Isaac, son of Paul Clover

Clover Family Research Compendium

Created, Edited, and Maintained By June Clover Byrne

For the Clover Family Historical Society

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Isaac Clover, Son of Paul Clover
Hero of the Texas Revolution

         Caldwell's Illustrated Historical Combination Atlas of Jefferson County, Pennsylvania, (Condit, Ohio: J. A. Caldwell, 1878), 31. See Jefferson County History Articles. In this article, which provides much of the existing information on the children and grandchildren of John Peter Clover, there is a statement that a son and a daughter of Paul Clover moved to Galveston, Texas. No time frame for this was given but it was probably after Paul died. Paul was born ca. 1740, died 1812. His widow and several children moved west to Ohio and Indiana where they can be found in the 1820 censuses.
        Paul's sons were listed in the same article and are accounted for except for Isaac Clover who was supposed to have remained single. The IGI says that Isaac Clover, son of Paul Clover, was born in 1796 and died in 1860, location unknown. My previous experience with the dates given for Paul's children in the IGI leads me to suspect that this is just someone's guess. If the sons are listed in the article in order of birth, Isaac was born between James, born ca. 1791, and John Metler Clover, born 1794. So he is most likely to have been born ca. 1792-3. If so, he would have been a son of Paul's second wife, Nancy Metler. There is no Isaac Clover in the 1850 or 1860 censuses who could be this person so the assumption is that he might have been deceased by that date.
     There is an Isaac Clover in Arkansas in Miller County in the 1830 census aged 30 to 40 living alone which would agree with the supposed age and supposed marital condition of Isaac, son of Paul. This old Miller County was actually completely in Mexican Texas.
         The Miller County, Arkansas page at http://www.rootsweb.com/~armiller/explains that old Miller County, Arkansas, included Bowie County, Texas. This happened because of an error by the Arkansas government. The boundaries of the area were not clear. Old Miller County, Arkansas, was formed in 1820 and ceased to exist when they figured out it was in Texas, not in Arkansas. A new Miller County was formed later, but does not have any Old Miller County records. The records of Old Miller County 1820 to 1836 are in Lafayette County, Arkansas. I have asked for lookups, but have so far found no Clover record other than the census and tax records. He also appeared in the Miller County tax records in 1830 but not in 1832. The other Isaac Clover entries in Arkansas records are for a different person who was married by 1830, and died in Arkansas. See Arkansas Comment

On the surface, it seems odd for a Pennsylvania boy to end up in this Arkansas/Texas area. However, once you realize that his family was near the river system in 1820 in Indiana and Ohio, you can picture him floating down river by flatboat or raft.

Isaac Clover apparently entered Texas about 1822 or 1823. The area he was in, Miller County, was part of Red River Municipality. Mexico formed Municipalities instead of counties. In They came to Texas, 500-1850, he is listed as one of those in the Red River Municipality, who arrived in 1822. I have scanned a copy of this page in the book for you. I was curious because I am missing his sister. I thought maybe one of the other 1822 entries might be for the husband of his sister. I am still studying this problem. If anyone has any information about it, please let me know.

Joe E. Ericson, They came to East Texas, 500-1850: immigrants and immigration patterns, (Westminster, Maryland: Heritage Books, 2005), 87.

Isaac Clover 1822 is listed as a person on a tax list in Red River Municipality.
Texas 1922

Large tracts of land were granted by Spain and Mexico between 1716 and 1836. From 1823 to 1830, Mexico established a colonization policy providing land for immigrants to settle in colonies under impresarios such as Stephen F. Austin. Each colony had its own land office. All land offices were closed by the provisional government of Texas in November 1835 due to the pending revolution.
Isaac Clover is later listed in Wavell's Colony.
http://www.tamu.edu/ccbn/dewitt/empresarios.htm
This site explains the role of the empresarios.

Wavell's colony---General Arthur G. Wavell, through his attorney, Baron de Bastrop, contracted on March 9, 1826, to introduce from four to five hundred families in a section of territory on the Red River. The boundaries of the grant were as follows:

Beginning at the junction of the stream called Satecha or Sulphur Fork with the Red River of Natchitoches; thence with its bank upwards to its source; thence on a straight line parallel with the said Red River to the mouth of the River Kiamish, at its confluence with the aforesaid Red River; and thence with the bank of said river to place of beginning.

Benjamin Milam became Wavell's agent for the colony.

Isaac Clover's name is on a petition signed in 1828 by residents of Miller County, Arkansas. Remember that this was in error, Miller County was actually in Texas.
http://www.txgenweb6.org/txredriver/miller/Miller3.html
Thanks to Rhonda Clover for finding this for me.

Galen D. Greaser, compiler, Catalogue of the Spanish Collection of the Texas General Land Office, part 1, (Texas General Land Office, 2003)
Page 189-Unfinished titles: Isaac Clover 84:6 Smyth Unfinished.
Page 210-Character Certificates: Isaac Clover 86:32--Smyth. Married with family, resident since 1823.
Page 23- Registers of families/Wavell's Register of Families: Page 7. Isaac Clover 30, single from Lousiana, arrived 16 October 1823.

Note that Isaac was supposed to have been single, about 30 years of age in 1823 which would fit very well with his probable age. Remember above that I said if he was born between James and John, he would have been born in 1792 or 1793. No matter where he was originally from, he might well have entered from Louisiana. Remember that the borders of Louisana, Arkansas, Missouri moved early and often. The later Character Certificate says he was married with family.

This is a tranlation of the document in which he states that he is married. It is a little unclear even in English.
PDF 1032934

Special for the State representative. For the possession and provision of titles to the inhabitants of these borders (? Frontier).
Isaac Clover US national will divide with respect to me, and I say; will not use any land or property for agricultural or ranching. Having migrated to this country in the year 1823. Being married counting my family of three. I entreat that it will serve in the use of my family if you offer me possession and extend to me the corresponding title of said land. Attached is a certificate of accreditation that I have included.
Sincerely,
p.s. I hope that it serves me as I had it reviewed at the Justice of the Peace, Nacogdoches on September 15, 1835.
(Signed) Isaac Clover

Stated Nacogdoches on September 15th 1835
Presented and admitted with the certification x xxxxxxxxx before the surveyor. Practiced the measurement of the area, and labor of the land indicated by the interested parties with no resulting third party prejudice. Subsequently we will proceed at your earliest convenience. As for this I send and sign this according to the authority vested in me by law.
Signed W. Smyth (Surveyor)

Rhonda Clover alerted me to this book which, despite its title, is actually a set of land records: Gifford Elmore White, 1830 Citizens of Texas, (Austin, Texas: Eakin Press, 1983).
This book includes Stephen F. Austin’s Register of Families. Under a colonization law passed in 1825, records were kept which recorded detailed personal information on every new entrant. The second part of the book is Clerk’s Returns and Reports. These are records of the Boards of Land Commissioners appointed first in 1838. There is a long explanation of this database in the book. There is a bibliography on page 242. It also includes all registered voters in 1867. This book is available at most FHC. It is part of their Family History Center Microfiche Program. See no. 6051297.
Register of Families
page 48, Nacogdoches, 15 September 1835. Isaac Clover -married with family, citizen of this department since 1823 [This does not say the information is taken from the Character Certificates but the date is the same as the character certificate and the unfinished land title. See the next entry from the Texas Bureau of Land Management.]

Clerk’s Returns and Reports
page 201, Red River County no. 427 Isaac Clover 1/3 league emigrated 1822 (1 league=4428 acres)    [Note: this is probably the record which the above 1822 immigration date is based on in the book, They came to East Texas, 500-1850.]

        This record has him married. This is again a case of the designation of the county etc has changed. I am not sure that he had moved at all. Married men were supposed to receive more land so he may have married to get that.

Gifford White in his translation of the character certificates says that Isaac Clover applied Nacogdoches, 15 September 1835. He was a native of the USA emigrated 1823, married with family of 3 persons. On the Land Office site, there are two papers in Spanish. One says he was "casado con familias, " which means married with family. The other paper says that he had a family of three persons, again in Spanish.

The original of the character certificate is on the Texas Land Office site. I have had trouble trying to read the Spanish. I do not have a scan of it here because by the time I downloaded it and rescanned it the quality was worthless so you need to go to the original on line to try to read it.

Texas Revolution

http://www.mindspring.com/~dmaxey/rep_cont.htm
Index to the Military Rolls of Texas
Clover, Isaac was in company of cavalry, commander was Smith, Wm H./ rev3 [rev3 means Revolution and Following Year 1835-1837 (pp.1-7])

http://www2.tsl.state.tx.us/trail/RepublicSearch.jsp Enter Clover into the name. You will discover a series of interesting tidbits on Isaac Clover in the Texas Revolution.
Click on the .pdf format file number to see the actual documents. Note Isaac Clover signed some of these and that his signature matches that on the GLO office unfinished title document.

The first item is a certificate which says that Isaac Clover is due $50.60, pay for 6 months service as private from April to October 13, 1836, in Captain Clark’s company. [Note that this is the service for which he received bounty warrant 4204, for which his heirs received 640 acres in McCullough County, and 640 acres in San Saba County.] Some of the other items have to do with his original claim and others are where Isaac was a witness for claims of other people. It is fascinating to see these original documents and I urge everyone to go and read them.
        The timing on his enlistment is interesting. The Battle of the Alamo took place from February 23 to March 6, 1836. The News of the Alamo's fall prompted many Texas colonists to join Houston's army. On the afternoon of April 21 the Texas army attacked Santa Anna's forces in the Battle of San Jacinto. During the battle many Texians shouted "Remember Goliad! Remember the Alamo!" Santa Anna was captured and forced to order his troops out of Texas, ending Mexican control of the area, which subsequently became the Republic of Texas. I wonder if Isaac was at the Battle of San Jacinto. He was in the army at that time. I like to think that he was there.

Bureau of Land Management
(More detailed information is available from the Texas General Land Office,
Archives http://wwwdb.glo.state.tx.us/central/LandGrants/LandGrantsSearch.cfm Put Clover in to search for these entries.
    The first item is an unfinished land title. Open or download it in .pdf format to see the original. There are a number of pages here and Isaac Clover is on pages 5 and 6. The document is in Spanish. Isaac’s signature is half way down page 5.
    The second item on this site is the original Character Certificate in Spanish. It does say that he came “casado con familias.” Casado means married. This is the only proof that I have seen that he was actually married. The exact translation of all this is an important point. My Spanish is not good enough to translate all of this with absolute accuracy, but it does say that he was known as a very good man, and obedient to the laws of the country and the Christian Religion and that he came in 1823. If anyone is competent to translate these two documents, please contact me. I am curious about them.
    The following land grant information is also on the site. I have not included the post 1900 material. On the site, it is listed by county, not by date. Note that grantee is the person who earned the right to the land, patentee is the person who actually received it. The grants were often sold or inherited. Class refers to the reason the person received the land. I have not been able to find out exactly what these types of classes refer to although I think they are all military service in the Texas revolution or the Civil War. Remember that Texas at that time had a serious cash flow problem and basically paid all of its obligations to veterans with land.

Karnes County: Isaac Clover grantee Heirs of Isaac Clover patentees; class Goliad 1st, Certificate no. 427; date of patent 6 September 1860; 259 acres; Volume 16: patent no. 271

Karnes County: Isaac Clover grantee Heirs of Isaac Clover patentee; Class Goliad 1st, Certificate no. 427; Date of Patent: 16 February 1871, 315.96 acres, Volume 18: patent no. 337 [Note that this is the same certificate number as the above.]

McCulloch County: Isaac Clover grantee Isaac Clover patentee; Class Bexar Bounty, Certificate no. 4204; date of patent 4 May 1875; 640 Acres, Volume 15: Patent no. 133

San Patricio County: Isaac Clover grantee Heirs of Isaac Clover patentee; class San Patricio 1st; certificate no. 17/164; date of patent 17 November 1874; 901.11 Acres; volume 20: Patent no. 448

San Saba County: Isaac Clover grantee Isaac Clover Patentee; Class Bexar Bounty certificate no. 4204; date of patent 4 May 1875; 640 Acres; Volume 15: Patent no. 133 [Note that this is the same certificate number as the grant in McCulloch County.]

Thomas Lloyd Miller, Bounty and Donation Land Grants of Texas, 1835-1888, (Austin, Texas: University of Texas Press, 1967.) For an explanation of the following entry see: http://www.mindspring.com/~dmaxey/rep_bdx.htm Note that this refers to the land record above.
CLOVER, ISAAC: Received Bty Wnt 4204 for 640 acres from S War on 14 Aug 1838 for service from 6 Apr to 18 Oct 1836. 640 acres in McCulloch Cty were ptd to him on 4 May 1875. Pat 133 Vol 15 Abst 190 GLO File Bexar Bty 1623.

http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/tx/karnes/land/karnes.txt
Karnes County, Texas original landowners:
Surveyed for Isaac Clover grantee I. Clover abstract no. 62 [Number of the Abstract on file at county courthouse and at the Texas General land Office in Austin]

Probate Records of Isaac Clover

    Thanks to one of my readers, Leo Causey, now deceased, for pointing me towards these estate records. He knew they existed and I ordered the microfilm of them from the Texas State Library. We were hoping that they would show his children, or heirs. Because he held so many land grants, he had enough money to leave a decent estate. Unfortunately, he left no will, so all we have are the estate records.
        The estate records for Isaac Clover are in Victoria County, Texas. According to the first record there I found, dated 8 March 1845, Isaac died intestate in that county leaving no heirs or blood relations in the county or the Republic of Texas. Texas did not become a state until December 1845.
    On 25 May 1846, Amos Clover, an heir, appeared and was made administrator of the estate. However, he was not a resident of Texas so was replaced.
    In the court records on this roll, there is a statement of disbursements for expenses but there is no statement of disbursement to the heir(s). The last record appears to be dated 1848.
        It seems impossible to me that John Clover of Angelina County, who was in Texas in 1845 would not have claimed his share if he had been an heir. Amos Clover was born in 1821, the son of John Metler Clover, Isaac’s brother. Amos was probably in Indiana or Illinois at the time Isaac died. He was back in Illinois by the time of the 1850 census. All of this was taking place during the Mexican-American War that Mexico launched in 1846 to try to reclaim its territory. Mexico was irate that Texas had become a state in December 1845, and cut off diplomatic relations with the United States which lead to an armed conflict. That war was not over until 1848.

        I have scanned the first page of the estate for you because this is where it says he departed this life intestate without heirs or blood relatives in the county and the Republic. This is the most important page. I have copies of everything off that roll of film on his estate if anyone wants copies.

Isaac Probate

The character certificate clearly states that Isaac was married with a family. However, it does not appear that this family survived until Isaac’s death. This would not be entirely surprising. This was a hard life in a hard part of the country with Indian raids and wars on every doorstep.

Because of the importance of Isaac's war record, a lot of Texas Clovers had hoped that John Clover of Angelina County, Texas was his son. However, you can see from Isaac's estate records that this was impossible. Sad to say, this fascinating Clover left no living children.

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Page Last Updated 16 March 2010