ALSTNCLR [Continuation of JNCLKPQT.txt by Douglas Tucker. LSS] Second Generation in Carolina: Mary CLARK and John ALSTON The fact that General Elijah Clark had an older brother named Alston is adequately documented in the land records of SC and GA. Alston was the surname of a colonial Carolina family of some notoriety, yet there was no "obvious" connection between the ALSTON family, which is well-documented, and Elijah Clark's family about which we know relatively little. Yet, I think there had to be a close family connection for no one would name a child "Alston" without a good reason! John Alston, founder of the NC Alstons, was an English immigrant who some have reported accompanied Governor John Archdale to Carolina in 1694. Alston initially settled in Pasquotank Precinct and married a Quaker named Mary Clark in 1700/01. The only Clark family documented to have resided in Pasquotank Precinct at that early date was headed by Mary (Palin) Clark, widow of John Clark Sr., who died in 1689. We know from her husband's will that the Clark's oldest daughter was named Mary. The Alston/Archdale con nection has some inherent credibility because the widow Mary (Palin) Clark owned property adjacent to Governor Archdale near the mouth of Flatty Creek where it joins Albemarle Sound. However, I have not been able to confirm the Alston/Archdale con nection. A little detective work shows that Mary Clark was probably born about 1685 and would have been 15 or 16 years old in 1700/01. John Alston reportedly was more than 10 years older than Mary, but bride selection in Pasquotank was limited and 15-16 certainly was a marriageable age for a young lady in those times. However, I have not uncovered any "hard evidence" that Mary (Clark) Alston was the same Mary Clark who was the daughter of John and Mary (Palin) Clark. An article by professional genealogist William Perry Johnson about the ALSTON family in the Fall 1965 issue of the _Journal of NC Genealogy_ (of which Johnson was editor) offered a story reported as passed down in ALSTON family lore about the origins of Mary (Clark) Alston. In Johnson's version, Mary (Clark) Alston was an only child orphaned at an early age and raised by an old Chowan Indian woman. William Perry Johnson also is one of the genealogists who incorrectly denies the existence of John Clark Jr. and who doubts the survival of his sister, Mary Clark. Despite his solid genealogical credentials, I know for certain that he was mistaken about John Clark Jr. and believe he was wrong about Mary Clark as well. The Alston's reportedly lived in Pasquotank Precinct before finally settling in Chowan Precinct in 1710 or 1711, along the upper reaches of Bennett's Creek close to the VA border (and not far from Somerton, VA). We have land records to peg the Alston's arrival in Chowan to 1711, but we do not have land records that show their presence in Pasquotank. However, I suggest there is a sound rationale for the lack of Alston land records in Pasquotank Precinct. When John Alston married Mary Clark in 1700/01, Mary (Palin) Clark was a widow with a young son. It seems reasonable to assume that Mary and her new husband probably resided with Mary's widowed mother. Also, the Alston's move to Chowan Precinct coincides with the remarriage of Mary (Palin) Clark to Joseph Glaister in 1710 and the year John Clark Jr. reached his majority. We know, also, that Mary (Clark) Alston was raised a Quaker and that her Quaker roots were reflected in many ways during her life. Thomas Harvey, a Quaker and son of a former Governor of the colony was a close personal friend of both Alstons. He wrote in his published letters that Mary Alston was a "solid Quaker in fluence on her ambitious husband." Yet John Alston clearly was not a Quaker as he served as commanding officer of the Chowan militia. After moving to Chowan Precinct, John Alston became a Justice of the Peace, a Justice of the Chowan Court where he served with Bar- nabas MacKinney, sheriff of Chowan Precinct, a successful farmer and land speculator and one of the leading political figures of early Chowan Precinct. John and Mary Alston raised a large family including five sons and five daughters, all of whom left solid paper trails. There was even a daughter named Mary who, if she could be connected to John Clark of Anson Co., might offer an alternative explanation as to why Elijah's parents named a son Alston. But Mary Alston, who was the Alston's third child, was born about 1707 and appears too young to have been the Mary who married John Clark of Anson Co. Furthermore, Mary Alston is reported to have had two hus bands, Henry Gunston of Bertie Precinct and William Seward of Isle of Wight Co., VA. (I have been unable to check out Mary Alston's husbands, but have seen a strong challenge to the tradi tionally cited marriage of another Alston child, Joseph John Alston, who is reported to have married Elizabeth Chancy of Pasquotank Precinct. However, Elizabeth Chancy can be shown to have married someone else, so perhaps there is much yet to be learned about the husbands of the ALSTON children.) John Alston died in Chowan Precinct in 1758. Based on his reported birth date of 1673 in Paversham, England (a date that some have challenged) Alston was 86 at the time of his death. His wife Mary outlived him, reportedly dying in 1760 at the home of one of her sons. I have seen John Alston's name on a list of wills probated in Chowan Co. but have not seen an abstract or other reference to the details of his will. Nor have I seen a will for Mary (Clark) Alston. However, in 1760, Edward Clark of Bertie Co., son of Capt. John Clark of Bertie and grandson of Thomas Clark of the Yeopim River, employed a Quaker lawyer named John Sholar to recover certain family properties along the upper reaches of Bennett's Creek. Edward Clarke, planter of Society Parish, Bertie Co., grants power of attorney to John Sholar, planter of same, to receive from Thomas Pinne, planter, James Turner esq., William Shepard, gent., all of Nansemond Co. VA, land un- lawfully in their possession at the head of Bennett's Creek in Nansemond Co. 15 OCT 1760. Witnesses: Jonathan Baker, Jethro Kittrell. Registered October Court 1760. I do not know what this property squabble was about or whether it was CLARK property at issue or dower property. It is interesting to note, however, that the headwaters of Bennett's Creek are just a few miles from Somerton, VA where Zachariah and Mary MOORMAN supposedly settled and where Micajah and Sally Ann (Moorman) CLARK likely established their first home. John CLARK Jr. I have found relatively little documentation on John Clark Jr. However, the Clark property on Flatty Creek was described in a 1704 land warrant to John Palin as belonging to Mary Clark: John Palin, 2 SEP 1704, 250 acres on Flatty Creek next to Governor Archdale's line and Mary Clark's line. By 1716 this same property had become "John Clark's property" as cited in the following land patent granted Tobias Shelver in 1716: Tobias Shelver, 29 DEC 1716, 124 acres on Albemarle Sound joining John Clark, ye mouth of Flatty Creek, a marsh, a swamp and Mr. Duckenfield. The CLARK property cited in the Shelver patent is a part of the original 550 acre tract Mary Clark obtained in 1694. I consider the ownership change as "proof" that Mary Clark actually had a son in 1689 after her husband's death. Other property records along Flatty Creek also cite John Clark as a neighbor, but the 1716 Shelver record is the earliest I could locate. I also found a single reference to "Captain" John Clark of Pasquotank dated 1713 who may have been John Clark Jr. but more likely was John Clarke of neighboring Perquimans Precinct who is known to have been a "mariner". (It may be recalled that Elijah Clark's father, John Clark of Anson Co., held the rank of Colonel in the NC militia in 1754 when he wrote Governor Rowan concerning an Indian massacre of settler families along the Broad River.) The latest Pasquotank property record naming John Clark was dated 2 JUN 1727 when "John Clark's corner tree" is cited as a boundary in Col. John Palin's request for a grant for 124 acres at the mouth of Flatty Creek. (The acreage seems to indicate that the Shelver property may have been the same tract later claimed by Palin in 1727.) In a Pasquotank Precinct list of Jurymen and Freeholders dated 1723, John Clark's name is followed by "Craven" in brackets. There was no indication on the list as to what the bracketed in formation meant, but given the nature of the list my guess is that when the list was drawn up in 1723, John Clark was away in Craven Precinct. This seems to be supported by an Albemarle Co. Higher Court document showing that John Clark of Pasquotank was called for grand jury duty in early 1724 but did not show up. He was ordered fined but the fine was later canceled after Clark presented documentation to the Court showing that he was travel ing on the date of the jury call. John Clark Jr. seems to disappear from Pasquotank records after June 1727 although about that time a different, unrelated John Clark appears in Pasquotank in the area called Narrows, near present-day Elizabeth City. (John Clark Jr.'s disappearance from Pasquotank is not inconsistent with the known fact that Elijah Clark was born in Edgecombe Precinct in 1733. The question "Can we trace John Clark Jr. of Pasquotank to Edgecombe or Bertie Precinct (Edgecombe's predecessor) between 1727 and 1733?" I suggest that John Alston played a role in the disappearance of John Clark Jr. from Pasquotank Precinct. In 1726, John Alston was granted 640 acres on the south side of the Roanoke River on Elm Swamp in what was then Bertie Precinct. It took me quite a while to discover where Elm Swamp was located because the name does not appear on current geophysical maps. However, the NC Historical Commission confirmed that Elm Swamp was an early name for Marsh Swamp which lay south of Quankey Creek and flowed south toward the Tar River. I think John Alston used his wife's brother, John Clark Jr., to "seat" his Elm Swamp property and that John and Mary (Gibson) Clark were living on this property in Edgecombe Co. when Alston and Elijah Clark were born. Before ending this report, it should be noted that Judge John Palin's 1737 will gives the name of his youngest daughter as "Mary Clerke". In another Pasquotank document, which is not dated but appears among Pasquotank records for the year 1748, there is a notice that 'Mary Clerk, daughter of John Palin, married Ben jamin Baptist". (My guess is that John Palin named his daughter after his well-known niece. Another Palin named a daughter Mary Glaister Palin.) Mary Clark (Palin) Baptist had a son named Clark Baptist. In 1755 Clark Baptist (he later lived in Orange Co. and Randolph Co. NC and died in Madison Co. KY) was mentioned as a "friend and executor" of the estate of John Palin Jr., youngest son of Judge John Palin. More interesting is the fact that one of the witnesses to John Palin Jr.'s will was Francis Clark. Where did he come from? Was he the Francis Clark who was living in Princess Anne Co. VA? Was he the Francis Clark who was the son of Capt. John Clark of Bertie Precinct? Was he the Fran cis Clark who was the son of Edward Clark Jr. of Occoneechee Neck? Miscellaneous CLARKs of 17th Century Pasquotank Listed below are two CLARK families of Pasquotank from the latter half of the eighteenth century. I haven't a clue as to whether they were connected to the line of John Clark Sr. but the name "Micajah Clark" made me pay attention. Perhaps someone out there can either prove or disprove a connection. (My gut feeling is that there is no connection.) Sylvanus and Ruth Clark were Pasquotank Quakers. Sylvanus died in 1781 and left a will that listed sons -- James, Cornelius, Joseph and Sabas(?), and daughters Sarah and Ann. Joseph, who was the third son, married Anna Garret in 1779 which suggests that his father, Sylvanus, probably was born around 1750. Micajah and Sarah (Overman) Clark were Pasquotank Quakers. Micajah appears to have been a brother of Sylvanus above. In 1782 Quaker records show that they had children named Sarah, Mark, Mary, Zodac and Ephraim. Ephraim seems to have been an infant. Micajah also appears to have been poor because he was "under the care of the meeting" in 1780. In 1782 Micajah Clark petitioned the Meeting for certification to attend and join a Quaker meeting in the West Indies (Barbados?) but the certification was denied because the vessel on which he intended to sail carried guns for defense. Micajah appears to have died in 1783 as his wife Martha was placed in care of the Meeting and Friends were asked to as sist in having two of her children bound out. Mark was bound out to a Quaker tradesman who later relocated and requested that Mark, still a minor in 1787, be certified in good standing to the Center Quaker Meeting. (I later found Mark Clark, "son of Micajah of Narrows" being received into membership by the Back Creek meet- ing of Randolph Co. NC on May 31, 1794 by which date he was neither bound nor a minor.) Ephraim Clark, Micajah and Martha's youngest child, was disciplined by the Pasquotank Meeting in 1801 for "quarreling and offering to fight". The meeting was subse quently informed that Ephraim had "gone to sea" and could not be advised of the Meeting's action against him.