MY LINEAGE research is currently at the forefront of my interest, with my Hoy line (my mother’s maternal ancestors) now front and center. Along with information and photographs I’ve compiled over the years, my brother Gordon Clemens’ extensive records, and others’ family research, I’m posting our familial lines, one ancestor at a time. I also manage 8,000+ pages of kin on Find A Grave. My Chatfield and Chamberlin lines are completed, along with the Sevenau line, my sons’ paternal heritage. I have my Clemens line nearly done, but I’m switching over to the Hoys. I’ll finish the Clemens at some point.
Emily & Those Hoy Boys
As rivers cut canyons through Rockies to bays, the Hoys traveled westward in pioneer days. They fought for the Union (Frank, wounded in battle), then homesteaded Brown’s Hole where they branded their cattle. They were ranchers and farmers and bull-whackers of yore, horse breeders, schoolteachers, and miners of ore. They were writers and poets, a politic few, they were German and English, a Swiss woman too. Herein are their timelines, their letters and lore, with charts of our ancestors and the children they bore. Newspaper clippings, records, and wills, excerpts and photos and warranty bills. They all tell this history so much better than I, this trail left behind from those now gone by.
Emily S. Hoy
I penned tales about kin whom my brother explored, he combing through records—a task I deplored. Names, facts, and figures, yes, they interest me some, but tis the echoes of tales that I yearn to plumb. The Hoys sued each other, Grandpa gambled the ranch (he, a fool with the whiskey—an ache through our branch). Davis cheated on Emily and cared not the least, Ada’s vows to Doc Chambers were undone by the priest. J.S., while in France, was castrated with knife while caught in the act with a med student’s wife! He perished from poison! Tracy shot Val and ran! Harry fasted five weeks—up and died from that plan. And the query that actually started this game was: “What’s the “S.” stand for in Emily’s name?”
Some mysteries still linger, some relations not found, like what caused Frank’s death and where laid in the ground? What happened to Winnie? From what did she perish? A tintype of her I truly would cherish! A.A. had three daughters—what happened to them? And what of wife Frances—his crème de le crème? There’s no trace of Lizzie, in shadow she’s sunk… disappeared like Minerva and J.S.’ trunk. Missing records and pictures and letters of yore keep me digging and searching—I know there are more! One more trip, one more hunt, another call I will make just to find out for clarity’s sake. But does it matter if I know not all that occurred? No, though at the end of the day you may rest assured that I’ll let out a whoop and drop to my knees if I ever discover the answers to these!
© 2006. Catherine Sevenau.
All rights reserved
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Five generations with my brother Gordon, our paternal side:
Gordon Lawrence Clemens (1934–living)
father, Carl John Clemens (1905–1986)
grandfather, Mathew S. Clemens (1874–1947)
great-grandfather, Mathew Clemens (1836–1920)
g-g-grandfather, Peter Clemens (1808–1871)
Four generations of our maternal side at about the same ages, upper and lower panel:
Catherine (Clemens) Sevenau (1948–living)
mother, Noreen Ellen Chatfield (1915–1968)
grandmother, Nellie Belle Chamberlin (1873–1956)
great-grandmother, Emily S. Hoy (1850–1940)
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Books (published and online)
Queen Bee: Reflections on Life and Other Rude Awakenings, a compilation of short pieces I’ve composed; available in paperback.
Passages from Behind These Doors, A Family Memoir, 20 chapters from the full family memoir; available in paperback and audio.
A Memoir, Through Any Given Door (Web Serial), the novel in full posted here, is about sin and prayer, good intentions and unattended sorrows, and about finding my way back home.
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Published books contributed to via my Chatfield family history and research:
The Chatfield Story: Civil War Letters and Diaries of Private Edward L. Chatfield of the 113th Illinois Volunteers, by Terry M. McCarty with Margaret Ann Chatfield McCarty (Sep 17, 2009)
“A stunning personal biography, fully annotated and meticulously researched, that illustrates a harrowing part of American history. Resonant, wise, and suspenseful, this elegantly wrought memoir is a story of courage, pluck, and survival against seemingly insurmountable odds. Chatfield’s life as a Union private unfolds with each successive missive, an incredible account from within the Western Theater of the Civil War: Cairo, Memphis, Oxford, Holly Springs, Chickasaw Bayou, Arkansas Post, DeSoto Point, Grand Gulf, Clinton, Vicksburg, Corinth, and Brice’s Cross Roads-where disaster awaited him. Fascinating in its approach and its depth, this spellbinding story of a young man whose name and family became famous in Colorado is a marvelous tale of accomplishment-a decidedly American story that truly begs to be heard.”
Note: My great-grandfather, Isaac Willard Chatfield, and his brothers Clark Samuel Chatfield and Capt. Charles Henry Chatfield, who also served in the Civil War, are mentioned in many of the letters. Catherine
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Ida Chatfield: Aspen’s Oldest Unsolved Mystery, by T.A. Stevens (Jul 11, 2025)
Winner of the Spring PenCraft Award for Best Historical Fiction, North American Book Award for Best Historical Fiction, Readers’ Favorite, and Literary Titan Five-Star Awards for Fiction
“This work of creative non-fiction weaves together several narrative strands. One thread reveals a mystery told from beyond the grave as the ghost of Ida Chatfield revisits the moments leading to her untimely death and challenges long-held assumptions about her fate. Another fiber explores women’s struggles and societal expectations in the nineteenth century. The reprise of her story still echoes today. An unpretentious stone marks Ida’s grave in the Ute Cemetery east of Aspen, Colorado.
I’m indebted to Catherine (Clemens) Sevenau, the great-granddaughter of I.W. Chatfield (Ida Chatfield’s uncle), for her untold hours of research.”
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Catherine (Clemens) Sevenau
csevenau@earthlink.net