One of the Claunch “tribes” that likely was in Virginia before moving to the areas that are now Tennessee and Alabama is John Claunch, Sr. (b. ∼1760, d. ∼1843) with his wife. Documents tying John Sr. to his Claunch parents is currently unconfirmed. At least one researcher has listed his full name as John Michael or John Franklin Claunch, likely derived from a German translation of Johan Michael Clontz or Glantz (his possible father who may have been born ca.1728 in the Palatinate, Germany).