Who was Daniel L. Clement
citizen soldier, farmer and our great great grandfather
Daniel was born 8 May 1847 in Philadelphia, Jefferson, Co., New York to Charles and Sarah Bromley Clement. He had two siblings; Annie M., born 1 June 1845, and Ira Franklyn, born 28 November 1848. The family was engaged in farming as their primary trade. They appear to have travelled quite a bit judging from the places where the children were born.
When Daniel was 16 years old he went to New York City to enlist in the Army. He entered service August 31 1863 and was mustered into the 42nd New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment; he stayed in that unit until June 28, 1864, when he was transferred to the 82nd NY Infantry Regiment. On July 10, 1864 he was transferred again to the 59th New York Infantry, where he stayed until he left the service when the Regiment was disbanded at Munsons Hill, VA on June 30, 1865.
During his time in service he was present at the battles of Spotsyvannia Court House, Cold Harbor, Petersburg, Appomattox, White Oaks and Appomattox Court House. His unit was present at the surrender of Robert E. Lee and since his service record does not mention he ever missed a day of service, one must conclude that he was there when the surrender occurred. His unit returned to Washington DC. for the Grand Review on May 23, 1865 and for the mustering out on June 30.
When he left service his discharge papers noted the following; Daniel Clement, 18 Years old, entered service 31 August 1863 to serve 3 years and was discharged 30 June 1865 at Munsons Hill, VA due to the “Expiration of the War.” The discharge also indicated that he was 5’2” tall, with a light complexion, with brown hair and blue eyes. His discharge order was signed by William Olstead; Colonel 59th New York Regiment.
Daniel returned home, and on March 10, 1866, two days after his 19th birthday, married Mary Jane (Jennie) Palmer. They had 6 children; Mattie, Charles, George, Anna, Samuel, and Ira Edwin. (See Post Who is J Clement.) With the children, they began farming in Lewis Co., New York. Charles and George were both lost early on. Mattie married and moved to Colrain MA with her husband, Albert Herzig. Anna married Lennie Ashcraft and they had one daughter. Anna died in child birth. The final two... we will leave their stories for now other than to say Sam and his wife Emma raised a family in Massachusetts and Ira Edwin and his wife Merle raised their family in upstate New York.
On 27 September 1894 at the age of 47 Daniel died of Bright’s Disease, Heart and Liver Failure. At the present time his burial location is not known, there is a newspaper article that identifies him as being buried in Carthage, New York with other Civil War Soldiers but I have not confirmed that. As you are aware from reading my previous post Who is JClement, his wife Jennie is buried in Colrain, Massachusetts
So the next time you see a Civil War photograph of soldiers at Appomattox Court House or you happen to watch the documentary by Ken Burns “The Civil War”, one of those men at the surrender site is our 18 year old great great grandfather.
“The people who have left us are never truly gone until there is no one left to remember them.” Unknown Author
