Surname Saturday ~ CLARK of Plymouth and Duxbury, Massachusetts

CLARK / CLARKE

In 1634 my 9th great grandfather, Thurston Clark, "aged 44" sailed to Plymouth, Massachusetts from Ipswich, England aboard the ship Francis.  Listed with the children on board was "Fayth Clearke, aged 15", my 8th great grandmother.  It is believed that his wife and other children arrived on a later ship since a daughter named Abigail was buried in England in 1637.  He removed from Plymouth to Duxbury in 1652.

Thurston Clark was a farmer.  He was probably educated (he could read) because he owned a bible and a psalmbook valued at 3 shillings 4 pence in his inventory.  He died unexpectedly returning on foot from Plymouth to Duxbury when he became lost in an early winter snowstorm.  There was a coroner's inquiry two days later "to view the dead body of Thirston Clarke, Senior, of Duxburrow".    A margin note in the Plymouth County Records Volume 4, page 12 reads "he was lost, as we conceive, in the evening, and so he did bewilder himself, the sixth of this instant December, 1661".

He died without a will and an inventory was taken of his estate, and the court decided in 1663 that his daughter Faith, my ancestress, would received one quarter, and the remainder of the estate was divided between her two brothers Henry and Thurston, Jr. who were "incompetent" (probably mentally handicapped).  In 1690 the Plymouth court ordered "Henry Clarke and Thursten Clarke, by reason of their age, indiscretion & weakness of understanding, are incapable of making necessary provision for their own support, sustenance, and livelihood, notwithstanding they have an estate in lands sufficient, as is judged, to supply their necessity during their lives."  Their nephew John Doty (son of Faith) was ordered "to provide for their needs, and report once a year to the selectmen in return for which he shall have 'full satisfaction' made him out of the lands of said impotent persons" [Plymouth Colony Records 6:236 and 6:99) and also see History of the Town of Duxbury, by Justin Winsor, 1849.

Thurston's daugher, Faith, married Mayflower passenger Edward Doty (about 1600 - 1655) and had nine children.  She married second to in 1667 to John Phillips.  In the next generation I descend from her daughter Desire Doty (about 1645 - 1731) who married Alexander Standish, grandson of Mayflower passenger Captain Myles Standish.

For the truly curious, please see the sketch for Thurston Clark in The Great Migration: Immigrants to New England 1634 - 1635, Volume II, pages 99 to 101.


My CLARK genealogy:

Generation 1:  Thurston Clark, born about 1590 in England, died 6 December 1661 in Duxbury, Massachusetts; married to Faith Unknown.  She died 1 January 1663.  Six children.

Generation 2:  Faith Clark, born about 1619, died before 21 December 1675 in Marshfield, Massachusetts; married on 6 January 1635 in Plymouth to Edward Doty.  He was born about 1599 and died 23 August 1655 in Plymouth.  Nine children.

Generation 3:  Desire Doty m. Alexander Standish
Generation 4: Desire Standish m. Nathan Weston
Generation 5:  Nathan Weston m. Hannah Everson
Generation 6:  Zadoc Weston m. Mary Clements
Generation 7:  Matilda Weston m. Joseph Edwin Healy
Generation 8:  Mary Etta Healy m. Peter Hoogerzeil
Generation 9:  Florence Etta Hoogerzeil m. Arthur Treadwell Hitchings
Generation 10:  Gertrude Matilda Hitchings m. Stanley Elmer Allen (my grandparents)

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Surname Saturday ~ CLARK of Plymouth and Duxbury, Massachusetts", Nutfield Genealogy, posted October 6, 2018, (https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2018/10/surname-saturday-clark-of-plymouth-and.html: accessed [access date]).