I found this newspaper clipping on Alceus Day and his property from the coal mine and his home being sold in a sheriff's sale. It's heart breaking to read this. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/45202964/

William Cloward, Indentured Servant?

William Cloward, Indentured Servant?
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/2389520/william_cloward/#
Check this out! The Pennsylvania Gazette dated May 13, 1762,  tells of a William Cloward who had escaped his master, having been given the responsiblity of driving a wagon from Lancaster to Philadelphia and never returned. Could this be our William? Could he have headed to Maryland, become a landowner, and raised a family there? In those days indentured servants were sometimes treated poorer than slaves. Indentured servants were under contract to their master for 7 years and at the end of those 7 years, the master would relinquish ownership and give the indentured servant a parcel of land. So...if the indentured servant didn't survive, the master didn't need to give him anything. So this makes William's desire to escape and start a new life pretty plausible.
What do you think? Does anyone out there know otherwise?

Grateful

I have been watching a DVD series that I purchased last week from Deseret Book entitled History of the Saints, Gathering to the West.  It tells the story of the "Mormon" pioneers (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) I have learned so much watching these DVD's and the stories that they share have more meaning for me knowing that our ancestors were a part of this time period. My interest in the Cloward family in particular is that my husband and I actually share this family line, DeeRay's great, great, great grandmother is Charlotte, Jacob and Ann Clowards second oldest child, and my great, great grandfather is Jacob and Ann's fifth child, Thomas Poulsen.  The Clowards joined the Mormon Church around 1842, my records show that Catherine Ann Pluck Cloward was baptized in June of 1842, Thomas was baptized on August 1, 1842,(a letter in his own handwriting that I have a copy of says he was baptized in 1844 by William A. Moor) and his sister Charlotte joined the church in June of 1843. Even though  I can't find a baptismal date for Jacob Cloward, their father, he obviously was baptized around this same time, as church records show he was sealed to his wife in the Endowment House in 1861.  I am assuming that they lived in Delaware at the time that they joined the church as they had their last few children in this area.  Jacob Cloward had a brother, Thomas, who lived in Wilmington, Cecil, Delaware at that time, and some of his descendents still live in that area.  I was able to contact them a few years ago and we had tried to coordinate meeting, but it didn't work out.  I'm hoping to make another trip out to that area and hopefully hook up with them.  According to Thomas Poulsen Cloward's own writing, his family came to Nauvoo in 1844. 

Kendall Children

This is the Kendall family. They are the great grandchildren of Thomas Cloward and Eliza Jane Cloward (b. DuShane). Thomas lived in Delaware, is the brother of Jacob Cloward, and the son of William Cloward.

These children's parents are Ruthella Moore Kendall (b. Day) and Rev. Oren Edwin Kendall (Baptist minister). Their grandparents are Ella Mary Day (b. Cloward) and Alceus Ballou Day and their great grandparents are Thomas Cloward and Eliza Jane Cloward (b. DuShane)

Kimberley also shared that "The Cloward family must have been close to the Day, Kendall and Rolleston families. As I mentioned, my grandmother's sister Ella was given the surname as her middle name "Ella Cloward Kendall". Ella was very proud of the fact that she was an honours graduate of Colombia University. (she was clever ! and her son was a judge in Canada, also clever !) Ella had 6 fingers and 6 toes (fully functional). This is a reoccurring birth defect with the Kendall line" 

Photo Collection of the Cloward Family

On Monday, Kimberley Walsh contacted me through this blog and shared that she had photos!! So these are photos that she has shared with us. These are part of the private collection of Kimberley Walsh, 4 x great granddaughter of Thomas Cloward and Eliza Jane DuShane Cloward. This Thomas Cloward would be a nephew to Jacob Cloward and cousin to Thomas Poulsen Cloward. Thank you so much Kimberley for sharing these photos with all of us!! 

Thomas and Eliza Jane DuShane Cloward
Thomas is the son of Thomas Cloward, Jacob Cloward's brother

Thomas and Eliza Jane with their children, William Henry, Ella Mary, and Emma

This was on the back of the photograph just above

Ella Mary Cloward, daughter of Thomas and Eliza Jane

Ella Mary Cloward

Alceus Day, Ella Mary's husband

Ella Mary Cloward

Inscription written on the back of the above photo by Ella Mary Cloward

Alceus Day, Kimberley shared with me that "Alceus Ballou Day founded the Red Cross although he did not get credit  as he was an alcoholic and his reputation was tarnished. Clara Barton got credit for starting the Red Cross. Alceus and Clara worked together"

The house that Ella Mary Cloward and her husband Alceus Day lived in while he worked as the manager of a mine.
The inscription on the back of the photo is just above

Ruthella Moore Day Kendall, wedding photo, daughter of Alceus and Ella Mary Cloward Day

Wedding Photo of Ruth Kendall Rolleston,
Kimberley's grandmother, granddaughter of Alceus and Ella Mary Cloward Day

Ruthella Moore Day Kendall, Alceus and Ella Mary's daughter

Kimberley is not sure who this man is, if anyone sees this and happens to know, please comment on the blog!

Unknown who these people are either, any help would be appreciated.

Same family it looks like with the parents included,
again, if you have any idea who these people are, let us know

Family History Trip w/Dad & Mom

Taking a trip out to Pennsylvania has been of dream of mom's for quite a while, so Wendy and I decided to take her and dad out there to visit some of the places where mom's ancestors had lived and to see if we could find any new information while we were there.

 Lancaster County is so breathtakingly beautiful! We stopped there first on our trip.

These are some pictures of St. Mary Anne's Church in North East, Maryland, where William Cloward, Jacob's grandfather, attended church, he is the earliest known Cloward in the United States

We stopped again on this trip in Chadds Ford and visited the Friends Cemetery there as Wendy found a link to her husband Bob's family, can you believe Wendy was able to do
a crayon rubbing and get the information off of this gravestone!

 At the Wilmington Delaware Historical Society looking for new leads

 ...and at the Cecil County, Maryland Historical Society,

we found cameras work really well and a lot cheaper than photocopies,

and most places will allow you to use your cameras.

We drove out to Elk Neck, Maryland and visited Elk Neck State Park, where William Cloward owned land according to the land records of Cecil County back in the 1700's, I got to go view the original records in the Cecil County Courthouse, it was awesome! Can you imagine living in such a beautiful place right out on the Chesapeake Bay! Wendy and I walked up the trail a ways but didn't want to leave dad and mom alone in the car for too long...there is a beautiful lighthouse at the end of the trail...didn't quite make it that far.

We went in to Philadelphia the next day with Alisha and visited Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell, a must see when you visit out here.

then we had to stop at Reading Market to try a Philly Cheesesteak

and get some Amish Sticky Buns

There are over twenty covered bridges in Lancaster County, we saw about half of them

The dogwood trees were out in bloom and everywhere, beautiful!

We went to church on Sunday in Pottstown, where Jacob and Ann Cloward were married and had their first three children, the Meads, good friends of Ryan and Shanda's (my brother and his wife) had us over for dinner after church.

The Winter Encampment at Valley Forge

 

We visited Valley Forge on the last day before we headed home, 

above is George Washington's quarters at Valley Forge

Family History Trip - October 2011

I had been interested in taking a Family History trip to Pennsylvania for years, I would get out maps and look at the areas where our ancestors had lived, Jacob & Ann Cloward lived in Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland, but all the locations were within a 30 mile radius, Jacob was born in Cecil County, Maryland, he and Ann were married in Pottstown, Pennsylvania according to the information I have found from others so far, Wendy and I traveled to Pottstown, but haven't been able to confirm this information yet, and Jacob's brother Thomas and his family lived in Delaware, I'm assuming that Jacob and Ann moved there to be closer to Thomas and his family, and possibly for work,  from the information I have gathered so far, they struggled financially early on.  At least one of their older daughters went to live with an uncle by the name of Miles, we are still looking for more information on him.  Anyway, in the spring of 2011, Alisha, our oldest daughter, and her husband, Brad announced that they had decided to move to Philadelphia so that Brad could attend Dental School at the University of Pennsylvania.  As hard as it was to have them move away, I was excited at the prospect of finally going on not just one but probably several Family History Trips out to Pennsylvania, because now I would have another reason to go visit.

Pottstown Historical Society, Pennsylvania

Malia, a member of the Pottstown Historical Society helped us out so much 

while we were looking for information on our ancestors

The Wilmington & Brandywine Cemetery in Wilmington, Delaware

There are 5 generations of Clowards buried here, starting with 

Thomas Cloward and Eliza Jane DuShane, 

Thomas being a brother to Jacob, our direct ancestor

 Thomas Cloward's Headstone

 His wife's headstone, Eliza Jane DuShane

 The Cloward Family Plot Headstone

 We went to Amish Country for just a few hours while we were on our trip, 

so beautiful!

 This is the George Harlan Cabin, built in the late 1600's, we stayed here a couple of nights while we were on our trip.  It is owned by the sweetest lady, here pictured with Wendy, Wendy had called to find out information about the Friends Cemetery in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, Beverly answered the phone, and Wendy and her got to talking, she told Wendy that she owned a Bed & Breakfast right by the cemetery, so Wendy set it up for us to stay there for a few nights. After Wendy got off the phone with her, I told Wendy that we are related to Harlan's, and I got to looking and we are distantly related to George Harlan, it was pretty amazing to stay in his family's home!

Alisha drove out of the city to join us this day, it was so much fun to have her with us

Ask me about these last two pictures sometime if you are interested, 

quite an amazing experience!