JAMES CLAYDON (1806-1876) & 1. Mary Leech, 2. Charity V. Rowland
James Claydon, son of Laurence & Mary Claydon, is probably the biggest reason why many living Claydon descendants reside in Upstate New York. He lived there almost 28 years, from 1848 to 1876. Three years after his death, a nephew named Henry Claydon moved his family from Solihull, England to Greenfield Center where his Uncle James had lived. Although another nephew, Thomas Claydon, preceded James by two years, he didn't stay in New York.
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James Claydon was the eighth known child of Laurence and Mary (Turner) Claydon. In the Claydon parish transcripts for Fringford, there is an entry for the baptism of James Claydon, son of Laurence and Mary Claydon, on October 5, 1806. The transcripts also have a record of the marriage of James Claydon and Mary Leech, on October 11, 1831, in Fringford. In the FamilySearch.org IGI is an item for Mary Leech marriage to Jas. Claydon in 1831, Fringford, Oxfordshire [IGI.]
It is known that James did not stay in Fringford. He had at least one friend in the London area, James Banks, who sent a letter to James in 1874 [http://www.colinlmiller.com/family/james_claydon/1874-09-30_bow_common.htm]. In the 1841 British Census, Hendon, Middlesex, there is a dairy farm valued at 300£, with household headed by James Clayton, male, age 35, not born in county; Mary Clayton, age 30, not born in county; and Thomas Clayton, male, age 25, ag laborer, not born in county [Class: HO107; Piece 657; Book: 5; Civil Parish: Hendon; County: Middlesex; Enumeration District: 2; Folio: 36; Page: 27; Line: 19; GSU roll: 438774]. The ages for James and Mary are correct. In other censuses, James is known as a farmer. Thomas Clayton may be his younger brother (although the ages differ by a few years), who was recently widowed, with kids staying with relatives in the hometown of Fringford. Thomas is not found in this census in that area. Also, James' nephew Philip was living in Hendon in 1851, while James & Mary, as well as Thomas were not. Phillip's son James was born there about 1847, and Phillip's wife Emily was born in the Hendon area.
Google maps: Golders Green area of Hendon.
For unknown reasons, James decided to leave England for America. In London, on July 14, 1848, James and Mary Claydon boarded the packet sailing ship Northumberland of the John Griswold Line, with unknown associates Herbert and Charlotte Cotten and their daughter Mary Ann, as steerage passengers. The ticket cost 20£ [see image shown below]. They are also listed in the passenger manifest [Ancestry.com: New York, 1820-1850 Passenger and Immigration Lists Record. Family ID: 1158848; Microfilm sn: M237; Microfilm Roll: 75]. The ship arrived at Castle Garden port of New York on August 31, 1848.
Painting of the Northumberland and Captain R. H. Griswold [Source: http://www.flogris.org/learning/foxchase/html/essay_florence.php].
Passenger manifest for Northumberland, with James & Mary Claydon
Passage ticket for James Claydon's party, signed by Capt. R. H. Griswold
In the 1850 US Census, Wilton, Saratoga Co., NY, James and Mary Claydon are on a farm valued at $2,500 [Year: 1850; Census Place: Wilton, Saratoga, New York; Roll: M432_592; Page: 177; Image: 356]. Based on the 1855 New York State Census, he stayed until about 1853 and then moved to the nearby town of Greenfield.
On December 11, 1852, James' wife Mary died. She was buried at St. John's Cemetery, Greenfield, in section 1-346. A transcript of tombstone inscriptions says she was born in 1809, and was aged 43 years [http://www.rootsweb.com/~nysarato/stjohnc.htm].
In the 1855 New York State Census, Town of Greenfield, First District, is James Claydon, house is wood frame, property valued at $100, age 48, male, born in England, married, resident in town for 2 years, farmer, alien, owner of land; and Charity, age 49, female, wife, born in Saratoga Co., married, resident for 40 years [http://www.rootsweb.com/~nysarato/55Grfld1.htm]. 1860 US Census, Greenfield, Saratoga Co., NY: James Clayden, age 53, male, farmer, property valued at $850, personal property valued at $250, born in England; Charity, age 54, female, born in NY; and Dudley Wait, age 11, male, born in NY [Year: 1860; Census Place: Greenfield, Saratoga, New York; Roll: M653_856; Page: 0; Image: 49].
1870 US Census, Greenfield, Saratoga Co., NY, James Claydon, age 63, male, white, farmer, $3000 / $1140, born in England; Charity V., age 64, female, white, keeping home, born in NY; and Friend T., age 10, male, white, attending school, born in Illinois [1870; Census Place: Greenfield, Saratoga, New York; Roll: M593_1088; Page: 168; Image: 337]. Friend T. is Friend Thomas Claydon, son of James' nephew, Thomas Claydon, who is son of James' eldest brother William. Thomas and wife Mary came to the USA about three years before James, staying in the Albany, NY area before ending up in Aurora, Illinois, where Thomas died in 1859. His mother sent Friend to live with Uncle James. James and his Claydon relatives in Illinois visited each other, as well as relatives of wife Charity. They were about one day's train ride apart. A daughter of Thomas and Mary, Elizabeth Claydon Reeves, wrote that she remembered Uncle James visiting their farm and carrying her to the barn in a bushel basket [http://www.colinlmiller.com/family/james_claydon/1876-03-03_seney_ia_elizabeth_reeves.htm].
James Claydon, son of Laurence & Mary (Turner) Claydon, and grandson of Nicholas & Johannah (Franklin) Claydon, was born about 1806 in Fringford, Oxfordshire, England, and baptized on October 5, 1806, in Fringford. Then, on October 11, 1831, he married Mary Leech (born in 1809). James and Mary apparently did not have any children. On July 14, 1848, James and Mary Claydon, along with unknown associates Herbert Cotten with wife Charlotte and daughter Mary Ann, boarded the sailing ship Northumberland as steerage passengers departing London for New York. They arrived six weeks later, on August 31, 1848, and settled in Saratoga County. In 1850, James and Mary were in Wilton, on a farm valued at $2,500. On December 11, 1852, Mary died and was buried in St. John's Cemetery in Greenfield. In 1860, James was in Greenfield, remarried to Charity V. Rowland, on a farm valued at $850. They stayed on their farm until their deaths in March of 1876.
During James' 28 years in Greenfield, he was in occasional contact with family and in-law relations in America and in England. In-law cousins in Ohio would send new harnesses to him by train. Claydon relatives in England would mail him some seed for the farm. Photographs and letters were exchanged, some of which survive to this day. James would also visit his nephew's children in Aurora, Illinois, and they would visit him in New York, usually traveling by railroad.
See The Descendants of Nicholas Claydon for more information.
Greenfield Center area of Greenfield township, Saratoga County, NY, from 1866 atlas. The two "W. Bentley" properties may be of relatives, but is unverified at this time.
Farm of James Claydon, which was pinpointed in an 1866 atlas of Saratoga County. This is an aerial view from Mapquest.com. Things haven't changed much in over 140 years.
Other Claydon relations also came to America. Thomas & Mary Claydon preceeded James & Mary by almost two years, settling in nearby Saratoga, before pursuing new opportunities in Illinois, and their children and descendants would spread out from there. Thomas' sister, Mary Ann Hollowell, settled in Brooklyn, NY. Years later, in 1879, Henry Claydon and family moved to Greenfield from Solihull, England. Today, there are dozens of descendants.
- James CLAYDON (b. abt. 1806; d. 4/30/1876) m1: Mary LEECH (b. 1806, d. 12/11/1852). M2: Charity V. ROWLAND (b. 1809, d. 3/16/1876).