YEOPMTHO Other Possible Children of Thomas CLARK of Yeopim [This is a continuation of THSYEOPM.txt and Doug's report on this Thomas. After reading this, you may want to look again at several previous reports which cover some of the VA connections to sur- names mentioned: MCKENEY.txt, CLARKII.txt, EWDCLARK.txt, JULY96.txt and APRHDGPD.txt. I urge everyone to remember this, as are all reports, are "works in progress". More research is needed before we can say with any assurance that CLARKs and Mac- KINNEYs in VA are the same people with similar names later found in NC. LSS] Carolina records and other facts "hint" that Thomas Clark of Yeopim also may have had an older son named Thomas Jr. He might not have been mentioned in Thomas Clark's will because he was either dead or had already received his inheritance before the will was written, possibly both. If I am correct, Thomas Clark Jr. would have been born between 1686 and 1688. He may have been the Clark who left a widow named Rebecca Clark whose name is on the Chowan Precinct 1717 tax roll. (Rebecca Clark owned property that was adjacent to one of the properties of Thomas Clark, but I have not been able to find a husband to match to her.) The Mysterious Son: Capt John Clark I am reasonably certain that John Clark, oldest son of Thomas Clark of Yeopim, survived and resided on the Roanoke River property acquired by his father from William Moody in 1710. This property became part of Bertie Precinct in 1722 and the area in which it was located was commonly referred to as Cashie Neck (the neck of land between the Cashie River and the Roanoke River). There, his immediate neighbors included William Charlton, John Bentley, Henry Speller, William and Luke Mizel, George Clark (of Perquimans), Jacob Colson, John Sholar, Phillip Ward and, later, John Clark's nephew Thomas Falconer. I will have more on these neighbors later in this report. I also believe John Clark was a "mariner", a trade that he passed on to a son and grandson. Capt. John Clark who acquired property in early 1723 along the south shore of Albemarle Sound, between the Alligator River and the Scuppernong River in what was then considered Perquimans Precinct but would become Tyrrell Precinct in 1729. When this "White Oak Land" property was sold in 1755, the seller identified himself as "John Clark of Bertie County". I also suspect that he or his son was the Capt. John Clark who was identified as the master of the 35-ton sloop "John" which traded regularly between Edenton and New England during the second quarter of the 18th cen- tury. Capt. John Clark had known sons named Thomas, John Jr., and Ed ward. A grandson, Christopher Clark, was a famous privateer during the Revolutionary War. Christopher lived along Black Wal- nut Creek and later acquired property along Salmon Creek where he built "Elmwood" plantation. Another grandson was Thomas Clark, merchant of Windsor, NC. My guess is that Capt. John Clark had been granted his in heritance before December 1718 and that he was already serving his father's widespread commercial interests as a mariner before his father's death. I noted from various deeds and property docu- ments that Thomas Clark possessed as much as 3,000 acres includ- ing some in Bertie Precinct as late as 1715. Yet in 1717, Chowan tax rolls show Thomas with only 1,500 acres and in 1719, the tax roll shows son Samuel with 1,420 acres, held in trust by Charles Wilkins, Thomas Clark's executor and Samuel's guardian until he reached his majority in 1722. In fact, Samuel probably received less than the 1,420 acres shown on the 1719 tax roll because one third of his father's estate was to go to step-daughter Mary Wood, to be held by her mother until either her mother died or Mary Wood found a suitable husband. (I also suggest that Thomas Clark probably had another son, Thomas Jr., who was some years older than John Clark and who predeceased his father. Thomas Jr. may have been married to a young lady named Rebecca who is shown in 1717 Chowan tax records as a widow owning 100 acres.) After his father's death, I suggest John Clark resided on the Roanoke River property purchased by his father in 1710. In February 1722/23 he acquired 276 acres in Perquimans Precinct on the south side of Albemarle Sound. Identified in the deed as the "White Oak Land", the area became part of Tyrrell Precinct in 1729. Clark held this property until selling it to William Barnes in February 1755. Be it known unto all to whom these presents shall come that I, John Whedley, do appoint my loving friend John Arnold Jr. my true and lawful attorney to acknowledge one tract of land called the white oak land unto John Clark on his order...19 FEB 1722/23. Signed: John Whedley. Wit: Thomas Trumball, John Arnold Jr. John Whedley of Currituck Precinct, Albemarle Co., Pro- vince of NC to John Clark...276 acres on the south side of Albemarle Sound in Perquimans Precinct formerly called White Oak land beginning at a Pine, Phelp's bounded tree on the Sound side (rest of deed is missing.) John Clark of Bertie County to William Barnes of Tyrrell County, 13 FEB 1755...L200...276 acres (messuage) which was granted to John Jennett in 1704 and deeded to Thomas Holloway and then to John Clark which was formerly called White Oake Land, on the south side of Albemarle Sound, joining Phelps. Wit: Joseph Perisher, Sarah Perisher, Joseph Sutton. FEB Court 1757, Edward Buncombe, Clerk (DCT: "messuage" means a dwelling house and adjacent buildings.) Land records show that Thomas Clark had acquired property along the north shore of the Roanoke River in 1710. After 1722 this Roanoke River property became part of Bertie Precinct. Though I am aware of two other John Clark's living in Bertie Precinct in 1723, the John who was son of Thomas Clark was the only one old enough to have acquired property in 1723. The judgment that Capt. John Clark's mother was Mary MacKinne is very "soft" because there is no documentation that shows that her maiden name was MacKinne. We do know from Charles City Co. VA Court records that a Thomas Clark of VA was married to a Mary MacKinne (perhaps already the widow of John Edmonds) in 1688 and there is some reason to believe that he was the same Thomas Clark who appeared in New Kent Co. processioning orders in 1689. The Thomas and Mary Clark who lived along the Yeopim River in Chowan Precinct came from VA about 1690 (although Thomas had been in the vicinity earlier) and were of about the right age to have been the Thomas Clark and Mary MacKinne of VA. When Thomas and Mary returned to Chowan Precinct in 1690 or 1691, they were accom- panied by Argyll Symons who appears to have been a brother or nephew of Elizabeth (Symons) MacKinne, Mary's mother. Argyll ob- tained a land grant immediately adjacent to the grant obtained by Thomas Clark. When Mary's younger brother, Barnabas MacKinne first acquired land in Chowan Precinct in 1713, Thomas Clark was one of the witnesses to the transaction. All circumstantial evidence to be sure, but in their totality a strong hint that Mary Clark and Mary MacKinne were the same person. Let's briefly look at the MacKinne family. (The name was spelled many different ways. I use the MacKinne spelling because that is how Judge Barnabas MacKinne Sr. signed his judicial papers.) Thomas Clark's First Wife: Mary MacKINNE Mary MacKinne (c1665-1699) was the daughter of Michael (c1635 1686) and Elizabeth MacKinne (1641-c1715) of Nansemond Co. VA. She had a sister named Sarah and two brothers, John (1661-1701) and Barnabas (1673-1739). John and Mary were both mentioned in the 1688 Charles City Co. court decision relating to the distribu- tion of Elizabeth Hillman's estate. Court records state that Mary MacKinne was then married to Thomas Clark and imply that Elizabeth Hillman's maiden name was Symons (sometimes spelled Simons). Barnabas MacKinne was not mentioned in the Court papers, apparently because he was a minor in 1688. But, as later events will show, Barnabas MacKinne would become a big player in this particular Clark family drama. Barnabas MacKinne Sr. / Capt John Clark's Uncle Barnabas MacKinne was a highly successful land speculator along the Blackwater River in VA until 1720 when he left VA and settled along the south bank of the Roanoke River in an area known as Caledonia Woods. MacKinne had initially taken an interest in Carolina in 1713 when he applied for a 640 acre land grant on the north side of the Morattock River, a transaction that was wit nessed by Thomas Clark. He placed Mathew Ruskin on that property as tenant but did not move to Carolina himself until after 1720 when he quickly accumulated an estate of more than 4,000 acres even after giving away several thousand acres to his children and nephews. When he moved to Carolina, MacKinne was married to his second wife whose maiden name was Mary Exum, daughter of Jeremiah Exum and Ann Lawrence. Mary had been twice widowed, first from William Pope and more recently from Jacob Ricks by whom she had a son, Isaac, and a daughter, Martha. Barnabas already had five children by his first wife, sons John, Barnabas Jr., and William and daughters Ann, who married William Hurst, and Mary Jane who married John Brown (who later was found guilty of bigamy). By Mary Exum, Barnabas had two more daughters, Patience who married Joseph Lane, and Sarah, who married Isaac Ricks, her step- brother. Barnabas and Mary also raised three orphaned sons (Michael, Mathew and William) of Barnabas' nephew, William Mac- Kinne, eldest son of his brother John who had died in 1701. Barnabas MacKinne Sr. served as a justice of the peace in Bertie Precinct, a judge of the Albemarle County General Court (where he served with John Alston), a member of the Carolina General As sembly and a Colonel of the Carolina militia. IF I am correct about the identity of John Clark's mother, Barnabas MacKinne was Thomas Clark's brother-in-law and John Clark's uncle. Barnabas MacKinne Sr. settled on land in Caledonia Woods along one of three streams--Conoconnara Swamp, Looking Glass Swamp or Quankey Creek. Many years later, Barnabas MacKinne's original Quankey Creek property would serve as the site for the town of Halifax. By 1724 Barnabas MacKinne owned more than 4,000 acres along the south bank of the Roanoke and another 1,300 acres along the north bank. Even though he gave much of his land away to his children, he kept acquiring new land and still held over 4,000 acres when he died in 1739. Barnabas MacKinne started out in NC in a big way, acquiring al most 1,900 contiguous acres along the Morattock (Roanoke) River on a single day in 1720. He had earlier acquired a patent for 640 acres in the same general vicinity. William Murphy of Chowan Precinct and Martha My wife to Barnaby MacKinne of Albemarle Co. ...this __ July, 1720 ...L5 current money of England...640 acres more or less at the mouth of a Great Branch called the Cypress Gutt which cometh out of the River (Moratock) joining the plantation Arthur Davis did live on...being a parcel of land in Calledony Wood formerly granted to William Browne by patent 1 APR 1713 being the tract whereon the said Browne did live and is the land given by will of William Browne to his wife Martha and I, William Murphey married the relict of William Browne. Wit: William Lattimer, John Alston. Reg. Chowan Ct. the 3rd Tuesday in July, 1720. Nathaniel Holley of Chowan Precinct, and Jane my wife to Barnaby MacKinny of Chowan precinct...this __ July 1720. L30 current money of England...615 acres in Calli- dony Woods on the south side of Moratock River, joining William Maule, William Browne and a pond as by patent to said Holley 1 MAR 1719. Wit: William Murphey, David Mc- Kine. Reg. Chowan Court, 3rd Tuesday in July, 1720. Arthur Davis of Chowan Precinct and Mary his wife to Barnaby MacKinne of Chowan Precinct...this __ July 1720. L45 current money of England...640 acres in Calledony Woods on the south side of the Moratock River and run- ning the courses of the patent and is the land conveyed to the said Davis (13 July 1718) and was a grant to William Browne 1 APR 1713. Wit: William Lattimore, John Alston. Reg. Chowan Court 3rd Tuesday in July 1720. In 1722 MacKinne acquired an additional 880 acres on Conoconnara Swamp close to the Morattock River and the next year acquired two 640 acre patents on the north side on the Morattock River in Oc coneechee Neck. Barnabas MacKinne Sr. had an interesting set of neighbors on the south bank of the Roanoke River. They included Gideon and Mary Gibson, whose daughter, Mary, I think became John Clark's wife. Gideon Gibson was an Indian trader and has been identified by scholars as a free Black who was married to the daughter of a white planter. Other MacKinne neighbors included Thomas and Sarah Whitmell Arrington whose granddaughter, Hannah Arrington, would marry John and Mary's son, Elijah. They included Arthur Kavanaugh who was closely associated with Edward Clark, the church sexton of New Kent Co. They included Barnabas MacKinne's sons John, Bar- nabas Jr. and William, his sons-in-law John Pope (whose daughter, Ann later married one of Edward Clark Jr's sons), Isaac Ricks, Joseph Lane and John Brown and his nephews William, Mathew and William MacKinne. Clark's Property on the Roanoke River at Cashie Neck When Thomas Clark first settled on the Yeopim River in Chowan Precinct, he had few neighbors. There was Argyll and Lydia Symons, William and Mary Charlton, a widower named Perigreen Man nors, and Robert and Susan Herrick who later sold their property on Drummond Point to John Falconer, a Quaker. Argyll Symons was from Charles City Co. VA and may have been from the same Symons family as Elizabeth Hillman, the blood relative of John MacKinne and Mary (MacKinne) Clark. Regardless of the blood relationship, I suspect that Symons' and Clarks' presence in Chowan Precinct had its origin back in Charles City Co. Symons later acquired land along Bluff Point Cove in Tyrrell Precinct on the south side of Albemarle Sound in an area known then as South Lancaster. By the early 1700s, Thomas Clark had many other neighbors, one of whom was William Bentley. In 1710 Thomas Clark (it could have been Thomas of Yeopim or possibly a son, Thomas Jr.) acquired 225 acres on the north shore of the Morattock (Roanoke) River from Bentley, part of a larger tract that Bentley had previously ac- quired from William Moody who had obtained it by patent in 1708. Another of Thomas Clark's Yeopim neighbors, William Charlton, also acquired several patents totaling 1,900 acres in the same vicinity on the north shore of the Roanoke River about 15 miles upstream from the River's mouth. This general area was called "Curriss" in 1710 after a nearby Tus- carora Indian settlement. A stream on William Charlton's land originally called Sahitke Creek later became known as Charlton's Creek. Another stream on the Charlton property was called Opossum Hill Creek and Charleton would build a large home on Opossum Hill. Later, this general area would be referred to as Cashie Neck (referring to the peninsula of land between the Cashie River and the Roanoke River). Originally part of the West Parish of Chowan Precinct, it became part of Bertie County's Society Parish after 1732. After his father's death in 1718, I do not know where John Clark lived. He appears to have had possession of about half of the 3,000 acres that his father had accumulated but I suggest he prob- ably lived on the 225 acre tract in Cashie Neck along on the Roanoke River. (He definitely lived there later.) Part of the problem is determining who lived where is that the property plats registered at the Chowan Courthouse were fre quently not updated until a property was sold. A property trans- ferred by will or gift to a family member might retain the original title holder's name for many years. For example, county records still showed the original 627 acre Yeopim plantation (not the one sold by Samuel Clark in 1722) in Thomas Clark's name as late as 1727. All that tells me is that Clark ownership of that Yeopim River property had not changed through 1727. Though I have been unable to find documented proof, my instinct is that Capt. John Clark found tenants for his Yeopim River properties and built a home on the Cashie Neck/Roanoke River property. His immediate neighbors there included John and James Bentley, sons of the William Bentley who had sold the property to Thomas Clark in 1710, and Jacob Colson (Coleson, Collson), an In dian trader who had three sons -- John, Jacob and Joseph who bracketed John Clark in age. In the late 1720s, the Colsons and Bentleys also acquired land along the south bank of the Roanoke River near Occoneechee Neck near where Barnabas MacKinne Sr. and Edward Clark Jr. had settled. There I believe they became neigh- bors of John Clark Jr. (formerly of Pasquotank Precinct), who was a first cousin of both Capt. John Clark of Cashie Neck and Edward Clark Jr. of Occoneechee Neck--and the future father of General Elijah Clark. Nearly twenty years later, in 1743, John and Jacob Colson and James Bentley would join Elijah Clark's father, also named John Clark, in land speculation along the Great Pee Dee River in Anson Co. NC. The coincidence of finding James Bentley and the Colson brothers as Capt. John Clark's neighbors along the Roanoke River as well as members of the very small group of early land speculators in 1744/45 along the Pee Dee River in Anson Co. NC signals to me that there was probably a "close family" connection between Capt. John Clark of Cashie Neck on the Roanoke River and John Clark of Anson Co. Other factors suggest that they were first cousins and probably close friends.