James Thomas Clifton (1857-1932).

James Clifton, 32, married Susan Clifton, 21, on 26 November 1889 in Franklin County at J.T. Clifton’s. Jackson Hunt and Bet Clifton witnessed.

In the 1900 census of Harris township, Franklin County: farmer Jim Clifton, 45; wife Susan, 31; and children Grant, 20, Matilda, 18, Susan, 16, John L., 14, Genievieve, 8, Tommie, 6, Mary, 4, Martha, 2, and Myrtle, 3 months.

In the 1910 census of Saratoga township, Wilson County: on Edmunson Road, farmer James T. Clifton, 52; wife Susan, 40; and children Genevieve, 18, Thomas, 16, Mary, 14, Mattie, 12, Myrtle M., 10, Eula P., 8, Minnie B., 6, Wesley, 3, and Leona, 2, plus lodger Arthur Bunn, 21. James reported that he had been married twice.

Susan Clifton died 25 August 1915 in Wilson township, Wilson County. Per her death certificate, she was 44 years old; married; and the daughter of Stiff and Ellen Clifton. James Clifton was informant.

Between 1916 and 1920, three licenses for marriages of a James Clifton were filed at Wilson County Register of Deeds office. It is not clear if any or all are this James Clifton. (If all, he endured extraordinary grief in a very short time span.) On 6 February 1916, James Clifton, 54, of Wilson, married Mary Barnes, 40, of Wilson. Primitive Baptist minister John S. May performed the ceremony in Wilson win the presence of James Bass, Henry Meak and Melvis Jones. On 8 July 1917, James Clifton, 52, of Taylor township, married Emma Grady, 41, of Wilson, in Wilson. Otis Wright applied for the license and Elder J.R. Pitt, Disciples of Christ, performed the ceremony in the presence of Willie Godwin, Lillian Hawkins and James Lewis. On 23 May 1920, James Clifton, 57, of Wilson married Martha J. Coffield, 50, of Wilson. Missionary Baptist minister William Baker performed the ceremony in the presence of Susie Barnes, Lena Newsome and Beatrice Cofield.

In the 1920 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 500 Spring Street alley, widower James Clifton, 53, lumber company laborer, and son Thomas, 25, lumber company laborer; daughter-in-law Ethel, 20; daughters Mattie, 22, Myrtle, 20, and Ella, 14, all tobacco factory laborers; and boarders Ella Mitchell, 22, a widowed tobacco factory laborer, and her children Dorothy, 4, Y.C., 2, and James, 3 months.

James Clifton died 14 July 1932 in Wilson township, Wilson County. Per his death certificate, he was 74 years old; married to Jannie Clifton; worked as a common laborer; and was born in Franklin County to James Reid and Lizzie Clifton. Bennie Bass was informant, and C.E. Artis was undertaker.

Photograph courtesy of Ancestry.com user ths1369.