. bonds and book debts, ₤ 108.0.7; 3 books; 6 years of a servant boy’s time, ₤ 6; made by Edward Wilmot and David Fetter. (This was published in New Jersey Colonial Documents, New Jersey Archives Volume XXXII, Calendar of New Jersey Wills, Volume III, p 287.) Note: Paul² Clover(John Peter¹ Clover) To the Sharpenstine descendants out there, who is this Paul Sharpenstine? Note all the god-children were named after him. I have wondered if this was Catherine's brother.

The Grandin Fulling Mill, 1774-1785, Hunterdon County, New Jersey
The Clover information from this article was published in the Clover Family Exchange 5: 2: 10. It was originally printed in the The Genealogical Magazine of New Jersey. The date is the date upon which an individual brought in wool cloth to be finished or dyed.

Volume 52: 10. Paul Clover 9 May 1777
This is the last record of Paul that I have found in the New Jersey Records. He is not in the tax records and may have been living with his in-laws. His mother died after 1785, because she was involved with the estate of Paul's brother, Isaac Clover. I don't know but I wonder if he stayed until after her death and then moved to Pennsylvania. Neither Paul nor Catherine appears in the Hunterdon County, New Jersey tax lists. Catherine was probably exempt, but someone had to pay taxes on Paul.

Revolutionary War

Was Paul Clover in the Revolution in New Jersey or Pennsylvania?
I don't really know if he was, but he is not in the Pennsylvania Archives series which is supposed to have published all the the Pennsylvania soldiers and militia. There is a book on revolutionary solders of New Jersey taken from the New Jersey State Archives records. Neither of these important sources have Paul Clover listed. His younger brother Philip served in Pennsylvania, and his older brother Peter Clover served in New Jersey. I was told by Haworth Clover that during his searches of the New Jersey archives, he found proof of Paul's service. He had researched his line for many years and his father before him had researched for many years. Unfortunately, Haworth's house burned down and he lost 80 years of research. He remembered finding the proof in the New Jersey archives but couldn't tell me exactly where. I have found no evidence that Paul was in the war. But he was of an age to have been in it and I think he probably was. But finding that record may not be easy. I am hoping that someone will look more carefully in New Jersey and find him and settle this question once and for all. It may take a lot of searching in the NJ Archives.

Haworth Clover was an historian as well as a genealogist. His comments:

This is where my work as an historian comes in. I have found historical evidence that would relate to Paul being a "Minuteman", not enrolled in the militia or as a regular enlisted person.

I wish I knew what he was referring to. He was always a little bit cagy about his research. He had planned at various times to write a book on Paul Clover but it never happened.

Paul Clover in Pennsylvania

People of Mifflin County, Pennsylvania page 5
Cumberland County, Derry Township
Paul Clover taxed as a married man 1786 to 1789
Philip Clover taxed as a married man 1783 to 1789 8th Battalion Militia
Note that Mifflin County was formed from Cumberland County in 1789. So after 1789, he would have been taxed in Mifflin County.

People of Mifflin County, Pennsylvania 1755-1798, page 27 Derry Township:

1798 Federal Direct Tax of Derry Township

William Corbett log house valued at $120. 1 story house, 30 X 20, 4 windows, 18 window panes, kitchen.[I wonder if that means the kitchen was in a separate building.]
Note: The source of this is NARA series no. 372, roll 19. It did not include Potter Township where the Clovers were living in this book. I don't know if they are on the film or not. This is the so called Window Tax. From looking at the catalog in the FHL, this is probably from microfilm no. 351613 I don't know if the part with Paul and Philip Clover survived but they are not in the booklet.

Note they did not move out of Cumberland County, the boundaries changed.

       The following tax records were sent to me by the Librarian of the Centre County, Pennsylvania Library. According to her, Mrs. Spangler was a former genealogist in Centre County from the 1920's to the 1960's. She compiled 176 notebooks and 25 scrapbooks of genealogical information on Centre County. All of the books are indexed so it's easy to locate someone who lived in Centre County. These are the only records the librarian found on Clovers in these Spangler books.
1792 Assessment List for Mifflin County, Pennsylvania, Potter Township

Paul Clover        150            1 horse    1 cow
Phillip Clover   100            --            2 cows
There is no mention on this page as to what 150 and 100 mean. I would expect it to refer to acres or valuation.

Geography Confusion:
I think it is necessary to give you a short geography lesson on the part of Pennsylvania area where Paul Clover lived. The counties and their borders changed with every wind and it is hard to keep track of it all. The townships are even worse. Partly I did this for myself because I got so confused with it. I also thought you all might enjoy it too.

Paul lived in Centre County, Pennsylvania was formed in 1800 from Lycoming, Milfflin, and Northumberland Counties. Paul does not appear in the 1790 or 1800 censuses. Philip is in Mifflin County in 1790 and in Centre County in 1800. Philip Clover, son of Paul, was also in the Centre County census in 1800. We know that Paul was in Mifflin County in 1792.

John Forcey tells me that he has not been able to find a good clear map showing just how and where the changed county boundaries overlap, but there is a Potter Township in Centre which includes the area of Potter's Fort (aka Old Fort) and Center Hal and Center Hill. So, he guesses that Paul didn't move from Potter Township in Mifflin County to Potter Township in Centre. The new boundaries just placed him in a new county. Below are some web sites that give more info.

http://www.pagenweb.org/map/index.html
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~harrisonrep/Census/paco.htm
http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/pahist.htm
http://www.phmc.state.pa.us/bah/dam/counties/pdfs/Centre.pdf

    The two photos below were sent to me by John Forcey <jforcey@hotmail.com>, a local researcher, who found this ledger in the Pennsylvania State Archives. These photos are from the ledger of Andrew Gregg, early settler, and Senator from Penns Valley, Pennsyvania. His exact location I don't know, but other entries state that he (Gregg) was a member of the Sinking Creek Presbyterian Church. This church no longer exists, but was located at the small rural community of Center Hill (NOT Center Hall) just east of Old Fort, in Potter Township, on Rt 144. Paul was apparently resident in that area from Dec 1790 to June 1791. Notice he paid for his wheat with smith work.
Amount due for bushels of wheat.

Amount paid for by various smithing
paid

There is conflicting information about when Paul moved to Clearfield County. One said he moved to the mouth of Anderson's Creek in 1799, another said 1801. Anderson Creek discharges into the Susquehanna River, at the borough of Curwensvilie. If you want to see the location, go to mapquest.com and put in Curwensville. Then zoom in a bit and ask for a sattelite picture. You will see Anderson Creek coming in from the west into the river where it makes a bend.

Clearfield County was formed in 1804 from Northumberlnnd and Lycoming. Note from Paul's estate records in 1812, that he was living in Clearfield, but it was not keeping its own records at that point. All the records of Clearfield, including Paul's estate records were held in Centre County.
Paul is in the census in 1810 along with his son, Peter.
1810 Clearfield County, Pennsylvania page 385 Paul Clover 00301-10010-00
This is the only census in which he appears. There is one male over 45, 3 males 16-26, 1 female under 10, 1 female 26-45.

Paul's Death

Paul Clover died ca. 1812, in Clearfield County, Pennsylvania. According to the county history article, he died in 1820. This was an error because his estate records are clearly dated in 1812.

LDS FHL microfilm, #1029887 Centre County, Pennsylvania, Index to Register's and Orphan's Court Docket, 1800-1949 Vol A-E On page 102 of this film, I found this information:
Paul Clover estate number 873, date of letter of Administration, 30 April 1812,

Administrator, Nancy Clover [Note she signed with a mark. Few women could read and write then.]

name of those giving sureties Joseph Boon and William Tate, administration bond book, page 106, register's docket entry A 27

I hoped for some exciting discovery so started looking for the actual probate records.

I contacted the Centre County Library and Historical Museum, at the Central Pennsylvania District Library Center. According to the information on the Genweb site, they hold the early estate records for Centre County. They sent me copies of the bond and the estate inventory. They tell me that this is all that is in the estate records for Paul Clover's estate. I requested a complete search for any other records on him and guaranteed costs. Unfortunately, nothing else was found.

        These are primarily interesting because of their date. As far as I know, almost everyone gives a death date for Paul Clover of 1820 which is the date in the county history. However, you will note that the bond is dated 30 April 1812. This is NOT a typo or error. The inventory is dated 9 May 1812. The heading states that it is the inventory and appraisement of the goods and chattels, rights and credits of Paul Clover of Chincleclamousche, Clearfield County.
        This confused me so I requested clarification from the library. According to the librarian at the Centre County, Library, Paul lived in Clearfield County so that's where the inventory was done. Clearfield County didn't have their own judicial system yet so Centre County served it as a circuit court. All of Clearfield was in Chincleclamousche Twp. when it was first settled.
        Copies of all pages of his estate can be found on the Estate of Paul Clover pages. if you have a slow modem and want copies, please let me know.

Paul Clover in County History Records

Because I have no space problems, I am including all of these articles here although they are also on the county history pages. I love the stories about life on the frontier.

John Blair Linn, History of Centre and Clinton Counties, Pennsylvania, (Philadelphia: Louis H. Everts, 1883).
page 26:
Residents of Potter Township, Centre County. This list was commented on as coming from the assessment lists, but no date of the lists was given.
Philip Clover
Paul Clover
There are a number of other assessment lists, but Paul does not appear on them.

Lewis Cass Aldrich, Editor, History of Clearfield County, Pennsylvania, (Syracuse, New York: D. Mason & Co., 1887)
Page 55: Paul Clover made a settlement at the mouth of Anderson's Creek, about 1801. He remained here for several years, keeping a public house or tavern, and did some work as a blacksmith. Clover died of a cancer after which his widow and children moved to Clarion.
page 67: The commissioners in May 1805, visited several localities to decide where to put the county buildings. They visited the land of Paul Clover, near the present borough of Curwensville. [This was in a list of many other localities.]
Page 70: Taxable Inhabitants of Chincleclamousche Township, in 1806: list includes Paul Clover
Peter Clover was listed as a single freeman on the 1806 tax list. [This would have been Paul's son.]
Page 629: Pike Township which was formed in 1813.
Paul Clover was probably the first settler in the township, having arrived in 1797, and built a house and blacksmith shop where the "Corner Store," in Curwensville, now stands. [Note: in 1887]
Page 633: Up to the year 1812, not a single building had been erected on the town plot [of Curwensville], although from the best information now obtainable, it seems that there were at that time two dwellings on the Curwen lands, in addition to the house and shop of Paul Clover, above referred to.

Clearfield County, Pennsylvania
Clover Family Exchange Vol. 1 Issue 2 November 1985 typed by Pat Vaseska
Clearfield County, Pennsylvania, Present and Past
By Thomas Lincoln Hall

    (The following is an excerpt from a book of the above title by T.L. Wall, pp 28-31. It presents a picture of the pioneer environment ca. 1800. The book was written by Mr. Wall, who was an ex-principal of Boggs Twp. Schools; he wanted to preserve some of the early history of the area in an interesting form for the children in his schools. The book was copyrighted in 1925.)

NOTE: Uncle Paul Clover-- William Bloom married Mary Roll. She was the sister of Sally Roll who married Philip Clover, son of Paul Clover. He was actually their great uncle.

    A gigantic maple tree, 17 feet 5 inches in circumference at 6 feet above the ground, stands on the grounds of John P. Irvin, near his residence, on the bank of Anderson creek close to where it empties into the West Branch at Curwensville. Here, so far as known, is the first graveyard in the county used by white people. It was, however, an Indian burial place long before the coming of the whites.
    In 1799, Paul Clover built his cabin on the old Indian path nearby, and his blacksmith shop where Squire John Dale’s house now stands. Clover’s little daughter Nancy, who died in 1804, was probably the first white burial here. There are some rough head and foot stones yet standing, but they bear no marks.
    Passing nearby are the Pennsylvania, the Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburgh, and the New York Central Railroads. The Lakes-to-the-Sea Highway now takes the place of the Erie Pike, which was in its day a great thoroughfare, and which, in 1824, took the place of the Old State Road and the Mead Trail, the first white man’s ways to cross the country.
    All are in sight of the great maple that still stands, where it stood more than a century and a quarter ago, between the Indian path and the river, which were then the only means of travel through the county, between the east and the west.
    An embankment on the farm of Grier Bell is thought to have been made by Indians of some earlier race. From it three “knobs” ‘high round hills’ maybe seen.
    In 1803, Arthur Bell sold the upper part of his farm to Benjamin Fenton, who cleared three acres, sowed it in wheat & built a log house, then went back to Center County, bringing his goods over for later, some that winter on sleds and the balance next spring on pack horses. Alex McNattin, a jolly Scot, helped Fenton move.
    They had to ferry goods across Clearfield Creek and the river and the water was high. A short distance below Fenton’s cabin on the river, they sent the horses through the water next to the bank, while they themselves scrambled along the shelving rocks above. A favorite black mare, Kate, was loaded with bedding, and she somehow got turned into the main stream current and swam with her load barely sticking out of water, wetting the bedding and liable to lose it off or be swept away with the flood, but she was finally persuaded to swim ashore.
    Fenton had no doors or windows in his house, but as that was quite the fashion of pioneer days, nothing was thought of it. He and Bell were great friends, and as Bell was a good hunter, but did not like to bother skinning and bringing in the game, Fenton did it for him. Benjamin Fenton had a number of children. One, Elisha, who settled in the Grampton Hills, was a great reader and became, in his time, the best-informed man in the county. Paul Clover, the first blacksmith, came to the mouth of Anderson Creek in 1799.
    William Bloom, who was also a Revolutionary soldier, came to the mouth of Anderson Creek and built a cabin on what is now the Irvin Farm near Curwensville, presumably in the spring of 1801. He brought with him his sons John, Benjamin, and his daughter Elizabeth. Elizabeth was about 16 and Benjamin 9 or 10, therefore as Elizabeth was born in 1784 and Benjamin on the last day of the year 1790, they must have come in 1801. Paul Clover who is said to have been an uncle to the Bloom children, was the only neighbor, living about three-fourths of a mile away at the mouth of the creek. [Note: William Bloom was married to Mary Roll and Paul Clover's son Philip was married to Sally Roll, her sister.]
    That summer after the cabin was built, without any door except a blanket hung up to keep the wind out, (in style again because there were no sawmills yet to make boards for a door) the Blooms cleared a little patch of ground and sowed turnips for winter, if not much else. Then Mr. Bloom went back to Nittany in the fall to bring over the rest of the family, leaving the children to keep the cabin until he should come back. But for some reason, he did not get back until spring and the children were left to shift for themselves. John though fourteen, liked to live with the Indians and hunt, and did not bother at all about Elizabeth and Benjamin.

Clover Family Exchange Vol. 1 Issue 3 March 1986 typed by Pat Vaseska
HOW BENJAMIN AND BETSY KEPT THE
CABIN ALL WINTER LONG
    Continued from Issue 2, this story is taken from the book “Clearfield County – Present and Past” by T L. Wall. pages 32-35.

    In issue 2, Elizabeth (Betsy) and Benjamin (Ben) Bloom, whose uncle was Paul Clover were left with their brother, John, 14, at the cabin built by their father. It was fall, and Mr. Bloom left the children to shift for themselves while he went back to Nittany to get the rest of the family, expecting to return before winter. It was spring before he came back. John liked to live and hunt with the Indians, so that left Betsy, 16, and Ben, about 10, alone. This is the rest of the story of how Betsy and Ben kept the cabin all winter long. (The year is ca. 1800 and the place is near Curwensville, PA).

    There were two Clover boys, Paul and Seth who were about Ben’s age, and they and Ben spent a good deal of time wrestling. But Ben could always throw the Clover boys, which they, boy-like, somewhat resented. Anyway, they thought they would have some fun with Ben, and so told him that an old Indian, whose tribe was camped where the P.R.R. station now stands in Curwensville, was going to kill him and Betsy.

    Now these Indians were perfectly friendly, and before going away, Mr. Bloom had asked the old Indian to go over sometimes and see how the children were getting along, and the Indian promised to do so. But Ben believed the story the boys told him. So he hunted up his father’s old Revolutionary musket and some powder. But could find no bullets, so he cut up a pewter spoon for bullets and loaded it up. Then Ben posted himself in the cabin behind the blanket to wait for the old Indian, and sure enough the Indian, thinking he had better go over as he had promised, went up the path to the door.

    When Ben saw the old Indian’s outline through the blanket toward the light, he pulled the trigger of the old musket expecting to shoot him, but the gun, being a flintlock, and likely not in the best of order and probably not properly “primed”, did not go off. However Ben made considerable noise in the act of trying to fire it, and too, the Indian could see enough around his blanket to know what was going on inside and so started to run. Now Ben was so bent upon getting away with the Indian that he did not intend that he should escape so easily. He had a bull dog in the cabin with him and immediately hissed him on the Indian, but the dog did not catch up until the old fellow was near the camp and the other Indians drove the dog off with clubs.

    After a while, the old Indian went over and complained to Paul Clover, and asked him what Ben meant by trying to shoot him when he went over to see how the children were getting along, as he had promised their father to do. Mr. Clover didn’t understand it, but agreed to go and see Ben about it.

    Ben, who told the story to his grandson afterwards, said he noticed that his uncle, whom he considered a rather stern man, seemed to be in an unusually good humor when he came over that day. He said to Ben “I understand you tried to shoot the old Indian?” “Yes”, Ben said. “The old fellow was planning to kill me and Betsy, so thought I would shoot him, but the gun wouldn’t go off.”

    “Who told you the Indian was going to kill you?” Clover asked. “Why your boys, Paul and Seth,” said Ben. “Well, “said Clover, “let me see the gun, maybe I can fix it so it will go off next time.” Ben handed over the gun thinking nothing of it.

    Now Clover was lame and walked with a cane and as he took the gun from Ben and set it aside, he collared him and gave him a most thorough flogging with the cane. “You little fool,” he said, “didn’t you know that if you were to kill the old Indian, the other Indians would come over and kill us all?” But Ben, smarting under his flogging was angry and resentful, and putting a turnip in his pocket, slipped off through the woods and started for Nittany where his father and mother were.

    After a while, Elizabeth found he had disappeared and went and told her uncle that Ben had run off. So they got on the horses and started after him, but did not catch up to him until they were nearly to Philipsburg. Then they pretended they were going to Nittany too, and Clover induced Ben to get on the horse with him. When he was once on, and within Clover’s hold, they turned around and went back to Anderson Creek, and by that time, Ben’s temper having cooled off, he was agreed to stay.

    However, the Clover boys were not satisfied to let Ben alone but put up Catfish, and Indian boy who lived at the Indian camp, to banter him for a “wrastle.” Now Ben knew that Catfish was hot-tempered, and suspected that he would get “mad” if Ben threw him. So he refused. However, being egged on by the Clover boys, Catfish still persisted in wanting to “wrestle”, and finally Ben told him he would, if Catfish would promise not to get angry if Ben threw him. Oh, he was perfectly ready to promise to keep in a good humor no matter who got the best of the wrestling match. So Ben agreed to wrestle, and, quick as a flash threw Catfish, who lit on his head and got up in a terrible rage, flying into Ben and biting his shoulder until Ben had to choke him to make him let loose.

    Soon after this, Ben was across the river helping the Clover boys to haul in “corn tops”, when Ben who had a pitchfork and was loading the “tops” on the sled, saw Catfish coming plouting right through the river, and decided that he was coming after Ben. So when Catfish got pretty close, he jumped off the sled and made for Catfish. This was too much for the Indian boy, and he turned and ran with Ben close behind him and had nothing to do but plunge into the river and run for his own side, making the water fly at every jump!

    As winter came on, it became harder and harder for Ben and Betsy to get along by themselves. They had only a crude fireplace over which to cook their meals and by which to keep warm. It took a lot of wood, for much of the heat went up the chimney and most of the remainder escaped out through the crevices between the logs of the cabin. They had all their wood to gather out of the surrounding forest and then cut up so lit could be burned in the fireplace.

    Four feet of snow fell and everything was eaten up but the turnips. So it was turnips for breakfast, dinner, and supper until they decided they could stand it no longer and finally succeeded in making a path through the deep snow three-quarters of a mile to Paul Clover’s to try to get something else to eat. Now Clovers were not very flush of eatables, but they gave the Bloom children a hunk of corn bread, all they had, to take home. This they are said to have relished wonderfully, and they made it last them two weeks. Soon by one means and another, these children made out to help themselves and to get along until spring when their father brought over the others of the family.

    Later, Betsy (Elizabeth) was married to Matthew Ogden, and they lived for many years on the Daniel Ogden place where Clearfield now stands.

I think that Seth and Paul Clover were Paul Clover's grandsons. Paul's son, Philip Clover, had a son named Seth.

Kate M. Scott, Editor, History of Jefferson County, Pennsylvania, (Syracuse, New York: D. Mason & Co, Publishers, 1888.
Page 33: Mr. Barnett knew nothing of the wilderness south of him and gave an Indian four dollars to pilot him to Westmoreland County. The nearest grist mill was on Blacklick in Indiana County, and the nearest house eastward, that of Paul Clover, grandfather of General Clover, which was three miles distant on the Susquehanna, where Curwensville now stands. Fort Venango was forty-five miles westward.

Page 39: The first improvement made where Corsica now stands was by John Scott, who moved from Lycoming County in 1802. He afterward married a daughter of Paul Clover, one of the pioneers of Clearfield County.

Page 64: The first effort to make a state road through Jefferson County was by the passage of an act, 22 February 1812, to enable the governor of the Commonwealth to incorporate a company for making an artificial road from Waterford in Erie County, through Meadville, and Franklin to the river Susquehanna at or near the mouth of Anderson’s Creek in Clearfield County. Paul Clover of Clearfield, was one of those appointed as commissioner.

Page 636: History of Union Township: The first settler in what is now Union Township was John Scott, a brother of Samuel Scott who came with the Barnetts from Lycoming county. He married a daughter of Paul Clover and made the first improvement where the town of Corsica is now located about 1802.

Page 641: Union Township: Corsica was incorporated as a borough in 1860. Among its oldest citizens besides those already mentioned is Hon. Peter Clover, eldest son of Paul Clover, one of the first settlers in Clearfield County. [Peter was actually the son of Philip Clover, second son of Paul Clover]

William James Mcknight, Pioneer History of Jefferson County, Pennsylvania, (Philadelphia: J. P. Lippencott, 1898.) Thanks to Deb Ciroli for copies of these pages. It appears to me that he took some of his information from the 1888 History of Jefferson County. and some was reprinted in his 1919 history. However, the articles in this book are fascinating. They are full of interesting detail. Thanks to Deb Ciroli for sending me copies.

page 572: The nearest settlement on Meade's Trail eastward of Port Barnett was Paul Clover's, 33 miles distant, on the west bank of the Susquehanna, where Curwensville now stands.

page 573: [same as in 1888 history] Mr. Barnett knew nothing of the wilderness south of him and gave an Indian four dollars to pilot him to Westmoreland County. The nearest grist mill was on Blacklick in Indiana County, and the nearest house eastward, that of Paul Clover, grandfather of General Clover, which was three miles distant on the Susquehanna, where Curwensville now stands. Fort Venango was forty-five miles westward.

1974 Newspaper Clipping from Curwensville, Clearfield County

    This clipping has been in my files for quite a while. I am embarrassed that I have no idea who originally sent it to me. Usually I write things like that on the back of that paper. It must have been one of my earlier subscribers. If you sent it to me, please let me know so that I can give you credit for this. If anyone has a photo of the marker for Nancy Clover or the VFW marker, please send it to me. If you go to www.mapquest.com and put the address 100 State St. Curwensville, PA into the line, you will see that Paul's land was on the bend of the river. I think it is interesting to have the modern address if you are thinking of visiting the area. I have been unable to discover if there are any stones in this burial ground besides that of Nancy Clover. I suspect that there are not. The VFW post is no longer there so I am not sure where the burial ground was but they mention River Street.

The Progress, Clearfield, Curwensville, Philipsburg, Moshannon Valley, Pennsylvania, Tuesday March 1, 1983.
    As you approach Curwensville from Clearfield on Route 879, one of the first places you see, prominent at a point where three traffic routes intersect is a big gray frame building. Munchak Heating Co. is at the 100 State St. Address now. Before that it was Sandri Supply. But long before that, there was a blacksmith shop there, and Paul Clover was the man in charge.
    He and his wife raised a family in this area in the late 1700s and a daughter Nancy is the first white settler burried in the Curwensville area. the marker on a plot of ground adjacent to the Curwensville VFW Post on River Street, is her final resting place.
    According to the Curwensville, Pike Township Historical Association, the burial ground near the VFW was first a place where the Shawnees, a sub tribe of the Leni-Lenape Indians of Algonquin stock, who inhabited Clearfield County at that time, placed their dead.
    Irene Risher, treasurer, past president, and charter member of the historical association, says the Shawnees are believed to have had a settlement near the present VFW Post home on River Street, where Anderson Creek and the Susquehanna River join.
    The Indians always buried their dead close to home, she says, hence the location of the burial ground on River Street.
    The marker on the VFW grounds was the starting point of Curwensville 175th Anniversary celebration in 1974. It was erected specifically because the celebrations and services opening the week long events were held near Nancy Clover's headstone.
    The history of the Clover family in this area begins, historical records show, with the settling of Paul Clover in Pike Township [not formed until 1813] in 1797. Not much is known of him except that he operated a blacksmith shop near the borough line.
    His daughter Nancy was buried at the plot near the VFW in 1804. Her father joined her there in 1821.[sic-1812]
    There are no records to show that any burials took place there after the latter date. Resting in historical togetherness with the Indians at the River Street spot are a number of folks prominent inthe early life of Curwensville. Folks with names such as John Wrigley, Michael Shane, Samuel Ross, Caleb Bailey's son, Mrs. Thomas Rowles, and Susanna and Rachel Bloom, children of William Bloom and the children of Peter Clover, whose records indicate was a brother of Paul Clover.[Sic]
    The burial plot was 120 feet square and a deed for it was made in 1838. When the VFW on 8 May 1946, purchased the ground for their post home at the corner of Meadow and River Streets, they received not only the land, but an extra historical bonus, the burial plot.
    The VFW Auxiliary placed the marker on the grounds 14 July 1974, tying together yet anothe rpiece of fascinating Curwensville history.
Text of 1974 Marker:

FIRST KNOWN BURIAL PLACE TO BE USED BY CLEARFIELD COUNTY EARLY SETTLERS, ALSO AN INDIAN BURIAL PLACE BEFORE THAT. FIRST KNOWN BURIAL OF A SETTLER WAS NANCY CLOVER, DAUGHTER OF PAUL CLOVER, IN 1804. USED AS A BURIAL PLACE UNTIL 1821.

Wives of Paul Clover

        Unfortunately, Paul's estate records do not include the names of any of his children. Due to the times and locations in which he lived, records were very scanty. The only records we have of his children come from county history articles. In the same way, records of his wives are very few.

        The article below states that Paul was married to Nancy Metler. His wife in the estate records is named Nancy. The John Metler Clover bible record has writing at the top of the page. It says on the right: Paul Clover and underneath his name is wife Mary Pierson. On the left is John Clover 1773, under that is wife Mary Metler. No one has ever figured out what the items on the left actually mean. I am told about once a month that this 1773 is the birth date of Paul's brother John, who married Mary Metler, but since his father died 6 years earlier, that is not a possibility. Various family members have told me that Paul was married first to Mary sometimes May Pierson/Pearson. However, this is the ONLY early document where I have seen Mary Pierson's name. It is clearly Mary Pierso[corner torn off page]. And I don't know how early the document was. The page was removed from a bible which later burned. I do not know when the bible was published or to whom the bible originally belonged. I put a photocopy of this page on the John Metler Clover webpages on this site. If you have any good ideas about the top left info, let me know.
            A marriage page also exists which was published by Bob and Marguerite Clover in the Clover Family Exchange. It does not show any marriage for Paul. I do not have a copy of the marrriage page.  I put the information from the marriage page on the webpage with the photocopy of the page that I do have.

        Frampton also says that he was married to Nancy Metler and makes no mention of Mary Pierson. Frampton says that after Paul's death, his widow and her three youngest sons removed to Clarion County, and a few years later emigrated to the state of Indiana and found a home on the Wabash River where Mrs. Clover and three of her sons died. One son and daughter removed to Galveston, Texas, where, after residing several years, both passed away. This all appears to be from the Jefferson County Atlas article. According to Edus Snyder, a letter from Robert Frampton said that Nancy Melter was born in 1768 and died in 1840, but I don't know what this is based on.

Caldwell’s Atlas of Jefferson County, Pennsylvania, (Condit, Ohio: J. A. Caldwell, 1878), 31-2. "The Clover Family" Scanns of this article and a complete transcription is shown on the Jeffersen County, Pennsylvania County Histories page of this website.

       Paul was a blacksmith. Phillip was a tanner and shoemaker, The former located in Clearfield county, about 1797, at a point known as Curwensville. The reader is referred to the "General History of Clearfield County," for more details of the period. He[Paul] died of cancer of the lip, about 1820.[sic-1812] ..... Paul had six sons, viz: Peter, Phillip, Paul, James, Isaac and John. The daughters were Catherine, Sarah, Mary and Ann. Peter married Mary Ogden; Phillip, Sarah Roll; Paul, Rhoda Williams; James, Eliza Aspel; Isaac remained single, and John married Mary Williams. ..... After the death of Paul Clover, Sr., his widow and her three youngest sons removed to Clarion County. In a few years later, with five of her sons and one daughter, she migrated to Indiana, and found a home on the Wabash river. Here, Mrs. Clover and three sons died. One son and daughter removed to Galveston, Texas. where, after residing several years, both passed away. Another son located in Grurely [sic-Grundy] county, Illinois, where he died many years ago. His children, ten in number, are scattered through the west. One of Peter Clover's sons, with a family of twelve children, went overland, in 1852, and found a home in Williamette Valley, Oregon. Phillip Clover, Sr., served throughout the entire Revolutionary War. His son Phillip had a family of fourteen children, of whom six are yet living. His son Peter, the historian, is well known in Clarion, Jefferson and Clearfield counties, as an honorable businessman, a kind friend, and a public-spirited citizen. His accounts of the old times in this section are truly interesting. We refer the reader to the atlas of Clarion county. He is now a resident of Jefferson county, and resides near Corsica. He is the great-grandson of John Peter Clover, the emigrant. The name Clover is indissolubly linked with the history of this portion of the state, and we trust that the memory of this family will ever be green in the minds of all who attempt any recital of the acts or names of the early pioneers.

Page 204: Corsica Borough.

"The first improvement of the farm where Corsica[Jefferson County] is now situated was made by John Scott in 1802. He migrated from Pine Creek, Lycoming County. He married Mary, daughter of Paul Clover of Clearfield County, who settled here in 1797.

Speculation on Paul's Wives
        From the age of his oldest son, I believe that Paul was most likely to have married ca. 1773. If so, he might have appeared in estate records as the husband of someone's daughter. However, the New Jersey Wills and Estates are very carefully transcribed and indexed. They include all early estate records of any type for the entire state. Neither Paul Clover nor any similar name is in the indexes. So I wondered if perhaps he married Mary Pierson/Peirson after her father died. And in fact, there is a Pierson will in 1772 which mentions a daughter, Mary Pierson. I don't know that this is her but it certainly seems to me to be fairly likely. I wonder if perhaps he married and then lived with the family because the father had died. I have found no record of him in Pennsylvania before 1792. There was probably some reason why Paul did not go to Pennsylvania when his brother, Philip, went ca. 1780.
New Jersey Wills and Estates [Morris County is where Jacob and Mary Connine lived. It is contiguous with Hunterdon County. He might easily have been living with them at some time.]

1772, Abraham Pierson of Morris County. Family includes a daughter Mary.

    I have been told dozens of times that Mary died and Paul remarried Nancy Metler. So far, no one has told me exactly when he remarried Nancy. Also no one has suggested who Nancy's father was. There are several Metlers in Hunterdon County and without some serious work, I can't tell which one is most likely. There is a shortage of Metler estate records in Hunterdon County in the 1700s. I only found one possibility. I wondered about it because the widow's name was Ann. Nancy is a nickname for Ann and perhaps Nancy was named after her mother. I am not sure of this.  Nevertheless, if this were my family, I would work on this possibility.
    According to Ancestral file on www.familysearch.org, this Philip Mettler had a daughter Mary who married William Bloom, sr, the father of the William Bloom who married Mary Roll. Philip Clover, Paul's son married Sally Roll, the sister of this Mary Roll. William Bloom sr appears in some of the same records as the Clovers. I feel that this is a very likely candidate to be the father of Nancy Mettler. The information that Nancy was a daughter of Johann Philip Mettler and his wife, Ann, is all over the internet. I don't have any idea why everyone seems so sure. If any of you have researched this, please let me know. I am always hesitant about information like this where no proof is offered. I have to remind everyone that this is an opinion, not a fact.

Calendar of Wills 1781-1785 page 271
1783 Dec 2, Philip Mettler of Alexandria, Hunterdon County. Int. Adm'rs William and John Metler. Fellowbondsman, Frederick Gordon, all of said Co. Witness-Thomas Kitchin
1783 Dec 2 Philip Mettler Inventory ₤463.10.6, made by William Taylor and Thomas Kitchin
1783 Dec 2 I, Ann Mettler, widow of Philip Mettler, have delivered up all goods belonging to the estate. Witnesses: Garret V. Fleet, and Thomas Kitchin.

Children of Paul Clover

The sons of Paul Clover are listed in this order in the county history. We have enough information about their birth dates to realize that they were probably listed by order of birth.

1. Peter Clover, born ca. 1774-1775? He is over 45 in 1820, which suggests about this age. The other censuses he appears in are consistent with that. He left estate records which list his heirs.

2. Philip Clover. We don't have an exact date for his birth, death, or marriage. His oldest son, John R. Clover was born 1800. So I think Philip would have married ca. 1798 and thus might have been born ca. 1777-8. His wife was born 1781 so that looks close to me. He left estate records which prove his children.

3. Paul Clover born 1781. There is a bible record from his family.

4. James Clover born, ca. 1791. The county history article says he died 26 February 1836, aged 45 years. His children are listed in the article.

5. Isaac Clover is listed between James and John. His age is difficult, but there is some evidence in Texas that he was born about 1792 or 1793. He is not supposed to have married or left heirs. He was in Texas by 1823. If he married, it was late and any family did not survive. His Texas estate records which start in 1845, specifically state that he had no heirs in Texas. A relative, Amos Clover who was not a resident of Texas, is mentioned as not having authority to settle estate because he was not a resident of Texas. Amos was probably the son of John Metler Clover.

6. John Metler Clover, born 1794 according to a bible record of his family. His children are all in the bible record.

The daughters are listed after the sons. I have no idea of their birth dates and the article does not give their husbands. I am going to list them in the order they are in the article.

1. Catherine Clover The IGI says that she was born 1783, died in 1843. However, I think that the dates for Catherine and her sister, Sarah, are just guesses. The LDS Church does not require proof for submission to the IGI. Some of the submissions are the result of serious research. Some are not.
2. Sarah Clover. The IGI says she died in 1845. However, I have to remind you that this was probably a guess by a researcher. Unfortunately, this does not include any source for the information. It is the same person who thinks Isaac died in 1860 when he actually died in 1845, so I can't place any reliance on this date. I include it only because you probably have it.
3. Mary Clover, married John Scott. They appear to have moved to Vermillion County, Indiana.
4. Ann Clover, died young in 1804. ?
From: Clearfield County, Pennsylvania, Present and Past By Thomas Lincoln Hall

[Paul] Clover’s little daughter Nancy, who died in 1804, was probably the first white burial here. There are some rough head and foot stones yet standing, but they bear no marks.
Note: I don't know for sure that this Nancy is Ann, but Nancy is a common nickname for Ann.

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Last Updated 27 January 2012