 Biographer Myrna MacPherson cites Claflin's date of birth as October 26, 1845, while journalist Barbara Goldsmith cites a birth year of 1846.It is clear however, that Tennessee Claflin was the last of ten children born to Roxanna Hummel Claflin and Reuben Buckman Claflin in Homer, Licking County, Ohio.Tennessee was named after the state either because her parents visited the state or because her father was a fan of then Tennessean Congressman James Polk.