8G Grandparents
1024 Walter Cary.477,478  b. on June 18, 1588. d. before February 18, 1634.

He m. Grace Browne479.

They had the following children:
512 i. John (1610-1681)
ii. Mary479
iii. Elizabeth479
iv. _____479

1025 Grace Browne.479  b. about 1590. d. Bristol, England after 1668.

In her 1668 will, she bequeathed to "sonne John Cary if living att the tyme of my decease the summe of five shillings as a small remembrance of my love to him." 479 This could be the immigrant John Cary whose migration to New England coincides rather closely with the death of possible father, Walter Cary in 1634.

1026 Francis Godfrey.480 b. England about 1600. d. Bridgewater, MA before July 27, 1669.481

He m. Elizabeth _____, about 1626.482

They had one child:
513 i. Elizabeth (-1680)

1027 Elizabeth _____.

1028 James Penniman.231 b. Chipping Ongar, Essex, England about 1570. bur. Chipping Ongar, Essex, England on April 23, 1626.

He was a hubandman. His will was proved October 2, 1626 and provided:

To all his children, twelve pence apiece
To son James, three pounds
To daughter Elizabeth, three pounds, bedstead, feather bed, bolsters and one black sheep
To son George, four pounds, two, sheep, one lamb and one chest
To wife Agnes, all moveable, corn, cattle and household goods.

He m. Agnes Wilcock, on September 19, 1596 in Chipping Ongar, Essex, England.

They had the following children:
514 i. James (-1664)
ii. George231
iii. Elizabeth231
iv. Lawrence231

1029 Agnes Wilcock. bur. Chipping Ongar, Essex, England on November 27, 1638.

1030 Bennet Eliot. bur. Nazeing, Essex, England on November 21, 1621.349

His will was dated November 5, 1621 in Nazing and proved March 28, 1622. In it he made the following bequests:

To son-in-law Wlliam Curtis, all rents from his lands in Ware, Widford, Hunsdon, Estweeke and Harford for eight years to pay to his son John Eliot 8£ per year for his expenses at Cambridge University, and to pay the rest towards the support of his youngest children, Francis, Jacob, Mary and Lydia.
To son Francis, land called Crotwell Croft (2a.) and Coles Croft (1a.), land called Dameter in Great Hyfield, land in Little Westney (1.5a.) and land in Sowters Common Meade (.5a.)
To son Jacob, tenement in Widford wit all lands belonging to it in Widford, Ware, Hunsdon and Eastwick
To daughter Lydia, 50£ to be paid at age 18
To daughter Mary, 20£ to be paid at age 18
To goddaughter Mary Curtis, 3£
All stock of cattle, corn and outdoor moveables to be sold for the support of his children
To daughters Mary and Lydia, the chest in the yellow chamber
To son Francis, four silver spoons given to him at his christening
To Mary Curtis, five shillings to make a ring in remembrance of him
To the three executors of his will, 10£ annually for the support of his children for eighteen years. 483

He m. Lettice Aggar.

They had the following children:
i. Philip349
ii. Sarah349 (-1673)
iii. Jacob484 (-1651)
iv. John260 (-1690)
515 v. Lydia (-<1676)
vi. Francis349 (-1697)
vii. Mary349

1031 Lettice Aggar. bur. Nazeing, Essex, England on March 16, 1620.

1038 John Rowning.351  b. Hundon, Suffolk, England about 1585. d. Hundon, Suffolk, England before January 13, 1640. bpt. Hundon, Suffolk, England on March 17, 1581.485

In 1605, John Rowning of Hundon was summoned to answer onto Edward Some, Knight regarding titles.485 He was listed as church-warden of Hundon in 1617 and 1637. His will of 1639 mentions his daughter Mary Ray and grandchildren Simon and Mary Ray. To granddaughter Mary Ray, he left a pioece of land called Longland in Hundon. After his death in 1639/40, his daughter Mary emigrated to New England with her first husband, Simon Ray.

He m. Mary Norman, on May 11, 1613 in Stoke-by-Clare, Suffolk, England.485

They had the following children:
519 i. Mary (-1694)
ii. Thomas351 (~1615-)
iii. John238 (Died as Infant) (1615-)
iv. John238

1039 Mary Norman.

1044 Edward Fitz Randolph.486  b. Sutton-in-Ashfield, Nottingham, England about 1565.355 d. Kneesall, Nottingham, England in 1647.355

He was mentioned in the will of his father dated May, 1600. His own will was dated August 13, 1647, proved October 27, 1647. He ended his life in the town of Kneesall, Nottinghamshire.

He m. Frances Howis, on December 17, 1605 in Sutton-in-Ashfield, Nottingham, England.355

They had the following children:
522 i. Edward (-~1675)
ii. Anthony487
iii. Alice487
iv. Christopher487
v. John487
vi. Joseph487

1045 Frances Howis. d. Kneesall, Nottingham, England on June 7, 1631.355

1046 Thomas Blossom.170,356,488  b. Little Shelford, Cambridge, England about 1580. d. Plymouth, MA before July 1, 1633. of infectous fever.

He was probably born at Little Shelford around 1580, but the parish registers no longer exist, proving his birth. The first record of him is his marriage in the town of Cambridge in 1605. It is known that his mother remarried in 1598 and moved to the town of Cambridge with her new husband. It is supposed that Thomas came to Cambridge with his mother and step-father. Several letters of his survive, showing that he was an educated man and qualified to hold the position of deacon in the Pilgrim Church at Plymouth. The pastor of the Pilgrims at Leyden, John Robinson, often preached in the town of Cambridge and it is also supposed that is where Thomas Blossom became friends with pastor Robinson.

No record of the baptism of the children of Thomas and Ann has been found, indicating that they may have left Cambridge shortly after their marriage. They are next reorded as part of the Pilgrim community at Leyden in 1609. On 1610, Thomas gave a power of attorney to Ann to sell two messuages in Cambridge that she had inherited from her maternal grandfather. In 1617, they were living in Pieterskerkof St. when a child of theirs was buried in the chuchyard of the Pieterskerk at Leyden.

Thomas, Ann and family set sail for New England in July of 1620 in the ship Speedwell which sailed from Leyden to Southhampton to rendezvous with the larger ship Mayflower. Both ships sailed from Southampton on August 5, 1620 with the Blossoms still aboard Speedwell. They sailed down the channel, but Speedwell proved unseaworthy, both ship put into Dartmouth for repairs and departed again on August 23. After sailing one hundred leagues, Speedwell was discovered to be leaking so badly that they were forced to return to England where most of the passengers were crowded onto the Mayflower to continue the voyage. The Blossoms however with others of the Pilgrim community returned to Leyden and remained there until 1629.

While at Leyden Thomas wrote several letters to William Bradford, commenting upon the loss of his minister John Robinson, saying, "the loss of his ministery is very great unto me, for I have ever counted myself happy in the enjoyment of it, notwithstanding all the crosses and losses I otherwise sustained." And concerning the death of a son, he writes, "God hath taken away my son, that was with me in the ship when I went back again; I have only two children which were born since I left you..." They finally sailed from Leyden with three children in 1629 and took passage on another ship called Mayflower which sailed from Gravesend in March that year. They landed at Salem on May 15 with 35 other passengers and were transported by boat to Plymouth shortly thereafter. Accompanying Thomas on the Mayflower was Bridget Robinson, the widow of Rev. John Robinson, the beloved pastor of the pilgrims at Leydon.489 Thomas died of a sickness in 1633 in Plymouth. Ann remarried to Henry Rowley and moved with her children to Scituate and Barnstable.


GOVERNOR BRADFORD'S LETTER BOOK [MD 5:165]:

A letter of Thomas Blossom's to myself and Mr. Brewster,
touching the same thing, as followeth.
BELOVED SIR,

Kind salutations, &c. I have thought good to write to you, concerning the cause as it standeth both with you and us; we see, alas I what frustrations and disappointments it pleaseth the Lord to send in this our course, good in itself and accord ing to godliness taken in hand and for good and lawful ends, who yet pleaseth not to prosper us we see, for reasons best known to himself: And which also nearly concerns us to con sider of, whether we have sought the Lord in it, as we ought, or not; that the Lord hath singularly preserved life in the business to great admiration, giveth me good hope that he will (if our sins hinder not) in his appointed time, give a happy end unto it. On the contrary when I consider how it pleaseth the Lord to cross those means that should bring us together, being now as far off or farther than ever, in our apprehension; as also to take that means away, which would have been so comfortable unto us in that course, both for wisdom of council as also for our singular help in our course of godliness, whom the Lord (as it were) took away even as fruit falleth before it was ripe, (he means Mr. Robinson) when neither length of days, nor infirmity of body, did seem to call for his end. The Lord even then took him away as it were in his anger, whom if tears would have held, he had remained to this day. The loss of his ministry was very great unto me for I ever counted myself happy in the enjoyment of it, notwithstanding all the crosses and losses otherwise I sustained. Yet indeed the manner of his taking away hath more troubled me, as fearing the Lord's anger in it, that, as I said, in the ordinary course of things might still have remained, as also, the singular service he might have yet done in the church of God. Alas, dear friends, our state and cause in religion by his death being wholly destitute of any that may defend our cause as it should against our adversaries. That we may take up that doleful complaint in the Psalm, that there is no prophet left among us, nor any that knoweth how long. Alas I you would fain have had him with you, and he would as fain have come to you; many letters and much speech hath been about his coming to you, but never any solid course propounded for his going; if the course propounded the last year had appeared to have been certain, he would have gone though with two or three families. I know no man amongst us knew his mind better than I did, about those things; he was loath to leave the church yet I know also, that he would have accepted the worst conditions which in the largest extent of a good conscience could be taken, to have come to you. For myself and all such others as have formerly minded coming, it is much what the same, if the Lord afford means. We only know how things are with you by your letters, but how things stand in England we have received no letters of anything, and it was November before we received yours. If we come at all unto you, the means to enable us so to do must come from you. For the state of our church, and how it is with us and of our people, it is wrote of by Mr. White. Thus praying you to pardon my boldness with you in writing as I do, I commend you to the keeping of the Lord, desiring if he see it good, and that I might be serviceable unto the business, that I were with you. God hath taken away my son, that was with me in the ship, when I went back again; I have only two children which were born since I left you: Fare you well.
Yours to his power,

THOMAS BLOSSOM. Leyden, December I5 Anno I625.490

GOVERNOR BRADFORD'S LETTER BOOK [MD 5:169]:

To our most dear, and entirely beloved brethren, Mr. William
Bradford and Mr. William Brewster, grace mercy and true
peace be multiplied, from God our Father, through our Lord
Jesus Christ. Amen.

Most dear christian friends and brethren, as it is no small grief unto you, so is it no less unto us, that we are constrained to live thus disunited each from other, especially considering our affections each unto other, for the mutual edifying and comfort of both, in these evil days wherein we live: if it pleased the Lord to bring us again together, than which as no outward thing could be more comfortable unto us, or is more desired of us, if the Lord see it good; so see we no hope of means of accomplishing the same, except it come from you, and there fore, must with patience rest in the work and will of God, per forming our duties to him and you assunder; whom we are not any way able to help, but by our continual prayers to him for you, and sympathy of affections with you, for the troubles which befall you; till it please the Lord to reunite us again. But our dearly beloved brethren, concerning your kind and respective letter, howsoever written by one of you, yet as we continue with the consent (at least in affection) of you both, although we cannot answer your desire and expectation, by reason it hath pleased the Lord to take to himself out of this miserable world our dearly beloved pastor, yet for ourselves we are minded as formerly, to come unto you, when and as the Lord affordeth means, though we see little hope thereof at present, as being unable of ourselves, and that our friends will help us we see little hope. And now, brethren, what shall we say further unto you; our desires and prayers to God, is (if such were his good will and pleasure) we might be reunited for the edifying and mutual comfort of both, which, when he sees fit, he will accomplish. In the mean time, we commit you unto him and to the word of his grace; whom we beseech to guide and direct both you and us, in all his ways, according to that, his word, and to bless all our lawful endeavours, for the glory of his name and good of his people. Salute, we pray you, all the church and brethren with you to whom we would have sent this letter. If we knew it could not be prejudicial unto you, as we hope it cannot; yet fearing the worst, we thought fit either to direct it to you, our two beloved brethren, leaving it to your goodly wisdom and discretion, to manifest our mind to the rest of our loving friends and brethren, as you see most convenient. And thus entreating you to remember us in your prayers, as we also do you; we for this time commend you and all your affairs to the direction and protection of the Almighty, and rest,
Your assured loving friends
And brethren in the Lord,
FRANCIS JESSOPP,
THOMAS NASH,
THOMAS BLOSSOM,
ROGER WHITE,
RICHARD MAISTERSON.
Leyden, Nov. 30, A.D. 1625. 491

He m. Ann Helsdon170,356, on November 10, 1605 in St. Clement's Church, Cambridge, England.

They had the following children:
i. unknown356
ii. unknown356 (-~1620)
523 iii. Elizabeth (1620-1713)
iv. Thomas356 (~1623-1650)
v. Peter356 (>1625-1706)

1047 Ann Helsdon.170,356  bpt. Soham, Cambridge, England on June 23, 1583.

1048 John Sturgis.240  bpt. Kent Co., England on April 27, 1578.

He m. Margaret Austin240, on November 28, 1608 in Tilmanstone, Kent, England.

They had the following children:
i. Margaret240
524 ii. Edward (-1695)
iii. Elizabeth240
iv. Andrew240

1049 Margaret Austin.240 bur. Eastry, Kent, England on April 3, 1622.

1050 Thomas Hinckley.240,357  d. Ulcombe, Kent, England before January 16, 1635. bpt. Harrietsham, Kent, England on December 28, 1562.

He lived at Harrietsham, where he was churchwarden, until about 1617. He was described as a yeoman.

His will was written Decenber 3, 1634 and proved January 16, 1635 and contained the following provisions:

To wife Ann, house in Harrietsham for life
To sons Robert and Edward, 10s each plus house in Harrietsham after widow's death
To daughter Ann and her three children, 10s each
To daughter Elizabeth, 5£, 10s
To wife Ann, all other goods and chattels

He m. Anna _____.

They had the following children:
i. Ann357
ii. Robert357
iii. Edward357
525 iv. Elizabeth (-1679)

1051 Anna _____.

1052 Rev. John Lothrop.241,492  d. Barnstable, MA on November 8, 1653. bpt. Etton, Yorkshire, England on December 20, 1584.

He was educated at Queen's College, Cambridge where he graduated with a BA in 1605 and an MA in 1609. He became the curate of a parish church in Egerton, 48 miles southwest of London and lived there from 1611 to 1623. He left Egerton in 1623 to accept the ministry of the First Independant Church of London in Union St. in Southwark. He was the minister of a group of religious dissenters meeting privately for worship. In April of 1632, the group was arrested by authorities and Rev, Lothrop spent the next two years in prison while his wife and children struggled to survive without him. He was released briefly to visit his ailing wife who subsequently died of her illness. His children appealled to the Bishop of Lambeth who had custody of Rev. Lothrop and, as a humanitarian act, he was granted his liberty.

Governor Winthrop of Massachusetts Bay recorded the arrival of Rev. Lothrop aboard the ship Griffin on September 18, 1634 with 200 other passengers and with a wife and seven of his children. He moved almost immediately to the new town of Scituate where some of his London followers had settled. He was chosen pastor of the town and invested there on January 19, 1635. He married his second wife, named Anna by June of 1635.

It is reported that there was some difference amongst the townspeople concerning the methods of baptism in the Scituate church, and because of this, Rev. Lothrop, with a large number of followers moved to Barnstable, MA in the fall of 1639, bringing with them their crops from that summer in Scituate. In 1884, the house that he built in 1644 was still in use as a parsonage and a public library. In his will he left "to each child, a book, to be chosen according to their ages. The rest of my library to be sold to any honest man who can tell how to use it..."

According to Gary Boyd Roberts, author of "Ancestors of U. S. Prsidents" and "Notable Kin", John Lothrop was a ggggg grandfather of President Ulysses S. Grant. He was also an ancestor of President Franklin Roosevelt, George Bush, Oliver Wendell Holmes, poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and actors Anthony Perkins and Tuesday Weld.

He m. Anna Hammond241, about 1635.

They had the following children:
526 i. Barnabus (1636-1713)
ii. unamed (Died as Infant) (1638-1638)
iii. Abigail241
iv. Bathsheba241 (1641-1723)
v. John241 (1644-1727)
vi. unamed (Died as Infant) (1649-1649)

1053 Anna Hammond.241 d. on February 17, 1688.

1054 Thomas Clark.360  d. Plymouth, MA on March 24, 1697. bur. Burying Hill, Plymouth, MA. bpt. Stepney, Middlesex, England on March 8, 1600.

He was born in Ratcliff which is a district in the parish of Stepney which was inhabited almost exclusively by seafaring man. He came to Plymouth Colony on the ship Anne, William Pierce, master. He arrived on July 10, 1623 with sixty other passengers.493 His father is believed by genealogists to be the John Clarke, mate of the ship Mayflower on her voyage of 1620. He was decribed in various records as carpenter, yeoman, merchant and gentleman. He was at one time employed to audit the accounts of Plymouth Colony. He was a representative to the General Court in 1651 and 1655. He had a talent for business and became fairly well-to-do in Plymouth. He was wealthy enough to employ a number of apprentices and servants during his life. He practiced law in a small way during his life, representing a number of clients in legal matters and prosecuting a large number of lawsuits for himself.

Between 1655 and 1660, he moved to Boston where he lived in the vicinity of Scottow's Lane. When his son Andrew married, he gave him a house in that area. He accompanied his son Andrew when he moved to Harwich, MA. In his latter days, he seems to have lived with daughter Susanna Lothrop at Barnstable and son William at Plymouth. His gravestone was reported in 1965 to be still standing on the summit of burying hill in Plymouth, and gave his age at death as 95. 360 260

ORIGIN: Unknown

MIGRATION: 1623 on Anne

FIRST RESIDENCE: Plymouth

REMOVES: Boston by 1660, Plymouth by 1673 (with occasional residence in Barnstable)

FREEMAN: In "1633" Plymouth list of freemen ahead of those admitted on 1 January 1632/3 [ PCR 1:4]. In list of 7 March 1636/7 [ PCR 1:52]. In Plymouth section of lists of 1639, 1658, 29 May 1670 (as "Mr. Thomas Clarke") and 1 [blank] 1683/4 [ PCR 5:274, 8:174, 197, 202].

EDUCATION: He signed his name to coroner's jury statements.

OFFICES: Deputy for Plymouth, 8 June 1655 [ PCR 3:79]. Coroner's jury, 2 March 1635/6, 29 June 1652 on the body of Robert Willis sometimes of "Milbrooke, county Cornwall," 3 September 1652 on the body of James Glasse [ PCR 1:39, 3:15, 16]. Petit jury, 7 December 1641, 1 November 1642, 9 June 1653, 4 October 1653 [ PCR 7:25, 32, 65, 67]. Plymouth constable for Eel River, 1 March 1641/2 [ PCR 2:34]. Surveyor, 7 June 1642, 7 March 1642/3 (Eel River), 7 June 1648 [ PCR 2:40, 124]. Surveyor of highways (Eel River), 5 June 1644 [ PCR 2:72]. Supervisor of highways (Eel River), 1 June 1647 [ PCR 2:116]. Committee for Plymouth, 5 June 1651 [ PCR 2:167]. Committee to procure supplies for the expedition of the Lord Protector, 6 June 1654 [ PCR 3:53]. Committee to treat with the commissioners regarding the trade at Kennebecke, 2 July 1655 [ PCR 3:87]. Committee serving at court, 3 June 1656 [ PCR 3:99]. Committee to supply and accommodate the Governor and Magistrates, 3 June 1657 [ PCR 3:120]. Volunteered for service in the Pequot War, 7 June 1637 [ PCR 1:60]. In Plymouth section of 1643 Plymouth Colony list of men able to bear arms [ PCR 8:189].

ESTATE: In 1623 Plymouth land division received one acre as passenger on Anne [ PCR 12:6]. In 1627 Plymouth cattle division "Thomas Clarke" was the thirteenth person in Capt. Miles Standish's third company [ PCR 12:10]. On 28 September 1629, Abraham Pierce sold one acre of land on the south side of town to Thomas Clark for thirty pounds of tobacco [ PCR 12:7]. The next day, Thomas Clark sold the acre of land to William Bradford, along with another acre of land bounded by widow Warren [ PCR 12:7, 8]. On 24 March 1630[/1], Ralfe Wallen sold to Thomas Clark land called Wallen's Well [ PCR 12:17]. Assessed £1 4s. in Plymouth tax list of 25 March 1633 and £1 7s. in list of 27 March 1634 [ PCR 1:10, 27]. Assigned mowing ground, 1 July 1633, 14 March 1635/6, 20 March 1636/7 [ PCR 1:15, 41, 57]. On 24 February 1633/4 Thomas Clark purchased of Ralph Wallen "so much land adjoining to the said Thomas, on the south side his dwelling, as maketh up a former moiety the said Thomas bought of the said Ralph['s] twenty acres," and "one share of meadow ground belonging to the said lot when division shall be made thereof" [ PCR 1:25, 76]. On 4 December 1637 a previous grant of sixty acres to Thomas Clark was confirmed and ordered to be laid out [ PCR 1:70]. On 2 April 1628, all that parcel of land called Slowly Field, formerly in the tenure of Mr. Edward Winslow, was granted to Thomas Clark [ PCR 1:83]. On 7 October 1639 the court granted Thomas Clark liberty to erect a house at Mannamett Pond to fodder his cattle in this winter until come lands be laid out for him there [ PCR 1:135]. On 6 January 1639/40, since Thomas Clark relinquished his grant of land at "the Whoop Place" except eight acres reserved to Thomas Little, the court granted Clark eighty-five acres purchased of Nicholas Presland, to be laid out at Mannamett Ponds "forty acres formerly granted to Thomas Little there, to be parcel thereof" [ PCR 1:138]. On 1 February 1640/1 the court ordered that the twenty acres of land purchased by Thomas Clark from Ra[l]ph Wallen were to laid out at the lower end of the two lots of forty acres Clark had at the Eel River [ PCR 2:7]. He was listed among the fifty-eight purchasers [ PCR 2:177]. On 5 March 1671/2 Thomas Clark was granted the "skirts of meadow lying upon the pond at Mannomett" [ PCR 5:89]. On 18 June 1673 "Thomas Clarke of Plymouth" granted to "my wellbeloved son Andrew Clarke of Boston," shoemaker, "all that my house & ground lying & being in Boston ... which I recovered from the estate of John Nicolls by virtue of a judgment granted me at the court of Assistants sitting in Boston March the 5th 1672" [ SLR 8:225-27]. (Jacobus refers to an original deed of gift, dated 6 June 1693, apparently unrecorded and now lost, which was published in Samuel C. Clarke, Descendants of Thomas Clarke [Boston 1869], in which Thomas Clark named his sons Andrew, William, James, Nathaniel and John [ TAG 47:5].)

BIRTH: About 1599 based on age given at death. (John Insley Coddington argued forcefully that Thomas Clark was the son of John Clark, pilot of the Mayflower, and that he was identical with the "Thomas son of John Clarke of Ratliff" who was baptized 8 March 1599/1600 at St. Dunstan's, Stepney, Middlesex [ TAG 42:201-02]. The hypothesis is very attractive, and was accepted by Jacobus [ TAG 47:3], but remains underproven.)

DEATH: Plymouth 24 March 1697 (apparently 1696/7) "in his 98th year" [ PVR 135; TAG 42:202].

MARRIAGE: (1) By July 1631 Susanna Ring, daughter of William and MARY (Durrant) RING [ TAG 42:201-2]; she died between 1646 (birth of youngest son) and 20 January 1664/5 (prenuptial agreement of husband with second wife). (2) Soon after 20 January 1664/5 Alice (Hallett) Nichols [ SCC 6], daughter of Richard Hallett and widow of Mordecai Nichols; she died by 25 July 1671 [ SCC 8].

CHILDREN: With first wife


i WILLIAM, b. about 1634 (deposed 10 August 1671 aged thirty-seven [ TAG 47:4, citing SJC Case #1179]); m. (1) Plymouth 1 March 1659[/60] Sarah Wolcott [ PCR 8:22; PVR 662]; m. (2) Saybrook 7 March 1677/8 Hannah Griswold [ SayVR 8 (also recorded Plymouth [ PVR 85])]; m. (3) Plymouth 3 August 1692 Abiah Wilder [ PVR 85].


ii JAMES, b. say 1636; m. Plymouth 7 October 1657 Abigail Lothrop [ PCR 8:17; PVR 662].


iii SUSANNA, b. say 1638; m. Plymouth 3 November [ PCR 8:22; PVR 662] or Barnstable 1 December [ MD 6:238] 1658 Barnabas Lathrop.


iv JOHN, b. about 1640 (deposed 31 October 1671 aged about thirty [ TAG 47:4, citing SJC Case #1179]); m. by 1668 Sarah _____ (eldest child b. Boston 11 November 1668 [ BVR 107]; see further discussion on this John in TAG 43:19-26, 47:7, 49:143).


v NATHANIEL, b. say 1642; m. between July 1684 (when she entered an account of the estate of her deceased husband Edward Gray [ PCR 6:149-50]) and 4 June 1686 (when she sued Nathaniel Clark for divorce [ PCR 6:190-92]) Dorothy (Lettice) Gray, daughter of Thomas Lettice and widow of Edward Gray.


vi ANDREW, b. about 1644 (deposed 31 October 1671 aged about twenty-five [ TAG 47:4, citing SJC Case #1179]); m. by 1672 Mehitable Scotto (eldest child b. Boston 10 July 1672 [ BVR 122]; son Scotto Clark b. 1680 [ MF 3:37]).


COMMENTS: Thomas Clark aspired to be a lawyer. On 2 July 1638 he was ordered to frame and offer a bill of indictment against Richard Clough for taking a waistcoat out of a suit Clough was to make for Edward Shaw [ PCR 1:91]. On 5 March 1638/9 the court presented an abuse committed by Thomas Clarke, who accused Richard Cloofe of felony, but Clarke did not appear in court to prosecute the case for the King. And further, Clarke took the case of another man [Edward Shaw] and "prosecuted the said action in Court by way of barratry" [ PCR 1:118]. About 1644 Robert Mendam authorized Thomas Clark of Eel River to sell a parcel of land at Duxbury [ PCR 2:77]. He acted as attorney to several of the purchasers at "Mannamoiett," 1 June 1675 [ PCR 5:171]. When Tobias Taylor and John Shawe had a disagreement 7 July 1646, the court ordered Mr. Alden and Thomas Clark to represent Tobias and come to a settlement with the representatives of John Shawe [ PCR 2:105]. His legal pretensions were also on display during his contentions with his second wife and her sons in the late 1660s and early 1670s, when he employed his legal Latin in arguing the precise nature of his relation with his spouse and the consequences of her actions [ SCC 5-9, 98-99, 569-70; RCA 1:47]. His usefulness in court in later years included his service as overseer of the will of Mrs. Jenney. He and Samuell Jenney had some disagreement over the care and guardianship of Sarah, daughter of Samuell Jenney, that was settled 6 October 1659 [ PCR 3:171]. He complained about Mr. Constant Southworth for the illegal disposal of a mare and her increase belonging to the estate of "Mistris Sarah Jeney, deceased" and came to an agreement as overseer, 1 June 1663 [ PCR 4:43, 7:102]. He was also one of the administrators of the estate of Mr. "Willam Collyare," 5 July 1671 [ PCR 5:68]. On 4 December 1637 Thomas Clark was surety for Edward Shaw, who was accused of theft [ PCR 1:69]. More often, Clark was a victim of theft: on 5 January 1635/6 he sued widow Warren for taking a boat of his; the court decided in favor of the defendant, but awarded the plaintiff 30s. "for other considerations" [ PCR 1:36]; on 5 April 1642 the court supported Thomas Clark in his suit against Mathew Fuller over a share [ PCR 2:37]; on 5 June 1671 William Walker was charged with stealing cloth from Thomas Clark "of Boston" and was sentenced to pay double for the cloth and for telling a lie about it, was fined 10s. [ PCR 5:61]. He brought suits against a number of men who owed him money, including Mr. "Gromes," 2 May 1648 [ PCR 2:122], Morgan Jones in March, 1668 [ PCR 7:153, 154], Henry Clarke of Duxborrow, 1 July 1672 [ PCR 7:171], and Samuel Knowles, of Eastham, administrator of the estate of his brother James Knowles, deceased, 31 October 1683 [ PCR 7:268]. Sometimes the suits were not easily decided. Arbiters were selected to end the differences between Mr. Samuell Gorton & Thomas Clark at court 3 December 1639 [ PCR 1:137]. He sued the estate of Thomas Ewer, late of Barnstable, 29 October 1667, but the jury felt that the case was not clearly presented, and dismissed it [ PCR 7:141]. Mr. Thomas Clark brought suit against Peter, Indian, at court 5 March 1684/5, but Clark did not appear in court and Peter was freed [ PCR 6:152]. "Mr. Thomas Clarke, sometimes of Boston, now of Barnstable" sued in 1667 Daniel Winge of Sandwich, administrator to the estate of Thomas Ewer, late of Barnstable, for a debt, but the jury did not understand the case, and Clarke desired to present the case again, but reconsidered and withdrew 28 October 1684 [ PCR 7:279]. On 2 October 1650 Thomas Clarke was allowed to draw and sell a cask of strong waters [ PCR 2:163]. He was presented 5 October 1652 for staying and drinking at James Cole's contrary to the order of the court [ PCR 3:17]. He was presented 6 March 1654/5 for charging £6 for the loan of £20, which the grand jury felt was extortion [ PCR 3:75]. He was cleared, 5 June 1655 [ PCR 7:73]. When Richard Clough sued Thomas Clark for slander at court 4 September 1638, Clough lost [ PCR 7:9]. Clark stated plainly in open court, 13 June 1660, that "G[e]orge Barlow is such an one that he is a shame and reproach to all his masters; and that he, the said Barlow, stands convicted and recorded of a lie at Newberry [ PCR 3:190]. Thomas Clark of Plymouth, late of Boston, sued Mr. Constant Southworth, of Duxbury, for withholdling one eighth part of the yearly profits of the fishing at Cape Cod, 5 July 1678, but withdrew the action [ PCR 7:213]. He sued 7 July 1682 Samuel Smith of Eastham, for the unjust detaining of one quarter of the profits of the fishing off the Cape, and withdrew this case, also [ PCR 7:249]. "Mr. Thomas Clarke, resident at Plymouth, one of the old comers" successfully sued Mr. John Freeman, Senior, of Eastham, for pulling up a stake which was a boundary marker for Clark's land at Old Indian Field, 1 November 1679 [ PCR 7:218]. "Mr. Thomas Clarke, Senior," of Plymouth and William Shirtliffe wrangled repeatedly in 1681 and 1682 over the partition of land once jointly owned by Clark and William Shirtliffe's father [ PCR 7:234, 237, 244, 255]. Thomas Clark was prosperous enough to employ a number of apprentices and servants. The court records mention three: on 2 September 1634 Thomas Clark took William Shetle as an apprentice for eleven years [ PCR 1:31]; on the 13th of August, 1639, John Barnes assigned the remaining term of seven year's service of his servant Symon Trott to Thomas Clark, with Clark agreeing to pay Trott a heifer calf when six years of the term were up [ PCR 1:129]; and on 4 August 1654 Clark bought out the remaining time of Robert Ransom, servant of Thomas Dexter Jr. [ PCR 3:63]. John Williams engaged to pay towards his wife's maintenance to be paid next November to Mr. Thomas Clark at Boston, etc., 7 July 1668, which suggests the possibility that she was living or working at Clark's house [ PCR 4:191]. He undertook to provide horses and equipment for the use of the commissioners on their journey to New Haven, 2 July 1655 [ PCR 3:86]. Thomas Clark engaged to lend the country £5 of wheat to pay those that had worked on the "Joanses River bridge," 3 July 1656 [ PCR 3:106]. On 12 February 1689/90 a Thomas Clark married Elizabeth Crow [ PVR 86], and this has incorrectly been claimed as a third marriage for our Thomas Clark. "Elizabeth, the wife of Deacon Thomas Clerke, deceased 13th November, 1695" at Plymouth [ PVR 135]. There seems to be only one Thomas Clark at Plymouth with wife Elizabeth at this time, and our Thomas was certainly not a deacon. The Thomas Clark who was a deacon is supposed to have died in 1727. If our Thomas had married Elizabeth Crow, he would have been ninety years old, and have been living as a widower for nearly twenty years when the marriage to Elizabeth Crow took place. (See also TAG 49:143 on this point.)

BIBLIOGRAPHIC NOTE: Thomas Clark is examined in a posthumous article by Donald Lines Jacobus, incorporating his own research and that of John Insley Coddington [ TAG 47:3-16].

He m. Susanna Ring360,494, before July 1631 in Plymouth, MA.

They had the following children:
i. William360 (~1634-)
ii. James360 (~1637-<1731)
iii. John360 (~1640-)
527 iv. Susannah (1642-1697)
v. Nathaniel360 (~1644-1717)
vi. Andrew360 (~1646-1706)

Previous * Next
Contents * Index * Surnames * Contact