DESCENDANTS OF GEORGE CLARK, REVOLUTIONARY SOLDIER

A history of the name Clark together with its significance was compiled by the Media Research Bureau, Washington, D.C.: The name of Clark or Clark(e) is said to have been derived from the office of "clerk" or clergyman and was originally written in forms of Clerk and Clerke, which are now practically extinct as surnames. Is also found on ancient records in the forms Clericus (Latin), Clerck and Clerc, but the two forms mentioned above are those generally used today. The Clark family is believed by most family historians to have been of Irish ancestry and to have descended from the extremely ancient and distinguished line of the O'Clerys, of whom it is said that one of the line assumed the name of Clark or Clarke in the twelfth century and perhaps made his home in Scotland, as some of his descendants undoubtedly did. The Clark(e)s appear to have been chiefly of the landed gentry and yeomanry of Great Britain. Several branches of the Clark(e) family were to be found in England at an early date. Among their records are those of the Boniface Clericus and the Thomas le Clerck of Lincolnshire in 1273, Gilbert Clerck of Oxfordshire, Thomas le Clerk of Buckinghamshire, John le Clerck of Bedsfordshire in the time of King Edward the First, Robertus Clarke and Henricus Clerk of Yorkshire in 1379, and John Clarke of Suffolk County in the early sixteenth century, who was the father of John and Thomas, of whom the first married Catherine Cooke and had issue by her of John Thomas, Carew, Christopher, John, Mary and Margaret, of whom the second had issue by his wife, Rose Keridge Herrige of Margart, Carew, Thomas, Mary, John, William and Joseph. The sons Carew, Thomas, John and Joseph emigrated to America about 1637 - - -. Which of the Clark families were ancestors of the Clarks who settled in American and were the ancestors of George Clark(e), Revolutionary Soldier, is not known at present (1989). CLARK EMIGRANTS TO AMERICA- QUAKERS Some members of the Clark family who lived in the seventeenth century joined the Society of Friends or Quakers, and there were many Clark families who migrated from the British Isles to America in its early history. Many of these may be related, but these relationships are difficult to establish by traceable genealogy, particularly before the time of their migration to the New World. Records of family relationships were further confused in the case of our Clark line because some of the members did join the Quakers and were not only ostracized by their families, but were persecuted, particularly in Great Britain. William Clark, and possibly Thomas Clark, who are believed to be of this line, left England and settled in Ireland because of the fact that they belonged to the Society of Friends. Their pre-American family genealogy is not known as of this date-1989. Early American Clark family history which was passed down verbally among the descendants of Richard Clark, son of George Clark, Revolutionary Soldier, and American Pioneer who ventured westward from the Thirteen Colonies through Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and ultimately to Utah Territory. This history later became a part of the written account of the family, and states that William Clark and Thomas Clark, possible close relatives, were the first American ancestors of our Clark line in America from whom George Clark, Revolutionary Soldier of Cumberland County Pennsylvania, was descended, and that they were Quakers who came to America at the time of William Penn. They migrated from the British Isles during the last half of the seventeenth century and settled in the Quaker colonies along the Delaware River in the land areas of what is now Pennsylvania, Delaware and New Jersey. They are believed to have been related to the Stuart line of Royalty. Both William and Thomas Clark were personally acquainted with William Penn and were active in the Provincial affairs of Pennsylvania. Because William Clark is believed to be related to Thomas Clark, who is probably a direct line ancestor, some of the details of his history are presented here. He had lived in the vicinity of Dublin, Ireland, and first purchased land in West Jersey in 1677 from Edward Byerling. He arrived in New Jersey in 1677 but moved to what is now Lewes in Sussex County, Delaware, then one of the "Lower Counties" of Pennsylvania. In his first visit to American William Penn appointed William Clark as Justice of the Peace of all the counties. He served as justice at Lewes, and in 1690 was appointed by the Pennsylvania Assembly as provincial judge of the Lower Counties (now Delaware). At various times from 1683 to 1705 he served on the Provincial Council, being President of the body in 1686. Because of the time he was required to spend in Philadelphia he built one of the "grandest mansions" there at that period. He died of a "surfeit of cherries" in 1704/05 after attending the first Assembly of the new province of Delaware. He had brought a young daughter, Elizabeth, with him to America, and married Honour Huling in 1679, by whom he had one son, William, Junior. The latter had no male issue. Thomas Clark, who was probably our first American ancestor, was an attorney and was active in the courts in Philadelphia and in Chester County. He served as Attorney General of Pennsylvania in 1705. He may have owned a town house in Philadelphia listed in tax record in 1693) and a country estate in Chester County (no record). In Courts and Lawyers of Penna., Vol 1 it states "Thomas Clark was one of those `practitioners of Law in this city' consulted by Governor Evans in 1706 about the judiciary bill then under consideration, and that is all we know about him". The Colonial History of Pennsylvania states that because the people, particularly Quakers, in 1704 held conscientious scruples against taking up arms `unnecessarily' , "Governor Evans became highly indignant- -, and - - resorted to a curious plan for terrifying them into obedience. He selected Thomas Clark, an attorney in Philadelphia, and Robert French of New Castle, as his associates." He tried to goad the people to arms, but placed himself in disfavor by doing so. CLARK PIONEERS AND DESCENDANTS -------Clark. (Generation B)George(?) Clark. (Generation C)George Clark, Revolutionary Soldier (Generation D, Brothers and sisters not known.) George Clark, Revolutionary Soldier, died at about the age of 29 years, in South Carolina, the last seven of which he served in the Revolutionary Army. This is probably the major reason that he left no recorded history of his life, at least one that has been preserved. Until the year of 1972 little was known among current family members about his vital data or any of the events which occurred in his life, except that he had served in the army, his wife's name was "Peggy", probably for Margaret, and that she had a Scotch accent. It is now definitely established that George and his wife, whose maiden name was Margaret Hanna, had only three sons living in the year 1919. The details of family history that are known about George Clark, Revolutionary Soldier, and the father of three sons, Richard, John and George, are found in two letters composed by Margaret Hanna Clark (Armstrong), dated 1822 and 1823, headed Chillicothe, Ohio, written to the Hon. James Duncan, Auditor, Gen'l., Penna., concerning back pay due her for the services of her husband who had died in the Army at the close of the Revolutionary War, and from information provided largely from the Pennsylvania Archives, County Histories and the deeds. Margaret's letters state that her maiden name was Hanna, that she and the other heirs of George Clark had received a donation lot located near Meadeville (Mercer County), Pennsylvania, for his military services, and that she and George had lived for a short time in Carlisle, Cumberland County. She further stated that her husband had served in the Sixth Battalion under Colonel Irvine, and that he had been in the military service for the period of the whole war. His name appears on the roster of the Fourth Regiment in the Pennsylvania Archives, which state that he died at Ashley Hill (Hall), South Carolina in 1793. This date is in error because the Army returned from South Carolina in June 1783. Hence he must have died in 1783, probably the early part of the year. Margaret also stated that he had served under General Wayne in the military operations in the south. General Wayne is known to have commanded the Army there, part of which was composed of provisional battalions containing soldiers from the former Fourth Pennsylvania Regiment. George Clark's personal history for the last seven years of his life is interwoven with that of the military organizations in which he served, although it is not known if he was active in all of the campaigns, battles and other operations in which these organizations participated, or when he received leave to visit his family in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania. He and Margaret were probably married in early 1774, their first son, Richard, having most likely been born in December of that year, hence, they were married for a period of about nine or ten years. Their second and third sons were born: John on August 3, 1779 and George on October 15, 1781. It is most significant that Margaret gives us much specific information about the organizations in which he served and the names of some of the officers of those organizations. Thus, his period of military service was from early 1776 until the first part of 1783. As related above, he enlisted first in the Sixth Pennsylvania Battalion, then the Fourth Pennsylvania Regiment and in the latter part of the War was in a provisional Battalion under General Wayne in the South. According to the military historical account in the Pennsylvania Archives ((2) X. p. 167), the Sixth Pennsylvania Battalion was authorized by a resolution of Congress dated January 4, 1776. Six of its eight companies were recruited from Cumberland County and two from York County. William Irvine was appointed Colonel of the Battalion and held that position as long as the organization existed, i.e., until March 1777. "... the Sixth Pennsylvania Battalion received orders at Carlisle on March 4, 1776 to go to New York City (Trussell, The Pennsylvania Line, p. 98). It was quickly outfitted and arrived on April 24, but was ordered on April 26 to go to Albany to join the Army attacking Canada." Colonel Irvine and a number of the soldiers in the Battalion were captured at Three Rivers on June 9, and he was paroled on August 3, but not exchanged until May 8, 1778. In the attack seventy- eight men were killed or captured. The survivors fell back to Isle Aux Noix, where a group of men left camp "to fish and disport themselves", and some of them were killed and scalped by the Indians. From here the American force retreated to Crown Point on July 1, where they remained forming an outpost. On October 14 the main British Army approached and they fell back again, this time to Ticonderoga. They remained here until the enlistments ran out, then they returned to Carlisle where they were mustered out on March 15, 1777. Many of the men re-enlisted in one of the new regiments which were organized in that period of time. The Fourth Pennsylvania Regiment, in which George Clark(e) is listed as a private (Pennsylvania Archives (2) X. p. 520) was recruited in February 1777. When George returned to Carlisle with the Sixth Battalion, or soon thereafter, he enlisted in the new organization. The Fourth in its active service was under the command of Lieutenant Colonel William Butler. Its appointed commander, Colonel Cadwalder, was on parole. Company "I" of the regiment was the "Lieutenant Colonel's Company" and was commanded by Captain-Lieutenant Thomas Campbell, whom Margaret identifies in one of her letters as the commander of the company in which George served. The uniform of the men apparently included "Wilton" coats, coarse shirts and trousers. The Fourth Regiment joined Washington's Army early in 1777, and took part in the following engagements: The Battle of Princeton, January 3, 1777; the action at Bound Brook on April 12 or 13; other action in the spring of 1777; the Battle of Brandywine on September 11, 1777; action at Poali on September 20, 1777; and the Battle of Georgetown on October 4, 1777. It spent the winter of 1777-78 at Valley Forge and pursued the British across New Jersey in the Battle of Monmouth in June 1778. It was detached from Washington's main Army and spent the time fighting Indians until it joined the Pennsylvania Line in December 1779 in encampment at Morristown, New Jersey. The troops mutinied on January 1, 1780, but the Fourth Regiment at first refused to participate. A detachment under Captain-Lieutenant Thomas Campbell began a charge to recapture cannon, but faltered before making contact. After the mutiny the Pennsylvania Line was reorganized, and the Fourth was one of the six infantry regiments that was retained, but not as an organized regiment. The men who remained were pooled with other Pennsylvania troops and distributed among three provisional battalions, which were sent to Virginia for the Yorktown Campaign, and then on to South Carolina. They took part in some of the guerilla skirmishes in the siege of Charleston. The army, according to the History of Cumberland County, "- - - entered - - - Charleston on the 14th of December, 1782, was in camp on James Island, S.C., on the 11th of May and only when the news of the cessation of hostilities reached that point was embarked for Philadelphia - - -". This occurred in June 1783. The roster of the Fourth Regiment (Pennsylvania Archives (2) X, p.520) lists, "Clarke, George, of Capt. Thomas Campbell's company; died at Ashley Hill, South Carolina." This location was most probably Ashley Hall, a plantation about 12 miles from Charleston, an opinion confirmed by a genealogist from Charleston. Thus, George's death occurred between 14 December 1782 and 11 May 1783, and he probably was buried at Ashley Hall or James Island. On July 2, 1812 the Land Office of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania granted the widow and children of "George Clarke, dec'd, late a soldier in the Revolutionary War a certain tract of land with Appurtenances being Lot 703, Situate in the fourthe Donation District now in Mercer County, No. 34,- - - (of 300 acres)- - -". In 1819 Donation Lot 703 was sold by Margaret Armstrong, formerly Margaret Clark, and her two sons, Richard and George, to a third son, John, the deed being approved by Margaret Armstrong, (residence not given), Richard Clark of Montgomery Township, Ohio, and George Clark of Berlin, Adams County, Pennsylvania. The above information confirms the major items in the history of the Clark line as preserved by Richard's descendants, the important fact being that Richard Clark, son of George and Margaret Clark, was living in Montgomery Township, Ohio, in 1819 in the new settlement of Uniontown (now Ashland), then a small town of about fifteen families. While family history states that George Clark had a family of nine or ten children, this almost certainly applies to George Clark of Berlin, Adams County. The above transactions recorded on the deed for Lot 703 and the recorded data in Family Group Sheets, plus all other information concerning Richard Clark and his family do furnish conclusive evidence that this is the correct family line. This is further confirmed by the fact that there was only one donation lot given by Pennsylvania to the heirs of a George Clarke. Virtually all of the information that is now (1989) known about Margaret Hanna Clark (Armstrong) was found in the two letters written by her to James Duncan, Auditor General of Pennsylvania. Their primary purpose was to request officials in Pennsylvania to confirm her position that there was some back pay due her for her husband's services in the Revolutionary War. From the fact that she had again assumed her married name of Clarke indicates that Mr. Armstrong may have died and she states that in her advance age she was in "reduced and indigent" circumstances. Paint Creek near Chillicothe Ross County, Ohio State On microfilm at Family History Library, Salt Lake City, UT. ---------- After George's death, probably in early 1783 (the '93 date in Margaret's letter is in error), Margaret married a man by the name of Armstrong and some time in the early 1800's moved to Chillicothe, Ohio. (Her date of death and place of burial have not been ascertained as of 1988.) Richard Clark was one of the descendants of Quakers who made the difficult voyage to America for the sake of religious freedom and conquered the problems of settling in a strange land. He carried on this tradition, being born at the beginning of the war for independence he knew the trials of working out an existence in a new land inhabited by hostile Indians while his mother supported the family and the father was away doing his military service. When he reached adulthood he married, and he and his family joined the pioneer movement to the west and in the first half of the 1800's traveled over 2000 miles to the west, first in search of good farm land and second. and appropriately, in search of religious freedom. Richard Clark was the first of three sons of George and Margaret Hanna Clark, was born in Cumberland County, PA, probably on 5 Dec 1774. Richard's Patriarchal Blessing, given in Nauvoo, 12 Feb 1845 states that he was born "Dec 5 - record burnt". An old account book of George Sheffer Clark's gives his birth date as 3 Feb 1774. Another record gives his birth date as Feb 1777, while a paper in Joseph B. Clark's handwriting reads, "Richard Clark was born March 20, 1776" and an old Manti Temple sheet gives the date as 1778. The date of his birth as it appears on his Temple Records and the one that has been most commonly used is 5 Dec 1776. This same record sheet, which is dated October 27, 1891, give the place of birth of birth of the first seven children of Richard and Ann Elizabeth Sheffer Clark as Jefferson County, Ohio. However, a Family Group Sheet in the Family History Library in Salt Lake City indicates that the first six members of the family were born in Pennsylvania. The record made most closely in time to his birth, the US Census of 1820 of Montgomery County, Ohio, gives Richard's age as 45 years or over, which would mean that he was born in 1774. Richard's two brothers were born, John, 3 Aug 1779 and George, 15 Oct 1781. It is quite probable that Richard and Ann Elizabeth Sheffer were married in Pennsylvania in about 1800 and moved westward about 200 miles to Ohio in about 1816 to Jefferson County, which is located on the Ohio-West Virginia border, about forty miles west of the city of Pittsburgh, PA. Here their son, George Sheffer was born. Family Group Records and other sources show that George Sheffer Clark was born on 7 Nov 1816 in Springfield Township, Jefferson County, and that the family lived there for about one year. Springfield Township is on the west border of the County and even today Amsterdam, pop. 800, is about the only town in the township. The eastern part of Ohio, known as the Appalachian Plateau, is the most rugged part of the State, with steep hills and valleys. The soil is mostly thin and not fertile. The land is mostly used for grazing of dairy cattle. It has some of the most beautiful scenery of the State. The land was probably not suitable for the farming needs of the family, and in about 1817 they moved about 100 miles to Uniontown (now Ashland) in Richland County, Ohio, in 1829 to Marion County, Indiana, in the early 1840's to Nauvoo, Illinois and later to Iowa and Utah. They had traveled a little North of West from Jefferson County to Uniontown which had been first settled about two years before. This is located in North central Ohio in what is known as the Till Plains, which are the easternmost part of the rich midwestern Corn Belt. In current times the farmers in this locale produce much grain and livestock and the area has many industrial cities. An informative description of the country in Ashland County is given in the History of Richland County, of which it was then a part. Uniontown, located in Montgomery Township, was laid out July 28, 1815 by William Montgomery, when "- - - it was all woods, and deer, bears and wolves roamed unmolested. There was not a cabin or building of any kind on the site." Montgomery erected the first cabin and occupied the lot upon which Treace's tavern was later erected. He was engaged in distilling whiskey and was proprietor of a tannery. In 1817 Joseph Sheets, William Montgomery, David Markley and John Croft and their families were the whole population of the town. Markley sold groceries, whiskey, etc., Samuel Urie had the first blacksmith shop, Nicholas Shaffer the first carpenter shop, John Antibus the first hattery and John Croft a tannery. The first vehicle, a carriage, was brought in 1821 by Dr. Luther, probably the first physician. Also in 1821 when Francis Graham brought dry goods and groceries, he stated that "--- it was a village of fourteen or fifteen families, two distilleries, on saw-mill, one small tannery, on wheelwright shop for the manufacture of wheels for flax-spinning, one blacksmith shop, kept by Samuel Urie, and one physician, Dr. Joel Luther." Markley kept the first store, and Joseph Sheets the second, while Mr. Graham later carried a general stock and started a permanent store. He found goods in demand, but people had no money to pay for them, so exchanged for produce. "Wheat was worth about 25 cents per bushel, but no one wanted to buy it for family use, and, as there was no market outside the immediate neighborhood, but little was raised. Oats were traded off at 12 to 15 cents per bushel; corn was in better demand, and brought, in goods, from 15 to 20 cents per bushel, and became almost legal tender because it could be converted into whiskey, which could be freighted to the lake, and found a ready market. Maple sugar was also an important item or trade, and was made in large quantities, bringing 4 to 6 cents per pound." In 1822 the Postmaster General was petitioned for a post office at Uniontown but the request was rejected because there were two Uniontown post offices in the state. The name Ashland was chosen, the mail carried on horseback for a year, until the Post Office department would no longer pay expenses and withdrew the contract. Mr. Graham hired a mail carrier for three years at a financial loss. The name Uniontown was officially changed by the Legislature in 1825. The first school in Uniontown was taught by Therrygood Smith, but the cabin in which school was held was burned down in 1824 when it caught fire from its lath and plaster chimney. In a house erected in 1924 Chandler Foote taught, and the third school was taught in 1826 by Cullen Spaulding. Some of Richard and Ann Elizabeth Clark's children most probably attended these schools, John, William, Jacob, George S. and Julia Ann, being of school-age when they lived in Uniontown (Ashland). The above very brief history covers the period the Clark's were living in Uniontown, where they had moved about the year 1817, and their family was unquestionably one of the fifteen referred to by the historian above, and Nicholas Shaffer (Sheffer?), the carpenter named could have been a brother of Ann Elizabeth. Also, David Markley, the store owner listed, was the man from whom Richard and Elizabeth bought Lot 4 in Uniontown as described in the deed below. Richard is listed in the 1820 Census as "being engaged in manufacturing". After they sold their lot in Ashland the family then moved another 200 miles farther West to Marion, Indiana, located about 50 miles North and a little East of Indianapolis, where their youngest daughter, Nancy, was born 26 Feb 1829. Marion is located in the Till Plains, which extend to the East into Ohio. The region has rich soil and is good for raising grain and for the grazing of livestock. It is also near the Mississinewa River, a branch of the Wabash River where Richard's son George S. later worked at freighting pork down the river to the Ohio and Mississippi River to New Orleans. Clarinda Clark married Hyrum Ranck and lived at Donaldson, about 20 miles South of South Bend. Julia Ann Clark married Stephen M. Farnsworth and her first two sons were born at Plymouth, near Donaldson, and at South Bend, Indiana. Thus, the Clark family lived in Ohio and Indiana during the period of the Restoration of the Gospel and the organization of the Church of Jesus CHrist of Latter-Day Saints. Richard Clark and his family were rather strict Methodists, but when they heard the Gospel from Franklin D. Richards, a missionary of the L.D.S. Church in about 1842, all of the children who were at home at the time embraced the teachings of the Gospel and were baptized, except Nancy who was about eleven years of age. George Sheffer was not at home when his parents joined the Church, but became converted soon afterward and was baptized in 1843. Thus those who were baptized included Richard, Ann Elizabeth, George Sheffer, Lucinda, Julia Ann and Nancy. William was probably baptized later. Clarinda, a twin of Lucinda, married Hyrum Ranck and remained in Indiana. Soon after the first group in the family joined the Church they moved to Nauvoo, Illinois, to be with the Saints and help in the building of the beautiful Nauvoo Temple. Richard Clark, being an expert cabinet maker, did a great deal of work on the interior finishing of the Temple. In 1846 when the Saints were driven from Nauvoo, the Clarks joined in the movement of the body of the members across Iowa and soon purchased land near Council Bluffs, Iowa. They kept an inn for travelers as they had previously done in Ohio and Indiana. Later in 1846 George Sheffer joined the Mormon Battalion and marched with them to the Mexican Border. He left the main Battalion and returned with a sick detachment to Pueblo for the winter or 1846-47, and then joined the first company of Pioneers near Fort Bridger in July of 1847, entering Salt Lake Valley with Brigham Young. He reurned to Iowa in 1847 and in March of 1850 he married Susannah Dalley, a young English convert. Following the lead of the other members of the Church in May of 1850, in company of their younger children, Richard and Elizabeth set out across the plains to make the long journey to the Salt Lake Valley, to establish their home on the sagebrush covered foothills of the Wasatch Mountains. They traveled in Captain Cook's Company which arrived in the Great Salt Lake Valley on September 3, 1850. They attended a conference on September 8, 1850 and were instructed to go to Utah Valley to settle. According to some reports, Church leaders had first proposed to use Utah Valley as a stock range and as a source of fish for the people in Salt Lake Valley, but decided against this because of Indian problems. Richard's son, George Sheffer was appointed to be in charge of the group of settlers which was made up of his wife, Susannah: Richard Clark and his wife, Ann Elizabeth; John Greenleaf Holman and his wife, Nancy Clark Holman; Lewis Harvey and his wife Lucinda Clark Harvey; Lewis Harvey's parents, Jonathon Lewis and Sarah Harbet Harvey; Charles Price and family; Henry Jolley and family; and the widow Harriet Marler and her family; all together with the teamsters John Wilson and Ezekiel Holman. This small band of settlers established a settlement on the sloping hills at the foot of Timpanogas mountain in what is now the eastern part of Pleasant Grove, setting up their community in a grove of cottonwood trees. This site was south of a small cabin where herd boys were living while tending the cattle of Lewis Robinson and Calvin Moore. The location of the tiny colony was only a short distance east from the meadow land that had been staked off two months before by William Henry Adams, John Mercer and Philo T. Farnsworth for their new home sites. The Clarks and their group arrived on September 13, 1850 and became the first permanent residents of the community that was first named Battle Creek and later Pleasant Grove. Thus, Richard and his family repeated the pioneering and community building that they had done in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Iowa. The total distance Richard and his wife had traveled from central Pennsylvania to Utah was well over 2500 miles, through sparsely settled or inhabited county with few roads or trails, or even no roads at all. The history of the Utah Valley area states that the first white men to explore it were the Spanish in 1776 and Jedediah Smith and Charles Fremont in the 1820's and 1840's. George Sheffer Clark had also visited Utah Valley in the fall of 1847 with Jesse C. Little just after the first pioneer party had arrived at Salt Lake Valley. Parley P. Pratt and a party had also explored Utah Lake, while Adams, Mercer and Farnsworth had staked l