| Sarah (Unknown) Clarke migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640). Join: Puritan Great Migration Project Discuss: pgm |
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(See this discussion. )
The maiden name of Sarah, wife of Lt. William Clarke, isn't shown in any known records and many people have "added" her to several different families.[1] None of the information on her family name is of sufficient strength to conclude which is correct, in order to avoid errors we have opted to call her UNKNOWN until such time as her true name is found.
The oldest and most plausible supposition for the maiden name of Sarah Clark is Holton: "His [William's] wife, Sarah, is listed as Sarah Holton in 'The Parson Family' by Henry Parsons, 1920 (p. 58). William Holton of Hartford and Northampton was probably baptized 20 Oct. 1610, Nayland Church, Parish of Holton St. Marys, County Suffolk, England. He came to New England in 'The Francis,' sailing from Ipswich, England in April 1634, when he was 23 years old. A descendant from Iowa discovered that Holton had a sister Sarah baptized in Nayland but it is not known what happened to her. William Holton is buried next to the Clarks at Bridge St. Cemetery, Northampton."[2]
Unlike the proposed Holton association, there is no known scrap of evidence or inference to suggest that Strong was the maiden name of William Clarke's wife Sarah. However, this groundless assumption is widespread on the internet.
A Sarah Strong was born 1613 in Chardstock, Dorsetshire, England but whether she ever immigrated or who she married is unknown. Her parents were Thomas STRONG and Joanna BAGGE. Thomas was a brother of John Strong of Chard, Dorset who was father of Elder John Strong, the father-in-law of two of William and Sarah Clarke's sons. This casts further serious doubts on Sarah's last name being Strong, because John Strong was a Puritan elder and the Puritans forbade marriage between first cousins and discouraged marriage between second cousins.[3]
Sarah arrived about 1637 in New England.
Sarah ________ was the wife of William Clarke of Dorchester and Northampton.[4] They married by about 1636 possibly in Dorchester, Massachusetts where their children were born. These are their known children: Children of William and Sarah (?) Clarke (all born at Dorchester, Massachusetts):
Sarah passed away on 25 September 1675, at the age of 68 . She is buried at the Bridge Street Cemetery in Northampton Massachusetts.
William CLARKE Lt. was born in Dorsetshire, England 1609. He died 19 Jul 1690 Northampton, Hampshire, Ma, at 81 years of age. His body was interred Jul 1690 Bridge St. Cemetery, Northampton, Ma. He married twice; first, Sarah (?), in Dorchester, Suffolk, MA, about 1635/36. (Sarah was born in England about 1611/13, and died 6 Sep 1675 Northampton, Hampshire, Ma, at 63 years of age. Her body was interred Sep 1675 Bridge St. Cemetery, Northampton, Ma. Little is known about Sarah, not even her surname, or exact date & place of birth. Since her husband, William Clarke, is first noted in the town of Dorchester in 1635, and apparently arrived there from England unmarried, virtually every unmarried Sarah in Dorchester at that time, has been suggested. I have seen Strong, Holton, Bolton, Lambert, Lumbert, Smith and too many more to mention. What I haven't seen is any positive proof for any of these. At present, all that is known of Sarah, is that she & William were admitted as Church members in Dorchester in 1636, resigned from that church to be admitted to the new church in Northampton, in 1666, that all of her children were born in Dorchester, and that she was a good and loving wife to William.[5]
Died 16 September 1675. Northampton, Hampshire, Massachusetts. [6][7][8]
Buried September 1675. Bridge St. Cemetery, Northampton MA. [9]
Merging note: Sarah's year of birth has varied from 1609 to 1620 on the various profiles merged. RES 7/21/14
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Featured National Park champion connections: Sarah is 12 degrees from Theodore Roosevelt, 17 degrees from Stephanus Johannes Paulus Kruger, 10 degrees from George Catlin, 15 degrees from Marjory Douglas, 21 degrees from Sueko Embrey, 10 degrees from George Grinnell, 24 degrees from Anton Kröller, 11 degrees from Stephen Mather, 21 degrees from Kara McKean, 13 degrees from John Muir, 14 degrees from Victoria Hanover and 21 degrees from Charles Young on our single family tree. Login to find your connection.
[Do you know Sarah's family name?] | C > Clarke > Sarah (Unknown) Clarke
Categories: Puritan Great Migration Spouse | Puritan Great Migration
https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/2451/images/40355_267497-00490?treeid=&personid=&hintid=&usePUB=true&usePUBJs=true&pId=64260079
If there is no source or objections, I'd like to disconnect Sarah from the parents and merge her with [[UNKNOWN-50305|Sarah (Unknown) Clarke].
Sarah, maiden name unknown, wife of William Clarke. Vitals match.
See discussion on Sarah Clarke for justification of this merge.