Person:Thomas Clark (20)

  • HThomas Clark1599 - 1696/97
  • WSusannah RingAbt 1611 - Bef 1664/65
m. Bef Jul 1631
  1. William ClarkeAbt 1634 -
  2. James ClarkeAbt 1636 - 1712
  3. John ClarkEst 1640 -
  4. Susanna ClarkCal 1642 - 1697
  5. Nathaniel ClarkeAbt 1642 - 1717
  6. Andrew ClarkeAbt 1644 - 1706
  7. Sarah Clark1649 -
  • HThomas Clark1599 - 1696/97
  • WAlice HallettAbt 1600 - Abt 1671
m. early 1665
Facts and Events
Name Thomas Clark
Alt Name Thomas Clarke
Gender Male
Birth[5] 1599 Stepney, Middlesex, England
Immigration? 1623 Plymouth, Plymouth County, Massachusetts
Marriage Bef Jul 1631 to Susannah Ring
Marriage early 1665 to Alice Hallett
Death? 24 Mar 1696/97 Plymouth, Plymouth County, Massachusetts
Burial[2] Plymouth, MassachusettsBurial Hill
References
  1.   William Richard Cutter, A.M., Genealogical and Family History of Western New York: a record of the achievements of her people in the making of a commonwealth and the building of a nation, 3 vols. (New
    p. 315.

    LITCHFIELD: Lawrence Litchfield, the common ancestor of all of the name who claim a New England origin, was very early in America, but dates cannot be given. The Rev. John Lathrop in 1634 arrived in the ship "Griffin," with a church and colony of "Kentish Men" from Egerton, in Kent, England, and settled with them at Scituate, Massachusetts. With this company Lawrence Litchfield had numerous connections which he never forsook and who never forsook him. He must have been, at their arrival, a young man and unmarried. Here he is presumed to have remained until 1640. The first mention of his name on any records is in 1640 when he was received a member of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Boston. In 1643 his name appears in Barnstable records on a list of those able to bear arms. About 1645 he returned to Scituate, having a wife and two children. In 1648 his name occurs in the will of Thomas Dennis, of Scituate, and there are references to him in the Scituate records to show he lived there until his death in 1657. Children: Experience (a son), Remembrance, Dependance, Josiah.

    (II) Josiah, son of Lawrence Litchfield, was born in 1647, at Scituate, Massachusetts. He was a land owner of Scituate and seems to have possessed a goodly estate. He married, February 22, 1671, Sarah, daughter of Nicholas Baker, pastor of the First church in Scituate. Children: Hannah, Sarah, Josiah, Nicholas, Experience, Judith, Samuel.

    (III) Nicholas, son of Josiah and Sarah (Baker) Litchfield, was born, in Scituate, Massachusetts, February 7, 1680. He became a prominent public citizen, representing Scituate in the general court in Boston, 1738-41. He married Bathsheba Clark, daughter or niece of Thomas Clark, who came from Plymouth to Scituate in 1674, and is believed to have been the great-granddaughter of Thomas Clark, mate of the "Mayflower." Children: Experience, Josiah, Nicholas, Bathsheba, James, John, Israel, Eleazer, Susanna.

  2. Epitaphs from Burial Hill, Plymouth, Massachusetts, 1657-1892 , Ancestry.com online [1], accessed 24 Jun 2007
    #6.

    Here Lyes' ye Body of Mr Thomas Clark Aged 98 Years departed this life March ye 24th 1697 .
    "It is a well received tradition that this ancient man was the mate of the Mayflower, and the one who first landed on the island in Plymouth Harbor which bears his name. Little is known of the life and circumstances of the mate of the Mayflower; his name is not among the signers of the original compact, nor mentioned among the first settlers. It may therefore be conjectured, that he was considered merely as an officer of the ship, and that he returued to England in her with Captain Jones , and subsequently came over and settled in this town. We find his name among those who received allotments of land in 1624 ; and he also shared in the division of cattle in 1627 . He resided at Eel River , and it is supposed that his family were among the sufferers in the house of William Clark , when attacked by a party of savages, March 12, 1676 . He being himself absent at meeting escaped, while eleven others were massacred and his son tomahawked, who ever after wore a silver plate on his head from which he was called Silver-Head Tom . Numerous lineal descendants from Thomas Clark now reside at Eel river in this town, and in other parts of the Old Colony. There is a handsome China mug whose pedigree is traced through the Clark family back to Thomas Clark , which had been presented to the cabinet of the Pilgrim Society by Betsey B. Morton , a descendant, and also a leathern pocket-book with the initials T. C. impressed on its cover, presented by Amasa Clark . These relics afford additional evidence that the mate of the Mayflower died in this town, and that his ashes rest in the grave in our burial place designated by a stone with the above inscription."
    There is a sign board at the side of this gravestone on which is the following inscription:-- BR>The grave of Thomas Clark Died March 24, 1697 .

  3.   Frank R. Holmes, compiler, Directory of the Ancestral Heads of New England Families, 1620-1700 (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1984)
    p. xlix.

    Clark: Thomas, carpenter, b. Eng., 1599, came to Plymouth, Mass., 1623; was at Harwich, Mass., 1670

  4.   Whittemore, H. Genealogical guide to the early settlers of America: with a brief history of those of the first generation and references to the various local histories, and other sources of informatio
    pg. 90.

    THOMAS CLARK, of Plymouth, came in the "Ann" 1623, married Susanna, daughter of widow Mary Ring, and had Andrew, James, Susanna, William, John and Nathaniel. He was a representative 1651-5. He married second wife 1664, widow Alice Nichols, daughter of Richard Hallett, lived in 1670, at Harwich, where he had a third wife, Elizabeth Crow, and died March 24, 1697, aged 92.

  5. Thomas Clark, in Anderson, Robert Charles. The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England, 1620-1633. (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1995).

    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].

The Anne and The Little James (1623)
The Anne and the Little James left England together, and arrived a week or so apart in Plymouth. Most of the passengers were probably on the Anne, as the Little James was smaller and carried mostly cargo.
Sailed: May(?) 1623 from an unspecified port in England under William Peirce (Master Anne), Emanuel Althan (Captain Little James), and John Bridges (Master Little James).
Arrived: 10 July 1623 (the Anne) and about 10 days later (the Little James) at Plymouth, Massachusetts
Previous Vessel: Weston's ships (Swan, Charity, Sparrow) (1622)
Next Vessel: Jonathan (1623)

Passengers:
~60 (Full List)
Families of earlier immigrants: Patience and Fear Brewster - Elizabeth (Walker) Warren and daughters - Hester (Mathieu) Cooke and her children - Bridget (Lee) Fuller - Margaret Hicks and her children - Wife and daughter of William Hilton - Frances Palmer - Joshua Pratt - Barbara Standish
Other Passengers: Anthony Annable (and family) - Edward Bangs - Robert Bartlett - Mary Bucket - William Bridges - Thomas Clark - Christopher Conant - Anthony Dix - John Faunce - George Morton (and family) - Godbert Godbertson (and family) - Timothy Hatherly - Edward Holman - John Jenney (and family) - Manasseh Kempton - Experience Mitchell - George Morton (and family) - Ellen Newton - Oldham, John, his wife and sister - Christian Penn - Abraham Pierce - Nicholas Snow - Alice (Carpenter) Southworth - Francis Sprague - Stephen Tracy, wife, and daughter - Ralph Wallen

Resources: Primary Sources: Bradford's History of Plymouth Plantation - Mourt's Relation - Pilgrim Hall (wills and other contemporary documents)