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The parents and birthplace of Benjamin Clark(e) are not known with certainty. It has been suggested that he may have been born in England.[1] However, Wood suggests that it is likely that he was Benjamin, the son of Mary Clarke, who in or before 1662 joined with her brothers Samuell and Nathaniell Sherman in filing a petition regarding the estate of their father, Samuell Sherman of Ipswich, Massachusetts. The published records of the Quarterly Courts of Essex County, Massachusetts, list Emanuel Clarke, mariner of Marblehead, According to a summary by the editor of the NEHGR: "His wife seems to have been the Mary Clarke, married woman, evidently of Marblehead, who was aged about 29 in June 1662. Emanuel and Mary appear to have been the parents of a Benjamin Clarke, born about 1663, who was taken in by Mary’s uncle, Philip Sherman of Portsmouth, Rhode Island (his 1681 will provides for Benjamin Clarke’s food and clothing until age 21). And this Benjamin Clarke probably was identical with an adult Benjamin Clarke of South Kingstown, Rhode Island, and Plainfield, Connecticut, whose second son was named Emanuel."
The first record of the adult Benjamin Clarke is from Kingstown, Rhode Island, in 1692, when he lived in the part of town that is now South Kingstown. He purchased land in Plainfield, Connecticut, on September 20, 1702. Later that year, on December 24, 1702, he was listed as a freeholder residing on the east side of the Quinnebag River, in Plainsville.
He was married twice, first to Mercy Smith. They were married by 1692, when their daughter Mary was born. Their children, all born at Kingstown, included the following:[2]
Mercy (Smith) Clark died about 1700 and Benjamin's second marriage was to Jean or Jane Dean.
In his will, dated 13 January 1743/4, he mentioned his wife Jean and 13 children: sons Benjamin, Emanuel, Samuel, Jeremiah, Theophilus, and James; and daughters Mary Bennet, Sarah Page, Martha Aldridge, Ann Harrington, Hannah Stone, Rest Stone, and Abigal Dean. Mary, Sarah, Benjamin, Emanuel, Samuel, and Jeremiah were his children with Mercy Smith. Theophilus, James, Ann, Elizabeth, Martha, Rest, and Abigail were his children with his second wife.[1] Children of Benjamin and Mary Clarke (i.e., the first wife, Mercy) recorded at South Kingstown, Rhode lsland, were Sarah, born 26 February 1693; Benjamin, born April 1694; and Emmanuel, born 4 April 1697 (mother not mentioned in the record; recorded only as "of Benjamin").[3]
He died in 1750. His will was proved on 3 July 1750.
Benjamin Clark is buried in Joseph Roode Farm Cemetery in Plainfield, Connecticut, where a few other family members are also interred. The Hale Collection transcription of the gravestone data states "Clark, Benjamin, died June 1760, age 87 yrs." The third digit in the year of death is assumed to be an error; the death date of 1750 is supported by his probate record and the age of 87 as of 1760 is consistent with a birth in 1663. [4]
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C > Clarke | C > Clark > Benjamin (Clarke) Clark
Categories: Joseph Roode Farm Cemetery, Plainfield, Connecticut | South Kingstown, Rhode Island | Plainfield, Connecticut | Connecticut Project-Managed
NOTE: Earlier, when the two profiles had different sets of parents, I said they couldn't be merged yet. For technical reasons, profiles with different parents shouldn't be merged. However, mismatched parents are the only kind of relationship link that creates a technical problem for merges.
This Benjamin first appears on record in 1692 as an adult in South Kingstown, but that doesn't mean he was born there. In 1932 Eldridge "opined" English birth, which is a reasonable guess for a person who appears without any known origins. (I've not seen Eldridge's book -- does someone have a copy?) However, the recent work by Michael Wood seems to me to be sufficient basis to attach him to Emanuel Clarke and Mary Sherman as parents, while noting that there is some uncertainty.
Why the objection to merging?
The conflicting information about parents needs to be resolved before any merger can occur.