ELIJAHIV Part II: The Early CLARKS of Carolina (The Continuing Search for the Origins of Elijah CLARK of Georgia By Douglas C. Tucker MAY 1997 SUMMARY REPORT Like many things in Washington, my search for the paternal grandfather of Gen. Elijah Clark and possible links to Chris topher and Francis Clark of VA has bogged down due to exhaustion of local sources and the laziness of the investigator. For now, the best I can do is point readers to several possible culprits who were on the scene at the appropriate time and who had per sonal and family profiles that fit what is known about Elijah Clark and his parents. Based on the limited information avail able, my judgment is that _John Clark Sr. of Pasquotank Precinct_ was the paternal grandfather of Elijah Clark. The choice is "soft" and is based largely on the cumulative weight of cir cumstantial evidence plus gut feelings about the motivation and mobility of settlers 300 years ago on the Carolina frontier. Please consider this summary report a "works in progress". It highlights preliminary findings on the _Early Clarks of Carolina_ without dealing with all the ancillary details (like sources). It is supplemented by detailed reports on several of the more likely Clark suspects. I hope others with an interest in the Clarks will contribute additional information and help put more flesh on these early Clarks of Carolina. The Mostly Solid Facts: Elijah Clark A variety of biographical and autobiographical information indi cates that Gen. Elijah Clark was born in 1733 in Edgecombe Precinct, NC, the son of John and Mary Clark. We can document older brothers named Alston and John Jr. and younger brothers named William and Gibson. Elijah also may have had an older brother named Thomas and as many as six sisters. It "appears" that his mother's maiden name was Mary GIBSON and that her parents were likely Gideon and Mary (Brown) Gibson of Bertie Precinct. Elijah's Father -- John Clark John Clark was a big-time land dealer on the southwestern Carolina frontier. Land documents show him buying and selling more than 60 tracts of land along the Great Pee Dee River from 1743 until 1760 which coincides generally with the migration of Hanover, Caroline and Louisa Co. Quakers to Carolina. Although I found no "proof", the sum total of Clark land transactions over a 17-year period suggest that he had a special connection to the VA Quaker community. The Clark family appears to have moved from Edgecombe Co. to the southwestern frontier in Anson Co. before 1750. After 1750 John Clark can be tracked by his land dealings. He first acquired land on the Broad River in March 1751, the second settler to file for land in that area. In 1752 John filed for a warrant for 600 acres on the Broad River "where he is now settled" which suggests that Mary (and probably their unmarried children) had left the Pee Dee and were living with John along the Broad River in an area that would later become Union Co. SC. John Clark's correspondence with Gov. Matthew Rowan in 1754 con cerning an Indian massacre along the Broad River establishes that he held the militia rank of Colonel and was well known and respected by State officials. Anson Co. land records also some times referred to him as Col. Clark. However, the circumstances and tenor of the Rowan letter indicate that, by 1754, Clark was no longer active in the militia, a reasonable conclusion since I think John Clark was already in his 60's. ("Age" is a major issue in the identity of John Clark.) From John Clark's high militia rank we can safely make several deductions. He was likely a man of financial substance from an early age and he probably had ex cellent political connections -- within the context of a colonial wilderness society. Obviously, he was not a practicing Quaker. By 1756 John Clark had moved again and settled on an 800-acre land grant on Grindle Shoals of the Pacolet River, northwest of where the Pacolet joins the Broad River. Mary Clark died about this time because a 1758 land transaction shows John Clark married to widow Martha PICKENS. Martha had lived along the Catawba River and originally came from Craven Co. John Clark was probably in his late 60s when he married Martha. Though such late marriages were not uncommon on colonial frontier, what came next WAS unusual. In 1760 John Clark became a father again, at the ad vanced age of 70. He and Martha named their son Gibson (1760 1822) after John's late wife, Mary Gibson -- a judgment call be cause I don't know for certain if Mary Clark's maiden name was Gibson. However, 25 years later, Elijah and Hannah Clark named their youngest son Gibson Clark. Martha Pickens had four sons in the Anson Co. militia and, based on their ages, she appears to have been in her early 40s when she married John Clark. While another child may not have been planned, Martha was still young enough to have had a son, Gibson, in 1760. Gibson Clark's 1822 will is on file at the DAR Library. The will and other information in his file clearly states that Gibson was Elijah Clark's brother and not a nephew. Gibson served under his older brother in the Revolutionary War and was awarded a 250-acre land bounty by GA at the end of the War. A citation of "valor and steadfast commitment", signed by Gen. Elijah Clark, also is in DAR files. Gibson Clark married Sarah PHILLIPS of Wilkes Co. GA and moved west to the Natchez District of GA (later Mississippi) in 1783 or 1784. They had surviving sons named Elijah L., John, Gibson Jr. and William, and daughters Mary (Clark) Stilley and Nancy (Clark) Hedrick. Gibson Clark Sr. died in Clairborne Co., MS where his will was probated 13 FEB 1822. I have not discovered when John Clark died although land records show him alive in 1761 and circumstantial evidence (his son signed the Regulators Petition in 1769 without signing "Junior") seems to indicate he was dead before 1769. Elijah, who served in the militia during the French & Indian War and spent several years west of the Alleghenies, is reported to have married Hannah ARRINGTON (or Harrington) in 1761 although their oldest surviving child, John, was not born until 1766. In any case, I can place Elijah Clark on property along the Rocky Run tributary to the Pee Dee from 1763 through 1769. In later 1769, Elijah and Hannah departed the Pee Dee region and settled on his father's Pacolet River property. The Roanoke River, Caledonia Woods and Occoneechee Neck: Home of John and Mary Clark at the Time of their Marriage In their military records, both Elijah and brother John state that they were born in Edgecombe Co., NC, implying that John and Mary Clark were settled in Edgecombe before 1731. Technically, Edgecombe Precinct did not exist until 1732 when it was created from Bertie Precinct which, in turn had been carved from Chowan Precinct in 1722. Generally, Edgecombe covered the land between the Roanoke and Tar Rivers from their mouths to as far west as settlement existed. Before 1728, the only part of the future Edgecombe Precinct that was settled was the fringe along the south shore of the Roanoke River and its tributaries and very scattered settlement along the Tar River which lay 15 to 20 miles to the south. I examined surviving property, marriage and will data from Bertie and Edgecombe Precincts for the 1722-1745 period for a John Clark that would fit the known profile of Elijah's father--without much success. Bertie Precinct land records do not show any John Clark receiving a grant or transferring land from 1722 through 1734. A John Clark who was "gifted" land on Horse Swamp in 1735 by Henry Vize was too young to have been Elijah's father. (The records are, admittedly incomplete.) The first John Clark mentioned in Edgecombe records purchased land from Wallis Jones in 1742 but I do not think he was related to the Clark's we are exploring here. I suggest, therefore, that if John and Mary Clark resided in Edgecombe Precinct in the early 1730s, they probably did so as tenants on someone else's property--no big deal since the majority of early residents were tenants living on other people's property. The chances are great that the geographic area where John and Mary lived was close to the south bank of the Roanoke River. Furthermore, if John's wife was Mary Gibson, the chances are good that John Clark resided in close proximity to Gibson and Mary (Brown) Gibson who lived along the south shore of the Roanoke River across from Occoneechee Neck from about 1721 until the early 1730s. [Published academic research identifies Gideon and John GIBSON as "free Blacks" both of whom married daughters of white planters. My recollection is that contemporary descriptions of Elijah Clark in letters contained in the Draper Manuscripts tend to support this heritage which may explain why published biographies of Elijah Clark seem purposefully vague about his ancestry. Another of Gideon's brothers, Jordan Gibson, was a scouting companion of Squire Boone and, later, Daniel Boone during their road-blazing and scouting days. Gideon and John Gibson settled on opposite banks of the Roanoke River in the vicinity of Occoneechee Neck approximately 1720. Both Gibsons were part of the small community of Indian traders known as the "Chickasaw Traders" who, between 1710 and 1730, settled along the main north/south Indian trail near where it forded the Morattock (later Roanoke) River, an area the traders named Occoneechee Neck.] Chowan and Bertie Precinct land records establish that Gideon Gib- son acquired land from William Maule and Robert Lang (an Indian trader) in 1721 and 1722 along the south shore of the Ronaoke River adjacent to Quankey Creek. This area was known generally as Caledonia Woods and is near where the town of Halifax would later rise. Gibson neighbors included Barnabas MacKinne Sr. and Jr., John MacKinne, Thomas Arrington, William Jones, Joseph Lane, Wil liam and John Pope, Thomas Goodwin, Arthur Kavanaugh (an absentee owner) and Arthur Crawford. Neighbor Thomas Arrington was married to Sarah Whitmell whose Father, Thomas, and brothers were Indian traders. The Whitmells were the paternal grandparents of Hannah Arrington, Elijah Clark's future wife. In 1727 Daniel Crawley sold Gideon and Mary Gibson 100 acres in Occoneechee Neck on the north side of the Roanoke River between land owned by John Pace Sr. (Indian trader) and Edward Clark. (I think this is Edward Clark Jr., son of Edward Clark the sexton of New Kent Co.) Neighbors included John Hawthorne, John Pace Jr., Richard Turberville (Indian trader), Matthew Sturdivant (Indian trader) Thomas Whitmell (Indian trader), Ralph Mason (Indian trader), Hezekiah Massey and John Gibson, Gideon's brother and also an Indian trader. Edward Clark Jr. of Occoneechee Neck So, along the "great Occoneechee bend" of the Roanoke we find Ed ward Clark Jr., who I believe to be a son of the "Clark brothers of Barbadoes" living on the north side of the River. Across the River lives Barnabas MacKinne Sr., brother-in-law to Thomas Clark, who I suggest was another of the Barbadoes Clarks. (Oops, I haven't established yet that Thomas Clark was married to Mary MacKinne, older sister of Barnabas Mackinne Sr., and daughter of Michael and Elizabeth MacKinne of Nansemond Co. VA. Thomas and Mary settled in Chowan Precinct along the Yeopim River where Mary died sometime before 1700. See detailed report on Thomas Clark of the Yeopim.) But how does John Clark, Elijah's father, fit into this Roanoke River -- Occoneechee Neck picture? One obvious possibility is that John Clark might have been a younger brother of Edward Clark Jr. Edward lived on the Bertie Precinct side of the River, but perhaps John moved over to the south side of the River once he came of age and married neighbor Mary Gibson. That would have placed John and Mary on land that would become Edgecombe Precinct in 1732--fitting the traditional locale of Elijah Clark's birth. With so many relatives living in the vicinity, there would have been no reason for John Clark to have acquired his own property. It is a nice, neat explanation -- except for one serious flaw. John Clark named his first or second son Alston Clark. To name a child "Alston" implies that John and Mary Clark must have had a very close relationship to someone named Alston. At the time of Alston Clark's birth (before 1730), there was only one ALSTON family in Carolina. John Alston (c1673-1758) lived on the upper reaches of Bennett's Creek in Chowan Precinct. Most important, _his wife's maiden name was Mary Clark_. However, good family records show that John and Mary (Clark) Alston were not the parents of John Clark's wife Mary--the most obvious rationale for the Alston name choice. Hard as I looked, I could uncover no substantive relationship be tween the Clarks of Occoneechee Neck and Mary (Clark) Alston. Mary (Clark) Alston (c1685-1760) appears to have been too old to have been a daughter of Edward Clark, the sexton. She also was raised a Quaker and there is no evidence that Edward Clark Sr. or Jr. ever embraced the Quaker movement. Finally, there didn't ap pear to have been an "opportunity" for a daughter of Edward Clark the sexton, who lived in New Kent Co. through at least 1704, to have met and married John Alston, who lived in Pasquotank Precinct from 1694 to 1700 when he supposedly married Mary. Genealogists traditionally have placed Mary Clark Alston as the daughter of John and Mary (Palin) Clark of Pasquotank Precinct. After extensive research, I share this position, but there is enough uncertainty and conflicting information to demand a thorough investigation. For more on Mary Clark's origins, please see the later section in this report and the attachment on John Clark of Pasquotank Precinct. Also, see attachment on Edward Clark Jr. which identifies and tracks several of his known children. Thomas Clark of the Yeopim River With Edward Clark, the New Kent church sexton out of the picture as possible brother or father of John Clark, might Thomas and Mary (MacKinne) Clark of the Yeopim River in Chowan Precinct be John's parents? (None of the hard information I reviewed iden tified Thomas Clark's first wife, Mary, as Mary Mackinne of Nan semond Co. The links are circumstantial -- Thomas married Mary between 1684 and 1690 while in VA and Thomas returned to Carolina in 1690 or 1691 accompanied by Argyll Symons (Simons) who was a brother or nephew of Elizabeth (Symons) MacKinne, Mary MacKinne's mother. Symons subsequently acquired property adjacent to Thomas and Mary Clark along the Yeopim River.) Thomas and Mary Clark settled in Chowan Precinct along the Yeopim River sometime before 1691. Thomas Clark's presence in Chowan was first noted in official documents in 1683 and again in 1684 when he sold a horse and was identified as "Thomas Clark of Yampim"). His name does not appear again in Carolina records until 1691 when Thomas commissioned a boundary survey on land along the west bank of the lower Yeopim River near Drummond Point. A grant of 627 acres was made April 1694 based on 13 headrights. Thomas quickly accumulated additional property along the Yeopim and by 1701 held more than 2,000 acres in his name. He later controlled over 3,000 acres including some in neighboring Perquimans Precinct. Thomas and Mary had a daughter named Elizabeth who was born before 1695 and a son named John who probably was born between 1695 and 1700. Both are documented in Chowan Court Records. Elizabeth Clark married John Falconer, a Quaker who lived at Drum- mond Point on property that abutted the Clarks. Elizabeth (Clark) Falconer appears to have died during the birth of her first child, Thomas Falconer, about 1710. John Clark was probably born about 1697 and is mentioned in court records in 1716 when he and two step-brothers got into some mis chief and their father was required to pay a fine, and also in a deed-of-gift from his father in May 1718, eight months before Thomas Clark died. Mary Clark died before 1700 and Thomas Clark married Elizabeth Ottery (or Ottey) in 1701. Elizabeth was a widow with an infant son named John Ottey and I strongly suspect she was pregnant again at the time of her marriage to Thomas Clark--a marriage that was literally "forced" by local government officials. (for details, see separate report on Thomas Clark of Yeopim.) Elizabeth Ottey Clark gave birth to a son, Samuel Clark, in 1701. Sometime later, Thomas Clark married a third time, to the widow Mary Wood who brought along a young daughter named Mary who had been born about 1703. When Thomas Clark died in December 1718, his will mentioned only his wife Mary (Wood) Clark, his minor son Samuel and step daughter Mary Wood. This has led many researchers to assume that son John Clark was dead by 1718. That was not the case. I think the reason John was not mentioned was because John had reached his majority before 1718 and his inheritance had been taken care of during Thomas Clark's lengthy final illness. By 1718 John Clark was settled on property on the north bank of the Roanoke River in an area originally called "Curriss" but later known as Cashie Neck (a few miles southeast of Windsor). Originally part of Chowan Precinct, Cashie Neck later became part of Bertie Precinct in 1722 and Bertie Co. in 1742. John Clark was a "mariner" and can be documented in Bertie Co., from 1723 until after 1760. There is a 1755 land transaction that identifies "John Clark of Bertie Co." as the same John Clark who bought property in the "White Oak Land" of Perquimans Precinct (later Tyrrell Co.) in 1722/23. Bertie Co. tax lists in 1755 and 1757 identify both a John Clark and John Clark Jr. as being tax able residents of Society Parish which covered the part of Bertie Co. that included Cashie Neck. Both appear to have been "mariners" and John Clark Jr. is shown in 1747 Edenton Customs records as Captain of the 35-ton coastal sloop "John" which was based at Edenton and traded regularly with coastal towns in New England. Bertie Co. records also show that John Clark of Cashie Neck had sons named Thomas, John Jr., Edward, and Francis. Capt. John Clark Jr. married a West daughter and had sons named Thomas (a merchant of Windsor who married Amelia Gray), John II (who married Thamar Welch) and Christopher (c1747-1800) (married Agnes "Nancy" Wright and later Hannah Turner). He was a "privateer" during the Revolutionary War and after the War acquired part of Baronet Duckenfield's extensive property on the Salmon River. He was also "awarded" a confiscated Loyalist estate in Edgecombe Co. along the Tar River about 6 miles northwest of Tarboro. Christopher named his Salmon River property "Elmwood" which is where his only son, James West Clark, was born in 1779. Chris topher, who was called "a merchant of North England and Edenton" was named NC's Commissioner of Navigation in 1778 with duties that had mostly to do with maintenance of the gateways. He died in September 1800 and his will, probated in 1803, indicated that in addition to his Salmon Creek and Tar River properties Chris topher owned 500 acres in Wilkes Co. GA and 1,000 acres in Franklin Co. GA. These are the two counties where Elijah Clark and his brother John received most of their land patents. I al ways assumed that the Christopher Clark shown on Wilkes and Franklin land records was the Christopher who was the son of Boll- ing Clark. [Linda here: Micajah Sr.'s son Christopher who m. Milly Terrell is also in Wilkes Co. GA in this timeframe.] Guess not all of the patents were to that Christopher. Shows how dan gerous assumptions can be. It also suggests that Capt. Chris topher Clark of Bertie was personally acquainted with Elijah and John Clark of Wilkes and Franklin Cos., GA. (John Clark was the sheriff of Wilkes Co. and one of its major land dealers. Elijah was also wheeling and dealing in land.) Christopher and Hannah's son, James West Clark (1779-1843), graduated from Princeton at 18 in 1791 and spent many years in Washington as Chief Clerk of the Navy Department. James also served one term in Congress (1816-17). Their only daughter, Sarah Clark, married William Clements, a merchant of Tarboro. In 1809 James West Clark and wife Arabella Toole moved from "Elmwood" plantation on the Salmon River plantation to the family's "Loyalist" property on the Tar River about 9 miles above Tarboro where James built a home called "Walnut Creek". His only son, Henry Toole Clark (1808-1874), was elected Governor of NC in 1861 just before the outbreak of the Civil War. Gov. Clark resigned when the NC legislature voted to secede from the Union. (If anyone wishes to track it down, a John Clark of Bertie Co. NC dined by invitation with President James Madison in Washington DC on January 14, 1817.) Capt. John Clark of Cashie Neck, Bertie Co. NC clearly was not the John Clark of Anson Co. who was Elijah Clark's father -- but I suspect he was a first cousin to John Clark of Anson Co. Capt. John Clark of Cashie Neck was also likely a first cousin to Ed ward Clark Jr of Occoneechee Neck and to Christopher, Francis and Edward Clark of VA. Having eliminated both Edward Clark of Occoneechee and Thomas Clark of Yeopim as possible grandfathers of Elijah Clark (see detailed reports to further establish their credentials as CLARK brothers of Barbadoes), the question is "How many Clarks were left who could possibly fit the hole in the family puzzle?" [Linda here: I'll end with this cliff-hanger. As in all things, Doug receives full credit for everything except typos. ]