Asa Clark (abt. 1731 - 1819)

Born about 1731 in Colchester, Hartford, Connecticut Colony

Ancestors

Husband of Sarah (Hopson) Clark — married before 2 Jul 1757 in Colchester, New London, Connecticut

Descendants

Died 19 May 1819 at about age 88 in Cornwallis, Kings, Nova Scotia

Biography

The following "biography" is a transcription of a regional history of King's County, Nova Scotia ^[1]. Whereas it is engaging, precision as to key data that may be specious [bolded for emphasis], and which are detailed in Notes section below.

The Clark or Clarke family of Cornwalli, Nova Scotia was founded by Asa Clark, son of Noah and Sarah (Taintor) Clark, of Colchester, Conn., (married June 10, 1719) whose father died probably in 1749 for on May 7, 1750, Asa Clark's mother was formally appointed her son's guardian.

Before July 2, 1757, Asa married Sarah, daughter of Capt. John and Lydia (Kellogg) Hopson, of Colchester, born Jan. 29, 1737. The Hopson family was a Rhode Island family, but Captain John Hopson, son of John and Sarah Hopson, was born at Colchester, Conn., Nov. 12, 1707, and married May 28, 1730, Lydia, daughter of Nathaniel and Margaret Kellogg, born in Colchester, May 29, 1710. Capt. John Hopson died Aug. 6, 1751, and his widow married her second husband, Henry Bliss of Lebanon. She died March 31, 1761.

The immediate ancestry of Asa Clark was as follows: Daniel Clark, Jr., son of Hon. Daniel and Mary (Newberry) Clark of Hartford, Conn., was born in Hartford, where the Clark family was a prominent one, Apr. 5. 1654. He married Hannah Pratt of Hartford, and removed to Colchester, where with other children he had probably a son, Noah who married in Colchester, Sarah Taintor.

Asa Clark, son of Noah and Sarah (Taintor) Clark, born in Colchester, Conn., married Sarah, dau. of Capt. John and Lydia (Kellogg) Hopson, of Colchester, and it is said removed from Conn., first to Cobequid or Portapique, Nova Scotia, Dec. 31, 1764; however, he received a grant of land in Cornwallis, where he died on the Clark homestead, May 19, 1819, his will having been made June 19, 1813. His widow died in 1823.

Notes

The birth date of Sarah Hopson, given in the above publication as Jan. 29, 1737, differs significantly from that which has been put forth in other references, particularly Find-A-Grave ^[2] and FamilySearch ^[3], which relies entirely on the F-A-G reference for birth and death data on Sarah (nee Hopson). These, plus, an online genealogical reference source ^[4], all state that her birth year was 1727. This is a key datum because according to the same source, Asa and Sarah (Hopson) began having children in the 1750s, rendering her birth date in the late 1730s less plausible, yet still possible if they were married when Sarah may have been in her teens. The F-A-G site proclaims that they were married December 4, 1755 in Colchester, however no source is presented.

Conversely, the final two children of Asa and Sarah (Hopson) Clark were born in the late 1770s to 1780, thus Sarah would have been more than 50 years old by then if she had been born in 1727.

The King's County summary states that "his widow died in 1823", yet the death date for Sarah (Hopson) from F-A-G is 20 July 1797. This discrepancy is important because the same source states in its caption that Sarah (nee Hopson) married first, probably before 1746 in Colchester, Elijah Johnson, with whom she had 5 children. The last of those five children was born in the early 1750s, and Elijah Johnson died in 1755. Thus, while Mrs. Sarah (nee Hopson) Johnson may have been available for second marriage by December 4, 1755, the King's County summary does not mention her in context of surname Johnson, or that she may have been widowed at the time of her marriage to Asa Clark.

If Sarah (nee Hopson) truly was the spouse of Elijah Johnson, then Asa Clark in succession, then her cumulative number of children, totaling those from the F-A-G site and the King's County listing, would have been seventeen; and her birthing period would have spanned over 34 years, beginning sometime before 1746, continuing until 1780.

Taken together, the accumulated evidence begs critical evaluation as to whether the Sarah (nee Hopson) who probably was the wife of Asa Clark, and who probably did die in 1823, was the same person who had earlier married Elijah Johnson. Probably they were not. Probably both the F-A-G site and the FamilySearch database are incorrect on the identity of the wife of Elijah Johnson.

Sources

1. ↑ Eaton, Arthur Wentworth Hamilton. The History of Kings County, Nova Scotia, Heart of the Acadian Land, Giving ... The Salem Press Company, 1910. pp. 604-6 : The Clark or Clarke Family
2. ↑ Find A Grave: Memorial #25139268
3. ↑ https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/LHTT-TPW
4. ↑ Asa Clark on Geni