My Sixteen No. 10: Sarah Jane Bellamy

My Sixteen refers to my great-great grandparents. Or, to put it another way, the sixteen grandparents of my four grandparents.

Sarah Jane Bellamy was born in 1837 in Cabell County, Virginia. She died on 22 May 1920 in Ashland, Boyd County, Kentucky. According to The Bellamys of Early Virginia, Sarah Jane was the daughter of Bennett Bellamy (1810-1867) and Jane West (1810–1858). They were married in Cabell County in about 1831, and Bennett appears as a head of household in that county on the 1840 U.S. Census. Bennett and Jane appear in the 1850 Census in Greenup County, with children Matthew (18), Nancy (16), Elizabeth (15), Sarah (13), Jesse (12), Thomas (10), Columbia (9), Joseph (7), Eliza (3), and "Claspa" (Cleopatra, age 1).

Cabell County was located on the western edge of Virginia, sitting just across the Ohio River from Lawrence County, Ohio. Boyd and Greenup Counties were located in Kentucky, on the other side of Lawrence County. By 1850, Bennett Bellamy's family was living in Greenup County.

Sarah married Joel Clark, a native of Lawrence County, in Greenup County on 17 October 1859, according to the Kentucky, Compiled Marriages, 1851-1900. They set up their home near Catlettsburg in Boyd County, just a couple of miles south of Ashland. This is where they were in 1860.

Kentucky was a key Union border state during the Civil War. Most of the fighting took place in the center of the state, far to the west of the Ashland area, but in the summer of 1861, Union troops under General George McClellan drove off Confederate troops, which essentially freed Unionists in the northwestern counties of Virginia to form a functioning government of their own. This rift led to the formation of a separate state, West Virginia, made up of 41 Virginia counties that had voted against secession--including Cabell County.

After the war, Joel and Sarah were living near Bellefonte Furnace in Greenup County in 1870, where they raised their family. In 1900 and 1910, Joel and Sarah were living in Oakview, Boyd County, and their eldest daughter, Hannah Fraley, lived with them in 1910. Joel died on 15 May 1915, and Sarah went to live with their son, Amos, and his wife, Effie, in Pollard, also in Boyd County. She died on 22 May 1920.

The Known Children of Joel and Sarah Clark

  The 1900 and 1910 Census collected information from women about the number of children they had given birth to, and how many of those children were still living. Sarah stated that she had given birth to 12 children, 11 of whom were still living in 1900; the same was true in 1910. The first four children below appeared in the 1870 Census; four others were identified in Kentucky and Ohio vital records which listed the names of the parents.

1. Hannah Elizabeth Clark Fraley (1860–1947) was born on 7 June 1860, probably near Catlettsburg, Boyd County, Kentucky. She married Samuel Rufus Fraley (1853–1940) on 8 May 1882 in Greenup County, Kentucky. They had two sons: Charles Monroe Fraley (1883–1967) and Isaac Joseph Fraley (1891–1968). Hannah died 30 April 1947 in Fayette County, Kentucky.

2. John Thomas Clark (1862–1954) was born 5 February 1862 in Ashland, Boyd, Kentucky. He married Temperance "Tempa" Lake (1871–1937) on 31 July 1890 in Lawrence County, Ohio. They had two sons: Luther George Clark (1891–1973) and Cecil A Clark (b. 1904). John died 1 April 1954 in Ashland, Boyd, Kentucky.

3. Julia Ann Clark Hughes (1863–1963) was born in Kentucky in February 1863. She married
John William Hughes (1852–1927) on 8 August 1883 in Greenup County, Kentucky. They had six children: Naaman Hughes (1884–1912), George Washington Hughes Sr (1886–1970), Sherman Hughes (1892–1970), Clara Ethel Hughes (1895–1958), Bessie Ann Hughes (1898–1996), and Theodore Roosevelt Hughes (1902–1988). Julia died 13 April 1963 in Athens, Ohio.

4. Joseph Bennett Clark (1867–1953) was born 15 September 1867 in Greenup County, Kentucky. He married Caroline Stanley (1876–1935) 21 February 1892 in Greenup County, Kentucky. Their children were Edgar James Clark (1893–1957), Kelly Clark (b. 1896), Earl D Clark (b. 1899), Tempa Clark (1902–1995), Stanley Albert Clark (1904–1950), Virginia Gross Clark (1909–1913), Hortense C Clark (1912–2001), and Lucille Clark (1914–2005). Joseph died on 20 June 1953 in Ashland, Boyd, Kentucky.

5. James Sylvester Clark (1868–1960) was born 27 December 1868 in Greenup County, Kentucky. He married Mary Ann Arthur (1876–1954) in 1897. They had two sons: Chester Leon Clark (1901–1983) and Arthur Harold Clark (1905–1981). James died 6 January 1960 in Portsmouth, Scioto, Ohio.

6. David Ulysses Clark Sr (1873–1948) was born in Greenup county, Kentucky, in 1873 (probably in June). He married Mary Ann Viceroy "Vicie" Reynolds (1879–1957) on 4 September 1898 "at the home of John Clark in Oakview" in Boyd County, Kentucky. The marriage was witnessed by John and Joel Clark. David and Vicie had many children: Opal Clark (1899–1932), Traxel Clark (1901–1961), Alma Clark (1903–1988), David Clark, Jr. (1905–1966), Sallie Clark (1908–1932), Thomas Ray Clark (1910–1933), Jennie May Clark (1911–1975), Jerry M Clark (1913–1996), Floyd Morris Clark (1915–1916), Victor F Clark (1918–1995), and my grandfather, Russell Hudson Clark (1920–2002). David died 9 January 1948 in Pulaski County, Arkansas; he was my great-grandfather.

7. Bertha Clark May (1875–1952) was born in June 1875 in Ashland, Boyd, Kentucky. She married Francis Marion May (1870–1946) 4 June 1892 in Boyd County, Kentucky. They had five children: Leonard Victor May (1894–1942), Joel DeWitt May (1897–1986), Verna May (b. 1901), Julia May (b. 1903), and Bettie M May (b. 1915). Bertha died 4 June 1952 in Dayton, Montgomery, Ohio.

8. Amos Clark (1877–1962) was born 19 February 1877 in Greenup County, Kentucky. He married Letitia Effie May (1880–1924) on 6 August 1899 in Lawrence County, Ohio. They had eight children: Rusie Clark (b. 1900), Nannie Ethel Clark (1901–1993), Charles Warren Clark (1905–1969), Golden Cecil Clark (1907–1929), Amos J Clark Jr. (1909–1981), Addie May Clark (b. 1911), Eugene Vernon Clark (1913–1985), and Doris Clark (1916–1999). Amos died 25 February 1962 in Pierce County, Washington.

9. Jennie Clark Smith (1878–1975) was born 29 September 1878 in Chinnville, Greenup, Kentucky. On 26 March 1899, she married William Thomas Smith (1876–1953) in Lawrence County, Ohio. They had seven children: Goldie A Smith (1900–1989), Myrl Raymond Smith (1901–1978), Roy Clark Smith (1904–1984), Dwight Avery Smith (1908–1978), Xelia Smith (1911–2000), Orville Edwin Smith (1912–2000), and Rebecca Jane Smith (1916–1995). Jennie died 15 December 1975 in Ashland, Boyd, Kentucky.