On May 6, 2001 a small group of us interested in preserving our local history placed this marker high on a mountainside in Buchanan County. The little cemetery was overgrown and as you can see from the picture it soon will be again. But is is my hope that some day, maybe hundreds of years from now, a descendant will find this marker still standing. Here is a copy of the speech I gave to a small gathering of family members on May 6, 2001.

"The Clevenger family has been in America for over 300 years. The first Clevinger ancestor to this country is believed to be George Clevenger, Sr. George was born in England in 1654 – the son of John and Mary Clevinger. John and his family moved to Yonkers, New York in the 1660’s. In 1676 George can be found living on the Van Der Donck estate on the Hudson River in New York and in that year he married Sarah Hadden. George died at the young age of 28, leaving Sarah with two young sons, John and George, Jr. One son, John Clevinger, married a woman by the name of Mary and later migrated to Burlington County, New Jersey around 1706. John and Mary raised a large family of ten children – one of whom was George Clevinger – born about 1714. This George married Elizabeth Horner in 1737. They had a family of nine children and later in life moved to the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. George Clevenger, Jr. – one of their sons, is believed to be the father of Levi Clevinger – progenitor of the Clevenger clan in Southwest Virginia. Levi was born about 1773 in Virginia and married Nancy Elswick on October 21, 1794 in Montgomery County, Virginia.

In the late 1700’s, Levi is believed to have migrated from Montgomery County, through Tazewell and Buchanan County, and finally establishing a home in Pike County, Kentucky. Levi’s son, John settled in what is now Buchanan County. He married Mary “Polly” Stiltner in 1829 and settled on the Levisa River. John and Polly had a family of twelve children.

The second child of John and Polly was James A. Clevinger. James was born in Pike County, Kentucky on December 21, 1832. James grew up in what is now Buchanan County and on October 13, 1853, he married Mary “Polly” Looney – the daughter of John “Jackie” Looney and Cynthia Deskins Stiltner of Looney’s Creek.

In 1861, news of the Civil War reached the mountains here in SW Virginia. By 1862, several units had mustered here in Buchanan County. As I mentioned before, John and Polly Clevinger had 12 children – 11 of them sons.

On a cold February morning in 1863 – John and Polly Clevinger watched their seven oldest sons ride off to Grundy to enlist in the Confederacy and fight in the Civil War. One can only imagine their uncertainty. These boys joined up in Company F, 10th Kentucky Cavalry. The Clevinger boys were placed under the direct command of Squire Gibson – Captain of Company F and a native of Buchanan County. During the war the 10th Kentucky earned the nickname “Yankee Chasers.”

As it turned out, all seven sons of John and Polly survived the war and between just these seven sons gave old man John Clevinger 61 grandchildren. The Clevinger brothers who served in the Civil War were:
James A. Clevinger – whom I will discuss later
Lewis A. Clevinger – who married Mary Colley and had 11 children
Frederick M. Clevinger – who married Mary J. McClanahan and had 8 children
William Harrison Clevinger – married Martha Jane Breeding and had 7 children
Robert C. Clevinger – married Eliza Louisa Wood and had 2 children
Squire Hamilton Clevinger – married Sarah Stiltner and had 10 children

Getting back to James A. and Mary “Polly” Looney Clevinger – they had a large family of 10 children:
Cyntha Clevinger – born in 1855
Joseph Clevinger – died at age 3
Mary Clevinger – died at age 9
William H. Clevinger – born in 1861
Barbara Clevinger – born 1864 married John Davis
John Levi Clevinger – born November 1864 – married Sarah Ratliff
Sarah Jane Clevinger – born 1869 and she married Basil Elswick
James Henry Clevinger – born Dec 10, 1872
Daniel “Davey” Clevinger – born 1875
Morgan Clevinger – born 1878

James and Polly later settled on Lynn Camp – the mouth of which was known as Artia, Virginia.

James lived a very long life. He died on September 24, 1926 at the age of 93 and was laid to rest on this point. Today we dedicate this new stone and honor the memory of James A. Clevinger, a pioneer of Buchanan County, a veteran of the Civil War, and a true American. Thank you."