Who was JClement

“The people who have left us are never truly gone until there is no one left to remember them.”      Unknown Author

In Colrain, Massachusetts off of Ed Clark Road is a small cemetery known as Christian Hill. Just inside the gate on the right side is a small field stone, roughly cut. Hand carved letters on the face of the stone spell out JClement; there are no other Clements in this small cemetery. There is nothing on the stone that identify this person other than a name.

Let me tell you a little about her; she was born Mary Jane Palmer on April 14, 1845 in Leray, Jefferson Co., New York. Her parents were Lorenzo Palmer and Pamelia Merritt and the family farmed land in what is now Fort Drum New York. 

On March 10,1866 she married Daniel L. Clement, a recently returned Civil War solder who served with the 42nd NY Infantry Regiment.  Daniel joined the Army at 16 years old to fight for his country, and was discharged on June 30, 1865. 

Daniel and Jennie, as she was known all her life, had 6 children; Mattie, Charles, George, Anna, Samuel and Edwin.  They farmed land in North Wilna, New York during their lives together.   Charles and George died very young, Anna died at age 20 of complications of child birth, and her remaining 3 children lived long and productive lives. 

In 1894 Daniel, at the age of 47, died of Brights Disease, Mattie was married and by 1896 was living with her family in Colrain, MA. That left Sam and Edwin who were living with her and farming the land in New York. 

Jennie moved to Colrain just before the turn of the century and began a farm with her two sons and her brother James. 

Around 1905 she returned to New York with her son Edwin; Sam decided to stay behind as he had met Emma Farnum, a weaver who worked at a Colrain Textile mill.  They would be married in later 1905. 

She returned to Massachusetts around 1910, living with her daughter, for a time. Whether it was home sickness or knowing that the end was near, she wanted to return home to New York.  While arraignments were being made with Edwin to get her back home, she died suddenly and was buried in the small  Christian Hill Cemetery, on top of the hill. 

Certainly more could and should be said of a life that lasted 67 years but at least our Great Gandmother is not forgotten

**The image of Jennie Palmer Clement is a pencil and charcoal drawing that her grand son John Edwin Clement Sr.  identified as her several years ago.


Access Jennie Clement's  Find A Grave Memorial  at this link