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View Tree for William Otis ClemensWilliam Otis Clemens (b. October 1826, d. April 24, 1881)

William Otis Clemens (son of Benjamin Clemens and Naomi Bland) was born October 1826 in Pulaski County, Ar46, and died April 24, 1881 in Calhoun County, Ar47. He married Lucinda Caroline Stell on January 29, 1852 in Dallas County, AR48, daughter of John King Stell and Rachel Steele.

 Includes NotesNotes for William Otis Clemens:
OBITUARY:

CALHOUN COUNTY, Ark, April 3, 1881
TO THE EDITOR OF THE GAZETTE:
Our quiet and undemonstrative neighborhood was again shocked on last Sunday morning by the report that Mr. W. O. Clemens, one of our best known citizens, had committed suicide. The people had not fully regained their former cheerfulness disturbed by the tragedy of the drowned children; occurring just a week before, when this followed so closely after it and growing out of it. The deceased gentlemen was one of the jury of the inquisition that viewed the dead children, little thinking perhaps as did any of us that in just one week to a day the same proceeding would be had over his own body. On receiving the information I went immediately to the residence of the deceased and found him in the horse lot lying on his back in front of a stable, his head resting in a pool of blood and brains which were still slowly oozing from a bullet hole in the center of the forehead. The conduct of Mr. Clemens for several days previous had clearly indicated that he was laboring under some terrible mental hallucination, which finally led him to the commission of the rash act. It so happened that on the day the woman (Mrs. Nutt) drowned her children, Mr. Clemens made an agreement with her husband to go to Chambersville together, but not getting off Saturday at noon as expected, he found on arriving at Mrs. Nutt's house, distant about one and a half miles, that he had gone on, thinking it likely that Mr. Clemens was not coming. He passed on and came up with Mr. Nutt at Chambersville. So Mr. Clemens was the last individual who saw the children alive, with the exception of their mother. Now, because of this, and also because he came home with Mr. Nutt, or by home with him, and was there when the children were first discovered in the well, and being Mr. Nutt's nearest neighbor, he was naturally asked a great many questions about
THAT AWFUL DEED,
and several inconsistent and over-inquisitive individuals expressed an opinion in Mr. Clemens' presence that the woman must have had help to throw the oldest boy in the well, a boy ten years old.
Mr. Clemens was a very ardent, sensitive and enthusiastic man, and in the advocacy of an idea he thought would be conducive to the public….he could….brook opposition. Jealous of his honor and standing as a man and citizen, he suffered any report or remark that he considered detrimental to the same; to depress him to an unusual degree, and reflecting much on the shocking circumstance occurring so near him, and on the fact that he was at Mr. Nutt's house on that evening, he came to the conclusion that certain men believed he assisted the woman to throw the children in the well, and no amount of argumentation on the part of his best friends would convince him otherwise. As well might you have attempted to quench the flame of a volcano with a drop of water, as to show him the absurdity of such a notion. He insisted that a mob was organized, headed by several well-known men, whom he named, and were waiting a favorable opportunity to murder him. His sloop, what little he had, was rendered hideous by visions of masked men flitting around, bent on his destruction. Nearer and nearer still, this goblin of the imagination dragged him to the whirlpool of insanity, at last it gets him to the brink, it plunges him in and struggling awhile with forces too powerful to overcome, weary of a life so wretched, he put an end to his sufferings, and sought in the
DREAMLESS SLUMBER OF THE GRAVE
that peace of mind denied him hers. Poor man, would it be otherwise.
After being shaved on Sunday last, Mr. Clemens expressed a wish to take a walk, but did not wish anyone to go with him. His wife knowing that he kept a pistol, had that morning looked for it, but could not find it. She followed him out into the hall and tried to search his pockets for it. He smilingly handed her a nail and told her to put that away, but would not permit her to search his pockets, knowing what she was after. He started on his walk, his brother-in-law, Mr. Dallas Stell, going with him. They went out to the lot and stopped in front of the stable, when Mr. Clemens directed Mr. Stell's notice to a wagon coming down the road some distance off, and asked whose it was. Mr. Stell moved a few paces to get a better view of the wagon; then Mr. Clemens seeing his opportunity, turned in the other direction, walked a few steps, and with a quick movement placed an old-fashioned Derringer pistol to his forehead, fired,
FELL TO THE EARTH AND EXPIRED
in a few seconds, never speaking. His wife and several of his friends, including the Rev. Mr. Graham in charge of the Princeton Circuit, were standing on the porch of the house and witnessed the whole proceeding but could not interfere in time to prevent it.
And thus in this terrible manner passed away one of our best citizens. His funeral on Monday was largely attended by the people, attesting their respect for the memory of the departed. He leaves a bereaved wife and a large family of sorrowing children who, in this trying hour of misery and woe, have the sympathy of the whole community. It was a sad, sorrowful spectacle to see his three married daughters arrive one by one, after having received the overwhelming news. Mr. Clemens was a man ardent in his friendships, strong in his dislikes, yet easy to forgive, possessing a warm and generous heart and an accommodating disposition. It was the misfortune of the writer of this to pass several months of his existence during the war amid scenes of death and suffering in a northern prison with Mr. Clemens, and a strong friendship grew up between us, which, so far as I am concerned, although we have differed since on questions of public policy, has never weakened. Peace be to his ashes.
BENJ. DICKSON


CIVIL WAR INFORMATION:

Clemons, William O
Private—Enlisted in Co. A, 10th Arkansas Cavalry, at Camden, Arkansas, February 23, 1863; present, February 29, 1864; captured at Longview, Arkansas, March 29, 1864; confined at U.S. Military Prison, Rock Island, Illinois; exchanged at Red River Landing, Louisiana, March 4, 1865; name also shown as Clements.

Company A was organized at Camden, Arkansas, on January 12, 1863, by Captain John Wesley Walker. The company was composed primarily of men from Ouachita county, and operated as an independent cavalry company throughout 1863. On December 30, 1863, upon the organization of Crawford’s Regiment, the company was assigned as Company A, and Captain Walker was elected major. He was succeeded as captain by John C. Peoples.

One muster roll for Company A survives. It covers the period January 1 to February 29, 1864, when the company was stationed at Cut Off, Drew county, Arkansas.



Although this obituary is dated 4-3-1881, the tombstone shows that W.O. died 4-24-1881. The inscription shows 54 years, 6 months and 7 days.



More About William Otis Clemens:
Burial: Unknown, Clemens Cemetery.

More About William Otis Clemens and Lucinda Caroline Stell:
Marriage: January 29, 1852, Dallas County, AR.48

Children of William Otis Clemens and Lucinda Caroline Stell are:
  1. Sarah Elizabeth Clemens, b. November 21, 1852, d. July 17, 1859.
  2. Lucy Ellen Clemens, b. October 01, 1853, d. November 28, 1935.
  3. Naomi/Naoma Jane Clemens, b. September 08, 1856, d. July 02, 1933.
  4. Lucanda Clemens, b. January 02, 1859, d. August 28, 1937.
  5. Martha Ann Clemens, b. March 26, 1861, d. date unknown.
  6. Robert Bud Clemens, b. May 01, 1864, d. February 11, 1889.
  7. John D. Clemens, b. October 02, 1866, d. November 15, 1892.
  8. William Asbery Clemens, b. April 01, 1869, d. May 31, 1870.
  9. +George Collie Clemons, b. April 16, 1871, Hopeville, AR, d. September 17, 1939, Hopeville, AR.
  10. +Thomas Lee Clemens, b. November 08, 1873, d. June 06, 1944, Dallas County AR.
  11. +Rachel Amanda Clemens, b. February 23, 1877, d. October 14, 1937.
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