Documenting the American South Logo  Samuel Spottford Clement
Memoirs of Samuel Spottford Clement Relating Interesting
Experiences in Days of Slavery and Freedom Steubenville, Ohio:
Herald, 1908.   Nothing is known about the life of Samuel
Spottford Clement other than what he relates in his Memoirs.
According to Clement, he was born into slavery in Pittsylvania
County, Virginia, on November 13, 1861, on a farm owned by James
Adams. Both of his parents were born in the same area, his
mother on a farm owned by Edward Franklin, and his father on a
farm owned by James Clement. In 1863 Clement, his mother, and
his brothers were sold to the Ward family, who lived near
Lynchburg, Virginia. According to stories Clement heard while
growing up, the field hands at the Ward farm were able to hear
the gunfire from the battle of Appomattox Court House. The
battle occurred when Clement was three years old. The Wards
convinced the Clement family to remain on their farm until
Christmas 1865, after which Clement's father found