Alonzo B. Clemons Born: 1818, Dresden, Washington Co., NY Died: 15 October 1892, Coggon, Linn Co., IA. Buried: Coggon Cemetery, Coggon, IA Parents: Abraham Clemons, Patty Nelson Married: Jeannette Cummings ca. 1852 Children: Margrett M. Clemons, Andrew J. Clemons, William M. Clemons, Jessie E. Clemons, Belle Clemons, James L. Clemons, Margaret O. Clemons, Lillie M. Clemons

Alonzo was still living at home in 1850 at the age of 31, but by 1852 he had married Jeannette Cummings and had moved away, probably to the neighboring Town of Putnam, or possibly to Vermont. The cemetery of the United Presbyterian Cemetery in Putnam contains the grave of Margrett M. Clemons dated 31 Mar 1856, "age 3y 4m, daughter of A.B. and Jennett."  Since Alonzo was the only "A.B. Clemons" in the area at the time this probably refers to him.

Alonzo appears in the Washington County land records only once--to sell a lot, along with his brother John and John's wife Polly, to a William Walker, in Jul 1844 [Book 13. p.364]. Otherwise, it does not appear that he ever owned land in Washington County.

Alonzo and Jeannette are not listed in the 1855 census for Putnam or Dresden, but they probably lived in one of the towns. Their first son, Andrew J. Clemons was born in New York state in December 1855. Soon after that, they moved to Benson, Vermont, where their second son William Milton Clemons was born on September 22, 1857. A daughter, Jessie, was born in Vermont in February 1860, and they were still living in Benson during August of that year when they were enumerated for the 1860 census.

In the early 1860s they moved from Vermont to Wisconsin.  They lived there for seven or eight years before moving on to Iowa.  While in Wisonsin, they had three more children: daughters Belle and Margaret, and son James L.  In 1871, Alonzo and Jeanette moved to a farm in Allamakee County, Iowa, where their last child was born--a daughter named Lillie.

Apparently tired of farming, in 1887 Alonzo moved his family to Green's Mill, IA (now Coggon) and opened a hotel--the Clemons House. Alonzo died on October 15, 1892 and is buried in the Coggon Cemetery.

Alonzo's wife and children ran the hotel until the 1930s or 1940s. The building currently serves as a museum of Coggonia run by the Coggon Historical Society.

Census Data:
1850:    Federal Census, New York, Washington Co., Town of Dresden, p.129, with Abraham Clemons.
1855:    State Census, New York, Washington Co., Town of Putnam, p.16.
1860:    Federal Census, Vermont, Rutland Co., Town of Benson, p.158. "Alonzo Clemons"
1870:    Federal Census, Wisconsin, Dane County, Town of Burke, p.91.
1880:    Federal Census, Iowa, Allamakee Co., Town of Post, p.433D.

Sources:
Federal Census, 1850, 1860, 1880
Iowa State Census, 1895 (from ancestry.com).
WPA, Tombstone Records of Linn County, Iowa, p.59.
Post Office Department, Record of the Appointment of Postmasters, NARA microfilm M-841, Roll 38.
Vermont Vital Records Index, LDS film #0027511 (from IGI entrry on familysearch.org).