52 Ancestors: #21 Clementine GOWING 1814-1880+

“The challenge: have one blog post each week devoted to a specific ancestor. It could be a story, a biography, a photograph, an outline of a research problem — anything that focuses on one ancestor.”

This is entry #21 in Amy Johnson Crow’s Challenge: 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks.

#21 Clementine GOWING abt. 1814-bet. 1880-1900

My third great-grandmother Clementine GOWING was the youngest of three daughters of Landon S. GOWING and Sally CRISP who were married on 17 January 1803 in Amherst County, Virginia.¹ Clementine’s sisters were Emmeline born abt. 1810 and Martha C., also known as Martissa, born abt. 1812. Clementine M. (her middle initial was seen in the 1850 and 1860 census) was born abt. 1814.

Analysis of the pre-1850 census listings for the GOWING family shows that Clementine’s mother was older than her father by about 5-10 years. By 1820 Sally and Landon had been married 17 years and their daughters were about 10, 8, and 6 years old. It makes me wonder if there may have been more babies who did not survive.

1820 U.S. Federal Census²
Nelson County, Virginia
Landon S. Gowing
Enumeration Date: August 7, 1820
Free White Persons – Males – 26 thru 44: 1 (Landon)
Free White Persons – Females – Under 10: 2 (Clementine and Martissa)
Free White Persons – Females – 10 thru 15: 1 (Emmeline)
Free White Persons – Females – 45 and over: 1 (Sally)
Number of Persons – Engaged in Agriculture: 1
Free White Persons – Under 16: 3
Free White Persons – Over 25: 2
Total Free White Persons: 5
Total All Persons – White, Slaves, Colored, Other: 5

Landon S. GOWING was listed in the marriage register as a parent or security/witness for the marriages of each of his daughters. Clementine’s sister Emmeline married William Dison LAWHORNE (1811-aft. 1880) on 5 July 1828.³ Six months later on 3 January 1829 Clementine, the baby of the family, married Seaton Y. DEMPSEY.⁴ She was about 15 years old at the time. Her sister Martha C. “Martissa” married Wyatt F. LILLY (1811-aft. 1880) on 29 May 1833.⁵

Register of Marriages, Amherst County, Virginia (LDS Film 30273, pg. 301)

Although the Gowing family was living in Nelson County in 1810 and 1820 all of the daughters were married in Amherst where Landon was seen in the 1830 census.⁶ Martissa and her husband Wyatt moved to Caldwell County, Kentucky, after the births of their first three sons and before the 1840 census.

Clementine’s mother appears to have died after 1830 as her husband Landon is seen with a younger woman in his household in 1840.⁷ Clementine’s stepmother’s name was seen as Celia in the 1850 census.⁸ No marriage record was found for this marriage. I have a theory but will save it for Landon’s story.

As previously seen in Clementine’s husband Seaton Y. DEMPSEY’s story, she was the mother of 8 children, all born in Amherst County, Virginia:

George W. DEMPSEY was born abt. 1831; married Rhoda A. STATON on 20 December 1852; father of two sons and a daughter.⁹

Geneva Elizabeth DEMPSEY (aka Jennie and Janie) born abt. 1836; mother of six illegitimate children; married Marshall S. TERRY bet. 1866-1869; mother of three children with her husband.¹⁰

William S. DEMPSEY was born abt. 1839; married Mary Elenor CLEMENTS on 26 April 1857; father of two daughters and a son; died bet. 1864-1869. Note: His widow Mary married his cousin Sterling LAWHORNE (son of Clementine’s sister Emmeline) and had two more sons and a daughter.¹¹,¹²

Thomas G. DEMPSEY born abt. 1840, died bet. 1864-1870.¹³

John J. DEMPSEY born abt. 1843, served as a substitute for Andrew Scott Montgomery in Carpenter’s Company, Virginia Light Artillery (Alleghany Rough Artillery), he did not survive the war.¹⁴

Mary M. DEMPSEY b. abt. 1845; married Irvin Lewis INGRAM on 23 May 1867 in Fayette County, West Virginia; mother of three daughters.¹⁵

Martha Ann (aka Matties) DEMPSEY born abt. 1847; married(1) George L. “Little George” JOHNSON on 20 September 1866 with whom she had two sons and two daughters; married(2) Joseph Henry ARBAUGH on 18 Jul 1880 with whom she had a son and two daughters.¹⁶,¹⁷

Julia Victoria DEMPSEY was born in 1853; married Joseph Henry PRESSON on 3 June 1872; mother of two daughters and five sons.¹⁸

On 8 September 2007, I located the Revolutionary War papers of John MASSEY, husband of Susannah WRIGHT.¹⁹ In these papers, Landon S. GOWING gives an affidavit on 24 September 1853. This is the last document found that mentions Clementine’s father. He was not seen in the 1860 census and therefore may have died between 1853-1860.

In the late 1850s when Clementine and her husband Seaton Y. DEMPSEY moved with their family to Fayette County, in western Virginia, she left behind two children.²⁰ Her son William S. married in 1857 and was in Rockbridge County in 1860.²¹ Her unmarried daughter Jennie remained in Amherst with baby Clementine, the first grandchild. She had a set of twins a year before the census. Her little family was enumerated as paupers.²²

Clementine’s sons Thomas G. and John J. returned to eastern Virginia after the 1860 census and joined the Confederacy. Her son George W. was taken prisoner in Fayette County:²³

Friday Morning, May 30, 1862
The Lewisburg Prisoners – One hundred and fifteen prisoners arrived in the city yesterday on board the steamer Glenwood, and were marched to the Atheneum in charge of a heavy guard. These prisoners were captured the other day at Lewisburg by Col. Crooks, who attacked and routed the rebels at that place. They were uniformed in all sorts of styles. They looked about as hard as the general run of secesh (sic) who come to this city to visit the Atheneum, but would doubtless present a different appearance if they had an opportunity to wash and brush themselves up. Among the prisoners are four commissioned officers, one of whom is a Lieutenant Colonel.
Many of the privates among the prisoners seem to be very much dispirited. Some claim to have been pressed into the service. They say that in the counties where they reside, every man capable of holding arms is compelled either to volunteer or leave the State. Some of the officers, on the other hand, talk impudently and defiantly.
The following are the names of the prisoners:
[I’ve left out the entire list here which included George]
G. W. Dempsey, Fayette county
The prisoners will be sent to Camp Chase to-day.

George came home after the war but Clementine’s three other sons did not live to see the 1870 census enumerated. George died after the 1870 census leaving Seaton and Clementine with their three youngest daughters living in their area and daughter Jennie living in Rockbridge County.²⁴,²⁵,²⁶,²⁷

Clementine and Seaton were last seen in the 1880 census.²⁸ I’ve gone through the 1900 census page by page for Fayette County searching for several of my families who did not turn up on the index. Either the families were missed or pages/places are missing. As death records are scarce for the 1880-1910 period and I have no 1900 listing, I estimate that Clementine died between 1880-1900.

This Post Was Updated on 22 May 2022: Missing source citations were added and some corrections were made to the text and format.

© 2014-2022, copyright Cathy Meder-Dempsey. All rights reserved.

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1. “Register of marriages, Amherst County, Virginia, 1763-1853” (browse-only images), FamilySearch, citing microfilm of original records at the Virginia State Library in Richmond, Virginia, Film 30273, DGS 7578824, image 450 of 786, Amherst County Register of Marriages, page 163, 5th entry, 17 Jan 1803, Landon Going and Sally Crisp, Philip Going and S. Garland in the column for security and witnesses. (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-89XF-NZ6G?i=449 : accessed 11 January 2022). ↩
2. 1820 U.S. Federal Census (index and images), Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/7734/), citing Fourth Census of the United States, 1820 population schedule, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington D.C., NARA microfilm publication M33, 142 rolls, NARA Roll: M33_130, image: 371, Virginia, Nelson County, page 194A, line 15, Landon S. Gowing (accessed 19 May 2014). ↩
3. Register of marriages, Amherst County, Virginia, Film 30273, DGS 7578824, image 586 of 786, Amherst County Register of Marriages, page 298, 7th entry, 5 Jul 1828, Dison Langhorne and Emmeline Gowing, Landon S. Gowing – father, witnesses: Robert Langhorne Jr., Robert Tinsley, Arthur B. Davies. (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-89XF-NDW2?i=585 : accessed 15 May 2022). ↩
4. Ibid., Film 30273, DGS 7578824, image 589 of 786, Amherst County Register of marriages, page 301, entry 2, 3 Jan 1829, Seaton Y Dempsey and Clementina Gowing, security and witnesses: Landon S. Gowing, Philip Smith Sr., Ro. Tinsley. (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-99XF-N8WJ : accessed 26 February 2022). ↩
5. Ibid., Film 30273, DGS 7578824, image 611 of 786, Amherst County Register of Marriages, page 323, 3rd entry, 29 May 1833, Wiatt Lily and Martha C. (Martissa) Gowing, Landon S. Gowing – father, witnesses: James Fitzgerald and Robert Tinsley. (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-89XF-ND36?i=610 : accessed 15 May 2022). ↩
6. 1830 U.S. Federal Census (index and images), Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/8058/), citing Fifth Census of the United States, 1830 population schedule, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington D.C. NARA microfilm publication M19, 201 rolls, Nara Roll M19_194, FHL Film: 0029673, Virginia, Amherst County, page 519 (double-page spread), line 12, Landon Gowing (accessed 19 Feb 2013). ↩
7. 1840 U.S. Federal Census (index and images), Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/8057/), citing Sixth Census of the United States, 1840 population schedule, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington D.C., NARA microfilm publication M704, 580 rolls, NARA Roll: M704_569, FHL Film: 0029690, Virginia, Nelson County, page 57 (double-page spread), line 25, Landon Gowing (accessed 19 May 2014). ↩
8. 1850 U.S. Federal Census (index and images), Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/8054/), citing Seventh Census of the United States, 1850 population schedule, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington D.C., NARA microfilm publication M432, 1009 rolls, Roll: M432_963, image 172; Virginia, Nelson County, sheet 267A, lines 27-30, household 702-702, Landon Gowing (accessed 3 October 2014). ↩
9. Register of marriages, Amherst County, Virginia, Film 30273, DGS 7578824, image 784 of 786, left page, 5th entry from bottom, Geo W Dempsey and Rhoda A. Staton married 20 Dec 1852. (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G9XF-NZMP?i=783 : accessed 21 January 2021). ↩
10. “Virginia, Death Records, 1912-2014,” (index and images), Ancestry, citing Virginia Department of Health, Richmond, Virginia, State file no. 5079, Registration area no. 815, Registered no. 1. Jennie Elizabeth Terry, female, white, age 85, born abt 1831, died 3 Feb 1916 in Rockbridge, Virginia, registration date 4 Feb 1916, father Dempsey, mother unknown. (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 12 January 2016). ↩
11. “Marriage registers, 1854-1920, 1974-1977; indexes to marriages, 1854-1970,” (browse-only images), FamilySearch, citing microfilm of original records at the Amherst County Courthouse in Amherst, Virginia., Film 1888584 Items 3-4, DGS 7735324, Marriage registers, v. [2-3], 1854-1900, image 54 of 525, page 25-26, 12th entry, 26 Apr 1857, William S Dempsey and Mary Elenor Clements, citing Amherst County, Virginia. (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-89XF-F88F?i=53 : accessed 27 February 2022). ↩
12. “Virginia, County Marriage Records, 1771-1989,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6Z3Q-P1GM : 18 February 2021), Mary Clements in entry for Stephen Lawhorne, 8 Feb 1868; citing Marriage, Amherst, Virginia, United States, Circuit court clerk offices, Virginia. ↩
13. “Civil War Prisoner of War Records, 1861-1865,” (database with images), Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/1124/), citing National Archives at Washington DC; Washington, DC. USA; War Department Collection of Confederate Records; NARA film publicaton #:: M598; Record Group: War Department Collection of Confederate Records; Record Group Number: 109, Thomas G. Dempsey. ↩
14. Robert J. Driver, Jr., The Confederate Soldiers of Rockbridge County, Virginia: A Roster, McFarland, Aug 23, 2016, p. 75, Dempsey, John J. and Dempsey, William S. (https://books.google.lu/books : accessed 31 March 2018) ↩
15. West Virginia Vital Research Records Project (database and images), West Virginia Division of Culture and History citing county records in county courthouses, West Virginia (A collaborative venture between the West Virginia State Archives and the Genealogical Society of Utah to place vital records online via the West Virginia Archives and History Web site accessible at https://archive.wvculture.org/vrr), West Virginia Marriages, 1780-1970, FHL microfilm 584764/, image 244, Fayette County, West Virginia, Register of Marriage 1867, page 6, line 14, Irvin Ingram and Mary M. Dempsey, citing Fayette County, West Virginia. (http://images.wvculture.org/584764/00244.jpg : accessed 22 January 2022). ↩
16. Ibid., West Virginia Marriages, 1780-1970, FHL microfilm 584764, image 241, West Virginia, Fayette County Register of Marriages 1865-1866, page 3, line 33 of 45, 20 Sep 1866, George L. Johnson and Martha Ann Dempsey, citing Fayetteville. (http://images.wvculture.org/584764/00241.jpg : accessed 27 February 2022). ↩
17. Ibid., West Virginia Marriages, 1780-1970, FHL microfilm 584764, image 279, West Virginia, Fayette County Register of Marriages 1880, page 38, line 29, 18 Jul 1880, Jos H. Arbaugh and Martha A. Johnson, citing Fayette County. (http://images.wvculture.org/584764/00279.jpg : accessed 27 February 2022). ↩
18. Ibid., West Virginia Marriages, 1780-1970, FHL microfilm 584764, image 259, West Virginia, Fayette County Register of Marriages 1872, page 19, line 18, 3 Jun 1872, Joseph H Presson and Julia V Dempsey, citing Fayette County. (http://images.wvculture.org/584764/00259.jpg : accessed 28 February 2022). ↩
19. “Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files, 1800-1900,” database and images, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/1995/), citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm publication M804, 2,670 rolls. Records of the Department of Veterans Affairs, Record Group 15; National Archives, Washington, D.C., M > Marshal, Benjamin – Maxwell, William > Massay, John – Massy, Jacob > John Massey file (images 685 to 707 of 1029) > image 689 > affidavit of Landon S. Gowing (accessed 16 May 2022). ↩
20. 1860 U.S. Federal Census (index and images), Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/7667/), citing Eighth Census of the United States, 1860 population schedule, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington D.C., NARA microfilm publication M653, 1,438 rolls, Roll: M653, FHL film 805344, West Virginia, Fayette County, District 2, page 142, sheet 317, lines 28-37, households 1352-687 and 1353-688, Ceton Y and George Dempsey (accessed 19 February 2013). ↩
21. Ibid., Virginia, Rockbridge County, District 4, page 259, sheet 131, lines 16-18, household 1786-1786, Wm S Dempsey (accessed 16 May 2022). The official enumeration day of the 1860 census was 1 June 1860. ↩
22. Ibid., Virginia, Amherst County, page 193, sheet 421, household no number (paupers), lines 24-27, Jenna Dempsey (accessed 19 Feb 2013). ↩
23. Daily intelligencer. (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]), 30 May 1862. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. (http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84026845/1862-05-30/ed-1/seq-3/ : accessed date). ↩
24. 1870 U.S. Federal Census (index and images), Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/7163/), citing Ninth Census of the United States, 1870 population schedule, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington D.C., NARA microfilm publication T132, 13 rolls, Roll: M593_1686; FHL film 553185, West Virginia, Fayette County, Fayetteville, page 39, sheet 132A (stamped), lines 21-24, household 257-256, Seton Dempsey (accessed 25 January 2022). ↩
25. Mary M. DEMPSEY and her husband Irvin Lewis INGRAM’s family was missed in the 1870 census. ↩
26. Ibid., 1870 U.S. Federal Census, West Virginia, Fayette County, Falls of Kanawha, sheet 102B, page 16, lines 14-17, household 105-101, E.S (sic) Johnson (accessed 10 July 2018). ↩
27. Ibid., Virginia, Amherst County, Peddler, sheet 523A, page 77, lines 3-9, household 614-588, Marshal Terry (accessed 16 March 2013). The official enumeration day of the 1870 census was 1 June 1870. ↩
28. 1880 U.S. Federal Census (index and images), Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/6742/), citing Tenth Census of the United States, 1880 population schedule, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington D.C., NARA microfilm publication T9, 1,454 rolls, Roll: 1402; West Virginia, Fayette County, Fayetteville, Enumeration District 027, page 31, Sheet 28C, lines, 13-14, HH #264, Seaton Y. Dempsey household (accessed 25 January 2022). ↩