Nellie with one of her children

Mort and Nellie Claybourne

Mourten Franklin Claybourn(e) was born on 15 August 1881, in Glenville, Minnesota. He occassionally spelled his name "Morton", but he was generally known simply as "Mort".

Mort married Nellie B. Hill (born 27 December 1884). Nellie's lineage has its own notable history. Nellie's mother, Ella, grew up on a large plantation with its typical palatial home owned by Nellie's grandfather (on her mother's side), Philip Echols. He was a broker and plantation owner. Ella's mother (Nellie's grandmother on her mother's side) descended from the Randolphs and the Norwoods, known widely as extensive slave holders. The Echols' plantation was in the center of much of the upheaval of the Civil War as it lay in the direct path of Sherman's march to the sea and suffered the fate of the depredations of war. The home was taken by Union soldiers and was converted into a hospital where Ella's mother (Nellie's grandmother), with the help of negro slaves, cared for the wounded soldiers of the North. After the devastation of his holdings, Philip moved to Columbus, Nebraska, to start life anew.

Once the family moved to Nebraska Ella met Charles L. Hill, who was engaged in educational work and bookbinding. They married and would go on to have eight children, including Nellie.

Mort and Nellie began spelling the name "Claybourne" due to a family feud in which Nellie thought a brother-in-law had wronged her; thereafter the family was split. Mort died on 14 December 1959 and Nellie followed roughly nine years later on 17 December 1968. They had seven children, all listed below.

Pedigree Chart

						Ephraim Claybourn 1788 - 1850
				William Divine Claybourn 1819 - 1896
						Mary "Polly" Browning 1792 - 1874
		John Bethel Claybourn 1846 - 1937
						Reuben Hawker b. 1794
				Frances Alla Hawker 1820 - 1863
						Nancy Hawker b. 1796
Mourten Franklin Claybourne 1881-1959
		Mary Ellen Clink 1848 - 1940

Descendants

Frank and Ingrid in 1968

1. Charles Franklin Claybourne ("Frank") was born 7 July 1916, in Albert Lea, Minnesota. Frank received a B.B.A. degree in 1937 and an L.L.B. degree in 1943, both from the University of Minnesota. He married Ingrid Larsen, who was born on 17 January 1918 in Hawaii. The couple lived in St. Paul, Minnesota, and later moved later to Wyoming, Minnesota. Frank was an attorney, serving as president of the Minnesota Bar Association (1979-1980), and Ingrid studied painting. Both Ingrid and Frank were active in civic and community affairs.

   Their niece Beverly Nell wrote of Ingrid, "She always had a smile and a soft twitter of laughter ready. Her long black hair which seemed so exotic for a woman of her generation from Minnesota, must have come about on account of her being born in Hawaii." Ingrid died on 2 September 2007. They had three children:

   1. Stephen Claybourne ("Steve") was born on 14 June 1943 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. His website is available here. Steve married (1st) to Dorothy E. Davidson and they had one daugheter:
      1. Jennifer Claybourne-Torkelson was born on 7 August 1979. She works with the digital collections unit of the University of Minnesota Library. Jennifer married Scott A. Torkelson and they have a daughter, Sylvia I. Torkelson.
      Steve married (2nd) to Sue Marie Kessel (born 4 January 1955) and they had two children:
      2. Amber Claybourne, born 19 September 1977
      3. Daniel Claybourne, born 15 July 1979

   2. Philip Claybourne was born on 14 July 1945 in St. Paul, Ramsey, Minneapolis. He married Penny Dando. Together they had one daughter:
      1. Annie E. Claybourne was born on 27 July 1971. She married Steven Doyscher and they have two children:
         1. Zachary R. Doyscher, born in 2001
         2. Grace K. Doyscher, born in 2006

   3. Marcia Claybourne was born on 17 July 1949 in St. Paul, Ramsey, Minnesota.

2. John Philip Claybourne was born on 28 October 1919 in Albert Lea, Minnesota. He married Kay (last name unknown) and he adopted her two children by her first marriage:

   1. Tommy

   2. Mary Kay

3. Robert Claybourn was born on 20 February 1921 and died at the young age of two years old on 2 April 1923. The cause of death was attributed to Pyaemia (also spelled pyemia), which is a septicemia accompanied by multiple abscesses and secondary toxemic symptoms and caused by pus-forming microorganisms, usually from a type of Staph infection.

4. William Morton Claybourn was born 7 September 1922. He married Mary Lynn Peterson (born 1 November 1926) and they had two children:

   1. Brian William Claybourn was born on 19 June 1953. He worked as a geologist and lived near Denver. Brian married (1st) Christine Streeter and they had one son:
      1. Max W. Claybourn, born 7 September 1989
      Brian married (2nd) to L. Herrera Moreno (born 1 September 1962) and they had two children:
      2. E. Medina Herrera (possibly a step-daughter to Brian), born 2 August 1990
      3. Sean T. Claybourn, born 19 June 1996

   2. Alan Franklin Claybourn was born on 9 February 1956 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He worked as a civil engineer and lived near Denver. He married Jeanne Blackwell (born 15 October 1956 in Minneapolis) and they had two children:
      1. Lanaya Claybourn, born 1 September 1981
      2. Aaron Claybourn, born 11 January 1986

5. Ruth and Lew sharing a laugh

   Ruth Claybourne was born on 3 July 1924 in Albert Lea, Minnesota. As the child of a bookbinder and schoolteacher, and the only daughter among several siblings, she found a haven among books. Her daughter Nell writes, "Her love for reading showed at an early age - her only true digressions from obedience were the literary contraband under her covers and the rolled-up towel hiding the bar of light under her door past bedtime." Her other great love was for dogs and, naturally, she would often read stories of canine heroes. Ruth was editor of the school newspaper and class valedictorian at Albert Lea High School Class in 1942.

   Lew Woods

   Ruth's daugher Nell writes, "The most memorable day of her childhood came at age 13 when she was finally afforded much-needed prescription eyewear. Her entire world came alive in sharp detail." For years she had sat in the front of the class; she had squinted and waved at blurry passersby who called her name, and she had failed to distinguish the most basic elements of her visionary world due to acute astigmatism. Nell adds, "Her parents failed to respond earlier to her request for eyewear in keeping with their consistent favoritism displayed to their boys. She was never one to complain, but she revealed to me, her only daughter, that while she was growing up, it was always, 'Mom's boys this and Mom’s boys that.' Not until my grandma (Nellie) lay on her deathbed did she admit the error of favoring her sons when, 'it was you who always came through for me, Ruthie.'" Ruth learned the classics at the knees of her maternal grandparents, Charles and Ella Hill who also resided in Albert Lea. The Sunday afternoons spent in their house afforded her a much-needed refuge from the teasing of her brothers. Here she read aloud the Greek classics, Whitman, Longfellow, Emerson, and nonfiction at the behest of her grandparents.

   Ruth was not only bright, but attractive; however, she had no use for boys (since she had four teasing brothers) until she dated in college. Once on a date when a boy teased her by saying that men never make passes at girls who wear glasses, she replied glibly, "But girls who wear glasses, of men can make asses." Ruth did eventually marry, however, to Lucius Earl Woods ("Lew"). Lew was born in 1921 as the son of Henry Earl Woods (1883-1964) and Esther May Potter (1882-1950). Ruth's daughter Nell writes, "When she met my father, I believe she saw a soul mate at last. Indeed, my parents maintained a passion for each other right up until the end. He was so refreshingly different from her brothers - he was a gentleman, an intellectual, and an equal partner." She wrote to him on their 44th anniversary, the last one celebrated before she died: "Forty-four years ago I met and married the best of men, and you’ve never once let me down."

   Ruth died on 25 March 1995 in Denver, Colorado, and Lew died just months later on 10 October 1995. They had three children:

   1. Henry Earl Woods was born on 20 June 1954.

   2. Samuel Claybourne Woods was born on 15 March 1956 in Denver, Colorado and died at a young age on 17 January 1975. Samuel's sister Nell writes that his death "was the tragic culmination of his sad, short life. [His mother Ruth] often told me that she felt that he had died three times. Once when they discovered his developmental disability, twice when he was no longer able to live at home (he went to live with Lavinia when I was born and subsequently institutionalized at age four), and finally when he met his untimely end." At his death in 1975 his mother Ruth was working for the state legislature as an aide under the administration of Dick Lamm.

   3. Beverly Nell Woods Bravo

      Beverly Nell (Woods) Bravo ("Nell") was born on 28 December 1958 in Denver, Colorado. Beverly wrote that she often felt "born out of place" and "gravitated consistently toward anything exotic" compared to her "lily-white upper middle class childhood in Southeast Denver in the 1960s and '70s." She goes on: "Trips to the Navajo reservation were quite formative, as well as exposure to Denver Democratic political circles." At around age ten she discovered a love for both Spanish and politics--two fields which later compelled her to study abroad in both Mexico and Spain and to take part in scores of political demonstrations and protests over the years.

      Beverly married (1st) Hector Enrique "Tito" Bravo (born 25 December 1954) on 15 March 1982. Hector had a daughter, Anesa Carmen Westmoreland, that Nell helped raise. That same year Nell earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Spanish, and later in 1992, earned a Master of Public of Administration in Public Policy. In 1995 Nell and Hecter had a son:

      1. Mario M. Bravo, born 24 September 1995

      Nell and and Hector divorced roughly five years later on 1 August 2000. Following the divorce "itchy feet" led her to travel and study dance; two areas which later formed the basis for one of her favorite projects--sponsoring children in Mexico and funding her sponsorships by teaching salsa aerobic classes in Denver. Beverly married (2nd) Eddy Coello Frómeta on 18 April 2005; they divorced on 18 December 2007.

6. Paul Robin ("Bob") Claybourne was born on 27 March 1927 in Albert Lea, Minnesota, and died in 2003 in Denver, Colorado.

7. Francis Claybourne was still born (and therefore died) on 15 November 1929.