William Clark (abt. 1610 - 1681)

Born about 1610 in England [uncertain]

Ancestors

Husband of Katherine (Bunce) Clark — married 16 Oct 1650 in Hartford, Hartford, Connecticut

Descendants

Died 22 Jul 1681 at about age 71 in Haddam, Hartford, Connecticut Colony

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William Clark migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640). (See The Directory, by R. C. Anderson, p. 68) Join: Puritan Great Migration Project Discuss: pgm

Caution

There was another Lt. William Clarke, who has been researched and treated at length, with wives named Sarah.

Biography

WILLIAM, born in probably England around 1610? and died July 22, 1681 in Haddam, Middlesex, CT. He married KATHEREN BUNCE Abt 1640.

According to Savage, William Clark came from England as servant of John Crow in Hartford; later removed to Haddam. (According to Court Appearance record Clarke was ordered to be a temporary servant to Crow and fined 40s for drinking. Corporal punishment was avoided based on his promise to avoid such occasions.1)

(Reportedly temporary) servant of John Crow, the town granted him half of of John Pearce's allotment in 1642. He was probably born in England in 1610, immigrated to Massachusetts in the 1630's, and settled in Hartford, Connecticut. A group of early settlers of Hartford later removed to the area of Northampton, Massachusetts. Later some of these families removed to Haddam, Connecticut. William Clark is said to have died in July, 1690 and buried at Bridge Street Cemetery, Northampton, Massachusetts.

NOTE: Not the son of Thomas Clarke & Rose Kerrich/Kerridge of Westhorpe.

Steve Bird posted this at Genforum: "William Clark was born on 6 Feb 1611 in Great Bromley, Essex (the records showing Westhorpe, Suffolk are conflating his records with a different William Clarke, son of Thomas Clark and Rose Kerridge, born 11 Feb. 1611). He died on 22 July 1681 in Haddam, CT, according to the Hartford Probate Records, p. 290, vol. I. (Again, some records show a death date of 1682 or even 1683. These dates may correspond to a different William Clark, but not the one married to Katherine Bunce.)

"According to Prentiss Glazier, "Clark-Clarke Families of Connecticut", NEHGR vol 128, (January 1974) pp. 22-27, William Clarke m. Katherine Bunce, and she bore him all eight of his children. If there was an earlier marriage, there were apparently no [surviving] offspring.

"Katherine Bunce was born about 1610. I have seen a marriage date with William suggested as early as 1631 in Watertown MA. Torrey "supports" a marriage date of "about 1644." I believe that 1650 is simply too late for a marriage that bore eight children (she would have been nearly sixty by the eighth child, if we assumed an average of eighteen months between children, with the first coming at about age 41 or 42); it seems most unlikely.

"On the other hand, Torrey's "about 1644" is barely an improvement over the guess of 1650. 1631 seems more plausible to me, but I have yet to see any proof of this date, except for the LDS IGI record (which does not identify its source), and the rest of the dates given on the LDS website resemble an auction.

"The earliest child for which there is a record is John Clark, b. in Haddam in 1651. However, there are three children (Mary, Thomas and Hannah) for whom there is NO birthdate, and they are possibly OLDER than John. In William's will (Hartford Probate Records), Thomas appears clearly to be the oldest, since he is charged with taking care of his mother, and he is named as the executor of the will. (Hannah was unmarried at that time; she may have been a minor). With Thomas, and possibly one other child, OLDER than John, a 1650 marriage begins to look very unlikely.

"So, "about 1640" seemed a reasonable compromise. However, if a source is required, then Torrey's "about 1644" is the best we can do at the moment."

Death, Will and Probate

From Probate Records, Volume IV, 1677 To 1687, Page 61-2.

Clarke, William sen., Haddam. Died 22 July, 1681. Invt. £412-18-00. Taken 19 August, 1681, by George Gates, Wm. X Ventrus, Simon Smith, John Spencer, Selectmen. Will dated 30 June, 1681.

I William Clarke of Haddam do make this my last Will & Testament: I give to my wife £4 a year during her natural life. I also give unto her the use of my Dwelling house & the little Orchard, half the Garden so long as she live a Widow. Moreover I give unto my wife a Cow, which my son Thomas shall winter for her during his Mother's life. Also I give unto her half my Household Stuff, & that in her half she be suited with a Bed & Bedding & such things as are most suitable for her, which she shall dispose of at her death to which she please of her Children. I Will unto my son William £25 out of my Estate, which shall be in my Land as it is prised in the Inventory. I do Will unto my son John £20 worth of my Land. I do give by Will unto my son Joseph, nothwithstanding anything I have formerly given him, £15 worth of Land, and 1 1/2 acre of the Boggs in the lower Division in the upper Meadow besides the 15. I give by Will unto my daughter Welles & to my daughter Fennoe & to my daughter Spencer 8 to each of them, and to my daughter Hannah £10. All these to be paid out of my Estate as prised with the Inventory. I give unto my son-in-law Daniel Hubbard 5 Shillings, & to my gr. Child Daniel Hubbard I do give 40 acres of Land in my second Division at Machamodus, and a 50 Freehold or Right in the Undivided Lands there as it is laid out to 50 Estate. And it is my Will that he be learned to read & to write. And I declare him to the dispose of my wife so long as she liveth, and then to the dispose of my son Thomas; & in Case my son Hubbard make trouble about him he shall satisfy for his bringing up. At the age of 21 years he shall be free. I give to my son Thomas my Lott I bought of Joseph Arnold in the Home Field, and all my whole Meadow Lott, and my Cow Meadow Lott, and the 6 acres on which my Dewlling house standeth, & the Ort Yards and Houses, at his Mother's decease, or Marriage after my death. My Will also is that my sons William, John, & Joseph have their portions in the Land that are not given away particularly and expressly to Thomas in my Will, and that they agree, by casting Lotts, which allotment shall belong to each of them, not exceeding the value above given to them. I do make my son Thomas Clarke sole Executor.

Witness: Nicholas Noyes, WILLIAM X CLARKE George Gates.

Court Record, Page 44-3 September, 1681: Will & Inventory exhibited by Thomas Clarke, Executor. Approved.^[1]

Children

Children of William Clark and Katheren Bunce are:

1. SARAH CLARK, b. abt 1644 or 1657, Hartford, Hartford, CT; d. Abt October 1711; Stepchild. Married John Fenner.
2. JOHN (SGT) CLARK, b. abt 1645 or 1651, Hartford, Hartford, CT; d. 1731, Middletown, Middlesex, CT. Married Elizabeth White about 1674 Haddam, Middlesex Co, CT
3. WILLIAM CLARK, b. abt 1648 or 1649, Hartford, Hartford, CT; d. 1711, Wethersfield, Hartford, CT.
4. ELIZABETH CLARK, b. abt 1650 or 1655, Hartford, Hartford, CT; d. 1712, Haddam, Middlesex, CT.Listed as 'my daughter Welles' in her father's will. She married James Wells abt 1667, Haddam, Middlesex, CT
5. MARY CLARK, b. abt 1646 or 1651; d. December 24, 1673. married Daniel Hubbard 24 Feb 1669/70, Hartford, Hartford Co, CT
6. JOSEPH CLARK, b. 1653, Hartford, Hartford, CT; d. 1723, Haddam, Middlesex, CT. (Joseph Clark was born in 1652 in East Haddam, Middlesex Co., CT and died on 24 Oct 1716 in Haddam, Middlesex Co., CT)Joseph married Ruth Spencer 16, daughter of Ensign Gerard Spencer and Hannah Joannis Hills, about 1674 in Haddam, Middlesex Co., CT
7. THOMAS CLARK, b. abt 1647 or 1657, Haddam, Middlesex, CT; d. 1746.Thomas married Elizabeth Bailey 18, daughter of John Bailey and Lydia Backus. (Elizabeth Bailey was born in 1662 in Hartford, Hartford Co., CT 18 and died after 1728 in Haddam, Middlesex Co., CT
8. HANNAH CLARK, b.abt 1660; d. 1703; m. JOHN BATES, 1687.
9. CLARK, b. abt 1655; d. 1681; m. WILLIAM SPENCER.

Sources

1. ↑ Manwaring, Charles William. A Digest of the Early Connecticut Probate Records.Volume 1. Hartford District 1635-1700. Hartford, Conn., R.S. Peck & Co., Printers, 1904.) pp 290, 291

See also:

Support for parentage, date and place of birth

• http://freepages.rootsweb.com/~wcarr1/genealogy/william_clark.htm
• Barbour, Lucius Barnes, 1982, Families of Early Hartford, Connecticut, Genealogical Publishing Co. Inc., Baltimore, Maryland and Connecticut Society of Genealogists, Inc., Glastonbury, Connecticut

Christenings/Birth Record (Lists William Clerke and Margaret as parents)

• England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N5YP-FYG : 30 December 2014), William Clerke, 06 Aug 1609; citing STANNINGFIELD,SUFFOLK,ENGLAND, reference ; FHL microfilm 952,202.
• http://search.findmypast.co.uk/search/united-kingdom-records?firstname=william&firstname_variants=true&lastname=clark&yearofbirth=1609&yearofbirth_offset=2
• 1 Records of The Particular Court of Connecticut, 1639-1663, (Hartford, 1928). p 7. As cited in http://dunhamwilcox.net/source_files/clark.htm

Supporting marriage

• Genealogies of Connecticut Families from the Connecticut Historical and Genealogical Register, Clearfield Press, Baltimore, 1983. Page 421. Citing Americana 36:478 and The American Genealogist, 27:165,170.

Supporting births, location and death information.

• Whittemore, Henry, b. Genealogical Guide to Early American Settlers of America, 1898 New York,Vol I, page 96. Courtesy of Cornell Library (sources for data given in text),