Lewis Peter Clover of New York City

Clover Family Research Compendium

Articles about Lewis Peter Clover These detail his birth, all that is known about his early life, and his adventures in the War of 1812 and Dartmoor Prison. See also the biographical article of his son, Louis P. Clover Jr.

    Lewis Peter Clover and Bridget Murphy

Lewis Peter Clover was born ca. 16 December 1790, as he died 21 January 1879, aged 88 years, 1 month, and 5 days, buried in Greenwood Cemetery.(1) Lewis married Bridget Murphy, on 4 September 1816.(2) Bridget Murphy was born ca. 1792 in Ireland according to the 1880 census. Bridget was interred on 25 July 1881, in lot 13757, section 177, Green-Wood Cemetery, New York, New York. Lewis Peter Clover is interred in the same lot. (3)

Brooklyn Eagle, Sept 6, 1877 page 2
Sixty-one Years Man and Wife
Lewis P. Clover
    Mr. Lewis P. Clover, the last survivor of the Dartmoor prisoners of 1812, celebrated on Tuesday, Sept. 4, at his residence, 207 Nineteenth Street, this city, the sixty-first anniversary of his wedded life. Quite a number of his old friends, together with his sons, daughters and grandchildren, gathered around the couple to congratulate them on this almost sacred occasion. In a few weeks more, if the Great Master of events permits it, they will have reached their eighty-seventh year. They were married on Sept. 4, 1816 in New York State. They were both born in the State of New York and have always resided in New York and Brooklyn. Together they have raised a large family of children, all of them doing well and redacting luster upon their parents' gray hairs. Mr. Clover, in the early part of his life, was the companion of many celebrated men of his day. He was an associate of the celebrated men of his day. He was an associate of the celebrated Colonel John Trumbull, aid to General Washington. Was well acquainted with many of the celebrated actors and artists in the early part of this century, and induced William Dunlap to publish his history of the American stage, which had been put away among other manuscript matter with no intention of ever publishing it. Among many friends of the old patriot who paid obeisance to his honored years, was our well-known fellow citizen, Mr. Gabriel Harrison. Several letters of regret were read, one highly interesting from Colonel Thorp.

Brooklyn Eagle Oct. 27, 1849 page 2
Proscription Extraordinary--Lewis P. Clover
    The removal from office - says the Washington Union - of Mr. Lewis P. Clover, an aged gentleman, who received from ex - President Tyler a minor appointment in the New York custom - house, has excited universal indignation. Mr. Clover received his appointment in consideration of his sufferings while an American prisoner of war in Dartmoor, England, during the massacre of 1815, and his removal, simply on party grounds, is likely to redound to the discredit of those by whom it was affected. A singular fact, worthy of note, is that at the very time Mr. Clover was suffering in Dartmoor prison, Mr. Maxwell was a subject of the English government. Poor, aged and infirm, Mr. Clover is now deprived of a situation yielding a mere pittance in his declining years, and the wealthy foreigner who removed him, elevated to one of the most profitable offices within the gift of the administration.

    Obituary: Lewis P. Clover, the last of the survivors of what is known as the Dartmoor massacre, who died on Tuesday evening in his home at no. 207 Nineteenth St, at the age of 88 years, was buried yesterday afternoon. It was two o’clock before the friends of the family began to arrive at the little frame cottage on Nineteenth Street, and on entering they were given seats in a small parlor which was a marvel of taste and neatness. On the walls were oil paintings of Revolutionary scenes and Pictures of members of the family. A brisk fire burned in the grate, and at its side, in a large arm chair, sat the widow of [the] deceased, now in her 88th year. Among those present were men who had enjoyed the friendship of Mr. Clover for over half a century.
    Of the relatives present were Rev. Lewis P. Clover, of Milton, New Jersey, Bertram Clover, William Clover, and Mrs. Potter, daughter of the deceased. Among the friends of the family present were Mr. Gabriel Harrison, who formed the acquaintance of Mr. Clover in 1824; Augustus Todleburgh, who knew him fifty years ago, and Mrs. Mary Ann Moulton. The remains, enclosed in a rosewood casket, were placed in the hallway. A wreath of evergreens dotted with white roses, was placed at the foot of the casket, and a cross make of tuberoses, immortellos, and violets was placed at its head. The plate on the lid of the casket bore the inscription: Lewis P. Clover, died 21 January 1879, aged 88 years, 1 month, and 5 days. [description of funeral sermon omitted] The remains were......taken to Greenwood Cemetery and placed in the family plot.(4)
    New York Times, 23 January 1879: Brooklyn--Lewis P. Clover, a veteran of the War of 1812, and one of the Darmoor Prison survivors, died late on Tuesday night at his residence: no 207 Nineteenth Street. Mr. Clover was 89 years old. (5) [See more info in Clover Exchange 5-3-3, query 3-1-5, Short bio 4-1-8.]

This photo of a painting of Lewis Peter Clover was sent to me by Eric Whittall. He is a descendant of Martha (Clover) Todd.

Military Record

    In all of the published indexes of soldiers, etc, in the War of 1812, we never see Lewis Peter Clover. That is because he was actually a seaman on a merchant ship during the war and was captured and sent to England as a prisoner. Almost 8 % of the American seafarers were taken prisoner by the British and held as prisoners for at least part of the war.
    I became interested in this statement that he was a survivor of the Dartmoor Massacre. Investigation showed that this was a massacre by the British which occurred on 6 April 1815 at the prison at Dartmoor, England. Angered by continued imprisonment following the conclusion of peace and by the poor quality of prison food, the captives demonstrated. The prison commandant called out troops who fired upon the captives, killing seven and wounding sixty.
    There is a great map of Dartmoor prison on a Navy site at: http://www.history.navy.mil/library/special/dartmoor.htm
    Luckily, the prison records have been microfilmed. I was able to locate Louis Clover, who was prisoner no. 5392 in the prison logbook. He was captured in Calcutta on 17 January 1814, by the ship Malabar. Louis was a seaman on the Union, a merchant vessel. The personal information was given that he was aged 23, born Jersey, was 5' 4 ½' tall, with brown hair and gray eyes. He was a slender person with a long visage. [Long face?] He was released on 1 July 1815. On 30 November 1814 at Dartmoor Prison, he was issued with the following: 1 hammock, 1 bedding, 1 blanket. No marks are by other interesting items such as pail, bolster, hat, jacket, waistcoat, trousers, shirt, shoes, stockings, handkerchief, so presumably he was not issued with these. The marks in the columns for other prisoners were fairly consistent with what Louis received. There is a notation of: B. O. 16 March 1815 under the word discharged. No comment was made as to what this meant.
The Dartmoor massacre occurred in April 1815 so he was surely there during the turmoil. The information about Lewis Clover is from:
Louis Clover entry no. 5392, page 57, American Prisoners at Dartmoor Prison, FHL 1454586

    •    1820 Clover, Lewis P. New York Co, NY p 285 6TH Ward NY City     200110-00200-0001
    •    1830 Lewis P. Clover New York Co, NYC 3rd Wd p 132 1213001-1020201
    •    1835 New York City, New York, Lewis P. Clover Comments: Looking glasses
        From: Longworth's American Almanac, New-York Register, and City Directory, (New York: Thomas Longworth, 1835), 164.
    •    1840 Lewis Clover New York, NYC 5th Wd p 357: 0111211-0111201
    •    1850 New York City, New York, Lewis P. Clover Comments: US inspector
        From: Doggett's New York City Directory 1849-1850, (New York: John Doggett, Jr. & Co., 1850), 95.
    •    1860 New York City, NY Ward 20, District 2, page 360. Lewis P. Clover 68 NJ Retired Merchant; Bridget 62 Ireland; Bertrand 35 Merchant NY; Gertrude 18 Central America; George L. 25 Clerk NY; William C. 42 Paint Dealer NY; Mary Earl 38 New Jersey; Millie 8 VA; Henry E. 12 NY; Francisco 6 male NY; Annie 14 NY; Pauline 5 NY; Mary Ann McDonald 22 Domestic Ireland.
    ▸    1870 Kings Co, NY Brooklyn, Ward 10, page 678,[ Ancestry Image 724] Wm C. Clover 52 Agent Hair Cloth Factory --/$1500 NY; Mary E. 50 $10,000/-- NJ; Henry E. 21 Clerk Stock Broker NY; Wm C. 18 Clerk Stock Broker NY; Francis 15 (male) NY; Pauline 13 NY; Gardner L. Morrison 25 clerk NY; Annie A Morrison 24; Ann Quinn 45 domestic Ireland, parents foreign born; Louis P. Clover 79 NJ, parents not foreign born; Bridget 75 Ireland parents foreign born.
    •    1880 She is living with Bertrand. Bertha [sic], aged 88, born Ireland.

Children of Lewis Peter Clover and Bridget Murphy
I cannot prove all of the children. However, I do believe that they are his. In addition, I am not absolutely sure of the ages of some of them.

William Charles Clover born ca. 1817 New York
Lewis Peter Clover, Jr. (AKA Louis P. Clover) born 20 February 1819, in New York City.
Martha J. Clover, born 6 December 1822
Mary Ann Clover married December 1852, in New York City, Thomas H. Dickson, according to an article in The New York Herald on 16 December 1852.(6)
Henry Ashley Clover, born ca. March 1824, New York.
Sarah L. Clover born ca. 1830 married Israel Thomas Potter
Bertrand Clover, born ca. 1833, New York.
George F. Clover, born ca. 1835, New York, died 22 January 1865, New York. Obituary: Clover, [died] after a short illness, on Sunday, 22nd inst. George F., youngest son of Lewis P. Clover in the 30th year of his age. The friends of the family and the members of Mentank Lodge, No. 286, F. & A M. are invited to attend the funeral from the residence of his father, 244 Bergen Street, Brooklyn on Wednesday, 25 January, at 2:00 PM. (7)

(1) Lewis P. Clover obituary, The Brooklyn (New York) Eagle, 24 January 1879, page 2.
(2) “Sixty-one Years, Man and Wife,” Brooklyn (New York) Eagle, 6 September 1877, page 2.
(3) www.Green-wood.com
(4) The Brooklyn (New York) Eagle, 24 January 1879, page 2.
(5) The New York Times, 23 January 1879, page 8.
(6) New York Herald on 16 December 1852.
(7) The Brooklyn (New York) Eagle, 23 January 1865, page 3.

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Created, Edited, and Maintained June Clover Byrne
For the Clover Family Historical Society
This page is copyrighted 2007 June Clover Byrne
This Page Last Updated 20 December 2010