Born at Reykjavik, Iceland in August 1870, son of Jon Thorkellson Clemens (1840-1929) and Ingebjorg Clemens (1846-1931), he emigrated to the United States with his family in 1884 and settled at Chicago, Illinois where he later trained as an architect at the Armour Institute. In 1898, the family relocated to Winnipeg where he worked with a large group of Icelandics who, as contractors, craftsmen and labourers, worked cooperatively and used their native language on the work site.
In early 1903, he was a member of the architectural and contracting firm of Johnson and Clemens, in partnership with Isak Johnson. By late 1903, he worked alone, specializing in the design of plain and undistinguished walk-up apartment blocks, many of which were built during the building boom in Winnipeg between 1908 and 1914. He remained in Winnipeg until 1921, then moved back to Chicago and continued to practice. He later lived at Norfolk, Virginia where he was a member of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics.
On 15 August 1905, he married Laufey G. Gudjonsdottir (1884-1980) at Winnipeg. They had five children: Paul Henry Clemens (1906-1968, husband of Mabel Reykdal), Thorkell George Clemens (1910-1919), Dorothy Gudrun Ingibjorg Clemens (1912-2004, wife of Vigus H. Johnson), John Christian Walter Clemens (1917-1984, husband of Mary Malkovich), and Lillian Alice Clemens (1919-1967, wife of Roy W. Carson).
He died at Excelsior Springs, Missouri on 14 October 1966 and was buried in the Ashern United Cemetery. The Archives of Manitoba has a small collection of his drawings for projects executed between 1905 to 1921.
Some of his architectural works in Manitoba included:
Building
Location
Year
Status
Oddson House
Sherbrook Street, Winnipeg
1905
39 East Gate, Winnipeg
1907
266 Linwood Street, Winnipeg
1907
Demolished (?)
224 Notre Dame Avenue, Winnipeg
1908
174 Nassau Street North, Winnipeg
1909
Belle Vista Apartments
597 Ellice Avenue, Winnipeg
1909
Demolished (?)
Walhalla Block
577 Sherbrook Street, Winnipeg
1909
Destroyed by fire (2012)
432 Furby Street, Winnipeg
1910
Markland Court
712 Furby Street, Winnipeg
1910
Demolished (after 2000)
111 Spence Street, Winnipeg
1910
615 Sherbrook, Winnipeg
1910
471 William Avenue, Winnipeg
1910
489 Furby Street, Winnnipeg
1911
Demolished (2017)
641-645 Westminster, Winnipeg
1911
Ramona Court
267 Pritchard Avenue, Winnipeg
1911
Demolished (?)
42 Langside Street, Winnipeg
1911
634 Broadway, Winnipeg
1911
64 Langside Street, Winnipeg
1911-1912
Asquith Court
720 Furby Street, Winnipeg
1912
Demolished (?)
686 Toronto Street, Winnipeg
1912
Emily Apartments
745 Winnipeg Avenue, Winnipeg
1912
Demolished (1961)
Pandora Court
759 Winnipeg Avenue, Winnipeg
1912
Demolished (1961)
122 Langside Street, Winnipeg
1912
183 Harrow Street, Winnipeg
1913
768 Toronto Street, Winnipeg
1913
774 Toronto Street, Winnipeg
1913
Destroyed by fire (5 March 2024)
838 Wolseley Avenue, Winnipeg
1913
834 Wolseley Avenue, Winnipeg
1913
510 Maryland Street, WInnipeg
1914
290 Beverley Street, Winnipeg
1914
722 Maryland Street, Winnipeg
1914
478-480 Langside Street, Winnipeg
1914
Birth and marriage registrations, Manitoba Vital Statistics.
Classified advertisement [Johnson and Clemens], Manitoba Free Press, 11 May 1903, page 12.
1911 Canada census, Automated Genealogy.
“Large apartment block [Ramona Court],” Manitoba Free Press, 10 April 1911, page 13.
Death registrations [Jon Thorkellson Clemens, Ingeborg Clemens], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
“Man dies as flames rip block,” Winnipeg Free Press, 13 February 1965, page 1.
Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 18 October 1966, page 28.
Obituary [Paul Henry Clemens], Winnipeg Free Press, 9 October 1968, page 35.
Obituary [Laufey Clemens], Winnipeg Free Press, 15 September 1980, page 70.
Biographical Dictionary of Architects in Canada, 1800-1950 by Robert G. Hill, Toronto.
Taming a Wilderness: A History of Ashern and District by Ashern Historical Society, 1976, page 41.
“Trio charged in Sherbrook Street apartment fire,” CBC News, 15 January 2012.
Obituaries and burial transcriptions, Manitoba Genealogical Society.
We thank Lenore Clemens, Christian Cassidy, Blair Bingeman, and Jordan Makichuk for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 6 March 2024
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