Rev. F. M. Clemans
There is no earthly station higher than the ministry of the Gospel and no life more uplifting and grander than that which is devoted to the amelioration of the human race. The life of the minister means sacrifice for the betterment of the brotherhood of man, yet there are always men who are willing to cast aside earthly crowns and laurels of fame in order to follow in the footsteps of the lowly Nazarene. It is not possible to measure adequately the height, depth and breadth of such a life, for its influences continue to permeate the lives of others through succeeding generations, so the power it has cannot be known until the "last great day when the trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be raised incorruptible." One of the selfsacrificing, ardent, loyal and true spirits who has been a blessing to his race, who has left in his wake an influence that ever makes the world brighter and better, is the Rev. F. M. Clemans, now living a retired life near New Holland, Ohio, on his farm, known as the Guy Halme place, after having spent nearly a half century in the service of his Master.
Rev. F. M. Clemans, the son of William T. and Elizabeth (Dalbey) Clemans, was born June 28, 1835, in Greene county, Ohio, near Jamestown. His father came to Greene county when two years old with his parents, Hezekiah and Martha (Stacy) Clemans, locating in that county in 1813. Hezekiah Clemans was a soldier of the War of 1812 and served under "Mad Anthony" Wayne in his campaign against the Indians in the northern part of Ohio. William Clemans, the father of Hezekiah, was a soldier in the Revolutionary War and fought at the battle of Cowpens January 17, 1781. William Clemans' father came from the northern part of Ireland and settled in Virginia about the middle of the sixteenth century. It is interesting to note that Samuel Clemens, familiarly known as "Mark Twain,'' was a nephew of William Clemens, the great-grandfather of Rev. F. M. Clemans.
Practically the whole career of Rev. F. M. Clemans has been spent as a student, teacher and minister of the Gospel. His early education was received in the district schools of his home township, after which he entered Great Grove Academy. He then taught school for several years, during which period he devoted all of his spare time to reading and study. At the age of thirty-one years he resigned the superintendency of the Jamestown schools to take up the ministry and was ordained as a minister in the Methodist Episcopal church, and for nearly half a century ministered to the spiritual wants of different congregations. While still a young man he spent considerable time in study, and is the holder of several degrees from reputable colleges. He was granted the degree of Master of Arts by Ohio Wesleyan University; the degree of Doctor of Divinity by the Universitv of Chicago, and the degree of Doctor of Philosophy by the East Tennessee University at Athens, Tennessee. His life has been one of devotion to the work of the Master. Thousands have heard his voice and been benefited thereby. It is not within the province of men to estimate the good which can be accomplished during the life of such a man, and especially when it is taken into consideration that he preached for nearly fifty years. He retired from active service in his church a few years ago and is now living a quiet and retired life near New Holland. He and Mrs. Clemans have two farms aggregating three hundred and fifty-six acres in Marion township, over which they maintain a careful supervision.
Rev. F. M. Clemans was married in 1859 to Sarah Chaffin. and to this umon four children were born: W. L., of Cedarville. Ohio; Fred M of Mechanicsburg ; Lillie V, deceased, and Nellie G., deceased. Mrs. Sarah Clemans died November 5, 1885, and on July 25, 1888, Mr. Clemans was married to Mrs. Clara Chaffin Clarke, a cousin of the first wife. The last marriage took place at Delaware, Ohio. Mrs. Clara Clemans has been a true helpmate and a great help to her husband, both financially and in his ministerial work. She inherited from her parents the home farm, which has been in the family for over one hundred years.
Rev. F. M. Clemans has always taken an intelligent interest in political matters, but owing to the nature of his life work, has never been active in political affairs. He has always been an independent voter and cast his ballot for the men who, he felt, were the best able to conduct the affairs of government, irrespective of their political affiliations. Fraternally, he has long been a member of the Free and Accepted Masons. He is a man of modest and unassuming demeanor, a fine type of the self-made American, a friend to the poor, charitable to the faults of his neighbors, a man who always stands ready to unite with them in every good work. He is a man who in every respect merits the high esteem in which he has always been held and now, in his declining years, he can look back over a life which has been well spent in the service of his fellow men and his Master.
Rev. Clemans was first superintendent of the Dayton and Cincinnati District of the Anti-Saloon League and took a prominent part in that organization, being all his life a temperance advocate.
Guyholme, the country residence of Rev. and Mrs. Clemans, is one of the oldest homes in Fayette county. The land was purchased by Jonathan Shepherd, Mrs. Clemans' maternal grandfather, of Gen. Duncan McArthur, the noted Indian fighter, to whom it had been given by the government for his services in the wars. Here Jonathan and Elizabeth Shepherd and little daughter Susan (afterward the wife of Smith Chaffin) settled in 1811, so that the farm has been in the possession of the family over one hundred and three years. Mrs. Clemans' mother used to tell her how, when a child of four years, she came with her father and saw him cut down the first tree ever felled on this tract of land, and how she played around while he cleared one acre and built his cabin. She also told how, in 1812, she saw a body of soldiers marching up the White pike on their way from Chillicothe (then the capital) to Detroit, where they were afterward in Hull's surrender. She visited Indian camps along the stream—Compton creek—which flows past the farm, and grew up amid the hardships and privations of pioneer life. Jonathan and Elizabeth Shepherd literally hewed the farm out of the wilderness. The tract was noted for its fine timber and still possesses many beautiful trees.
Mrs. Shepherd was a niece of the illustrious John Champe, the intrepid young Virginian whom General Washington selected to carry out the hazardous enterprise of capturing Benedict Arnold, after his traitorous scheming for the surrender of West Point. He wished to secure Arnold and save from execution Major Andre. Perhaps no event of the Revolution required more coolness, courage and good judgment than this attempt of Champe and though, at the last moment, Arnold escaped, it required the nerve of a hero to get back to the American headquarters, where his admiring chieftain gave him an honorable discharge and a bodyguard to take him home in safety.
Elizabeth Daily Shepherd inherited from her mother, Fanny Champe, heroic qualities and sterling virtues, which well fitted her to lead the life of a pioneer, and here, amid the primeval forest, she and her husband established a Godly home, a center of industry, thrift and all the homely virtues transplanted from old Virginia soil. Hither, in due time, came an alert and promising young man. Smith Chaffin, who wooed and won the daughter of the house. He was born October 4, 1809, his mother a beautiful Maryland girl, his father a sturdy native of North Carolina, reared in Virginia and, after marriage, emigrating to Ohio. Smith Chaffin and wife became large landholders in Fayette and Pickaway counties and were known for their sterling worth. He was a man of inflexible purpose, sound judgment and a clear and lofty perception of duty. He had the logical mind of a statesman and in debate was a foeman worthy of any man's steel. His clear-cut sentences contained not a superfluous word and drove the argument home with telling effect. The wife was a woman of cultured mind and heart, though a product of the old "deestrict skule," graduating from the alphabet into the New Testament with never an "ism" or an "ology" in her curriculum. A reader of the best literature, she made the Bible a special study and was so familiar with it that she needed no concordance. With a superb equipoise, she pursued the even tenor of her way, unmoved by the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune. With a heart "by hope made strong, by faith made high," she sat like Patience on a monument, amid the most trying circumstances.
Mrs. Clemans is the youngest child of this couple and is the last surviving member of this family. She was graduated in the classical course from Xenia College in 1866, and was elected a member of the faculty of that institution the week before graduation. She resigned this position to be united in marriage with Maxwell Gaddis Clarke, a son of the Rev. John W. Clarke, one of the old and best known ministers of the Ohio conference of the Methodist Episcopal church. Rev. Clarke was a cousin of the renowned linguist and commentator, Dr. Adam Clarke, and, like him, possessed a wonderful command of language. This gift descended to the son and likewise to the grandson, Guy Max Clarke, a brilliant young graduate of Ohio Wesleyan University, who passed away to heaven in his twenty-third year. The farm was named "Guyholme" in his honor, and his mother has established a professorship in his alma mater bearing his name. After the death of her husband, Mrs. Clarke returned to Xenia College as its preceptress, a place she filled very acceptably. Afterward she taught in the schools of Delaware, Ohio, resigning the position to join her fortunes with those of the Rev. F. M. Clemans. Of frail physicjue, she has ever tried to do what she could and "lend a hand."
From History of Fayette County Ohio - Her People, Industries and Institutions by Frank M. Allen (1914, R. F. Bowen & Company, Inc.)