Orion Clemens

Orion Clemens
Secretary of Nevada Territory
In office
1861–1864
Nominated byAbraham Lincoln
Personal details
Born(1825-07-17)July 17, 1825
Gainesboro, Tennessee, United States
DiedDecember 11, 1897(1897-12-11) (aged 72)
Keokuk, Iowa, United States
Resting placeMount Olivet Cemetery Hannibal, Missouri, United States
PartyRepublican
SpouseMary Eleanor Stotts
Children1
Parent(s)John Marshall Clemens (father)
Jane Lampton Clemens (mother)
RelativesMark Twain (brother)
ProfessionJournalist
Signature

Orion Clemens (July 17, 1825 – December 11, 1897) was an American politician who was the first and only Secretary of the Nevada Territory. As a member of the Republican Party, he supported Abraham Lincoln, thinking slavery was morally wrong. His younger brother Samuel Langhorne Clemens became an author under the pen name Mark Twain.

Clemens was born in Gainesboro, Tennessee, the eldest child of the family. He married Mary Stotts and had one child, Jennie. She died in 1864, negatively affecting Clemens and his political career. Soon after, he became a state assemblyman, though he had low pay, so he quit and left Nevada in 1866. Clemens died December 11, 1897 in Keokuk, Iowa.