William CLARKE

Male 1639 -


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  • Name William CLARKE  [1, 2
    • He lived in a garrison house by Eel river, which was surprised by the Indians on a Sunday, March 12, 1676, while he was at church. His wife, several of his children, and some other persons, eleven in all, were killed in this attack, which is said to have been the only serious one ever made on the settlement. A son of William Clarke, named Thomas, was left for dead, but afterwards recovered, and had a silver plate put over his exposed brain, by the celebrated surgeon Dr. John Clarke, of Boston. He ever afterwards was known as "Silver-headed Tom."

      In July 1676, two hundred Indians surrendered themselves to the Plymouth Governor, and were pardoned, wit the exception of those who had been concerned in the slaughter at Clarke's garrison at Plymouth; these were put to death.--Baylies' History

      The colony records give the names of these Indians, and state that they were decapitated.

      William Clarke seems to have been an active and enterprising man, having extensive operations in lands, etc., as appears by the colony records. In 1670, William Clarke and Edward Gray, of Plymouth; Richard Bourne and William Swift, of Sandwich; Thomas hinckley and Thomas Huckins, of Barnstable; Samuel Sturgis, of Yarmouth, and John freeman, of Eastham, formed a company to engage and regulate the making and disposing of all the tar made in the colony, at the price of eight shillings for every small barrel, and twelve shillings for every great barrel, during the full term of two years.

      In 1679, Joseph and Barnabas Lothrop, of Barnstable; Kenelm Winslow, of Marshfield; and William Clarke, of Plymouth, as the agents of thirty partners, purchased for the sum of L200, the remainder of the lands not already granted, between Dartmouth on the west, Plymouth purchase on the east, and Middleboro' and Plymouth on the north, "to be settled, in four years with an Orthodox Ministry." These rants include the present towns of rochester and marion.--Baylies' History.

      In 1684, William Clarke hires the bass fishing at Cape Cod, of the town of Plymouth, at L30 a year. --Plymouth Records.

      In 1697, he received a grant of land from the town of Plymouth, where he was living in 1714.

      1682, "the Court have agreed with Mr. William Clarke, of Plymouth, to provide suitably for the Governor and Magistrates diet, lodging, etc., in the County House at Plymouth, for four Courts, viz: October, march, June, and July, and to pay him forty pounds in money for the same; if it shall happen that the General Court be adjourned, or special courts called within the time of the year, he is to be allowed for those Courts according to his just account."-- Records

      William Clarke was deputy in 1674, 1680, 1681. Was a selectman for many years. [1]
    Birth 1639  [1
    Gender Male 
    Person ID I11756  Main Tree
    Last Modified 6 Nov 2016 

    Father Thomas CLARKE,   b. 31 Mar 1605, Ratcliffe, Stepney, England Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 24 Mar 1696/7, Plymouth, Plymouth Co., Massachusetts Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 91 years) 
    Relationship Birth 
    Mother Susanna RING 
    Relationship Birth 
    Marriage Bef Jul 1631  Plymouth, Plymouth Co., Massachusetts Find all individuals with events at this location  [3
    Family ID F09475  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family 1 Sarah WOOLCOT   d. 12 Mar 1676 
    Marriage 1 Mar 1659  [1
    Family ID F35669  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
    Last Modified 10 Oct 2016 

    Family 2 Hannah GRISWOLD,   b. 11 Dec 1658   d. 1687 (Age 28 years) 
    Marriage 7 Mar 1677  [1
    Family ID F25066  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
    Last Modified 10 Oct 2016 

    Family 3 Abiah WILDER 
    Marriage 3 Aug 1692  [1
    Family ID F35670  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
    Last Modified 10 Oct 2016 

  • Sources 
    1. [S8784] Rev. William W. Johnson, Clarke-Clark Genealogy, Records of the Descendants of Thomas Clarke Plymouth, 1623-1697.

    2. [S01764] Alvan Talcott, Ancestry.com: Families of Early Guilford, Connecticut, Vol. 1, (Name: Name: Clearfield Company, Inc.;;).

    3. [S3601] Leonard H. Smith Jr., Cape Cod Library of Local History and Genealogy Vol. 1.