Biography - Hazard Clendenen
Hazard Perry Clendenen is a native of Bourbon county, Kentucky, where he was
born October 12th, 1812. He is the youngest of two sons of George W. and
Mary Clendenen. The elder son, Theodore, has been dead several years. George
W. Clendenen was born in Greenbrieer county, Virginia, about the year 1779,
and is one of a large family of Robert and Margaret Clendenen. Robert
Clendenen was a descendant of the Scotch Highlanders, and his wife was of
Irish extraction, though the ancestors of both were among the primitive
settlers of Virginia. He was a soldier during the revolutionary war, and,
after the termination of that contest, made a settlement on the Ohio river,
in what is now West Virginia, where the pioneers built a fort for protection
against the Indians, at a place called Gallipolis, and, by unanimous consent
of the settlers, Robert Clendenen was made commander of the fort. On one
quiet afternoon, the sentinel announced that he saw an Indian on the
opposite bank of the river, where he was mending a moccasin, under cover of
the dense foliage of a sugar tree. The commander took his trusty rifle,
crept down to the edge of the water, and, peering through the leaves, got
sight of his dusky foe. A second after, the report of his rifle rugh out
over the water, and the Indian leaped into mid air and fell to the ground a
lifeless corpse. After residing in the neighborhood of the fort a few years,
Mr. Clendenen settled in Bourbon county, Kentucky, where he passed the
remainder of his days, the death of the old veteran of the revolution
occurring at the green old age of ninety.
George W. Clendenen spent his early boyhood in Virginia, and when
thirty-eight years of age, he was married to Miss Mary Reynolds, daughter of
Anthony Reynolds, a native of Antrim county, Ireland. Mr. R., immediately
after landing at Philadelphia, volunteered in the defense of his adopted
country, and served bravely to the end of the revolutionary war. The
marriage of Mr. Clendenen took place in Bourbon county, Kentucky, where his
occupation was that of a farmer. In 1817, he left Kentucky, and removed with
his family to St. Charles county, Missouri, arriving there in the fall of
that year. The trip was made with a one-horse Dearborn wagon. While residing
in Kentucky, Mr. C. frequently met Henry Clay, whom he greatly admired, and
for whom he voted whenever an opportunity was presented. Mr. Clendenen
reside in St. Charles county until the spring of 1820, when he removed to
Greene county, Illinois, settling in what is now Woodville Precinct, on the
tract of land embraced in the farm on which Henry Houdashelt now resides,
near the point where Macoupin Creek breaks through the bluff. He was,
according to the best information we can obtain, the first settler in
township 9 – 13, and was the first magistrate in that part of the county,
and settled, without the usual process of law, many of the disputes that
arose among the early settlers. In his early youth he was in a measure
deprived of the advantages of common schools, yet, through his untiring
industry, he succeeded in obtaining a good store of knowledge. He lived a
moral and upright life, and died at his residence, on the farm where his son
now resides, in 1841. His widow survived his death until November, 1869.
Hazard P. Clendenen received his early education in Greene county,
principally under the tuition of his father. In his early boyhood, he laid
the foundation of a common education, on which he has been continually
building, until now we find him to be a gentleman well informed on the
political and other leading topics of the day. When he first came to this
county with his parents, there was scarcely a settlement between their place
and the prairies to the eastward, near where Kane is now situated, and wild
deer and Indians were yet roaming over their accustomed haunts. The famous
Indian chief, Blackhawk, and his family spent one winter on Diamond Island,
situated in the Illinois River, about three miles from where Mr. Clendenen
resided with his parents. The old warrior frequently visited the whites
along the bluff, with whom he was friendly and peaceable. They always
considered Blackhawk a man of the strictest honor and integrity, and his
word could ever be relied upon. In those days game abounded in great
profusion, and was the principal article of food of not only the Indians,
but also of many of the settlers. Mr. Clendenen having been raised in the
primitive days of the county, was early inured to the perils and hardships
of a backwoods life. A large portion of his early boyhood was employed in
assisting in the farm labor; and when about thirty years of age, realizing
the truth of the divine injunction that it was not good for man to live
alone, and acting upon that truly commendable maxim, he was married, on the
20th of December, 1842, to Miss Maria A. Clark, daughter of Absalom and
Lydia Clark, who were formerly from the state of Ohio, though early settlers
in this county, having located near the mouth of the Macoupin Creek in the
fall of 1819. They were of English descent. Mr. Clark was a soldier during
the war of 1812, and took part in the battle of the Maumee and several other
engagements. Mrs. Clendenen was born in Greene county, Illinois, November
16th, 1823.
Several years prior to his marriage, when about the age of twenty, Mr.
Clendenen made several trips to New Orleans on flat-boats, loaded with farm
produce and live stock, and, after making his sales, would return home on a
steamer. He was employed in this capacity chiefly for about fourteen years.
He would build the flatboats on Macoupin Creek or Illinois River; but,
unlike his illustrious predecessor, the immortal "rail-splitter," he did not
rise from his flat-boating operations to the office of President of the
United States.
Mr. C. and wife had a family of six children, two of whom died when quite
young, while tow sons and two daughter ware yet living. Their eldest
daughter, Mary A., is the wife of Robert King, who is now residing in
Lincoln county, Mo.; their second daughter, Jennie M., is the wife of James
Ellis, now living in Montgomery county, Illinois; and their sons are
residing at the old homestead.
Mr. Clendenen started in life with scarcely anything but a strong
determination to do something for himself, and, being of industrious habits,
has succeeded in acquiring considerable property. He has a farm of about
seventeen hundred acres, located on the Illinois Bottom.
In early boyhood, Mr. C. became identified with the whig party, of which he
remained a consistent and active supporter until its disorganization. His
first vote for President was cast fo Henry Clay, and at every subsequent
presidential election he was found at the polls, voting for the candidate of
his party. On the formation of the republican party, he became a strong
supporter of its principles, and voted both times for that peerless
statesman, Abraham Lincoln. During the war, when party spirit was at its
height, and dissension and discord were frequent even in families, and when
disunion sentiments sat like a horrible nightmare upon the panting, bleeding
breasts of the defenders of American liberty, the Union cause had in Mr.
Clendenen a true supporter. His eldest son, Oscar C., in 1862, at the age of
fifteen years, enlisted in the sixty-first regiment Illinois volunteers,
and, after serving three years, re-enlisted. He took part in the hard-fought
battle of Pittsburg Landing and many other engagements, never flinching from
the post of danger, and after the expiration of his term of service he
received an honorable discharge and returned home. Mr. Clendenen's
son-in-law, Robert King, was a member of the sith Missouri infantry, and
remained in the service about four years, during which time he participated
in the battles of Vicksburg, Chattanooga, Dalton, Resaca, Lost Mountain,
Altoona, Kenesaw Mountain, in the latter of which he was wounded. After
becoming convalescent, he accompanied Sherman's army in their grand march to
the sea, and took part in the battle of Fort McAllister. Thus it will be
seen that two of Mr. Clendenen's children assisted in preserving the
supremacy of the old flag.
On the 5th of December, 1862, Mrs. Clendenen died at their residence,
leaving her husband and children to mourn an irreparable loss.
In summing up the life of Mr. Clendenen, we find much in his career to
commend. According to the opinions of his old neighbors, he is entitled to
the appellation of "an honest man." He early learned the importance of
economy and industry as the means of success. By the careful management of
his business, he has proved himself a successful farmer, and has the warm
respect and esteem of those who have acted with him in the growth and
development of this county for over half a century.
Extracted 05 Jan 2017 & 06 Jun 2018 by Norma Hass from Atlas Map of Greene County Illinois, 1873, page 35.
