Pvt. John Clark, II

Ancestor #: A022460 Service Description: 1) CAPTS.BOUTON & SCHOFIELD,COL.CRANE DAR record shows birth in Rhode Island.

Wife # 1 Martha Westcott

Wife # 2 Polly Robinson

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Family History/Ancestor:

Ship's Pilot and Master's Mate, John Clarke John Clarke had been a ship's pilot on a voyage to Jamestown, Virginia in 1611, in the fleet that brought Sir Thomas Dale to govern the colony. He lived and worked ferrying cargo in the bay for about 40 days, until a Spanish ship came into the harbor. He was taken prisoner, tied up, and sailed first to Havana, Cuba, and later to Malaga, Spain, where he would be repeatedly interrogated by Spanish authorities. After five years imprisonment, he was released to the English in 1616. He took a load of cattle to Jamestown again in 1618, and was then hired for the Mayflower's voyage.

1. John1 Clark was born 1740, probably in the Town of Bedford, Westchester County, New York.

The DAR index lists a John Clark b. 8 July 1740; this may not be correct. We do know that he was born in 1740, but July 8th may be borrowed from a Rhode Island Clark who is not our relative.

John was a private in New York during the Revolution. He was (according to the book: New York In The Revolution) an enlisted man along with his brothers Jabez and Jonathan. They all were members of the Westchester County Militia Fourth Regiment under Colonel Thaddeus Crane. The Fourth Regiment was a collection of Pound Ridge residents; indicating John Clark may have resided in Pound Ridge at that time. Also among the enlisted men: Gilbert Weed, Eli Weed, Alexander Weed, Elisha Scofield (and 13 other Scofields), many Hoyts, Ferris', and Lockwoods; all familiar surnames in our family tree.

Little is known of John Clark's family during their time in Westchester County. The area was known as the "Neutral Ground" during the American Revolution.

John Clark is in the Town of Pound Ridge, Westchester County, in the 1790 Federal Census.

Information provided January 2007 by a Connecticut researcher, has led us to to learn that the Clark brothers: Abel, John, Jonathan and Jabez, lived near Honey Hollow road at the southwest corner of Ward Pound Ridge Reservation. This reservation is a Town of Pound Ridge park north of Rt. 137. They lived at and near the town line between Bedford and Pound Ridge, south of Cross River.

Allied families who migrated before 1800 from Bedford/Pound Ridge to Milton and Greenfield townships in Saratoga County include: Hoyt, Ingerson, Weed, Westcott.

The 1800 Federal Census, enumerates John Clark in the Town of Milton, Saratoga County, New York. This family group came to Saratoga County ca 1792 and stayed about 17 years, before moving on to Cayuga County in 1809.

Allied names buried in North Milton Cemetery and Boyce Cemetery in the Town of Milton, Saratoga County, NY:

Scofield, Weed, Ingerson, Westcott. Also see Cornell Cemetery in the Town of Greenfield (on town line with Milton). Jotham's journal says they lived 3 miles from Saratoga Springs; putting them just at the town line between Milton, Greenfield and Saratoga townships. Allied families settled in Greenfield; most likely nearby. Most of the information we have about John and his family, comes from a journal kept by his grandson, Jotham Clark. It was preserved and handed down through the generations. The journal was printed in 1985 by Eleanor Ratsep, a descendent of this line. It is titled: History and Humor from the Homestead; The Journal of Jotham Clark (1794-1887), with some Genealogical Descendants of Ichabod Clark (1766-1844). Eleanor Osborne Ratsep, editor, (Latrobe, Pennsylvania: Latrobe Press of Pennsylvania, 1985).

pg. 50 -- "Of my grandfather's brothers I have seen two: Jabez and Abel. The other, Jonathan, I never saw. So far as I know they were all sober, industrious citizens, well calculated to enjoy what they possessed without destroying their comfort in getting more. The four brothers lived to good old age, and three died in the county in which they were born". pg. 51 -- "My grandfather, John, died at Springport, Cayuga County, in April 1818, age seventy-eight. Consequently, he was born in 1740". John Clark married (First) Martha Westcott, daughter of John Westcott and Rachel Holmes, circa 1762. Martha, who died after childbirth in 1765, is most likely buried in the Old Bedford Cemetery or the Westcott Cemetery, Town of Bedford, Westchester County, New York.

Bedford Old Cemetery Town of Bedford, Westchester County, New York Photo taken ca 1994 by Liz Cornish. He married (Second) Polly Robinson before Aug 1767 in Bedford or Pound Ridge, Westchester County, New York.

John Clark died April 1818 in the Town of Springport, Cayuga County, New York. A burial site for John has not been found. It is likely that he is buried in Oakridge Cemetery, Town of Springport, Cayuga County, NY; as is his son, Ichabod and his family. There is no sign of a missing stone. Burials were made in this cemetery at the time of John's death in 1818 and the cemetery is adjacent to the Clark properties. There is an area of the cemetery that is void of stones. I suspect that older stones may have exsisted, but I find no evidence. Four of Ichabod's children, who died young, are assumed to be buried in this same cemetery. The first Clark death in the town of Aurelius (later Springport), was Wealthy Clark, John Clark's grandaughter, and daughter of Ichabod Clark. Wealthy died in 1817 at the age of 18. No markers are evident for these four children.

John's second wife Polly is buried in Short Tract cemetery in Granger township, Allegany County, beside her daughter Mary Botsford who went there with her husband Ezra Botsford. Ezra and Mary resided and raised their family near Short Tract.

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~clark49heritage/RWgenOne.html

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Comments

From Private User August 2018

”John Clark was born in Bedford, Westchester, NY to John (senior) Clark who had sons John (our subject), Jonathan, Jabez and Abel. There was also a daughter, Hannah. My source is a family document written by John Clark's grandson, Jotham Clark. Family researchers have worked for many years to stop the perpetuation of errors, but people are reluctant to discard myth for fact.”

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John Clark (1740-1818) was NOT born in RHODE ISLAND.'

Our John Clark has repeatedly been confused with 'a' John Clark of Rhode Island. We are not related, or connected in any way, to the Clarks of Rhode Island. Our John Clark (1740-1818) was born in BEDFORD, Westchester county, New York and was the son of John Clark, Sr.

John Clark, Sr. 'MIGHT' have been the grandson of William Clark, one of the 1680 proprietors of that town.

Another error, which also shows up in printed genealogies, is the supposed connection to SAMUEL Clark. There is NO evidence that William Clark (the proprietor) is descended from Samuel Clark. Too many people, in their rush to fill in ancestor charts, have perpetuated these two egregious errors for decades.

Here is what we know, from family records:

John Clark was b. in Bedford, 1740.

He had brothers: Abel, Jabez, Jonathan. We do not know their birth order.

John had a sister named Hannah. We do not know if she was younger or older, or if she married.

We know that John Clark (1740-1818) was the son of John Clark, Sr., a farmer and hat maker. We do not know when he was born, or who his parents were. We do not know the name of John Clark, Sr.'s wife.