Anson County NcArchives Biographies.....Families - Update, Clark ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/nc/ncfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Douglas C. Tucker n/a September 5, 2009, 10:11 pm Source: Personal research Author: Douglas C. Tucker Elijah Clark and Hannah Arrington -- Revised 10/98 Written and contributed by Douglas C. Tucker Several years ago I wrote a short paper on General Elijah Clark (1733-1799) of Georgia and his wife Hannah Arrington (c1737-1827). Since then, I have continued to research Elijah Clark and find that my earlier paper, which others have posted to the Net, requires both revision and expansion. Elijah Clark, was born about 1733, probably in Bertie Precinct, NC (later Edgecombe Co.). He was the son of John Clark Sr. who was born in either Virginia or North Carolina but spent most of his life on the North Carolina frontier. John Clark Sr.died in South Carolina, while living on a Pacolet River land grant near Grindle Shoals. Elijah’s mother’s name is uncertain, but she may have been the Mary Clark who is first mentioned in Anson Co. land documents as John Clark’s wife in the early 1750’s. However, my suspicion is that Elijah was the son of an earlier wife whose name we have not yet uncovered. There also is some documentary evidence, signatures and such, that suggest that Elijah’s full name may have been Elijah Edward Clark. Elijah Clark’s documented brothers include Alston, John Jr., Lewis and Gibson. There may have been two other brothers, one named Thomas who lived along the Broad River in the 1760 and 1770’s and another named William who settled in New Bern, NC. I have never been able to tie Thomas to either John or Elijah Clark. William of New Bern was a blood relative and was either Elijah’s brother or his first cousin -- I still don’t know which. Multiple documents tie the other four -- Alston, John Jr., Lewis and Gibson -- to both Elijah and John Clark Sr. Alston appears to have been older than Elijah, and John, too, may have been older. Lewis and Gibson were younger than Elijah with Gibson a special case that needs explanation. Gibson Clark was son of John Clark and his last (probably third) wife, widow Martha Pickens (widow of John Pickens, a brother of future Gen. Andrew Pickens), who John Clark Sr. married sometime between 1757 and 1758, shortly after the death of Mary Clark. Gibson was born in 1760 and was 27 years younger than Elijah. Like his brother John Jr, Gibson Clark (1760-1822) served under Elijah during the Rev. War. (Lewis Clark also served in the War as an enlisted man but does not appear to have served directly under Elijah. Oldest brother Alston Clark was a practicing Quaker and did not take up arms.) The names of Elijah Clark’s brothers suggests to me that John Clark’s first wife may have been a daughter of John Alston and Mary Clark and I now strongly suspect that second wife Mary’s surname was Gibson (although other surnames -- Griffith, Turner, Lewis -- have been suggested). The name Alston Clark certainly points toward a relationship between John Clark and the Alston family -- which at the time of Alston’s naming (circa 1730) would have been limited to the family of John Alston and Mary Clark of Chowan Precinct, NC. I have researched the Alston’s at length and while traditional genealogical reports do not include an Alston daughter who might have married a Clark, I have found that the traditional reports only document those Alston children who were mentioned by name in John Alston’s 1758 will (probated in Chowan Co., NC). John Alston’s children included a Mary Alston Gunston Seward which establishes that John Clark’s wife Mary was not an Alston. Since I think John Clark’s first wife died before 1750, she would not have been identified by name in John Alston’s 1758 will. (I should point out that I also have established that the traditional genealogies of the Alston family leave out other menbers of the family including the first wife and several children of Joseph John Alston, oldest son of John and Mary Clark Alston.) I have looked into the possible (probable?) blood relationship between Mary Clark Alston and John Clark Sr., but the story is so complex and proof so circumstantial that it deserves a full airing in another paper. Suffice it here to report that one of the options I have been pursuing is that John Clark Sr. may have been Mary Clark Alston’s brother or perhaps a nephew. But there are other possible bloodline relationships that deserve equal attention and a full discussion would cloud the focus of this paper -- which is on the family of Elijah Clark. My reason for suggesting that John Clark’s second wife may have been Mary Gibson also is based on largely circumstanial evidence, e.g. John naming his youngest son Gibson and the fact that members of the Gibson family were close Clark neighbors in Edgecombe and Anson Cos. as well as in South Carolina. The Gibsons were an unusual colonial family. Gideon Gibson, who I suggest may have been Mary’s father, was a well-known Cherokee and Chickasaw Indian trader who settled at Occoneechee Neck along the Roanoke River in the early 1720’s. A free black, Gideon married a white planter’s daughter (Mary Brown) and all of his children followed suit and married whites. (The Louise Hayes biography of Elijah Clark comments on the General’s unusual dark complexion and rugged handsomness, a description that gives some credence to Mary Gibson’s parentage.) If skin color and occupation were not enough to distinguish Gideon Gibson, his younger brother, Jordan Gibson, became a famous scout and close companion of both Squire Boone and son Daniel Boone. Jordan Gibson’s son Jim lived with the Boones in Kentucky and later in Missouri. Elijah’s father, John Clark Sr., began patenting property along the Great Pee Dee River in southern North Carolina as early as 20 June 1740 when he patented 200 acres on the upper end of Bear Island in an area that was considered dangerour Indian territory and was located on the far western fringe of Bladen Co. (it would become Anson Co. in 1748). John Clark Sr. probably moved his family from Edgecombe Co to the Pee Dee about 1745 when Elijah was entering his teens. (Despite reports to the contrary, Elijah Clark did not marry Hannah Arrington in Edgecombe Co. nor was their oldest son, John, born in Edgecombe Co. in 1766.) Between 1740 and 1752, John Clark Sr. accumulated more than 20 patents along the Pee Dee, many of which he later sold to Quaker families migrating south from Hanover and Louisa Cos., VA. (Among those families were the offspring of Francis and Cordelia Lankford Clark of Louisa Co. who may have been distant relatives of John Clark Sr..) Also among the Clark neighbors on the Pee Dee were Thomas and Hanah Arrington who had migrated south from Edgecombe Co., NC in the mid 1740’s, roughly the same time that the Clarks moved south. Thomas and Hanah were the parents of Hannah Arrington who would later become Elijah Clark’s wife. (My earlier paper suggested that Hannah’s mother was Sarah Shipman. Sarah, however, was the wife of Hannah’s older brother Thomas.) In April 1752, John Clark patented 600 acres on the Broad River, and the patent stated that it was "where Clark was settled." In fact, I think Mary Clark and the Clark children remained resident in Anson Co. until 1754 when they all moved west to the Broad River valley. In March 1754, John Clark applied for an 800-acre patent along the Pacolet River, a tributary of the Broad. That patent included the phrase "including place where he now lives." Mary Clark died on the Pacolet River property sometime before September, 1758 when a land sale document identified John Clark Sr. as the new husband of widow Martha Pickens (John Clark was selling property located on the Catawba River which had been left to Martha by husband John Pickens (1731-1757)). By 1764, both Elijah Clark and his brother John Jr. had returned to Anson Co. and taken up residence on Rockey Run, a tributary of the Pee Dee River. In March 1767, John Clark Sr. gifted 100 acres along the Pee Dee River to son Elijah and another 115 acres along the Pee Dee to son John Jr. Both properties were along Rocky Run on the east side of the Pee Dee. Elijah, by then married to Hannah Arrington and the father of a new son, lived on this property until his father died (probably about 1770). Elijah’s brother, John Jr., also settled in Anson Co. after his marriage to Sarah (surname uncertain). After John Clark Sr. died, Elijah moved back to his father’s South Carolina grant property along the Pacolet River near Gindle Shoals but kept his Anson Co. property. Brother Alston Clark and wife Rachel Owen had settled along the Broad River on property Alston purchased from Thomas and Sarah Arrington. Lewis Clark and wife Jean (or Jane) Edwards also settled along the Broad River near Alston and Rachel Clark. Alston and Rachel Clark remained in SC and raised a large family that is well-documented. Lewis and Jean Clark remained in Georgia for a few years after the end of the War but ultimately settled in Hancock Co., Virginia where they raised one son and three daughters. As I mentioned in my earlier paper, Elijah Clark was always more comfortable operating as a hunter than as a farmer and in September, 1773, Elijah and Hannah and their growing family (John 7, and three daughters, Sarah 5, Nancy 3, and Elizabeth 2 ) migrated to Wilkes Co., GA where they settled on 150 acres in the so-called New Purchase in Wilkes Co. on the south side Red Lick Creek, a fork of Long Creek -- a location that became known as Clark’s Camp. Their fifth child, Susan, was born in late 1773, but soon died. Elijah’s father, in addition to being an active land speculator, had served as Col. and commander of the Anson Co. militia from 1748 until 1753. (John Pickens and his brothers Andrew and William served as junior officers under John Clark. Later, Andrew Pickens would serve as Elijah Clark’s commander during the Rev. War) Elijah and John Jr. apparently saw militia duty during the French & Indian War as Elijah later would mention in letters to his wife his early militia service with his brother in the "wilds of Kentucky". However, I have not located any records that show service by either Elijah or John during the French & Indian War. In any case, after arriving in Georgia, Elijah Clark became the leader of a group of local settlers who organized themselves (despite opposition from Georgia colonial officials) to protect their new community from Indian raids. When the Rev. War began in earnest, Elijah’s band of irregular militia (about 200 men) was rolled into the Georgia Minute Men Regiments and began harassing the British forces which firmly controlled Georgia. Elijah began the War as a Captain, but soon was advanced to Lt. Col. and , in 1781 was promoted to full Colonel. At the War’s end, Elijah was breveted to Brigadier General. He owas advanced to the rank of Major General during the Indian uprisings of 1785- 1787. (Elijah’s Revolutionary War record is well-chronicled in the Louise Hayes biography "Hero of Hornet’s Nest" and I won’t go into it further, here.) In 1783, just after the War’s end, two of Elijah’s teenage daughters announced that they were intent on marrying two of their father’s former junior officers. Elijah wrote to his brothers, John and Lewis, asking them to please sell Elijah’s Pee Dee River property to help finance the weddings. The property was subsequently sold to John Randall for 100 pounds which the brothers forwarded to Elijah. Later that year, 16-year old Sarah Clark married Josiah Walton and 14-yr. old Elizabeth Clark married Beniah Smith. That same year, Elijah’s youngest brother, Gibson, married Susannah Phillips. Gibson and Susannah Clark then moved west to the Natchez District (Mississippi) where they settled in what later became Claiborne Co. Elijah and Hannah’s oldest son, John Clark, had been sent away to NC for safety and schooling at the start of the Rev. War (chaperoned by neighbor and close family friend Sally Williamson), but returned to Georgia in 1780 and served under his father. He reached the rank of Capt. by War’s end -- when he was only 16. After the War, John married Nancy Williamson, daughter of Micajah and the above-mentioned Sally Williamson. Micajah had served as a senior officer under Elijah and had originally come from Bedford Co., VA. John Clark followed in the steps of his father and grandfather and served as commander of the Georgia militia, ultimately obtaining the rank of Major General. In addition, John proved a consummate politician and served two terms (1819-1823) as Governor of Georgia. After he left the Governor’s office, John was named Indian Agent in Florida. John and Nancy Clark both died in 1832 from yellow fever, apparently caught while they were vacationing on St. Vincent Island, FL. Their children, three sons, had all died in childhood. In addition to John, Sarah, and Elizabeth cited above, Elijah and Hannah Clark had six other children. Susan, as noted earlier, died in infancy. Nancy Clark married Jesse Thompson whom she divorced in 1818. Elijah Jr. and Frances were twins. Frances married Edwin Mounger. Elijah Jr. graduated from Yale University in 1801 and married Margaret Long. They later migrated to Louisiana where Elijah Jr. practiced law in Point Coupee Parish and speculated in land. Mary (Polly) Clark married first, Charles Williamson, brother of John’s wife Nancy, and second, William Hobby. Gibson Clark, born in 1784 (some say 1781), graduated from the University of Georgia, practiced law in Augusta and served in the Georgia Legislature. He never married and died in 1847. Hannah Arrington Clark, like her husband, was probably born along or near Fishing Creek in Edgecombe Co., NC about 1737. Though there remains a debate on her parentage, it appears that Hannah was the youngest child of Thomas and Hannah Arrington and granddaughter of Thomas and Mary Whitmel Arrington who originally came from Virginia but who had settled along the Roanoke River near Occoneechee Neck before 1720. Two particular documents provide a factual basis for what we know about Hannah Arrington Clark’s bloodline. After the end of the Rev. War, many land documents had been lost or destroyed and in February 1791 the following affidavit was filed by Elijah Clark with the Elberton Co., SC general court. In Wilkes Co., GA, Gen. Elijah Clark personally appeared before me and swore that he saw Thomas Harrington and Sara Harrington sign, seal and then act and deed and deliver the within instrument (a copy of the original 7 Dec 1771 deed to Alston Clark) in writing and that he saw Jedum Gibson and Hannah Clark (wife of Elijah) sign the same and witness. 26 Feb 1791, Thomas C. Russell, J.P. Also in 1791, Hannah Clark, identified as the wife of Gen. Elijah Clark of Georgia, was named in Halifax Co., NC court documents as the niece and sole heir of the deceased Drury Harrington (the name was variously spelled Arrington and Harrington) of Jacket Swamp who had died in 1790 without a will. Land documents establish that Drury Arrington was born before 1710 and that his parents were Thomas and Mary Arrington. The above-referenced court documents establish that Hannah Clark was the daughter of one of Drury Arrington’s brothers. Drury had brothers named Thomas, Charles, Whitmel and John. All except Charles migrated to Anson Co. Thomas Arrington’s 1749 will is the only one that identified a daughter named Hannah (he and wife Hannah Whitmel had a son named Thomas and three daughters named Mary, Sarah Whitmel and Hannah). Significantly, Thomas and Hannah WhitmelHarrington lived adjacent to John and Mary Clark Sr. on the Pee Dee River. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/nc/anson/bios/families41bs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.poppet.org/ncfiles/ File size: 16.2 Kb