Age at Death: 73
Date of Death: September 3, 1900
Interment source:
Bay View Cemetery Association, Corpus Christi, Texas. Record of Interments
NO HEADSTONE
Biography
Unfortunately no obituary has survived in the Caller for Clara Sinclair because of missing issues of the paper from that year. However, Federal census records do give us some sense of Clara's identity. She is found in the 1870 census after the Civil War as living in Corpus Christi (1870 census of Nueces County page 151) with no husband, but with what appears to be her son or a younger relative named Stephen. She lists herself as 40 years old and Stephen as 17 years old. Also living with her are drayman Stephen Stewart (45 years old) from North Carolina and Sally Hunter of Mississippi. Clara is from Louisiana, but Stephen is a native of Mississippi. In later census records (1880) Stephen lists himself as also from Louisiana (as well as his father and mother). It should be noted that while Clara is listed as "black", Stephen in the 1870 and 1880 census records is listed as "mulatto". In the 1880 census of Nueces County (p. 14D) Clara is living with "Bell Fauntain" and is listed as her mother. There is no husband listed with Belle, and she is supporting the family along with her mother Clara by taking in laundry. In this census, Belle says that she like Stephen is a native of Mississippi and that her mother is from Louisiana while her father is originally from Alabama. She like Stephen is listed as "mulatto" while her mother Clara is again listed as "black". Belle apparently married a gentleman named Bennett initially because her older sons, 9 year old Richard and 7 year old Stephin (sic), are both listed under that family name and are classified as "black". However, the youngest child of Bell is a daughter—1 year old Frances W. who has "Fauntain" as a last name and is classified as "mulatto" like her mother. This would mean that Bell married a Mr. Bennett sometime prior to 1870 and between 1873 and 1880 married a Mr. Fauntain. It should be noted that there are other Bennetts in the Corpus Christi area. Aaron Bennett, for instance, is the husband of Mary Bennett who is also buried in Old Bayview Cemetery. Clara's last name of "Sinclair" is also shared by numerous other residents of the area at that time. Most notable is Congregationalist/later Baptist minister Moses Sinclair whose name in some early marriage records is written "St. Clair". Like Clara, Moses is listed as a native of Louisiana. Moses is an ancestor of Alclair Pleasant who turned 100 years old in 2006 and is an old member of the African-American community in Corpus Christi. Alclair notes that her earliest ancestors in Corpus Christi were a maternal great-grandmother and grandmother who were brought to the area in 1846 as slaves of Cornelius Cox. However, Alclair's paternal grandmother is Alice Sinclair, sister of Moses Sinclair and wife of William Harrison Mays. Clara lasts appears in the 1900 federal census of Nueces County (E. D. 130 sheet 6/page 126B).She is still living with Belle who now lists herself and her sons under her maiden name of Sinclair. Clara is listed as born in May of 1826 in Louisiana and says her father was from Mississippi and her mother from Louisiana. At this point Clara acknowledges that she is a widow and that she has only had one child (presumably Bell). The family is living on Chaparral Street. Bell says she cooks for a private family while Clara is finally resting at home. Clara's grandson Richard is a drayman and his brother Stephen is a day laborer. The youngest brother, Wilburt, is not presently employed. Belle's daughter Frances W. Fountain is probably married as she is listed as still living, but is not with her mother and the rest of the family. Clara died 3 September 1900 as the community entered a new century. She had seen many changes in the United States over her years and doubtless was ready to rest from her labors.
Research and transcription: Michael A. Howell