Early Life

The eldest of four, Clarence often didn’t open up about his childhood. His early life remains a mystery but we do know he was born in Baltimore, Maryland in 1889 to an express driver and seamstress. They also sang in their church choir. A high school teacher encouraged his inherited musical abilities, which he exercised at local venues and on riverboats while attending Dickerson School of Law upon graduating Douglas High School. After his father passed he worked in a hardware store and two of his siblings worked as a hostler and waiter.