Person:John Clark (229)

Will of John Clark^[3]

In the name of God, amen. I, John Clark, of Jefferson county, and state of Kentucky, being at present in a weak and low state of health, but at the same time perfectly in my senses, and, considering the uncertainty of life, do think proper to make my last will and testament, which I do in the following manner:

First. I direct all my just debts to be paid and satisfied as shall be hereafter mentioned, and then dispose of the remainder of my estate in the following manner:

Item. I give and bequeath to my son Jonathan and his heirs and assigns forever all the estate, both real and personal, now in his possession.

Item. I give and bequeath to my son William and to my two grandsons, John O'Fallon and Benjamin O' Fallen, and to their heirs and assigns forever, to be equally divided between them, share and share alike, three thousand acres of land which I claim under an entry on a treasury warrant, No. 7926, made in the surveyor's office of Fuyette county, on the 29th day of March, 1783, which land hath been surveyed and for which a patent hath issued in my own name.

Item. I give and bequeath to my son Edmund and to his heirs and assigns forever one thousand acres of land situate, lying and being on the waters of the east fork of the Miami river; which I claim under an entry on part of a military land warrant, No. 307, made in the office of the surveyor for the continental line on the i6th day of August, 1767; also one thousand acres of land which I claim under an entry on part of the aforesaid warrant No. 307, made in the office of the aforesaid surveyor for the continental line on the I7th day of August, 1767. These entries are made in the name of my son, John Clark, deceased, and my son, Jonathan Clark, the heir at law, hath relinquished in my favor his right thereto. Also three negroes, to wit: Peter (Venius child), and Scipio and Daphny (Rose's children), also the sum of money which my son Jonathan advanced to him agreeable to my request.

Item. I give and bequeath to my son George Rogers and to his heirs and assigns forever, one negro man named Lue, also one negro woman named Venice, with live, present and future increase, except Peter.

Item. I give and bequeath to my son-in-law, Owen Gwathney, and his heirs and assigns forever, all the estate both real and personal now in his possession, also one thousand acres of land situate, lying and being on the waters of Poag's creek, in the county of Logan. For which land I have a deed made by my son Jonathan, dated the 24th day of October, 1796.

Item. I give and bequeath to my son-in-law, William Croghan, and to his heirs and assigns forever, one negro woman named Christian; also all her children together with her future increase, which negroes are now in the possession of said Croghan.

Item. I give and bequeath to my son-in-law, Richard C. Anderson, and to his heirs and assigns forever, one negro woman named Kate; also one other named Phoebe; also all the children of the said negroes with their future increase; which negroes are now in the possession of said Richard C. Anderson.

Item. I give and bequeath to my son-in-law, Charles M. Thruston, and to his heirs and assigns forever, four hundred acres of land, situate, lying and being in the county of Shelby, on the waters of Clear creek, it being the settlement part of my tract of fourteen hundred acres of land; also one negro woman named Angella, and her two children, together with her future increase, which said negroes are now in the possession of said Thruston. I do give unto said Thruston all moneys due from him unto myself.

Item. I give and bequeath to my son William, and to his heirs and assigns forever, the tract of land whereon I now live, together with all the appurtenances thereto belonging, to wit: My stock of horses, cattle, sheep and hogs; my still and all my plantation utensils; the whole of my household and kitchen furniture; also the whole of the debts due to me on bonds, notes or book account, except the money due to me from my son-in-law Charles M. Thruston. I also give unto my son William one negro man named York, also old York and his wife Rose, and their two children, Nancy and Juba; also three old negroes, Tame, Cupid and Harry. I also give to my son William the whole of my lands in Illinois Grant, which said lands are deeded to me by my son, George Rogers Clark. It is my will that my son William shall pay all my just debts; also that he shall pay unto my two grandsons, John and Benjamin O'Fallon, when they shall be of age or nearly of age, the following sums of money, to wit: To John O'Fallon, one hundred pounds, and to Benjamin O'Fallon, fifty pounds. All those debts and payments are to be made by my son William out of the legacy which I have left him.

Item. I give and bequeath to my two grandsons, John O'Fallon and Benjamin O'Fallon, to them and their heirs forever, four negroes, to wit: Ben and Priscilla, with their present and future increase; also Esther and her future increase; which said negroes are to be disposed of at the discretion of my executors to be hereafter named, for the benefit of said John and Benjamin O'Fallon, until they shall come of age, at which time said negroes are to be equally divided between them and delivered into their possession.

Lastly, I do hereby appoint my sons, Jonathan, George Rogers and William Clark, my sons-in-law Richard C. Anderson, William Croghan and Charles M. Thruston, and my friend, Benjamin Sebastian, executors, to this, my last will and testament; and I do hereby revoke all former wills heretofore made by me, declaring this only to be my last will and testament. I have signed the same and affixed my seal this 24th July, 1799.

JOHN CLARK. [SEAL.]

Signed and sealed and published by the testator John Clark as and for his last will and testament, in presence of us, who signed our names in his presence, and in the presence of each other.

JNO. HUGHS, ROBT. K. MOORE, MARSTON G. CLARK.

CODICIL TO THE ABOVE WILL.

Be it known to all men, by these presents, that I, John Clark, of Jefferson county, and state of Kentucky, have made and declared my last will (and) testament in writing. Bearing date the twenty-fourth day of July, one thousand seven hundred and ninety-nine, I, the said John Clark, do ratify and confirm my said last will and testament in all its parts, one only excepted, which is that part wherein I have bequeathed to my two grandsons, John and Benjamin O'Fallon, the following negroes, to wit: Ben, Priscilla and her present and future increase. Now it is my will, that the said negroes be made use of above directed until my two grandsons aforesaid shall arrive to lawful age, at which time the last mentioned negro, to wit: Esther and her future increase, is to be equally divided between John and Benjamin O'Fallon, which said negro and her increase from this time I give to them and their heirs forever. The balance of said negroes, to wit: Ben, Priscilla with her present and future increase, I give to my son William and his heirs forever, to be delivered in his possession when John and Benjamin O'Fallon shall arrive to the age of twenty-one years, and my will and meaning is that this codicil be adjudged a part and parcel of my last will and testament, and that all things therein mentioned and contained be faithfully and truly performed, and as fully and amply in every respect as if the same were fully declared and set down in my last will and testament.

Witness my hand this twenty-sixth day of July, one thousand seven hundred and ninety-nine.

JOHN CLARK. [SEAL.]

(Signed in the presence of us)

SAM GWATHMEY, JNO. HUGHS.

At a court held for Jefferson county at the court-house in Louisville, on the ist day of October, 1799, the within instrument in writing purporting to be the last will and testament of John Clark, deceased, was produced in court and proved by the oaths of John Hughs and Robert K. Moore, and the codicil annexed was also proved by John Hughs and Samuel Gwathmey, subscribing witnesses, and ordered to be recorded, and on the motion of William Clark, one of the executors therein named, who made oath according to law, execution of the said will was granted him and leave given the other executors to join in the probate.

1.   John Clark, in Find A Grave.
2.   Filson Historical Society (Louisville, Kentucky). The Filson Club history quarterly. (Louisville, Kentucky: The Club, 1930-2000)
   Vol. 3, No. 1, October, 1928.

   How The Parents Of George Rogers Clark
   Came To Kentucky In 1784-1785
   
   By Ludie J. Kinkead
   
   Page 1 - Dr. John Croghan, the son of Major William Croghan and his wife Lucy Clark (sister of General George Rogers Clark
   ), about 1837 wrote his recollections as related to him by the older members of his family and other pioneers, and these are referred to as his “diary” by Dr. Lyman C. Draper. On a visit to Louisville in 1846, when collecting material for his intended life of George Rogers Clark, Dr. Draper copied from this “diary” portions relating to General Clark and others. The portion given below describes the journey of John Clark, the father of General Clark, and members of his family when emigrating from Caroline County, Virginia, to the “Falls of the Ohio” in 1784-1785.
   
   Page 2 – Several years previous to the removal of my grandfather [John Clark] from Caroline County, Virginia…
   Page 2 – My grandfather with a numerous family of children and servants, left his seat in Virginia in Oct. 1784, and owing to the badness of the roads, the inclemency of the weather, & the obstruction of the Mononogahela with ice, (having embarked in boats at “Red Stone Old Fort”, or, as it is now called, Brownesville) did not arrive at the mouth of Kentucky until the 3rd of March, 1785…
   
   Dr. Croghan 's Diary – January 1837.
   
   Source
   http://filsonhistorical.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/3-1-2_How-the-Parents-of-George-Rogers-Clark-Came-to-Kentucky-in-1784-85_Kinkead-Ludie-J..pdf

3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4} English, William Hayden. Conquest of the country northwest of the river Ohio, 1778-1783, and life of Gen. George Rogers Clark: with numerous sketches of men who served under Clark, and full list of those allotted lands in Clark's Grant for service in the campaigns against the British posts, showing exact land allotted each. (Indianapolis, Indiana: Bowen-Merrill Co., 1896)
   1:46-51.
4. ↑ Dawson, Nelson L. Genealogies of Kentucky Families: From the Filson Club History Quarterly. (Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1981)
   3:269-70.

   Jonathan Clark's will 'named his widow and four young children, John, Ann, Benjamin, and Elizabeth, ...'
   'John Clark was, I think, born October 9, O. S. 1726, though some say 1724.'

5.   National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution. U.S., Sons of the American Revolution Membership Applications, 1889-1970.

   U.S., Sons of the American Revolution Membership Applications, 1889-1970
   Name: John Clark
   SAR Membership: 26596
   Birth Date: Oct 1726
   Death Date: 1799
   Father: Jonathan Clark
   Mother: Elizabeth Wilson
   Spouse: Ann Rogers
   Children: Jonathan Clark
   [Ancestry.com]