John Clark in Cambridge, Hartford and Saybrook - One Man or Two

Date: [unknown] [unknown]
Location: [unknown]

This page will layout out sources and arguments discussing this research issue. Currently a Work in Progress.

• John Clarke (bef.1612-aft.1642)
• John Clark (abt.1597-1674)
• https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:Working_Draft

Contents 1 Jacobus 2 Anderson 3 Founders of Hartford and WikiTree Contributors 4 WikiTree Discussions 4.1 Research Possibilities 4.2 One John Clark or Two? 5 Sources

Jacobus

^[1]

This position may be excessively cautious, and it may be that these records all do apply to one man ... For the moment we recommend further research and analysis directed toward resolving the problem one way or another.

Of the Cambridge-Hartford man, Anderson found no record of marriage or family; no record of his death.

Anderson

Founders of Hartford and WikiTree Contributors

Barry Wood: More to the point, how does a man owning twelve parcels of land at Hartford suddenly disappear without a will, administration or other further trace, at the exact time that William Pratt (also previously of Cambridge and then Hartford) joins in the founding of Saybrook, where he achieves some prominence and is obviously close to his father in law, John Clark of Saybrook (& much later Milford)?

WikiTree Discussions

There was some discussion on whether to follow the position of the Founders of Hartford, which follows Jacobus's narrative of one John Clark, or Anderson, who suggests the case isn't quite made, and additional evidence would be welcome. The WikiTree Puritan Great Migration Project typically follows Anderson, but not always. For the sake of transparency, and to help us be consistent, here are the thoughts for why we thought these should be two profiles.

• Since the first John Clark had no known spouse or children, and there are no known siblings, cousins etc, splitting the two profiles will not affect any WikiTree connections.
• One could look at this as a battle between Anderson and Jacobus, two of the most respected and meticulous genealogists researching early New England. But, Jacobus pre-dates Anderson, and it is entirely reasonable for Anderson to raise questions. Even the most careful genealogists may make some assumptions, and the process of reviewing and questioning these opens up new avenues of research that can lead to breakthroughs.
• We hope that having two profiles will promote research that might settle the question and have tried to sufficiently connect the two profiles in the narrative so they can also be evaluated as one person.

Research Possibilities

I suppose that someone with more spare time than I could study the history of those parcels to get to the bottom of this. Either there should exist a record of their sale to someone, a record of their having descended by right of will or inheritance to someone, OR - the town granted these properties to John Clark in the expectation that he would continue to live in Hartford, but when did not, they reverted to the town.

If there is no record of a conveyance, then I suppose that when he went to Saybrook the parcels returned to the town in consideration of his receiving replacement property in Saybrook. But if John Clark of Hartford died there after his jury service of 1642, still seized of these parcels, one would expect to see some mention in the property records of the disposition of the parcels either to his heir at law, or back to the Town as an escheat for lack of known heirs.

One John Clark or Two?

When Robert Charles Anderson profiled John Clark in 1995, he could not prove the immigrant who settled Cambridge, Massachusetts Bay Colony, and shortly removed to, was a founder of, Hartford, Connecticut Colony, was the same man seen later in the records of Saybrook and Milford. Anderson wrote,^[2]

This position may be excessively cautious, and it may be that these records all do apply to one man ... For the moment we recommend further research and analysis directed toward resolving the problem one way or another.

Of the Cambridge-Hartford man, Anderson found no record of marriage or family; no record of his death. The Great Migration Directory (2015) does not update Anderson's 1995 profile of John Clark [Clark, John: Unknown; 1633; Cambridge, Hartford].

The biography of John Clark on the website of the Society of the Founders of Hartford notes that Jacobus, in Hale, House presents John Clark of Cambridge as the same who appears in Saybrook. It further notes: "e of the most convincing arguments that Jacobus’s observation is valid is in the will of John Clark in Milford, in which Clark names his son John of Saybrook and his daughters Elizabeth Pratt and Sarah Huntington and grandchild Sarah Huntington. These daughters marrying into the Pratt and Huntington families of Hartford clearly establishes the connection of John Clark of Saybrook and Milford with the John Clark of Hartford."

As it is not possible to fully prove either theory, the alternate narrative should still be considered for future research. The basic facts of two separate John Clarks are as follows:

1. John Clark, arrived by 1632, resided in Cambridge, Hartford. Born "By about 1612 based on grant of land in Cambridge,"^[3] died after 14 October 1642, when he served on a jury.^[4] No record of a spouse or children.
2. John Clark, arrived by 1647, resided in Saybrook, Norwich and Milford. Five known children with first wife (possibly Elizabeth), second wife Mary (Ward). Died in Milford.

Sources

1. ↑ Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, Volumes I-III, 3 vols. (1995), 371-2 (John Clark); digital images by subscription, American Ancestors'.
2. ↑ Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, Volumes I-III, 3 vols. (1995), 371-2 (John Clark); digital images by subscription, American Ancestors'.
3. ↑ Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, Volumes I-III, 3 vols. (1995), 371-2 (John Clark), in particular, p. 371; digital images by subscription, American Ancestors'.
4. ↑ Citing "CCCR 1:66; RPCC 15, 17," Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, Volumes I-III, 3 vols. (1995), 371-2 (John Clark), in particular, p. 371; digital images by subscription, American Ancestors.

• Timothy Lester Jacobs, "John Clarke, Hartford Founder"; web content, Society of the Descendants of the Founders of Hartford
• Donald Lines Jacobus, Hale, House and Related Families: Mainly of the Connecticut River Valley (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1978.), pp. 492-493; digital images, Hathi Trust.