- Where do the Clowards in the United States come
from? There are two clues that have been identified:
Clue #1, Wales? Written by Neil Taylor and posted in the
Cloward Forum. He writes:
"There is a good possibility that the name 'Cloward' has Welsh roots
in the name 'Lloward' which is pronounced 'Cloward.' The name
appears as a first or last name. Before 1700 the Welsh used a
patronimic system of naming. Thus, 'William ap Lloward' means
'William, son of Lloward.' As the population moved into the 18th
century, the custom of a formalized last name was forced upon the
welsh from the English and William ap Lloward would have become
William Lloward, which could have been changed hear in the US to
what it sounded like 'William Cloward.' Please see the email below
from a friend, Paul Newman, in Wales:
'I have found what I believe to be a reference to the Cloward family
(including coat of arms) at Chirk Castle (see attached picture taken
from outside in the early 1990s when it was not surrounded by
scaffolding, as at present), which is on the Welsh/English border,
between Llangollen and Oswestry and about forty miles due west of my
home in Trentham.
My wife and I went for a short stay just over the border a couple of
weeks ago (at the end of her Easter holiday) and on our way home
visited Chirk Castle for the first time in about ten years. This
property is owned by the National Trust and as well as renovations,
there were parts that are now open to the public that I do not
remember from before. In particular, the staterooms have been
restored to illustrate their condition approximately 500 years ago.
It is not permitted to take pictures inside the rooms but I have
attached a picture of the entrance to the staterooms taken from the
courtyard within the castle walls.
The Middleton family, who held the Castle from Tudor times until it
was passed to the National Trust (and have only just moved out,
which is why more rooms are open to the public), decorated one of
the staterooms with the arms of the families they were related to
(many of whom were local families). I noticed that one of them
looked similar to the coat of arms that my mother claimed belonged
to her family: 'Ellis.' The legend underneath the arms said 'Lloward
Bran.' The local people pronounce the first name as if it was spelt
'Cloward' and the second word means 'crow, or 'raven' in Welsh and,
indeed, the coat of arms includes three crows in silhouette. My
distant relation Thomas, Baron Howard de Walden, rented Chirk in the
1940s because he believed his family once owned it, perhaps he was
right. What I think to be more certain is that your wife's family
originally come from this area.'"
Clue #2, Ireland? The 1850 census provides valuable
information, specifically the location of thirteen Cloward families
across the United States in nine different geographic locations. The
second piece of valuable information in this census is the
birthplace of each individual. Although census records are
notoriously filled with errors, we can utilize them as a stepping
stone to understanding our ancestors' heritage. The following is a
list of these Cloward families in the United States in 1850 and the
town in which they were recorded (alphabetical by state, then city).
Each person is listed with approximate birth year, assumed
relationship to head of household, and birthplace:
Middletown, Middlesex, Connecticut:
Father: Cornelius Cloward (b.1809) - Ireland
Wife: Johannah (b.1814) - Ireland
Son: Michael (b.1838) - Ireland
Daughter: Johannah (b.1839) - Ireland
Son: John (b.1844) - Ireland
Son: James (b.1845) - Ireland
Son: Edward (b.1847) - Ireland
Daughter: Emeline (b.1848 - Ireland
Wilmington, New Castle, Delaware:
Father: Thomas Cloward (b.1812) - Maryland
Wife: Eliza (b.1817) - Delaware
Son: William (b.1839) - Delaware
Daughter: Ella (b.1841) - Delaware
Sister: Emelie (b.1824) - Maryland
Mother: Margaret (b.1782) - Maryland
Pottawattamie County, Iowa:
Father: Jacob Cloward, Sr (b.1790) - Maryland
Wife: Ann (b.1800) - Pennsylvania
Son: James (b.1826) - Pennsylvania
Son: Jacob, Jr. (b.1828) - Pennsylvania
Daughter: Hannah (b.1833) - Pennsylvania
Daughter: Eliza (b.1836) - Pennsylvania
Father: William Cloward (b.1822) - Delaware
Wife: Rebecca (b.1829) - New York
Daughter: Maria (b.1850) - Iowa
Father: Daniel Cloward (b.1820) - Delaware
Wife: Ruth (b.1819) - Pennsylvania
Daughter: Catherine (b.1845) - Illinois
Son: Daniel (b.1848) - Nebraska
Son: Heber (b.1851) - Iowa
Father: Thomas Cloward (b.1823) - Pennsylvania
Wife: Mary (b.1824) - Pennsylvania
Son: William (b.1847) - Missouri
Lawrence, Mercer, New Jersey:
Father: Aaron Cloward (b.1821) - New Jersey
Wife: Allice (b.1824) - New Jersey
Son: Jeremiah S. (b.1845) - New Jersey
Daughter: Mary H. (b.1848) - New Jersey
Mother: Ruth (b.1797) - New Jersey
Princeton, Mercer, New Jersey:
Father: John Cloward (b.1792) - Ireland
Wife: Ann (b.1800) - Ireland
Father: Joseph Cloward (b.1798) - New Jersey
Wife: Abigal (b.1800) - New Jersey
Son: Edward (b.1830) - New Jersey
Daughter: Luca A. (b.1837) - New Jersey
Son: James E. (b.1843) - New Jersey
Deer Creek, Pickaway, Ohio:
Father: Thram Cloward (b.1810) - Ohio
Wife: Ruth (b.1814) - North Carolina
Daughter: Eliza J. (b.1836) - Ohio
Daughter: Harriet (b.1840) - Ohio
Son: Gilbert (b.1842) - Ohio
Son: Stephen E. (b.1845) - Ohio
Norristown, Montgomery, Pennsylvania:
Mother: Lydia Ann Cloward (b.1810) - Pennsylvania
Son: Samuel W. (b.1839) - Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania:
Mother: Catherine Cloward (b.1815) - Delaware
Pittsburgh, Allegheny, Pennsylvania:
Mother: Margaret Cloward (b.1813) - Pennsylvania
Son: James (b.1831) - Pennsylvania
Son: Byron (b.1843) - Pennsylvania
- There is a Thomas Cloward who owned 194 acres
near Coventryville, Pennsylvania between 1733 and 1784. Could he be
related to the family?
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