Isaac Clark (1748 - 1822)

Born 5 Oct 1748 in Norwich, New London, Connecticut Colony

Ancestors

Husband of Amie (Fitch) Clark — married 29 Mar 1790 in Windham, Connecticut, United States

Descendants

Died 31 Jan 1822 at age 73 in Castleton, Rutland, Vermont, United States

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Biography

Captain Isaac Clark served with Capt. Isaac Clark's Company, Vermont Republic Militia during the American Revolution.

Isaac Clark is a DAR Patriot Ancestor, A022344.

Isaac Clark was a son of Nathan Clark and Abigail (Satterlee) Clark, born 5 October 1748 in Norwich, Connecticut.^[1]

Isaac Clark died in Castleton, Vermont, on 31 January 1822. A "true copy" of the town death record, created in 1919, states that he was 74 years old, that "he was an officer of the Revolution and late Col. in the U.S. Army," and was buried in "Cong'l" cemetery.^[2] There is a grave marker for Isaac Clark, identified as "Old Rifle," in Congregational Cemetery, Castleton, Vermont. The inscription on the gravestone reads:^[3]

To the

Memory of

ISAAC CLARK

He was an officer

of the Revolution

And late Colonel

of the Army of the

United States

He expired Jan.

31, 1822

Aged 71

If Isaac Clark was born in October 1748 and died in January 1822, his age at death would have been 73.

Research Notes

The State of Vermont, Rolls of the Soldiers in the Revolutionary War, 1775 to 1783, Published by Authority of the Legislature, Compiled and Edited by John E. Goodrich, A Member of the Vermont Historical Society, Rutland, Vermont: The Tuttle Company, 1904, 831, 832: "The fact that the 'Green Mountain Boys' were at Quebec in 1776; that two of the officers on these rolls - Captain and Commissary Elijah Babcock, and Capt. Robert Cochran are identified in name and rank with those on a list handed to the Provincial Congress of New York by Ethan Allen and Seth Warner, on July 4, 1775, as officers of the Green Mountain Boys; and the further fact that none of the men are recorded in any other place, or with any other organization, all confirm the belief that the soldiers on its rolls herewith were a part of that historic band." Enlisted men.

Sources

1. ↑ Norwich CT: Vital Records of Norwich, 1659-1848. (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2015.) Originally published as: Vital Records of Norwich, 1659-1848. Hartford, Society of colonial wars in the state of Connecticut, 1913. Page 255: Isaac: ye Son of Nathan Clark & his wife Abigail was born october 5th 1748.
2. ↑ "Vermont Vital Records, 1760-1954," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:9398-QWDX-S?cc=1784223&wc=MFVW-KP8%3A1029377501 : 22 May 2014), 004543209 > image 482 of 3560; State Capitol Building, Montpelier.
3. ↑ Find A Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 03 February 2018), memorial page for Isaac “Old Rifle” Clark (5 Oct 1748–31 Jan 1822), Find A Grave Memorial no. 9676879, citing Congregational Cemetery, Castleton, Rutland County, Vermont, USA ; Maintained by Nareen, et al (contributor 46613568) .

• History - Vermont Historical Society Page 97
• https://www.genealogy.com/forum/surnames/topics/clark/14181/
• Find A Grave: Memorial #9676879
• Frisbie, Barnes. The History of Middletown, Vermont (Tuttle & Co., Rutland, Vermont, 1867) Page 13 & 20.
  • Page 13: settled on the "McClure road" by 1779. Nicknamed Old Rifle. Town clerk of Ira, VT.
  • Page 20: "The history of 'Old Rifle' more properly belongs to some other town, although he was on our territory for about seven years. He went to Castleton in 1786.... Mr. Clark's wife... was not behind in bravery; on a Sabbeth day, when her husbadn was absent, she discovered a bear in the cornfield, she took that same rifle with which her husband had won his name, went out and deliberately shsot the bear."
  • Page 74ff: "There were three brothers of the name of Clark who first came to Massachusetts Colony some time before the year 1700, of which Thomas Clark was one. Thomas had two sons, Theopholus and Thomas, who removed to the Connecticut Colony and settled in 'Old Canterbury,' from Theopholus Clark came the Clarks who have lived in Middletown; from Thomas came Isaac Clark (old rifle) and the Clark families of Pawlet... Theopholus had six sons: Nathaniel, Benjamin, Adam, Theopholus, Jonas and Stephen. Nathaniel had seven sons and three daughters; five of the sons removed to Middletown from Canterbury, Vt., soon after this town was organized. They were Asa, Elisha, Rufus, Roswell and Ezra Clark. Elisha and Rufus came as early as 1785 or 1786; the others later. They all remained for many years among the substantial business men of the town and aided in laying the foundation of society here upon correct, moral and religious principles. They were all members of the Congregational Church. Ezra was a physician and practiced here until 1819, when he removed to Ohio. Elisha was deacon of the church some twenty years and was one of the first victims' of the epidemic which prevailed here in 1813, dying at the age of fifty-seven. Asa died in Tinmouth about 1823. Roswell removed to Castleton about 1818 and died there in 1825, aged sixty-three. Rufus died in East Poultney about 1837 and Dr. Ezra Clark died in Ohio about 1828. There are no representatives of this branch of the family in this State at the present time, as far as is known to us.