William Clark

William Clark (d. 1681)

William Clark died on 22 July 1681 in Haddam. [1]

William was one of the first settlers and proprietors of Haddam in 1662. [2][3]

William was a servant of John Crow of Hartford. [3]

On 2 June 1639 a particular court fine William Clark, servant to John Crow, 40 shillings for "misdemeanor in drinking." Corporal punishment was remitted upon promise of better behavior. [4]

A 4 September 1643 particular court found in favor of Matthew Allen in his suit against Nicholas and William Clark and assessed damages of £3-03-04 plus costs. [4] William Clark was found guilty of illegally trading liquor and fined. The 23 February 1659 general court ruled, that given his family's low estate, he would pay 40 shillings a year for four years. [4] It is not clear if these records pertain to the William here.

William of Haddam made his will on 30 June 1681. He left his wife the use of his house, little orchard and half the garden and an annuity of four pounds for her widowhood. He also left her a cow, which her son Thomas was to winter, and gave her half his household stuff. He left his son William 25 pounds worth of land. He left his son John 20 worth pounds of land. He left his son Joseph 15 pounds worth of land—not withstanding what he had formerly given him—and one and a half acre of bog. He left his daughter Wells, his daughter Fennoe and his daughter Spencer each eight pounds. He left his daughter Hannah ten pounds. He left his son-in-law Daniel Hubbard five shillings and his grandson Daniel Hubbard 40 acres and a 50 pound right in undivided land. He said that it was his will that he be taught to read and right. He was to be left to the disposal of his wife and after her death and until he turned 21 to the disposal of his son Thomas. If his son Hubbard made trouble, he should satisfy his bringing up. He left his son Thomas land, including the land his house was on after his mother's death or remarriage. He made Thomas his sole executor. Inventory, amounting to £412-18-00 was taken on 19 August 1681. [1]

Children of William Clark:

i. William Clark

i. Sergeant John Clark died on 26 July 1731 in Middletown. He married Elizabeth White.

iii. Joseph Clark may be the Joseph who married Ruth Spencer about 1676/81. [5] He died in 1723. [5] Mrs. Ruth Spencer died on 28 November 1744, age 90, in Haddam. [6]

iv. Elizabeth Clark died on 24 January 1711/2 in Haddam. [6] She married James Wells. [5]

Elizabeth is said to be the Elizabeth who married James Wells of Haddam.

v. Sarah Clark married Captain John Fenner.

Torrey says that the name "Fennoe" in William Clark's will is a transcription error and should be "Fenner." He suggests that William's unnamed daughter is Sarah, the wife of Captain John Fenner of Saybrook. [7]

vi. Daughter Clark married ___ Spencer.

vii. Mary Clark died on 24 December 1673 in Middletown. [8] She married Daniel Hubbard on 24 February 1669/70 in Middletown. [8] Daniel, the son of George and Elizabeth Hubbard, was born in December 1645 in Middletown and died there on 9 November 1704. [8] He married second Sarah Corwell on 16 October 1675 in Middletown. [8]

Daniel and Mary had one child, a boy named Daniel. [8] This is the grandson Daniel in William Clark's will. [8]

viii. Thomas Clark

ix. Hannah Clark

Endnotes:

1. "Connecticut: Early Probate Records, 1635–1730," digitized book, AmericanAncestors.org, originally published as Charles W. Manwaring, A Digest of the Early Connecticut Probate Records (Hartford: R. S. Peck & Co. Printers, 1904), 290.

2. History of Middlesex County, Connecticut (New York: J.B. Beers & Co., 1884), 204.

3. Charles Collard Adams, Middletown Upper Houses: A History of the North Society of Middletown, Connecticut (New York: Grafton Press, 1908), 9, 524.

4. J. Hammond Trumble, The Public Records of the Colony of Connecticut, vol. 1 (Hartford: Brown & Parsons, 1850), 41, 92, 344.

5. "New England Marriages to 1700," digitized books, AmericanAncestors, originally published as Clarence Almon Torrey, New England Marriages Prior to 1700 (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2015), vol. 1: 325, vol. 3: 1625.

6. "Connecticut: Vital Records (The Barbour Collection), 1630–1870," database with images, AmericanAncestors.org > Haddam.

7. Clarence Almon Torrey, "John Fenner's Wife," The American Genealogist 17 (1940): 19.

8. Samuel H. Parsons, "Records of Births, Marriages and Deaths of the First Proprietors of Lands in Middletown, CT," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 14 (1860): 66.

Last revised: 20-Jul-2023