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Note: Moved to Mercer County, MO., in 1849. Buried Coon Cem. Served as Justice of the Peace in Mercer Co. Buried Coon Ce., Mercer Co., MO Possibilities re: The FIRST Clemens in this country. In the 17th and 18th centuries England had very severe laws that applied to what we would today consider rather petty crimes. Capital punishment was the penalty for crimes as minor as stealing a loaf of bread. Commutation of the capital sentance to, " transportation to the colonies", was used as a measure of mercy and to help populate the new colonies and rid Merrie Olde England of undesirables at the same time. The condemned would be placed in the custody of a sea captain who, upon arrival in port, had the privilege of selling the prisoner for whatever profit he could manage. The prisoner then served out his sentance, essentially as a slave, until it had been completed whereupon he or she received freedom. Another method of gaining transportation to the colonies was voluntary. One could indenture oneself to another person for the cost of the fare across the Atlantic. Indentures were legal undertakings that called for the master to feed, cloth and house the servant and upon completion of the indenture term to furnish the newly free person a suit of clothes, a certain amount of money and the tools of his or her trade, if any. In return, the servent agreed to serve the master faithfully, etc. We will hope our Clemens was in the voluntary category. Family legend has it the our first ancestor in America arrived here by indenturing himself to a relative already in the New World, probably in Virginia. The term of indenture is unknown but they typically ran for seven years. The relationship to the relative is not clear but Virginia records of indentures show a Clemens who was indentured to a person who seems to have been a relative, possibly the husband of a sister or cousin. This Clemens could possibly be our ancestor but that is certainly unproven at this time. The family legend relates that our ancestor served out his indenture but, not withstanding that he was a relative, had been treated no better than any other indentured servent. In fact, he had not been furnished a room or bed of his own but had been assigned to sleep on the hearth and maintain the overnight fire. Colonial hearths were quite spacious, possibly 10 or 12 feet wide but never the less made for a hard bed. Our Clemens, having completed his term of indenture, received his documents and the other things coming to him. As he intended to leave the area and had arranged transportation for the following morning he asked if he might spend one more night on the hearth. Receiving permission he retired to his all too familiar bed for one last night, but this time with a difference. He was now a guest. In those days it was the custom for a guest to indicate that he had spent a contented night by leaving the bed rumpled and unmade in the morning. Our ancestor rose very early, before dawn, and thoroughly rumpled his bed with a pick and shovel. Having satisfactorily indicated his contentment he quietly let himself out and was on his way before the rest of the house arose. There is, of course, no way to verify the accuracy of this story but it was told to my father as having been handed down through the family for years and years. David G. Clemens
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