American Claveys: From Mark Clavey in the USA

From Mark Clavey in the USA:

1. I’m as sure as one can be (lacking an explicit pedigree) that we are from the English clan. I wouldn’t be too sure of the lack of a Celtic clan, however... with the work I’ve done with the 1810-1900 census records, there are a dozen or so Irish families appearing in mid-19th century central Pennsylvania with the surname Clavey (with another couple dozen bearing the names Clave and Claffey). I would guess there’s more than enough potential for ties to AND from Scotland, Ireland and France - without even raising the question of which way do the ties go.

2. On the reference to John Clavey - the name was, indeed, John. Our family (my oldest brother, Westley, actually) has, in our possession, John’s petition for citizenship and oath of allegiance, which was filed at a Court of General Quarter Sessions in Philadelphia on 4 October 1808 (having resided in the US upwards of seven years). Presuming he was honest in his report to the Court, he couldn’t have arrived in the US any later than October 1801. He was stipulated in this document as having previously been a citizen of Denmark and a subject of the King of Denmark. I don’t believe he was involved in the Revolutionary War (1775-1783), but I don’t discount the possibility of his participation in the War for American Independence (1811-1814)... especially living around Philadelphia. We’re fairly sure we descended from John Clavey because (1) it IS a really small family concentrated in the Philadelphia/Camden area and (2) the scroll was passed down as (virtually) the only family heirloom of any worth at all. So we have a pronounced record of our turn-of-the-19th-century progenitor, but nothing in the way of records for the time in between him and my grandfather.

Fortunately I have been making progress... (huzzah!) Everything I have discovered to date has come to me by way of the US Census (which is sketchy at best)...

A. John (1) CLAVEY (which is how I shall refer to him from now on, as you’ll soon understand) first appears in an index to the 1810 Census of Pennsylvania. That doesn’t mean he wasn’t in the 1790 or 1800 Census - it just means that when the index was compiled, his name wasn’t on it (and believe me - those indexes are far from exhaustive). He appears as Head of the Family, age 26-44 (placing his birth at 1756-1784). He has a wife 26-44 (b.1756-1784); a son-1 under 10 (1801-1810); and a daughter-1 under 10 (b.1801-1810).

He appears again in the index to the 1820 Census of Pennsylvania. He is still 26-44 (b.1766-1794); wife is still 26-44 (b.1766-1794); son-1 is 10-15 (b.1805-1810); daughter-1 is 10-15 (b.1805-1810); son-2 is under 10 (b.1811-1820); and son-3 is under 10 (b.1811-1820). Up until now, your John Clavey (ref.197, b.1756) would’ve been an ideal match. And while the 1820 census records take him out of the age-range to perpetuate that match, I’m not giving up hope (like I said, these records are far from pristine).

He appears again in the index to the 1840 Census of Pennsylvania. He is now 70-79 (b.1861-1870), and as this is his last appearance, the census records would indicate a birth-year c.1766-1770. Wife is 60-69 (b.1771-1780), placing her birth-year c.1771-1780. Son-1 is no longer living with them, neither is daughter-1. Son-2 is 20-29 (b.1811-1820) and son-3 is 20-29 (b.1811-1820). Other than narrowing down the range of birth-year for John (1), the only other piece of interesting information on this famil record is that it lists him as having been employed in navigation of the ocean (which could account for him possibly starting in England, moving on to Denmark, and finally moving on to the US).

B. Jacob (1) CLAVEY first appears (by name) in an index to the 1840
Census of Pennsylvania as a Head of the Family, age 30-39 (b.1801-1810). I am concluding that Jacob (1) is son-1 to John (1), and will be seeking to confirm this through birth/marriage/death records from the City of Philadelphia (if I can ever get there). He has a wife 20-29 (b.1801-1810); a daughter-1 5-9 (b.1831-1835); a son-1 under 5 (b.1836-1840); and daughter-2 under 5 (b.1836-1840).

He appears again in an index to the 1860 Census of New Jersey. He is specifically listed as 52 (b.1807-1808). His wife, Eliza, is 49 (b.1810-1811); and his son-2, Jacob (2), as 17 (b.1842-1843). The older children have moved out.

He finally appears in an index to the 1870 Census of Philadelphia, listed as being 69. This age listing appears entirely bogus. It is evidently the same Jacob (1). His occupation is listed as shoemaker (same as in the 1860 listing). More evidence that these records are about as fallible as any.

C. John (2) CLAVEY first appears (by name) in an index to the 1850 Census of Pennsylvania as a Head of the Family, age 47. I believe this to be in error as this would place him as having been born in 1802-1803 -- this is out of sync with the records of John (1) and also with Later records for John (2). I am concluding that he is truly 37 years old (b.1812-1813), and that he is son-2 to John (1). He has a wife, Ann, age 26 (b.1823-1824), and a son-1, John (3), age 10 (b.1839-1840).

He appears again in an index to the 1860 Census of Pennsylvania. He is NOW age 47 and Ann is 36. John (3) is 19 (b.1840-1841) and with the difference in the months the 1850/1860 censuses were taken, I’ll conclude John (3) was born in 1840. There are three more children - a son-2, James, age 9 (b.1850-1851); a son-3, Charles, age 7 (b.1852-1853); and a son-4, Robert, age 3 (b.1866-1867).

Now, while he doesn’t explicitly appear again, part of his family does appear in an index to the 1870 Census of Pennsylvania. And there is a listing for John Clavez in the same index (cursive Z’s and Y’s look alike). The roll of microfilm this census-listing appears on has been absent since I discovered the appearance in the index - they’ll notify me when it comes back in... but I’m anticipating it’ll be him. Perhaps there was a divorce, or perhaps John (2) has passed away and it is John (3) as a Head of Family. We shall soon see. In any case, the part of the family that does appear is Ann as the Head of the Family, age 47 (b.1822-1823) and we can narrow her down to 1823. Also included are James, age 19; Robert, age 13; and a daughter-1, Annie, age 4 (b.1865-1866). Charles does NOT appear (he would be 17). Neither does John (2) or John (3).

D. Now we jump to moving backwards from my father. I found a listing in the 1900 Soundex for New Jersey for a Jennie FOX - a widowed Head of the Family living in Camden, age 65 (b.1835 in England). She has a daughter-1, Annie CLAVEY, age 35 (b.1865 in England), married for 15 years to an unspecified Clavey and widowed; and a daughter-2, Vennie, age 30 (b.1878). Annie has two children - a son-1, Bert, age 13 (b.1887); and a son-2, Frank, age 10 (b.1889). I have not found any recollection among my dad’s surviving relatives of an ‘Uncle Frank ‘. I don’t thnk that means much, though. They are all REAL old.

This family appears in an earlier listing in the 1880 Soundex for Pennsylvania. Benjamin (1) FOX appears as the Head of the Family, age 43 (b.1836-1837 in England). Along with him are - his wife Jennie, age 43 (b.1836-1837); a daughter-1, Laddie?, age 22 (b.1857-1858); a daughter-2, Mamie, age 19 (b.1860-1861); a daughter-3, Annie, age 16 (b.1863-1864); a daughter-4, Lizzie, age 14 (b.1865-1866), a daughter-5, Vina, age 11 (b.1878-1879); and a son-1, Benjamin (2), age 9 (b.1880-1881). Evidently, most of the children (save Annie and Vina/Vennie) left by 1900.

I’m about as sure as I can be that Bert is my Dad’s father. I’m guessing that Annie was married-to and widowed-from a Clavey man from either the Jacob (1) or John (2) branch. The John (2) branch provides more possibilities, but the scroll has ordinarily travelled through the oldest son (which would be Jacob (1)). Bert is the oldest boy of Annie’s and would thus get the scroll. (Oddly enough, my Dad was the youngest boy... and he still ended up with it. Oh well...) Perhaps John (3) married Annie - that would wrap it up nice and clean (which makes it almost a sure bet that it’s NOT what happened). But I’m still going at it.

Any way to find out if your John Clavey ref.197 became a sailor and left for points north? That would be nice and clean too... (and way too easy).

We pronounce our name ‘clay-vee’ as well. As far as sound on my web-page... I’m just beginning to learn HTML, and (unfortunately) it’s about the last thing on my list of things to spend what little time I have on. Maybe someday.

Reply From Brian Clavey ...

I am in touch through the wonders of Internet with Mark Clavey of Philadelphia whose 4 x gr grandfather John Clavey became an American citizen in 1808. One of his family’s proud possessions is the scroll of citizenship and oath of allegiance which shows that he had previously been a citizen of Denmark and a subject of the King of Denmark. Also that he was employed in “navigation of the ocean”. Not being aware of any earlier Claveys in Denmark, my immediate reaction to the above information was that John was probably one of the Claveys from North Germany. However Mark says he is as sure as he can be, lacking an explicit pedigree, that his family are from the English clan.

In his researches he has looked at census information for Pennslyvania for the years 1790, 1800, 1810, 1820 and 1840. John first appears in the 1810 census which shows him as head of family aged 26-44 with a wife, a son 1-10 and a daughter 1-10. As the 1820 census also shows him as age 26-44, some simple arithmetic shows that he must have been born between 1776 and 1784. However the 1840 census which Mark says is more reliable, indicates a birth date of between 1760 and 1770 which is a considerable discrepancy.

One possible nomination for John is John Clavey baptised at Chewton Mendip in 1760, son of John & Ann. There is no record of a marriage for John or a burial.

All of this prompts me to ask whether anyone can suggest appropriate records to consult which might indicate that the John from Chewton Mendip became a sailor and at one time worked for the Kingdom of Denmark. Also has anyone looked at American census records and can comment on their accuracy.?