It's been said that if you go back far enough in your genealogy, everyone on the planet is related. Of course, that's true, but 99.99% of the time you have to go back further than records allow. For the Claybourn family and President-elect Barack Obama, that is not a concern. We have been able to determine that, through marriage, all Claybourns are related to the 44th President of the United States.

James Verner Marvin Claybourn (known simply as "Vern") had a daughter named Mary Adelais. She married a Herbert Edward Allred. Herbert is a direct descendant John Allred, who was born in 1772 in Richmond County, North Carolina and died in 1850 in Newton County, Arkansas. This John Allred is also a direct ancestor (on his maternal grandmother's side) of Barack Obama, the 44th president of the United States.

Paula "Polly" Dulaney passed away on Monday, July 14th. Her biographical information on the CGS website can be found on the page of her grandmother, Birtie May Claybourn. The Mt. Vernon Register-News has published her obituary here.

I have greatly revised and expanded the biographical sketch of Joshua Clyburn, our first known ancestor. Among other things, I have revised portions relating to his parentage and Revolutionary War experience, as well as expanded upon possible siblings.

All of the biographical information for Reuben Cicero Claybourn and Candace Frances Frost Claybourn, as well as all of the information available regarding their descendants, has been fully uploaded to the CGS website.

The biographical sketch of Judith Claybourn Howard has been added, as have images of her interment at Arlington National Cemetery.

All of the biographical information for William Pratt Claybourn and John Bethel Claybourn, as well as all of the information available regarding their descendants, has been fully uploaded to the CGS website.

We have now updated the records for Mary Catherine Claybourn and Sarah Jane Claybourn, both being the oldest daughters of William Divine Claybourn.

Thanks to the contributions of William ("Bob") R. Claiborne, we have significantly updated the records of William Britton Claiborne ("Britt") and his descendants. Britt is the second child of Arthur Smith Claiborne, Sr., seventh child of John B. Claiborne.

I have revised the Terms of Use to reflect a more complete and accurate Privacy Policy. A privacy policy for a genealogical website may appear to be a contradiction of purpose. Our very existence depends on visitors to our site sharing information about themselves and their ancestors. However, the Claybourn Genealogical Society pledges to responsibly handle any personal information you give to us.

The amount of information we have on all of the Claybourn/Claiborne family members is enormous, and I've only begun to put it all online. But I've now uploaded everything I have available for John B. Claiborne and his descendants. Further, I've supplied footnotes and other references throughout. William Divine and James T.'s branches still require a lot of cleaning up to do, but for I'm happy with the progress in John B.'s branch. I'd like to give a particular thanks to Nancy Claiborne, daughter of Harry Eugene Claiborne, for her enormous help in securing pictures and other stories.

This is the first test post of the Claybourn Genealogical Society Newsletter.