BORN: 20 Sep 1743 Monmouth Cty, NJ
MARRIED: 10 Nov 1763, Freehold, Monmouth Cty, NJ
DIED: 20 May 1825 Waterborough Parish, Queens Cty, NB
BURIED: Grand Point Cemetery, NB
SPOUSE: Mary Hoff b 19 Mar 1745, NJ; d 21 Mar 1836, Canning Parish, Queens Cty, NB; buried probably Grand Point Cemetery
FATHER: John Clark b 1 Mar 1719, Monmouth Cty, NJ; m 1741 Monmouth Cty; d 17 Mar 1777, Monmouth Cty
MOTHER: Anne Doorn b abt 1718 Marlboro, NJ; d 1801, Freehold, Monmouth Cty
PERSONAL DATA: Alexander Clark was a blacksmith and farmer in Freehold Twp, Freehold Cty, NJ who enlisted as a Sergeant in Delancey's Brigade. In 1779 he was promoted to Adjutant. The Battalion served in the New York-Long Island area during the war. When he joined the Loyalists, he and Mary had four children. They were reunited in New York after the war and sailed to St. John, New Brunswick in 1783. Within three years they moved upriver to Maquapit Lake where the fifth child George was born in 1787. George married Margaret Baird 3 Feb 1808 in St John and had two girls and three boys. It was second daughter Mary Ann who married William Hanselpacker and connected with the Kilburn line.
It was Alexander's great grandfather William Clarke, who in 1684, came as a servant from Montrose in northeast Scotland and settled in East Jersey near Perth Amboy. After serving four years on his master Robert Fullerton's farm, he purchased a 100 acre farm near Freehold and for several generations Clarks lived on this property. Some of these Clarks married Dutch girls from both Nieuw Amersterdam and New Jersey and the genealogy of some can be traced to Holland (see below).
REFERENCES:
1. See Wright, Esther Clark, 1955, The Loyalists of New
Brunswick for the classic account of this group of Revolutionary War soldiers.
2. Wright, Esther Clark, 1940, Alexander Clark, Loyalist for many of the NB Clarks and including William from Scotland.
3. For the documented history of the East Jersey settlement see Landsman, Ned, 1985, Scotland and Its First American Colony. For a summarized version see the author's "William Clarke: Servant from Scotland," Wise Words v 1 (3) 2000: 17.
4. Kilburn, Paul, 2002, Fathers and Mothers, 328pp. Chapter 7 is devoted to the Clarks, their history and heritage, and the book is available from the author at 6695 Terry Court, Arvada, CO 80007 and email: [email protected]. Added genealogical information is available from the author as pedigree charts and family group sheets, as well as other notes.