John Clements was my 2nd great grandfather, the son of Thomas Clements and Ann [maiden name unknown] from Warwickshire, England.

John was born in about 1800 and was living in Victoria, Australia by 1856. Very late in life, in 1869, he married Sarah Sedgley, originally from Gloucestershire, England. She was born in about 1845, the daughter of William Sedgley and Phoebe Hunt.

On the evening of 11 May 1887, he was killed by a falling tree branch, aged 87. He left behind a wife, and two children, William John aged 18 and Eliza Jane aged 16. The following is a newspaper article that details the event.

I also have a copy of his death inquest, held 12 May 1887, it is 8 pages long. It gives the accounts of the evening from Dr Thomas Scott, who examined the body, his wife Sarah, his son William, Donald McQuin, a man who was working for the family, and Constable Hibblett from the Warrnambool Police Station.

Casper Born, son of Casper Born and Catherine (maiden name unknown), was born in 1844 in Germany. He immigrated to the U.S. with his parents and siblings in 1855. They settled in Dahlgren, Carver County, Minnesota.

When Casper was 20 years old he enlisted in the 5th Regiment of the Minnesota Volunteer Infantry. There is one record that says the 11th Infantry on it, but everything else has the 5th. I am not sure why.

The photo on the right, is one page listing the men that were eligible to fight for the Union. Casper is near the bottom on line 16. It says he resides in Chaska, was 20 years old, single, a farmer and born in Germany.

The photo below on the right is a Muster and Descriptive Roll of the Minnesota 5th Infantry. Casper is listed at the top on line 1. He is a Private, born in Germany, 20 years old, and a farmer. He enlisted by Maj. J. C. Becht on 30 August 1864 in St Paul, Minnesota for a period of 1 year. He had blue eyes, black hair, fair complexion and was 5 feet 7 inches tall.

He was mustered into service on 1 September 1864 at St Paul, Minnesota by Capt. Geo. H. Keith. He had a bounty of $100. He was paid $33.33 and was still owed $66.67.

The image on the left is the Veteran’s Schedule taken in 1890. It says Casper was a Private for the 5th Minnesota Infantry. He served 8 months and 28 days of his 1 year service. He enlisted from 13 August 1864 until he was discharged on 11 May 1865. His address was Cologne, Minnesota.

The last picture is from his Military service. Casper died on 29 July 1901 in Dahlgren, Carver County, Minnesota. His widow is listed as Mary Born. He was with the Unass’d 5th Minnesota Infantry. The date of filing for his invalid pension was 9 April 1881, and his surviving widow filed 30 August 1901.

There are many different ways to interpret this word, like the love between two people or something involving weddings, but I decided to write about my 6th great grandmother, [christian name unknown] Love.

I believe her maiden name is Love, although some people say it’s her christian name. I am hoping to find some documents to prove the answer to this question soon.

She was born in about 1728 and in 1749 married John Chislett. She was buried in about 1789 in Stoke Sub Hamdon, Somerset County, England. This information is from online trees and obviously not to be taken as gospel as I have nothing to back this up.

John and Love had at least 8 children that I know of:

1. James
2. Mary
3. William
4. Betty
5. Ann
6. Thomas
7. Robert (this is my line)
8. William

Was Love her first name or maiden name? Who were her parents and siblings? I obviously need to do alot of research on this line, and hopefully I will find some answers.

If you are connected to this line and have any documentation that could help answer these questions, please send me a message. Thanks!!

While looking at my tree for an unusual name, “Speas” stood out. I have seen it written as Speas, Speace, Spes, Spies and Spease.

A search on Google found that Speas is usually a surname. According to the website, HouseofNames.com, the name Speas is Norman in origin. (you can read more at the above link).

Since beginning my research I have found three Speas in my tree. Mother, daughter and granddaughter. I am not sure where the name comes from or how many others may have this name as I haven’t done a lot of research on this line.

My 6x great grandmother was Speas Margery _____ (maiden name unknown). I have no other information on her at this time other than she married George Virgin sometime before 1758 and they had at least 3 children, all girls.

One of their daughters, my 5x great grandmother, was Speas Virgin. She was born about 1758 in Axminster, England and died in about 1833, aged 75. She married Hugh Champ before 1781, and they had at least 7 children.

Their daughter, my 4x great grandmother, was Speas Champ. She was born 24 December 1795 in Axminster, England and died 1882 in Weymouth, Dorset, England, aged 86. She married Luke Stagg sometime before 1822 and they had at least 5 children.

Their daughter Hope Stagg married George Chislett in 1851, and they were two of my immigrant ancestors into Australia in 1857.