John Tompson Clark

Biography

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John Tompson Clark was born on September 9, 1874 in Perry Pike County, Illinois. His parents were Charles Folsom Clark and Aliva Read, whose ancestral lineage came from England.

His maternal great grandfather, Robert Read was born in Norfolk, England while wife Susannah Callows was born in Yorkshire, England.

His paternal grandfather, Benjamin Clark, served in the English Army in 1812.

Robert Read and wife Susannah traveled from England in a slow sailboat arriving in Baltimore, Maryland on July 4, 1835. They crossed the Allegheny Mountain in a stagecoach via Virginia, Cincinnati and Missouri, arriving at Perry, Illinois (then called Booneville after Daniel Boone) that same year. Their son, John C. Read was born in American soil. John married Lucy Brower, a Dutch girl from New York (once called Amsterdam). Their first child was Aliva.

On October 25, 1911, John married a local girl, Concepcion Miraflores Palanca. She was born on July 16, 1896 in Inagawan, Puerto Princesa. The couple was blessed with nine children: Esperanza, Alfredo, Trinidad, Daniel, Patricia, Aliva, Virginia, Elizabeth and Jackie. Concepcion’s mother, Antonia Miraflores descended from t he Mondragon and Miraflores families of Cuyo, Palawan. Her father, Yu Dee Hu was from Amoy, China but later adopted the Christian name Joaquin Palanca.   

In February 1914, John T. Clark resigned from government service. He concentrated in planting coconuts in his land in Canigaran. His mode of transportation to and from the seven kilometers stretch of narrow and rocky road was by horseback, “Nelly.”  In 1934, he got his first car just in time for “Nelly” to retire due to old age. John Tompson Clark passed away on October 5, 1942 in their evacuation place called “Tarao” which he likes to call “Castle Rock.”