JAMES ED CLINTON

The following bio was taken from page 151 of the book entitled "Rusk County History" compiled and edited and used with permission of the Rusk County Historical Commission.

Transcribed by Shirley Koym

Submitted by Gloria Briley Mayfield, Rusk County TX Coordinator

James Ed Clinton, son of Peter Minor Clinton and Sarah Martin Adams Clinton, was born in York County, South Carolina on August 19, 1840. He married Amanda Jane Cooper, daughter of M. D. Cooper and Carolie Knarl Cooper, January 6, 1870. She was born on May 13, 1848.

James and Amanda lived on 164 acres of land that he inherited from his father, Peter Minor Clinton. The Clinton family came to Texas in 1853.

James Ed Clinton died on June 20, 1889. At the age of forty-one, Amanda was left a widow with two daughters. Her daughters were Sarah Elizabeth (Sally) who married John Binford Boynton, and Mary Frances (Rip) Clinton, who married James Andrew Bearden.

Grannie Clinton was one of the most rugged pioneer women that lived during her day. She had to make her living by digging it out of the ground. She had wonderful management, raised fine hogs to slaughter in the winter, and milked from two to four cows. This milk fed her family, hogs, and dogs, and in general, contributed to her good living. She always had a fine garden, fig trees, and an orchard. When she let her cows come into the cow pen, she would stand in the gate and hold her stick over them. I don’t know why she did this, but she always carried a long stick when she was milking.

Grannie Clinton was a wonderful woman. She was blessed with good health and was always among the first to go to a sick neighbor in need. She rode a horse with a sidesaddle, as this was her only source of transportation.

Grannie was a good cook and the one thing she always had was plenty to eat. She said that when she died she wasn’t going to owe her stomach anything. I remember her delicious pound cakes and her big thick slices of ham that she cured. I can also remember that when John Ben, Randolph Keeling, and I (John R. Brady) went to spend the weekends with her, we took her some cheese from Mr. O. P. Boynton’s store in Long Branch. I also remember her water bucket had a gourd dipper. Among the many precious memories I have of her is visiting and eating with her and sitting on the benches at her table.

Ever time I pass the old place, which is almost every day, I think of the wonderful woman who lived there. I am proud to have had her for a great grandmother. She lived alone part of her life and was not afraid. She would always say – "I fear nothing but the Lord."

Grannie’s close neighbors were the Zack Bearden family. Aunt Nettie was so nice to check on Grannie and report by telephone to my mother, Mrs. Nora Brady, if Grannie needed anything. Aunt Nettie was truly one of the finest neighbors of her day.

Amanda Clinton was possibly a charter member of the Zion Hill Missionary Baptist Church (1868). She died on July 22, 1929 at the age of eighty-one. She and her husband, James E. Clinton, are buried at Pine Grove Cemetery.

Submitted by John R. Brady