Jem Clayton is the son of Samuel Clayton, the brother of Claire Clayton, the brother-in-law of Frank Miller, and a resident of the mining settlement of Seneca 6.
On his twelfth birthday, he shot and killed a Beothuk warrior during a raid on the settlement. After his father's death, Jem became an outlaw, going by the name of "Gentleman Jim." During his career as a bandit, he used the aliases Dirk Tirrell and Thomas Howard.
Among the Beothuk tribe, he is known as "El-Halcon," a name that is Spanish for "the hawk" and may also refer to the mythical halcyon bird.