Clements was born in Clementsville, Tennessee, in Clay County, son of Christopher Clements and Polly Fraim and grandson of John Clemans (Revolutionary War Veteran) and Eilzabeth Eagle. He attended a private school and Burritt College at Spencer, Tennessee, studied medicine, and commenced practice in Lafayette, Tennessee. His first wife, Nancy Jones Clements died in 1858 and he later married Matilda Harlan by whom he had four children: Mollie, Carlos, Carolyn, and Fred.
Clements died of pneumonia, in Central State Hospital (a mental hospital where he was confined due to senility), Lakeland, Jefferson County, Kentucky, on November 7, 1913 (age 80 years, 319 days). He is interred at Glasgow Municipal Cemetery, Glasgow, Kentucky.[3]