JOHN CLAXTON, SR. – BEDFORD CO., TN
This information comes from a variety of researchers and from articles
found in the Bedford County, Tennessee
History Book and in History and
Families of Wright County, Missouri
John
Claxton was b. 1770-1775 and d. 1836-1840, apparently in Giles Co., TN. It is thought that John had children born in
VA, TN, and possibly NC. Where was John
born? We do not know for sure, but two
pieces of documentation indicate that he came from NC. The first of these is an 1889 Goodspeed biographical article for James A. Claxton “farmer
and stock raiser of Gasconade Township, Wright Co., MO.” This James A. is the “son of James and
Temperance (Ratcliff) Claxton . . .The paternal grandfather was a native of
North Carolina, and one of the first settlers of Tennessee. He was of Dutch descent, and lived to be
eighty years of age. James Claxton,
father of our subject, was born on the road from
The above statement that James A.’s father James was born “on the road” from NC to TN fits
with the fact that the 1850, 1860, and 1870 censuses say that James was born
ca. 1798 in VA and yet we find John in the 1799 Sumner Co., TN tax list as John
Clackson. In
1803 we find John Claxton in Mero District court (Mero served Davidson, Sumner, and Wilson counties) in a
land dispute which states that the land John is being evicted from was
originally in Sumner and is now in Wilson (which puts it south of the
Cumberland River), so John is apparently in Wilson Co. when it is formed in
Oct. 1799 though he is on the tax list for Sumner – taxes were probably
collected in January of that year, or at least early in the year; John changed
counties, but never moved. John was in
Smith County 20 FEB 1806 when he witnessed a deed between Meshack
Baker and Wiley Hooker both of
John then appears on the 1812 and
1836 tax lists in Bedford Co., TN as well as the1820 and 1830 censuses there
(in 1820 he is Jonathan). It is thought
that he is the Johnthon Clackston
who was a sergeant in Capt. Dempsey’s
Results from the Claxton DNA project show a 100% match on 37 markers for descendants of one or more children of the following people:
James Lee Clarkson b. ca. 1775 in VA, moved to Claiborne Co., TN, d.
1815 in
James Claxton b. 1798 in VA, d. 1871 Wright Co., MO
David Claxton b. 1801 in Wilson Co., TN, d. 1865 in TN (according to family Bible, though he was in Lawrence Co., AR in 1860 census)
Solomon Claxton b.1802 in NC, d. bet.1870-1880, in Giles or Bedford Co., TN
Jeremiah Claxton b.1807 in Bedford Co., TN (according to family tradition) d.1877 in Henry Co., TN
Avery Claxton b. ca. 1817 in TN., d. ca. 1857 in Bedford Co., TN
Hiram Madison Claxton b.ca.1817 in TN, d.1890 in Howell Co., MO
The above list relates to John because the children of John for whom there is acceptable documentation are James (above) b. 1798 in VA; Isaac b. 1799-1800 in TN; David (above) b. 1801 in TN; and John, Jr. b. 12 JAN 1804 in TN. In the 1830 Bedford Co. census we find the following household relationships:
Isaac is living two houses before John (he is in Giles Co. by 1836 tax list)
James (b. 1798) is living next after John
a younger Joshua Ratliff is living next after James
John, Jr. is three households after James
an older Joshua Ratliff is living next after John, Jr.
It has long been held that this physical closeness of these families was not coincidence but a situation of close familial relationships.
Probable Children
of John Claxton
1. James Claxton
Based on the fact that James and John, Sr. are living next to each other in 1830 and the DNA evidence linking the descendants of James and other descendants of John, Sr., it is thought by most Claxton researchers today that James, b. 18 SEP 1798 in VA, is a son of John, Sr. b. ca. 1774. Additional support for this is an 1843 suit in Bedford Co. Chancery Court where Thomas Parsons, administrator of John Claxton’s estate, is suing James Claxton and Benjamin Brown. James had apparently mortgaged the land on which he was living to Brown, but apparently he did not have TITLE to the land which still belonged to John. The court found in favor of Parsons.
James is in Bedford Co. by 1812 as that is when we first see
John Claxton there. In January of 1818
James volunteered at Fayetteville, Lincoln Co., TN as a private in Capt. James Byrn’s company of the 1st Tennessee Volunteers
commanded by Col. R. H. Dyer in the Seminole Indian War. He was discharged in 1818 and married
Temperance Rackley (Ratliff/Ratcliff) 26 APR 1819 in
Bedford Co. Temperance was b. 12 JUN
1804 in NC. According to the Goodspeed article on James Anderson Claxton, Temperance was
the daughter of Joshua Ratcliff (also Ratliff and Rackley)
a Revolutionary War soldier who was wounded and “when he died at the age of
ninety, the scar from the wound was still visible upon his breast.” As noted above, in the 1830 census, living
four households after James, there was a Joshua Ratliff who was in the same age
bracket as John Claxton, Sr. – this would have been Temperance’s father. In 1820 this Joshua was living in
Below is an image comparing James’ 1820, 1830, and 1840 censuses.
The ages of the children of James in the 1830 census match
those of the children known to belong to James b. 1798 in the 1850 census (with
one extra child who probably died before we get names in the 1850 census), so
there is no question that this is the James who married Temperance. James and Temperance lived first in Franklin
Co., TN as that is where we find them in the 1820 census. By 1830 they are in
Bedford Co., TN living next door to James’ father, John, Sr. on one side and
Joshua Ratliff, probably Temperance’s brother, on the other. They remain in Bedford Co. until about 1851
when James accepts bounty land of 80 acres in MO as a result of his military service. By 1855 they had moved to Greene Co., MO and
by 1860 they were in Wright Co., MO living on Elk Creek. James and Temperance remained on the Elk
Creek land. James died 6 OCT 1871 and
Temperance died 26 NOV 1877. They are
both buried in Durbin Cemetery, Wright Co., MO.
Children of James and Temperance are:
Richard, probably b. in Franklin Co. in 1820, but all the other 11
children were born in Bedford Co. Other
children are:
2. Isaac Claxton
In the 1830 Bedford Co., TN census for Isaac Claxton, the oldest male in the household is in the same age bracket with the older John Claxton (50-60 years old). There is also a male and female in this household age 20-30. The question arises as to whether the older person is the head of house (and therefore possibly a brother of John) or whether the 20-30 year old male is the head of house with the father, or father-in-law, living in the household with them; there is no corresponding female for the older male, and the ages of the children seem to indicate a possible “mixed” household since there are 3 girls under 5 and a boy and girl 10-15. If the younger male is the head of household, then it is possible that this Isaac is a son of John and would be the Isaac that we see later in Giles Co., TN. It is difficult to follow Isaac through the different censuses: he is Isaac Clanton in 1820, Isaac Claxton in 1830, and Isaia Blaxton in 1840; but if these three Isaacs are compared, the ages for Isaac compare within a year or so from 1820 through the 1860 census and for his wife, Ann, through 1850 (see chart below), so it is assumed here that the 1830 Isaac who is head of household is the 20-30 year old individual and not the 50-60 year old individual.
As indicated in the census chart above, Isaac was in Lincoln
Co. in 1820, Bedford Co. in 1830, and in Giles Co. by 1840. He remains in Giles Co., on land along Pigeon
Roost Creek, until his death in July of 1867.
He marries Ann _____, probably about 1819 (based on child in 1820
census). Ann dies ca. 1856 and Isaac
marries Jane Self 12 APR 1857, widow of Owenby Self
(d. 1856). On 5 FEB 1866 Isaac is
appointed guardian for William J. and John Claxton, minor children of his son,
William L., who died in the war. Isaac
died intestate in JUL 1867 and his children are named in the estate settlement. Jane died after 1870; Isaac and Jane had no
children. Children of Isaac and Ann are:
Sophia A. b. ca. March 1828 – d. bet. 1900-1910; Milton Dudley b. 29 NOV
1834 – d. 2 MAY 1901;
3. David Claxton
Listing David as a son is done based on his statement to the prison warden in 1831 and the fact that in the 1830 census there are only two households with individuals old enough to be David’s father and those are John and Isaac. Of these two, only John is found in Wilson Co. in 1801 where David said he was born and, as noted above, we believe that the Isaac who is head of household in 1830 is not the older individual in that household, but the younger. These facts leave only John as a possible father for David and his “six brothers and one sister.”
From Marvin Claxton’s account of David’s descendants we have
this statement: “According to the Bible
record of Howard Claxton, David married Rosanah
Moore.” No date is given for the
marriage, but it would have been about 1827 based on the age of the oldest
child of which we have record. In the
1830 census David and Rosanah are in Cave In Rock, Gallatin
Co., IL with a son and daughter both under 5 years old. The son would be Abraham (according to
Marvin’s book), and the daughter would be Martha Ann (according to the
At this point we change sources. Marvin’s book says that David left Bedford
Co. between 1843 and 1850 and it was thought that he went to the area around
4. John Claxton (Jr.)
John Claxton (Jr.) is listed as a son of John based more on the fact that he is living close to John in the 1830 census, and, according to the Bedford Co., TN History Book, his descendants and those of James (son of John) who remained in Bedford Co. called each other “cousin” indicating a family relationship.
So John, Jr. was b. 12 JAN 1804 in TN. He married Sallie (Sarah?) _____ probably about 1825 as they have a son and two daughters by
the 1830 census. In 1830 he is living in
Bedford Co., TN four households after John Claxton (Sr.), next door to the
older Joshua Ratliff and three houses after James Claxton, son-in-law of that
Joshua Ratliff. By 1840 the census shows
he is still in Bedford Co., but his wife and son are gone and he is left with
three daughters. In
Other Possible
sons of John
5. Jonathan F. (or T. or H.) Claxton
Jonathan F. (also found T. and H.) was b. ca. 1793 in NC according to the 1850 and 1860 censuses. This definitely makes him a candidate for being a son of John. We also see Jonathan in the 1830 census where he has a male under age 5, two males age 5-10, 1 male age 10-15, another male age 20-30 and Jonathan age 30-40; females he has one 5-10, one 10-15, and one 15-20 with his wife also in the 30-40 age bracket. The wife’s age here does not match with his wife, Dorcas, in 1850 and later censuses, so it is possible that his first wife died after 1830 and he then married Dorcas. The only child for whom we have a name is Andrew J. who was b. ca. 1842.
6. Avery Claxton
Avery Claxton was born about 1815 in
7. Wesley Claxton
Wesley Claxton is found in the 1836 Bedford Co. tax list. Nothing further is known about Wesley, but Wesley becomes a common name among Claxton families.