[2] He was born in Campbell County, Virginia, the eldest of five children, to Samuel B. and Pamela Goggin Clemens.
[3] At that same age, he became legally responsible for financial obligations deemed to be owed to his Kentucky stepfather for the costs of supporting the Clemens children and keeping family slaves.
[5] In 1835 the Clemens family, which by then included five children, moved to Missouri, initially to the town of Florida, where his son Samuel,[6] who was to become famous as the author Mark Twain, was born on November 30, 1835.
John Clemens practiced law and operated a general store in Florida for several years before moving to Hannibal in 1839.
His widow suspected syphilis was involved and ordered an autopsy which the young Samuel Clemens may have witnessed.