Young Clarence and His Siblings

A photo of Harry and Clarence, probably taken sometime in 1888, when Harry was perhaps two and Clarence was around three or four.

William Clarence, our grandfather, was born near Monmouth, Illinois, on March 23, 1885. His brother Harry was born on October 22, 1886. I do not have an exact birth date for Hadassah, their little sister, but she was about 14 years younger than Clarence.The wonderful people at the Genealogy Room in the Monmouth Public Library helped me find out all sorts of interesting things about them, and I am so grateful!

Church.

The family attended Cedar Creek Church, which was organized in 1835 by two Presbyterian ministers. The script of a pageant, presented on the 100th anniversary of the church, gives some fascinating information about its history. According to the Census of 1830, the entire state of Illinois had a population of 157,365, and Chicago was a mere hamlet.

Their Presbyterian faith was very strict then, and they prepared all day on Saturday for the Sabbath, so that no work would be done on Sunday, and so that they might spend the afternoon repeating the 107 questions of the Shorter Catechism!

An old "Session Book" provides some interesting stories of the early church. A woman was brought before the Church Council for picking blackberries on the Sabbath, and a man was "arraigned" for cutting down a bee tree on a Sunday. In 1877, only 8 years before Clarence was born, a woman was accused before this "court" of grinding coffee on the Sabbath. She expressed regret for her sin and was let off. One woman who failed to attend church one Sunday was visited that afternoon by a committee. Finding the reasons for her absence insufficient, they suspended her from membership in the church. In 1878, eighteen young people were called before the Session for dancing, hymn singing (only Psalms could be sung), drinking and profane language.

There was even trouble caused by politics. On September 1, 1866, the Session inquired into the case of Mr. John Watt and Mr. Nathaniel Brownlee. Mr. Watt had called on Mr. Brownlee to buy fence posts. Talk turned to politics, and Brownlee said "I suppose you will vote for Andy Johnson. Watt replied, "If I don't change my mind." Brownlee replied, "Anyone who votes for Johnson is a traitor to his country!" and the quarrel went on from there, including some angry words that took the Lord's name in vain. They promised to "control their passion" in the future.

The first church building was a log cabin, but new ones were built and added to throughout its history. Building funds were enriched by socials, strawberry festivals, etc., and by the efforts of the Ladies Missionary Society (who once bought a new stand and spitoon for the Pulpit). The last building was erected in 1866, but was remodeled several times. Another money-raising activity was the annual auction of family pews. Prices ranged from $1.00 to $25.00, the most expensive being closest to the front.

Although Grandpa and Uncle Harry had definitely grown away from the strictness of the United Presbyterians by the time I knew them, I remember that Aunt Hadassah was still quite a stickler during a visit we made when I was young. She criticized all who worked on the Sabbath, and was not very happy with the new pastor, who had started youth groups, played basketball with the kids, and did not think enough of "spiritual things" in her opinion. She must have been horrified when the UP church merged with the Presbyterian Church, USA, a much less strict and more liberal organization and the largest in the US.

Church records, faithfully typed out and indexed by members of the Monmouth Genealogical Society, show that William Clarence was baptized on 11 July, 1885. Harry was baptized on 5 February, 1887. I can't find Hadassah, however.

Altha's cousin, Jean McCrery, transferred her membership to Cedar Creek from her church in Triadelphia, West Virginia, when she married (James) Earl in 1905 (he had become a member by profession of faith in 1897). When Altha came to live with them, she did the same, on 8 April, 1906.

Our great-grandfather, George W. McConnell, was admitted by profession of faith in 1881.

School

Clarence and Harry attended the Cedar Creek School, a one-room schoolhouse that at times taught 40 children, ages 6 to 18. There are often notations (especially for boys) that a student withdrew around March, since many had to stay home to help with spring plowing and planting. The teacher in 1894 (28 children, ages 6-14) left a report to her successor, sounding much like teachers today: "Seems to me the school has been allowed to learn facts rather than principles. They seem to not know how to think; and in truth they do not." In a report in 1897 to her successor (a lot of turnover!), another teacher stated: "The advanced grade are most all willing to work but it seems hard to get them to have self-reliance. Some few are prone to let the thoughts of the opposite sex interfere with their studies, but perhaps they will have outgrown that by next year." Wishful thinking! Clarence and Harry are merely listed, with their age and grade level, but there are no grades or comments on individual pupils. Since the school was growing quite large for one teacher to handle, I imagine a new one was started before Hadassah was ready for school, since she does not show up in the index to Cedar Creek School. I didn't have time to look elsewhere.

Harry's Religious Tolerance

The last time the Tucson family visited Monmouth (with Grandma McConnell, too) was in 1961. After a family reunion lunch in a large room in a restaurant, we offered a ride home to Uncle Harry. Monmouth was still awfully United Presbyterian at that time. When asked about a son-in-law of his who had lost his wife, Harry's daughter, Uncle Harry allowed as how he was doing well. "He's got a lady friend, now, a widder woman. She's one of them fish-eaters, but that don't hurt her none." Wonderful uncle Harry!