Here men work at the Mt .Vernon Car Manufacturing Company. Joe's brother, Jim, can be seen in the back with a beard and white hat.

Joseph Monroe was born on May 31, 1854, as a twin to Reuben Cicero Claybourn. The twins were always known by their nicknmames of "Bitts" and "Bull" which came about because one of the babies (Joe) was smaller than the other, so he was his parents "Little bittsy boy" while the other was their "Big bully boy". Joseph Monroe's name is listed first in the family Bible, so he is presumed to be the eldest. They looked very much alike.

Joe (Uncle "Bitts") lived with his brother Bill at Foxville, near Walnut Hill, Illinois, and worked for him selling wagons. He married first Sarah Easley and had one daughter, May, described as a pretty girl by one who knew her. Harriette Threlkeld presumed Sarah died, but there is no known record of it. About 1882 or 1883 he married Harriet McCrary. They lived at Dix, Illinois, where Joe engaged in farming. At one time they lived in Mt. Vernon, and he worked along with his brother Jim (James Harrison) in the Mt .Vernon Car Manufacturing Company. Joe, as well as a good many of the other brothers, had considerable mechanical ability. He invented a plow, but someone else who was working in the shop with him patented it.

Joseph's headstone at the Jordan Chapel Cemetery in Jefferson Co. Ill.

His wife, called Aunt Hattie, died in 1900, and Uncle Joe lived alone for many years at his place in the country in Jefferson County. He became somewhat of a fanatic on religion and would "preach" to all who would listen. Harriette Threlkeld writes:

"As a child I can remember his coming to my grandfather's place in Mt. Vernon, Illinois, for meals when he would be in town. He frightened me by his constant preaching. My grandfather would try to shut him up and get him to talk about something else. He married a third time [to a woman with the first name Amanda], but she died two years before he did, and he lived alone the last two years of his life. I remember he cut up Bibles and made his own Bible containing the parts in which he believed."

Pedigree Chart

						Joshua Claybourn (Clyburn) 1758 - 1799
				Ephraim Claybourn 12/07/1788 - 05/11/1850
						Sarah
		William Divine Claybourn 08/27/1819 - 02/17/1896
				Mary "Polly" Browning 11/11/1792 - 12/16/1874
						Sally Browning
Joseph Monroe Claybourn 05/31/1854 - 08/1921
				Reuben Hawker b. 1794
		Frances Alla Hawker 09/23/1820 - 7/25/1863
				Nancy Hawker b. 1796

Descendants

Joseph married (1st) Sarah (Jack) Easley. They had one child:

1. May Claybourn, born about 1879. She married (1st) Charles Free and they had no children. She then married (2nd) Roy Stewart and they had no children.

2. William Spencer Claybourn (April 18, 1884 - June 14, 1935) married (1st) on March 1, 1904 to Leta Whitlock (August 8, 1886 - December 24, 1921), a second cousin. They had nine children:
   1. Archie Loren Claybourn was born on April 23, 1905, and married on July 3, 1935, to Helen Self. They had two children:
      1. Joan, born July 3, 1936
      2. Edna Fern, born September 13, 1937
   2. Mattie Alva was born on February 21, 1907. She married (1st) Russell Chapman and they had two children:
      1. Virgil Leroy, born about 1924
      2. Charles Lee, born about 1927
      She married (2nd) Ted Arning and they had three children:
      3. Billy Dean, born December 1933
      4. Fred Dwayne, born February 9, 1936
      5. Richard Louis, born May 13, 1942
   3. Sylvia Lorene was born October 28, 1908, and married Lowell Allan Faulkner. They had two children:
      1. Leta Rose, born about 1931
      2. Betty Joyce, born about 1933
   4. Noel Spencer was born July 25, 1911, but was killed in an auto-train accident near Centralia, Illinois, on November 30, 1933.
   5. Nina Irean was born on January 31, 1913 and lived in Centralia, Illinois. She married John Max Bock on August 26, 1934 and they had two children:
      1. Max Duane, born December 11, 1938
      2. Doris June, born January 25, 1941
   6. Lena Margaret was born on September 4, 1915, and married Wilbur Walton. They had two children:
      1. Dolores Lorraine, born June 1933
      2. Carolyn Jean, born July 1, 1935
   7. Doris Leona was born on February 21, 1918, and died on November 1, 1920.
   8. Wilma Maxine was born on October 25, 1919 and died on February 24, 1920.
   9. One other child died as a baby.
   Joseph married (2nd) on November 10, 1924 to Mabel Kell (born April 11, 1895).

3. Carl (or Roy) Claybourn was born on January 21, 1886 and died on May 24, 1886.

4. Fred Ivan Claybourn was born on March 7, 1887, and died on February 22, 1936. He lived in Montana. Fred married Nona Tate, the daughter of Jeff Tate, and they had eleven children:
   1. Beatrice was born on July 25, 1904 and married (1st) "Tiny" Veneer; they had no children. She married (2nd) Louis Robbins.
   2. Edna was born on March 3, 1906, and married Harold Meyer. They had two children:
      1. Robert, born 1925
      2. Geraldine, born January 1927
   3. Susie was born on December 12, 1908, and married Chester Nelson. They had two children:
      1. Aline, born September 6, 1928
      2. Juanita, born March 1930
   4. Harold ("Sam") was born January 30, 1911
   5. Edward ("Jack") was born April 11, 1913
   6. Juanita ("Johnnie") was born June 28, 1915 and married Pat La Salle. They had two children:
      1. Edwina
      2. Patrick, Jr.
   7. Louise was born on December 28, 1918 and married Henry Swartz
   8. James ("Jimmy" was born March 6, 1921
   9. Doris was born September 12, 1922
   10. Betty Lou was born November 11, 1926
   11. Louis was born March 23, 1929

5. Iva Bell was born on June 18, 1889, and lived in Dix and Kell, Illinois, as well as Montana and Los Angeles. She married Frank Randol (born September 3, 1889) on September 1, 1922, and the couple had no children. Iva and her cousin, Rose Claybourn Marquard, lived near each other, and "Rose and Iva" were always thought of together as they were inseperable for years. Iva died on December 28, 1942.

6. Maud Jane was born on August 24, 1891, and married on July 16, 1910, to Joel Daniel Minor. The two lived in Marysville, California, and together had seven children:
   1. Floyd Milford Minor, born June 18, 1911. Floyd married Mrs. Ellen Filler (Nee Adamson). Floyd adopted Dorothy Filler (born July 3, 1929)., and then the couple had a biological child:
      1. William, born Decmber 15, 1930
   2. Troy Ivan, born April 11, 1913
   3. Thomas Douglas, born September 5, 1915
   4. Joel D., born November 14, 1917
   5. Robert Morris, born April 3, 1920
   6. Rosemary, born September 25, 1926
   7. Vera Mae, born November 21, 1928

7. Nina Olivia was born January 28, 1893, and died November 3, 1957. She lived in Los Angeles, and married Rudolph Austin (born February 21, 1893). Together they had four children:
   1. Madessa Fae, born December 30, 1915
   2. Bonilyn Ruth, born March 14, 1918
   3. Ellsworth Cecil, born May 24, 1923
   4. Charles Ivan, born November 21, 1926

8. Ruth Cordelia Claybourn was born on 21 December 1895, and lived in Los Angeles. She married (1st) Carroll Bundy, and they later divorced. Nevertheless, they had two children:
   1. Pauline Bundy, born February 1915
   2. Willoughby Newton Bundy, born January 9, 1917
   Ruth married (2nd) Howard Gordon, who died while they were married. Ruth was later married one or two more times. She died on 16 December 1965.

9. Elmer Ellsworth was born on February 28, 1898, and died in the summer of 1941. He lived in Los Angeles and married Mrs. Edna McGilvray (Nee Humphrey). Edna had a daughter by a former marriage.

10. A boy was born stillborn on August 23, 1900. Harriet McCrary Claybourn died soon after the birth. They were buried in the same coffin.