Seventh Day Baptist Clarke/Clark Family

 In 2018 I discovered that the father of Dr Adam Clark (1790-1860) was Rev Adam Clark (1764-1837), a Seventh Day Baptist minister in Albany County, New York who was born in Rhode Island.  He was the Great Great Grandson of Rev Joseph Clarke (1618-1694), born in Suffolk, England who arrived in Massachusetts in 1637 and settled in Rhode Island with his wife Margaret Turner who was born there.

This small religious group lived close to each other and moved from Newport to Hopkinton and Westerly, often intermarrying.  By the late 1700s some of them moved further west to New York and eventually some of them settled in Wisconsin.  Some other SDB family names:  Babcock, Burdick, Hiscox, Hubbard, Maxson, Pendleton.

Our line:

Rev Joseph Clarke b Eng  1618-1694        Margaret Turner  b RI  1621-1694

                                                       their son

Rev Joseph Clarke Jr b RI  1642-1726       Bethia Hubbard  b Mass  1646- 1707

                                                        their son

Rev Thomas Clarke b RI    1686-1767        Elisabeth Babcock b RI   1691-1728

                                                        their son

Joseph Clarke  b  RI  1728-1795                  Deborah Pendleton b RI  1737-1793

                                                        their son

Rev Adam Clark b RI 1764-1837                Olive Burdick  b RI  1770-1838

                                                        their son

Dr Adam Clark  b NY  1790-1860               Harriet Watson b  NY  1800-1865

                                                        their son

George Watson Clark b NY 1821-1877         Julia Comfort  b NY 1826-1910

                                                        their daughter

William Hill b NY  1847-1910                      Eliza Clark b  NY  1849-1924

                                                        their daughters

Elsworth McDole b  NY  1866-19109            Julia Hill b  NY  1877-1947

Junius Craddock b VA  1889-1976                 Gertrude Hill b NY  1887-1967

Civil War: 150th Anniversary

Today, the anniversary of the end of the Civil War,  makes me reflect on the many, many ancestors who fought in this conflict and the wives and children who were left to fend for themselves ... some for a lifetime if their soldier didn't return.

I have documented about 75 family members (some less directly related than others) who fought ... on both sides !  Some of my RI Watson groups and NY Comfort groups had splits within the family with some of the males moving south and fighting for the Confederacy. I can't really imagine how the family would feel with brothers and cousins pitted against one another.

All of my direct ancestors were in the north and those who fought were Union supporters. Today I am especially remembering 3rd great grandfather Charles Mansfield and two of my great great grandfathers, James McDole and Reuben Lake. All three were from Ulster County, New York. Charles died of disease in Louisiana at age 49 survived by his wife and 6 children (2 of whom joined his unit, Co D NY 156th). James McDole, a native of northern Ireland who immigrated in 1846, left his wife and 4 children. Luckily he returned unharmed, had 5 more children and lived to be 70. Reuben Lake joined as did his younger brother Francis. Reuben was shot in the neck and shoulder in South Carolina and was somewhat disabled for the rest of his life. However, he married Sarah Ann Mansfield (daughter of Charles) and produced a clan of 12 ! When he died in 1897 Sarah was left to raise her 7 minor children on a paltry widow's pension. Her pension files list her only asset as one milk cow.

I am trying to pass along some of this information to the next generation so they will have a better understanding of history as they learn about this in school ... I wish I'd had been told of the "Human" side of the war back when it seemed to be just a list of dates and places.

Newspaper Death Notice 1901 for James McDole

The 1901 death of James McDole in Ulster County, New York was reported in the Ellenville newspaper. Only a few details of his life were included and some were rather vague, like he was married for about 50 years, served in Union Army for about 3 years. No mention of his birth in Ireland, but his age and Baptist minister were listed.

Survivors were noted as his wife Abigail and eight children, but only 7 of them were named: George, James, John, Mary, Ellsworth, Lydia and Thomas.  Poor Anna, the second youngest and wife of Morris Hornbeck, was omitted. 

At times a death notice can be a great help in identifying all the children and especially can identify or verify daughters who changed their names through marriage.  If I had not already had the information on Anna and Morris, this news item would not have helped me.

By the way, I was lucky that in his case that the NY TownClerk’s register of Men Who Served in the Civil War listed his birth date and place (Londonderry) and both of his parents. It’s the compilation of data gleaned from all sources that can give us the full picture of our ancestors.

Remembering Civil War Ancestors

 
women were involved too !

Henrietta Peckham Colt

 Wisconsin Soldiers' Aid

Her nephew George Williams Peckham 1845-1914

     Wisconsin Heavy Artillery, 1^st Reg, Co B

James McDole: His Revealing Civil War Registration Record

 In 2011 Ancestry.com published additional Civil War records to its collection including “New York Town Clerks’ Registers of Men Who Servedin the Civil War”.

Some of the information gathered included: date of birth, place of birth, father’s name, mother’s MAIDEN NAME, marital status, previous occupation, bounty received, if any.  Interesting that the bounty amounts seemed to range from $50 to $900.

Not all town registrars were thorough, many were incomplete, some were rather illegible and some clerks could not spell ! (occupations:  laiborer, taylor, etc).  I have the CW pension file of one of my ancestors, so I know he enlisted in Ulster County, NY but he is not found in these registers.  However,  I really lucked out on my ancestor James McDole.