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One of Clement's first teachers in Mocksville
was Peter Ney (thought by some to be Napoleon's Marshall Ney). Later
in life, Clement recalled the scar across Ney's forehead and the
fencing lessons given the students using canes cut from the forest.
At the age of sixteen, Clement entered Hugh Hill at Bethany in
Iredell County. Afterward, he attended Rev. Baxter Clegg's school
and Mocksville Academy. In 1844, he entered Pennsylvania College at
Gettysburg and remained there for two years. Clement returned to
Mocksville in 1846, studied law at Richmond Hill, and was admitted
to the bar in 1848. After spending one term in the state
legislature, he devoted the rest of his life to the practice of law.
In his later years, he refused to appear for the prosecution in
cases where a life was at stake. (Courtesy of Lash and Cyrette
Sanford.)