Emmanuel Clutter and Frances “Fannie” Drucilla Benjamin Clutter, Part 1

Emanuel Clutter (1846-1927). Posted with the kind permission of the owner of the photo. (Click to enlarge.)

Benjamin Family, McMurray Family (Click for Family Tree)

What a great picture! A first impression was, “This man has a story.” Well, we all have a story, but this appeared to be a story that might have a few twists and turns plus some interesting research. Also, Emanuel Clutter married Frances “Fannie” Drucilla Benjamin, the sister of our ancestor Hannah Melissa Benjamin McMurray, so he is kin, and we should tell his story, as well as Fannie’s. Additionally, sometimes one can learn more about a direct ancestor by researching siblings, so there was the hope of learning more about Hannah Melissa or their parents, Sylvanus Rufus Benjamin and Sarah Ann Palmer Benjamin.

Emanuel Clutter (1846-1927), young man. Posted with the kind permission of the owner of the photo. (Click to enlarge.)

Emanuel was born on Dec. 3, 1846, in Licking County, Ohio, where Fannie was born as well on June 4, 1843. Emanuel’s parents were James I. Clutter (1806-1896), born in Pennsylvania, and Rhoda Myers Clutter (1815-1897), born in Licking County. The Clutters likely knew Fannie’s parents, Sylvanus Rufus “S.R.” Benjamin (1819-1892), who was born in Licking County too, and Sarah Ann Palmer Benjamin (1822-1911), who was born in Ohio probably but some records state Kentucky. Licking County is located about the center of the state, and includes Columbus, Ohio today. Knox County is adjacent and just north of Licking, and where the Clutters lived at one point.

James I. Clutter (1806-1896), with kind permission of the owner. (Click to enlarge.)

In 1850, both families lived in Burlington Township, probably on farms since both fathers were listed as farmers in the 1850 US Federal Census. They probably saw each other at the feed store or grocer, at community events, and maybe even attended the same church. As lands opened up out west, it is likely that migration was a hot topic of conversation in the community, especially when one or more families sold off, packed up, and moved to a new beginning.

James and Rhoda Clutter stayed in Ohio with some of their children, but others migrated west. We have not found Emanuel in the 1860 US Federal Census anywhere, including not with his parents and siblings in Ohio.We have not found him in 1870, either.

S.R. Benjamin and family were living in Burlington, where the Clutters lived, at the 1860 census as the division of our country over slavery increased rapidly. War was declared and the Union became desperate for soldiers by 1863. S.R. was actually drafted as a part of the “Old Man’s Draft”- he was 42- but he paid a substitute to serve for him instead. The Benjamin family then migrated all together to Jasper County, Iowa in 1865 or 1866- the year varies in obituaries of the children.

Did Emanuel just get missed on the 1860 census, and then migrate with the Benjamins? Was Emanuel working in Cedar County, Iowa, as a photographer/artist, since some of the pictures in the Clutter Photo Album were taken there? Or had Emanuel gone to work in Iowa and his sweetheart and her family followed after he told them how wonderful it was? (The Benjamins had another reason for the migration- that story is still to come as it was just found less than an hour before this was written, and needs a bit more research before telling.)

Some sources/trees state that Emanuel and Fannie married in Ohio, but apparently not- they were issued a license to marry in Jasper County, Iowa, on 29 December 1868. Fannie’s obituary states that they married about three years after she migrated to Jasper County with her family in 1865. We have not found a record of the actual marriage, but that is not unusual for this time period.

In the Jasper County, Iowa 1870 census, S. R. Benjamin, age 49, was listed as a farmer with real estate valued at $9,000 and a personal estate of $1,325. His wife Sarah Ann Palmer Benjamin, 48, was “keeping house.” Their son John Elliot Benjamin, 21, was still in the household and listed as a farmer, with his new wife “L.M.” Boydston Benjamin helping Sarah with the household- and ‘women’s’ farm chores. Daughter Hannah Melissa Benjamin (our direct ancestor, AKA, “The Scary Lady” in later years) was just 16 and attending school. Emanuel Clutter, age 23, and his wife Fannie were also living in the household, with Emanuel listed as an “artist” in the census, and Frances, naturally, ‘keeping house.’ Emanuel may have been an “artist” working in the photography business in Newton at this time, as per our previous postings on the Clutter Family Photo Album.

The third Benjamin daughter, Cynthia Adeline Benjamin, had married Reuben K. Lambert in Ohio, and they migrated to Jasper County with their two children who had been born in Ohio, Willie Rufus Lambert and Elliott Ellsworth Lambert. They may have traveled with the rest of the Benjamin family. The Lamberts were enumerated just before the S.R. Benjamin family in the 1870 US Federal Census in Jasper County, Iowa, so may have had adjoining farms. (The Lamberts did later have a daughter, Ida Bell Lambert, born in Jasper County, Iowa.)

Fannie and Emanuel Clutter had been married for five years before the only child we know of, Rufus E. Clutter, was born to them in 1873.  This is a longer gap than usual between marriage and first child for those days, so there may have been children born before Rufus who did not survive. Rufus did grow up, marry (to Mattie J. “Madge” Small), and became a father to Donald F. Clutter (1896-1984).

Benjamin Family Headstone Grouping in Newton Union Cemetery, Newton, Jasper County, Iowa: Sylvanus Rufus Benjamin, Sarah Ann Palmer Benjamin, Frances D. Benjamin Clutter. (Click to enlarge.)

A recent very cold fall visit to Newton Union Cemetery in Jasper County, Iowa, with the bitter winds whipping across the prairie but the warmth of family togetherness both above and below the cold ground (thanks for the fun above-ground cemetery time, cousin! ;D), made us think of what our pioneer ancestors dealt with as they worked their farms every day. Even when crops were not growing, animals needed tending and repairs to buildings, fences,  and equipment were required. The family also needed to be fed, bedding and clothing cleaned, repaired, and even sewn from only a bolt of cloth. Dealing with the weather must have been brutal at times. So we found our pioneer fortitude genes within and searched for the Benjamin section of the cemetery as well as the McMurray plots, since Hannah Melissa Benjamin married Frederick Asbury McMurray. It was a surprise to find Frances/Francis/Fannie Benjamin Clutter’s stone in the group with the Benjamins, especially since Emanuel Clutter had no stone alongside, nor in that cemetery.

Headstone of Frances “Fannie” Drucilla Benjamin Clutter in Benjamin grouping at Newton Union Cemetery, Newton, Jasper, Iowa, posted with kind permission of photographer. (Click to enlarge.)

A search back through our records for Fannie’s obituary revealed more of the story:

“Mrs. Frances D. Clutter died at the home of her mother, Mrs. S.R. Benjamin… For over twenty-five years Mrs. Clutter had been an invalid, and the closing weeks of her life were especially marked with suffering, so that the death came as a blessed boon to her the beginning of a new life in which pain, sorrow and tears will never be known.”

Fannie was just 55 years old at her death- she had been very ill for almost half her life!

“Although her life had been one strangely mixed with sorrow as well as physical suffering, her Christian trust and faith never deserted her for a moment.”

Rufus, her son, had come from Chicago to be with Fannie during her last days, and her dear mother was there as well. (Her father had died in 1892.)

But what about Emanuel? There is no mention of him except that they married.

Stay tuned.

 

Notes, Sources, and References: 

  1. History of Knox County, Ohio, its past and present…, by N.N. Hill, 1881, pp. 628-9 for bios of James Clutter and family. This source states Emmanuel was born in Iowa.
  2. For your consideration: an interesting thread concerning the Clutter family to add to your analysis from daneil2229 on Family Tree Circles– https://www.familytreecircles.com/u/daneil2229/ We do not know of any followup of this query from over nine years ago, but it might be interesting to follow up to corroborate.
  3. At http://iagenweb.org/jasper/marriage/bv1-b.htm it states Emmanuel and Fannie were issued a license only on 29 Dec 1868, p. 31 of Jasper Co, IA Marriage Records, Vol. 1 1848-1869. We have found no record of their marriage but have not searched extensively.
  4. Panic of 1893– https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panic_of_1893

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Family history is meant to be shared, but the original content of this site may NOT be used for any commercial purposes unless explicit written permission is received from both the blog owner and author. Blogs or websites with ads and/or any income-generating components are included under “commercial purposes,” as are the large genealogy database websites. Sites that republish original HeritageRamblings.net content as their own are in violation of copyright as well, and use of full content is not permitted. 
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The Clutter Family of Pennsylvania, Ohio, and California- A Photo Album, Part 1

 

Clutter Family Photo Album. Unknown person. Photograph by Chas C. Curtiss, Mt Vernon Ohio, likely taken before 1895. (Click to enlarge.)

 

rray Family (Click for Family Tree)

Genealogy is not a pastime for those who cannot shake their head and calmly say, “Well, I guess we will never know for sure…”

This Clutter photo album is just one of those things- unless someone sees this post and has another piece of the puzzle to share, it will be fun to enjoy the photos of persons in our genealogical past but we will never be able to put a name to the face.

In one of the (too many) “To Sort” file folders on my computer I recently found these scanned album images from a cousin. The Clutter family married into the Benjamin family, which is a part of the McMurray line. That marriage took place between Emmanuel Clutter (1846-1921) and Frances “Fannie” Drucilla Benjamin (1843-1899) on Dec. 31, 1868, in Licking County, Ohio per some sources; more likely is that they received a marriage license (the only record) on Dec. 29, 1868, in Jasper County, Iowa and married after. The bride was the sister of Hannah “Melissa” Benjamin McMurray (1854-1932), AKA known as “The Scary Lady” by Melissa’s own 5th generation descendants. (See notes.) So it is very curious that descendants of Melissa would end up with a photo album of the Clutter family, her sister’s in-laws.

Sadly we do not have an image of Fannie, but here is Melissa:

Hannah Melissa (Benjamin) McMurray, sister of Frances “Fannie” Drucilla Benjamin Clutter. Possibly 1915 or 1920? (Click to enlarge.)

Some of the album photos were taken in Mt. Vernon, Ohio, and some in Newton, Jasper County, Iowa, or Cedar County or Cedar Falls, Iowa.

Reverse of pictures taken by Charles C. Curtiss (1825-1895), Mt. Vernon, Ohio. (Click to enlarge.)

Since the Ohio photographer, Charles C. Curtiss passed away in 1895, we can narrow the time of those pictures to before that date.

Clutter Family Photo Album. Left image by N.F. Strong, Mt Vernon Ohio. The right image is a tintype, with Charles C. Curtis the photographer, but the names of the two dapper gents are unknown. (Click to enlarge.)

The above left image is what helped to further identify persons in the album. Going to Ancestry.com and searching to learn more about the Clutter family, this image was found:

James I. Clutter (1806-1896), with kind permission of the owner. (Click to enlarge.)

The man in the left portrait from the album looks like this image of James I. Clutter, the father of Emmanuel Clutter, it seems, only younger- do you agree? A similar neck piece can be seen in each of these images. (So possibly a man who liked the status quo, since it appears there are quite a few years between pictures? Or maybe he had a neck injury he preferred to cover up? Again, we shall likely never know.)

Unknown persons, likely Clutter family. The left image was taken by Clutter & Young per the reverse of the image) in Newton, Iowa, and the right image taken by Joseph Longaker or Charles C. Curtiss.  (Click to enlarge.)

An old eBay listing for a CDV (carte de viste, the type of photo on a card as are most of these) stated it was taken by Clutter and Young- or maybe it was by Clutter and was the Young family from Newton, Iowa- the wording is not clear. The auction image did eventually come up in a search but no longer can be found on eBay. The back of the eBay image that was found in Google had the name “Clutter & Daft” as the Newton photography studio on the very ornate reverse. An Iowa Culture website notes that a person named Clutter had a Newton studio in the 1870s, and was in a partnership with a person named Daft. “Our” Emmanuel Clutter was listed in the 1870 and the 1880 US Federal Censuses in Newton, Iowa as an “Artist”- perhaps he was working as a photographer, as they did often call themselves ‘artists.’ (And they are!) So his own family likely sat for him.

We need to clarify some confusion in the description of the photo on the right. Charles C. Curtiss of Mt. Vernon, Ohio may have taken the photo, or it could have been Joseph Longaker in Newton or in Cedar Falls, Iowa- he was active there too, at least in 1865. A search on Ancestry.com and through Google did not give us much pertinent information. All the persons with the surname Daft in Newton, Jasper County, Iowa, were farmers around 1860-1880, and we were unable to locate a person named Joseph Longaker in either Newton or in Cedar Falls, Iowa. This will take more research from someone more acquainted with these families.

Next: More images from the Clutter Family Album

 

Notes, Sources, and References: 

  1. Emmanuel Clutter – Frances “Fannie” Drucilla Benjamin marriage license in Jasper County, Iowa Marriage Records, Volume 1, 1848-1869.
  2. Hannah “Melissa” Benjamin McMurray- Melissa’s unwavering gaze peered out from a portrait hung in a bedroom, and no one in that family knew her name. Her great-grandson knew her when he was little and she was in her 70s. Thankfully when he was about 80 he finally recognized her picture (years before he did not know who she was), but only remembered that she was very, very stern.
  3. Unfortunately where the actual album is located is unknown, as all we have is a date of 2014 for these scans, but that year does not correlate with any remembered access to such an album or a trip. More mystery… and a reminder to title folders appropriately at the time they are created, no matter how busy one is with scanning in a limited time frame!
  4. Charles C. Curtis– https://billiongraves.com/grave/Charles-C-Curtis/19053670.
  5. N.F. Strong, photographer 1864-1866, Mt. Vernon, Ohio, per

    Ohio Photographers: 1839-1900 by Diane VanSkiver Gagel, 1998, page 99, via books.google.com.

  6. Clutter (& Young? or is Young the family in the photo?) or more likely, Clutter & Daft– https://iowaculture.gov/sites/default/files/history-research-collections-photoav-iowastereographers-02192019.pdf

 

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We would love to read your thoughts and comments about this post (see form below), and thank you for your time! All comments are moderated, however, due to the high intelligence and persistence of spammers/hackers who really should be putting their smarts to use for the public good instead of spamming our little blog.

Original content copyright 2013-2021 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.

Family history is meant to be shared, but the original content of this site may NOT be used for any commercial purposes unless explicit written permission is received from both the blog owner and author. Blogs or websites with ads and/or any income-generating components are included under “commercial purposes,” as are the large genealogy database websites. Sites that republish original HeritageRamblings.net content as their own are in violation of copyright as well, and use of full content is not permitted. 
Descendants and researchers MAY download images and posts to share with their families, and use the information on their family trees or in family history books with a small number of reprints. Please make sure to credit and cite the information properly, i.e, reference this blog.
 Please contact us if you have any questions about the copyright or use of “Heritage Ramblings” blog material.