The Clark Family
 |
| Gravestone - John and Ann Rogers Clark |
Five of John and Ann
Rogers Clark’s sons were officers in the American Revolution and all would
eventually move to Kentucky. Two of the
brothers, George Rogers and William, became famous for their exploits on behald
of the United States in acquiring and exploring the western two thirds of our
nation. Two of the brothers, John and
Richard, died in the “War for
Independence.”
Known children of John
and Ann Rogers Clark:
 |
| Gravestone of Jonathan Clark |
1. 1. Jonathan Clark [b. 1 Aug 1750 in Albemarle
County, Virginia – d. 25 Nov 1811 at Trough Spring, near Louisville, Kentucky.]
- He and his wife, Sarah Hite, are buried in Cave Hill Cemetery near
Louisville, Kentucky.
As a young man Jonathan Clark served as Deputy Clerk in the office of the Clerk of Spotsylvania County, Virginia. In 1772, he moved to Woodstock, Dunsmore County, Virginia. About this same time, trouble began between the Royal Governor, Lord Dunmore, and the patriotic citizens of Virginia which led to Lord Dunsmore seizing the public powder belonging to the Virginia Colony. This led to a colonial uprising to regain possession of the powder. A lieutenant of an independent company of riflemen, Clark marched towards Williamsburg to achieve that goal. Clark's company returned home without bloodshed. He and John Peter Gabriel Muhlenberg were again sent as delegates to the Virginia Convention which met at Richmond from 2nd October through the 28th of December 1775. In the spring of 1776, Clark was promoted to the captaincy of a company (commissioned 4th March), which advanced from Woodstock to Portsmouth, and was engaged in several skirmishes with the adherents of the Royal Governor, Lord Dunmore, who had fled the capital and taken refuge on an English ship.
Soon Dunsmore County was renamed Shenandoah County. Jonathan Clark was selected, along with the celebrated minister, John Peter Gabriel Muhlenberg, to serve as delegates from the county in an important convention held at Richmond.
Early the next summer, Clark marched with Muhlenberg's Regiment and other troops to Charleston, South Carolina. They arrived on the 24th of June, and were at once involved in the important military movements occurring in that vicinity. Clark was ordered further south in August. At Savannah he was seized with a dangerous illness which so affected him that he was unable to perform his military duties, and thus, he returned home on furlough that fall. In the spring of 1777, when he had almost recovered from this long illness he contracted small-pox.
As soon as he recovered enough to do so, he returned to the army serving under George Washington at the Bound Brook encampment, and with the Eighth Virginia Regiment, in the Brigade of General Charles Scott. Clark participated in the Battle of Brandywine and aided in breaking the British right wing at Germantown. He was also in the Battle of Monmouth in 1778, and in 1779 served with great distinction in the surprise of the enemy at Paulus Hook. On this important occasion he was second in command, having been previously promoted to Major by Congress. One hundred and fifty-nine of the enemy was captured in this affair, with a loss to the Americans of only two killed and three wounded. So important was the result that General Washington hastened to communicate it to congress in a highly complementary manner. He said, "that a remarkable degree of prudence, address, enterprise and bravery was displayed on the occasion, which does the highest honor to all the officers and men engaged in it, and that the situation of the fort rendered the attempt critical and the success brilliant." Congress returned thanks and ordered a gold medal to be made in honor of the event, and fifteen thousand dollars to be distributed among the rank and file who participated in the enterprise. Major Clark was highly complimented in letters from Lord Sterling and other officers, and in November, Congress promoted Clark to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, retroactive from the previous May.
The following winter, Clark and the Virginia Regiment plus other troops, marched to the south, reaching Charleston the last of March 1780. On the 12th of May, the American army, then under command of General Lincoln, was compelled to surrender to the enemy. Colonel Clark was held as a prisoner in Charleston until the spring of 1781, when he was paroled and allowed to return to Virginia. He was not formally exchanged until after the surrender of Cornwallis.
Jonathan Clark married Sarah Hite, daughter of Isaac Hite, Sr., and the granddaughter of Joist Heydt / Hite on 13th of Feb 1782. He settled for a time in Spotsylvania County, and was commissioned as a Major Ggeneral of the Virginia Militia in 1793.
As a young man Jonathan Clark served as Deputy Clerk in the office of the Clerk of Spotsylvania County, Virginia. In 1772, he moved to Woodstock, Dunsmore County, Virginia. About this same time, trouble began between the Royal Governor, Lord Dunmore, and the patriotic citizens of Virginia which led to Lord Dunsmore seizing the public powder belonging to the Virginia Colony. This led to a colonial uprising to regain possession of the powder. A lieutenant of an independent company of riflemen, Clark marched towards Williamsburg to achieve that goal. Clark's company returned home without bloodshed. He and John Peter Gabriel Muhlenberg were again sent as delegates to the Virginia Convention which met at Richmond from 2nd October through the 28th of December 1775. In the spring of 1776, Clark was promoted to the captaincy of a company (commissioned 4th March), which advanced from Woodstock to Portsmouth, and was engaged in several skirmishes with the adherents of the Royal Governor, Lord Dunmore, who had fled the capital and taken refuge on an English ship.
Soon Dunsmore County was renamed Shenandoah County. Jonathan Clark was selected, along with the celebrated minister, John Peter Gabriel Muhlenberg, to serve as delegates from the county in an important convention held at Richmond.
Early the next summer, Clark marched with Muhlenberg's Regiment and other troops to Charleston, South Carolina. They arrived on the 24th of June, and were at once involved in the important military movements occurring in that vicinity. Clark was ordered further south in August. At Savannah he was seized with a dangerous illness which so affected him that he was unable to perform his military duties, and thus, he returned home on furlough that fall. In the spring of 1777, when he had almost recovered from this long illness he contracted small-pox.
As soon as he recovered enough to do so, he returned to the army serving under George Washington at the Bound Brook encampment, and with the Eighth Virginia Regiment, in the Brigade of General Charles Scott. Clark participated in the Battle of Brandywine and aided in breaking the British right wing at Germantown. He was also in the Battle of Monmouth in 1778, and in 1779 served with great distinction in the surprise of the enemy at Paulus Hook. On this important occasion he was second in command, having been previously promoted to Major by Congress. One hundred and fifty-nine of the enemy was captured in this affair, with a loss to the Americans of only two killed and three wounded. So important was the result that General Washington hastened to communicate it to congress in a highly complementary manner. He said, "that a remarkable degree of prudence, address, enterprise and bravery was displayed on the occasion, which does the highest honor to all the officers and men engaged in it, and that the situation of the fort rendered the attempt critical and the success brilliant." Congress returned thanks and ordered a gold medal to be made in honor of the event, and fifteen thousand dollars to be distributed among the rank and file who participated in the enterprise. Major Clark was highly complimented in letters from Lord Sterling and other officers, and in November, Congress promoted Clark to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, retroactive from the previous May.
The following winter, Clark and the Virginia Regiment plus other troops, marched to the south, reaching Charleston the last of March 1780. On the 12th of May, the American army, then under command of General Lincoln, was compelled to surrender to the enemy. Colonel Clark was held as a prisoner in Charleston until the spring of 1781, when he was paroled and allowed to return to Virginia. He was not formally exchanged until after the surrender of Cornwallis.
Jonathan Clark married Sarah Hite, daughter of Isaac Hite, Sr., and the granddaughter of Joist Heydt / Hite on 13th of Feb 1782. He settled for a time in Spotsylvania County, and was commissioned as a Major Ggeneral of the Virginia Militia in 1793.
 |
| Brigader General George Rogers Clark |
2. George Rogers Clark [b. 19 November 1752 in
Albemarle County, Virginia - d. 13th February 1818 near Louisville,
Kentucky] – George Roger Clark's
boyhood was most probably typical of many others in rural Virginia. He would have learned to plant, hunt, ride,
trap and wrestle. He probably received
most of his schooling at home or from relatives who lived not far from the
home of young Thomas Jefferson, with whom he sustained a lifelong
friendship and mutual interests in Native American tribes, archaeology,
science, and the flora and fauna of America.
It is believed by many historians, though the facts are not proven by records of the school, that when George was eleven years of age, he and his brother, Jonathan Clark were sent to live with their maternal grandfather, John Rogers, in order that they would be able to attend a private school on the Mattaponi River run by their uncle, Donald Robertson. Others known to have been enrolled in the school at this time were James Madison, John Tyler [Taylor] and possibly Thomas Jefferson. If this is true, this schooling was probably the only formal education which George Rogers Clark received. From his later journals, we learn that he almost invariably purchased books whenever he returned to Williamsburg, so he must have been well-read. His writing is well above average for the period.
In 1770, when George Rogers Clark was eighteen years of age, his youngest brother, William Clark, was born. This brother would later gain fame as one of the leaders of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. The Clarks grew up in a close knit family consisting of ten children, six sons and four daughters, who maintained affectionate ties throughout their lives. At about this same time, George learned the techniques of surveying from his grandfather, John Rogers.
Despite the British laws against settlement west of the Allegheny Mountains, many young Virginians were crossing over into Kentucky in quest of adventure and to acquire land. In 1772, after just turning twenty years of age, George Rogers Clark left on a surveying trip to the “West”. Standing well over six feet two inches tall, rugged and handsome with a fine physique, red hair, and a temper to go with it, George Rogers Clark was the epitomize of the American frontiersman. He willingly shared in all the hardships of his men and “talked” their language as well. During the next four years, he located land for himself, his family and many other friends in Virginia. He obtained "a good deal of cash by surveying." He also acted as a guide for other settlers. Commissioned a Captain in the Virginia Militia, Clark saw extensive campaigning in Lord Dunmore's War against the Shawnee Indians in 1774. He gained recognition as a formidable Indian fighter, known as “The Long Knife.” With a flair for the dramatic, he was very skilled in the high-flown, metaphorical oratory which the Indians appreciated.
In 1775, the Ohio Land Company engaged him to lay out its tracts on the Kentucky River. Clark made his home in Harrodsburg, the first settlement in Kentucky. Quickly emerging as a dominant figure, he led the Kentuckians in their successful efforts to be formally annexed as a Virginia County. With increased Indian harassment of the Kentucky settlers in 1776, Clark attended a meeting of representatives from all the forts at Harrodsburg, Kentucky. He and another delegate were elected to go to Virginia to seek a more definite connection between Kentucky and Virginia. They wanted recognition and protection as a Virginia county, and failing this, Clark advocated the formation of a separate state. His father’s friend and attorney, Virginia’s Governor Patrick Henry, and the Executive Council of Virginia granted him five hundred pounds of gunpowder for the defense of Kentucky, and the General Assembly of Virginia made Kentucky a county of Virginia.
The fact that the Kentucky settlers entrusted Clark, at the age of twenty-four, with such great responsibility, and that he was sufficiently persuasive to bring the Virginia General Assembly including a number of important men around to his way of thinking was indicative of his personal charisma, speaking abilities, leadership and qualities of mind. The fear and respect which he inspired in his Indian enemies indicated that he was a formidable warrior. Contemporary records show that he enjoyed an unusual rapport with his men, inspiring them to believe that they were unbeatable and firing them with an eagerness for battle. It is important to note that even after he had lost favor in the East, he was still the leader of choice on the frontier among the men who best knew his capabilities.
He was also a leader in the formation of frontier governments. Whenever possible he used bluff and diplomacy in dealing with the Indians rather than choosing battle. When in later life, he retired to Clarksville, the Indian chiefs and warriors still came to smoke the “pipe of peace and friendship” with their conqueror, calling him "the first man living, the great and invincible long-knife."
In the year of the "Bloody '77,” Clark returned the gunpowder to Kentucky settlements which were being continually attacked. During this time it was difficult to plant or harvest crops to sustain the settlers through the coming winter. Clark learned that the "hair buyer" [Lieutenant Governor Henry Hamilton] was paying the Indians for prisoners and scalps in Detroit and supplying them from posts in the Illinois country. After receiving reports from two spies he had sent to the Illinois country, Clark returned to Virginia to outline a plan of attack to Governor Patrick Henry. He received authority from the Virginia General Assembly to raise a force for the defense of Kentucky. He was given a commission as Lieutenant Colonel over a force of seven companies with fifty men per company. Secretly, Patrick Henry had given him written orders to attack Kaskaskia and other posts in the Illinois Country.
With battles raging in the East, Clark had difficulty raising the authorized
force. He finally set out from Redstone and Fort Pitt with only one hundred
fifty frontiersmen plus some twenty settlers with their families. Reaching the “Falls of the Ohio,” they established a
supply base on Corn Island and were joined by a handful of reinforcements from
the Holston River settlements. When Clark
revealed his plan to attack Kaskaskia he was hard-pressed to prevent
desertions.
On 26th Jun 1778, one hundred seventy-five men left for Kaskaskia. They "shot the falls" during a total eclipse of the sun and concluded that this was a good omen for the campaign which was most probably Clark's own suggestion. With oars, double-manned, they avoided detection and reached the mouth of the Tennessee River where they hid the boats and marched overland for six days. They then dressed in Indian fashion and proceeded single-file in order to leave fewer tracks to reveal their presence.
They surprised Kaskaskia on the night of July 4th, occupying the fort and the town without a shot being fired. Clark offered the French inhabitants "all of the privileges of American citizenship" in return for their oath of allegiance and safe conduct out of the area. This offer and the news of the recent French-American alliance won their support. Captain Bowman was then dispatched to Cahokia, Prairie du Rocher and St. Phillip where these communities also accepted Clark's terms without resistance.
Kaskaskia's priest, Father Gibault, went to Vincennes and secured the allegiance of the French there to Clark. Captain Helm was sent to take command of Fort Sackville. Meanwhile, at Kaskaskia, Clark used August and September to gather Indian tribes from as far away as five hundred miles. He offered them the red belt of war or the white belt of peace, and by his understanding of the Indian concept of manhood and some skillfully applied "bluff" he succeeded in winning their neutrality during the coming campaign.
Learning of Clark's occupation of Kaskaskia, Lieutenant Governor Henry Hamilton [the hair buyer] gathered his forces at Detroit and traveled down the Maumee and Wabash Rivers, reaching Vincennes on 17th December, Captain Helm was forced to surrender. Hamilton made an ill-fated decision to postpone the attack on Kaskaskia until spring using the time to strengthen the fortifications at Sackville. He sent his Indian allies home for the winter. A Spanish trader, Francis Vigo, was permitted to leave Vincennes for St. Louis. He promptly reported Hamilton's plans to Clark.
Clark realized that his small force could not hold the Illinois posts if Hamilton was given sufficient time to gather his forces. Clark boldly decided to move immediately on Vincennes during "the depth of winter." He wrote to Patrick Henry, saying that if he failed "this country and also Kentucky is lost."
On 6th February 1779, Clark supplied and outfitted the armed galley "Willing" which was to rendezvous with the rest of Clark’s force on the Wabash down river from Vincennes. Mounted on a handsome horse, Clark led one hundred seventy-two men, nearly half of which were French volunteers, from Kaskaskia. They marched the two hundred forty miles through flooded country, often shoulder deep in water, sending out hunting parties for food and sleeping on the bare ground. It required seventeen days to make what was normally a five or six day trip. Clark kept the spirits of the men high, encouraging them to sing, and regaling them with the actions of "an antic drummer boy who floated by on his drum."
On 23rd February, they surprised Vincennes. Clark ordered that all of the company's flags be marched back and forth behind a slight rise to convince the British that there were six hundred men rather than the actual number of fewer than two hundred. They opened fire on the fort with such accuracy that the British were prevented from opening their gun ports. On the morning of the third day, 25th February, Hamilton surrendered and was sent to Williamsburg as a prisoner. The British never regained control of these posts. In 1781, Clark was commissioned a Brigadier General by Thomas Jefferson in recogniation of his accomplishment. Had it not been for General Clark and his men, the Northwest.
Territory might have remained in British hands. Clark’s victories doubled the size of the United States, but his goal was to capture Detroit. It was a goal he would never realize because Clark was in financial trouble due to the fact that he was forced to assume personal responsibility by signing promissory notes in order to obtain supplies for his army. Clark had incurred many expenses during his campaigns and was never able to obtain repayment from either Virginia or the United States Congress. Inflation rates as high as fifty-five thousand per cent ran up costs and, when he submitted his receipts, the government of Virginia didn’t believe the amount Clark spent was accurate or true. They then claimed they had lost his receipts and so could not verify what he had verbally told them he had spent and the General Assenbly of Virginia granted Clark a sword and half pay of four hundred dollars a year instead of previous agreements. In 1913, at Richmond, Virginia, someone found in a storeroom seventy bundles wrapped in crumbling paper. When they were opened, they were found to be the receipts of General George Rogers Clark, the hero of the old Northwest which had never been paid.
General James Wilkinson, a double agent in the pay of Spain, coveted Clark’s command and his post as Indian Commissioner. After a deliberate campaign to discredit Clark by gossip and falsehood, claiming that Clark was a drunk and unfit to command and that Clark had inflated the actual costs of his supplies, retaining the money for himself. The General was stung by these accusations and resigned from the military. Wilkinson was then appointed Indian Commissioner in the west by Wilkerson and his cronies which was their goal all along.
At the Treaty of Paris in 1783, these American claims in the old Northwest served as the basis of the cession of these lands to the United States. The British withdrew from Detroit, and the Great Lakes became the northern boundary of the United States.
Clark continued to led military actions in the Northwest until the end of the War in 1783, and in 1784, he was named as a principal surveyor of public lands set aside for the men who served in the Virginia State Military Forces. Clark’s interest turned to the north shore of the Ohio to the one hundred fifty thousand acres given to him in 1779 by the Piankeshaw. The General was forced by Virginia law to cede this land and Virginia, strapped for cash to pay the Illinois Regiment for their service, created the Illinois Grant/Clark’s Grant, to pay her soldiers. George Rogers Clark was appointed to oversee the distribution of land to his men according to their rank. Clark received about eight thousand acres, most of which was sold to pay his debt which amounted to about thirty thousand dollars. In 1783, he was asked by Thomas Jefferson if he might like to lead an expedition to the west, long a desire in Jefferson’s mind. Clark replied that he had no money to undertake such a thing and that his health was not good. The nerves in Clark’s legs had been severely damaged by his trek through the icy water to capture Vincennes and he walked thereafter with a cane.
Desperate to make money, he built a mill in 1785 at Clarksville, Indiana Territory, a town he laid out and named for himself. But this town did not prosper. Clark was appointed an Indian Commissioner after the war, and in 1786 he helped negotiate a treaty with the Shawnees. That same year, he led an expedition against the Wabash tribes and seized goods taken to Vincennes by Spanish traders.
In 1790, Clark invented a self-propelled oar boat which he sought to patent. A patent would have guaranteed him the rights to shipping on the river and would have earned him money to pay on the debt; but, someone else patented a boat and they received the rights.
Clark was hounded by creditors for the remainder of his life and finally only held in his own name, the land he retired to in Clarksville, Indiana in 1803 where he had built a two-room cabin on a beautiful point of land overlooking the falls of the Ohio. There he lived with two servants, operating a grist mill in the town.
He corresponded frequently with Thomas Jefferson and over the years sent him many specimens for his private museum from the Indiana - Ohio area. Ever interested in natural history, Clark made archaeological excavations at Clarksville. He became an expert on the wooly mammoth, sending many of their bones to Jefferson. His interest in Native Americans continued. No matter where Clark lived, there was always an encampment of Indians nearby. Tribes would bring their young braves to meet the great Long Knife, as they called him. Clark greatly enjoyed these visits which inevitably became drinking and bragging contests. Buckongahelas, the Delaware war chief, was particularly fond of General Clark as they enjoyed insulting each other.
In 1802, Clark wrote to President Jefferson requesting that Jefferson consider his brother, William, living at Clarksville, for any service to the country for which he might be needed. Jefferson was already planning his expedition to the westward and educating his young secretary, Merriwether Lewis, for this task. Lewis knew William Clark, having served under him at the Battle of Fallen Timbers in 1792 with Gen. “Mad”Anthony Wayne. In the summer of 1803, William Clark received a letter from Lewis, asking him to join what became the Lewis and Clark Expedition. When Captain Lewis arrived at Clarksville in October of 1803, the men Clark had already recruited were sworn into the army and they set off on the greatest exploration in American history.
In 1805, it was revealed that General James Wilkerson, Clark’s old foe, was part of the Aaron Burr Conspiracy. That revelation came too late to help General Clark who was embittered, sick and frail. Clark was now living in a small log house at Clark’s Point on the bluff overlooking the river, alone except for Kitt and Daphne, Old Henry, and Ben and Vensus McGee, his servants. Clark whiled away his time by riding a favorite horse, hunting and fishing, and reading from his library. According to his nieces, the General mourned his lost love when he was drinking, telling them they might have had a very elegant aunt, had his life turned out differently. No name has come down to us, although there are references to her in correspondence from the general’s friends.
One December day in 1809, Clark was by the fireplace when he had a stroke and fell with his right knee near the fire. It was badly burned, became infected, and was amputated without anesthetic on 25 March 1810 at his sister Frances’ home in Louisville. At Clark's request two fifers and two drummers played outside for two hours during the operation. His family determined that Clark would quit Indiana. Locust Grove, eight miles from Louisville, Kentucky, the home of his sister, Lucy Croghan and her husband, Major William Croghan, became his home for the last nine years of his life.
He suffered a third stroke and died at the age of sixty-six on the 13th February 1818. He was buried at Locust Grove until 1869 when he was re-interred in Cave Hill Cemetery in Louisville. In his funeral oration, Judge John Rowan said, "The mighty oak of the forest has fallen, and now the scrub oaks may sprout all around .... The father of the western country is no more."
Clark was indisputably a hero to the people of the West. Many of his accomplishments were unknown in the East. He has been lauded by historians as “the man who won the West,” clearing the way for American diplomats to secure the Mississippi River as the western boundary of the United States in the 1783 Treaty of Paris.
The nation's failure to reward Clark for his remarkable accomplishments in an adequate manner was probably due to many factors:
It is believed by many historians, though the facts are not proven by records of the school, that when George was eleven years of age, he and his brother, Jonathan Clark were sent to live with their maternal grandfather, John Rogers, in order that they would be able to attend a private school on the Mattaponi River run by their uncle, Donald Robertson. Others known to have been enrolled in the school at this time were James Madison, John Tyler [Taylor] and possibly Thomas Jefferson. If this is true, this schooling was probably the only formal education which George Rogers Clark received. From his later journals, we learn that he almost invariably purchased books whenever he returned to Williamsburg, so he must have been well-read. His writing is well above average for the period.
In 1770, when George Rogers Clark was eighteen years of age, his youngest brother, William Clark, was born. This brother would later gain fame as one of the leaders of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. The Clarks grew up in a close knit family consisting of ten children, six sons and four daughters, who maintained affectionate ties throughout their lives. At about this same time, George learned the techniques of surveying from his grandfather, John Rogers.
Despite the British laws against settlement west of the Allegheny Mountains, many young Virginians were crossing over into Kentucky in quest of adventure and to acquire land. In 1772, after just turning twenty years of age, George Rogers Clark left on a surveying trip to the “West”. Standing well over six feet two inches tall, rugged and handsome with a fine physique, red hair, and a temper to go with it, George Rogers Clark was the epitomize of the American frontiersman. He willingly shared in all the hardships of his men and “talked” their language as well. During the next four years, he located land for himself, his family and many other friends in Virginia. He obtained "a good deal of cash by surveying." He also acted as a guide for other settlers. Commissioned a Captain in the Virginia Militia, Clark saw extensive campaigning in Lord Dunmore's War against the Shawnee Indians in 1774. He gained recognition as a formidable Indian fighter, known as “The Long Knife.” With a flair for the dramatic, he was very skilled in the high-flown, metaphorical oratory which the Indians appreciated.
In 1775, the Ohio Land Company engaged him to lay out its tracts on the Kentucky River. Clark made his home in Harrodsburg, the first settlement in Kentucky. Quickly emerging as a dominant figure, he led the Kentuckians in their successful efforts to be formally annexed as a Virginia County. With increased Indian harassment of the Kentucky settlers in 1776, Clark attended a meeting of representatives from all the forts at Harrodsburg, Kentucky. He and another delegate were elected to go to Virginia to seek a more definite connection between Kentucky and Virginia. They wanted recognition and protection as a Virginia county, and failing this, Clark advocated the formation of a separate state. His father’s friend and attorney, Virginia’s Governor Patrick Henry, and the Executive Council of Virginia granted him five hundred pounds of gunpowder for the defense of Kentucky, and the General Assembly of Virginia made Kentucky a county of Virginia.
 |
| Governor Patrick Henry |
The fact that the Kentucky settlers entrusted Clark, at the age of twenty-four, with such great responsibility, and that he was sufficiently persuasive to bring the Virginia General Assembly including a number of important men around to his way of thinking was indicative of his personal charisma, speaking abilities, leadership and qualities of mind. The fear and respect which he inspired in his Indian enemies indicated that he was a formidable warrior. Contemporary records show that he enjoyed an unusual rapport with his men, inspiring them to believe that they were unbeatable and firing them with an eagerness for battle. It is important to note that even after he had lost favor in the East, he was still the leader of choice on the frontier among the men who best knew his capabilities.
He was also a leader in the formation of frontier governments. Whenever possible he used bluff and diplomacy in dealing with the Indians rather than choosing battle. When in later life, he retired to Clarksville, the Indian chiefs and warriors still came to smoke the “pipe of peace and friendship” with their conqueror, calling him "the first man living, the great and invincible long-knife."
In the year of the "Bloody '77,” Clark returned the gunpowder to Kentucky settlements which were being continually attacked. During this time it was difficult to plant or harvest crops to sustain the settlers through the coming winter. Clark learned that the "hair buyer" [Lieutenant Governor Henry Hamilton] was paying the Indians for prisoners and scalps in Detroit and supplying them from posts in the Illinois country. After receiving reports from two spies he had sent to the Illinois country, Clark returned to Virginia to outline a plan of attack to Governor Patrick Henry. He received authority from the Virginia General Assembly to raise a force for the defense of Kentucky. He was given a commission as Lieutenant Colonel over a force of seven companies with fifty men per company. Secretly, Patrick Henry had given him written orders to attack Kaskaskia and other posts in the Illinois Country.
 |
| Lieutenant Governor Henry Hamilton The Hair Buyer |
On 26th Jun 1778, one hundred seventy-five men left for Kaskaskia. They "shot the falls" during a total eclipse of the sun and concluded that this was a good omen for the campaign which was most probably Clark's own suggestion. With oars, double-manned, they avoided detection and reached the mouth of the Tennessee River where they hid the boats and marched overland for six days. They then dressed in Indian fashion and proceeded single-file in order to leave fewer tracks to reveal their presence.
They surprised Kaskaskia on the night of July 4th, occupying the fort and the town without a shot being fired. Clark offered the French inhabitants "all of the privileges of American citizenship" in return for their oath of allegiance and safe conduct out of the area. This offer and the news of the recent French-American alliance won their support. Captain Bowman was then dispatched to Cahokia, Prairie du Rocher and St. Phillip where these communities also accepted Clark's terms without resistance.
Kaskaskia's priest, Father Gibault, went to Vincennes and secured the allegiance of the French there to Clark. Captain Helm was sent to take command of Fort Sackville. Meanwhile, at Kaskaskia, Clark used August and September to gather Indian tribes from as far away as five hundred miles. He offered them the red belt of war or the white belt of peace, and by his understanding of the Indian concept of manhood and some skillfully applied "bluff" he succeeded in winning their neutrality during the coming campaign.
Learning of Clark's occupation of Kaskaskia, Lieutenant Governor Henry Hamilton [the hair buyer] gathered his forces at Detroit and traveled down the Maumee and Wabash Rivers, reaching Vincennes on 17th December, Captain Helm was forced to surrender. Hamilton made an ill-fated decision to postpone the attack on Kaskaskia until spring using the time to strengthen the fortifications at Sackville. He sent his Indian allies home for the winter. A Spanish trader, Francis Vigo, was permitted to leave Vincennes for St. Louis. He promptly reported Hamilton's plans to Clark.
Clark realized that his small force could not hold the Illinois posts if Hamilton was given sufficient time to gather his forces. Clark boldly decided to move immediately on Vincennes during "the depth of winter." He wrote to Patrick Henry, saying that if he failed "this country and also Kentucky is lost."
On 6th February 1779, Clark supplied and outfitted the armed galley "Willing" which was to rendezvous with the rest of Clark’s force on the Wabash down river from Vincennes. Mounted on a handsome horse, Clark led one hundred seventy-two men, nearly half of which were French volunteers, from Kaskaskia. They marched the two hundred forty miles through flooded country, often shoulder deep in water, sending out hunting parties for food and sleeping on the bare ground. It required seventeen days to make what was normally a five or six day trip. Clark kept the spirits of the men high, encouraging them to sing, and regaling them with the actions of "an antic drummer boy who floated by on his drum."
On 23rd February, they surprised Vincennes. Clark ordered that all of the company's flags be marched back and forth behind a slight rise to convince the British that there were six hundred men rather than the actual number of fewer than two hundred. They opened fire on the fort with such accuracy that the British were prevented from opening their gun ports. On the morning of the third day, 25th February, Hamilton surrendered and was sent to Williamsburg as a prisoner. The British never regained control of these posts. In 1781, Clark was commissioned a Brigadier General by Thomas Jefferson in recogniation of his accomplishment. Had it not been for General Clark and his men, the Northwest.
Territory might have remained in British hands. Clark’s victories doubled the size of the United States, but his goal was to capture Detroit. It was a goal he would never realize because Clark was in financial trouble due to the fact that he was forced to assume personal responsibility by signing promissory notes in order to obtain supplies for his army. Clark had incurred many expenses during his campaigns and was never able to obtain repayment from either Virginia or the United States Congress. Inflation rates as high as fifty-five thousand per cent ran up costs and, when he submitted his receipts, the government of Virginia didn’t believe the amount Clark spent was accurate or true. They then claimed they had lost his receipts and so could not verify what he had verbally told them he had spent and the General Assenbly of Virginia granted Clark a sword and half pay of four hundred dollars a year instead of previous agreements. In 1913, at Richmond, Virginia, someone found in a storeroom seventy bundles wrapped in crumbling paper. When they were opened, they were found to be the receipts of General George Rogers Clark, the hero of the old Northwest which had never been paid.
General James Wilkinson, a double agent in the pay of Spain, coveted Clark’s command and his post as Indian Commissioner. After a deliberate campaign to discredit Clark by gossip and falsehood, claiming that Clark was a drunk and unfit to command and that Clark had inflated the actual costs of his supplies, retaining the money for himself. The General was stung by these accusations and resigned from the military. Wilkinson was then appointed Indian Commissioner in the west by Wilkerson and his cronies which was their goal all along.
At the Treaty of Paris in 1783, these American claims in the old Northwest served as the basis of the cession of these lands to the United States. The British withdrew from Detroit, and the Great Lakes became the northern boundary of the United States.
Clark continued to led military actions in the Northwest until the end of the War in 1783, and in 1784, he was named as a principal surveyor of public lands set aside for the men who served in the Virginia State Military Forces. Clark’s interest turned to the north shore of the Ohio to the one hundred fifty thousand acres given to him in 1779 by the Piankeshaw. The General was forced by Virginia law to cede this land and Virginia, strapped for cash to pay the Illinois Regiment for their service, created the Illinois Grant/Clark’s Grant, to pay her soldiers. George Rogers Clark was appointed to oversee the distribution of land to his men according to their rank. Clark received about eight thousand acres, most of which was sold to pay his debt which amounted to about thirty thousand dollars. In 1783, he was asked by Thomas Jefferson if he might like to lead an expedition to the west, long a desire in Jefferson’s mind. Clark replied that he had no money to undertake such a thing and that his health was not good. The nerves in Clark’s legs had been severely damaged by his trek through the icy water to capture Vincennes and he walked thereafter with a cane.
Desperate to make money, he built a mill in 1785 at Clarksville, Indiana Territory, a town he laid out and named for himself. But this town did not prosper. Clark was appointed an Indian Commissioner after the war, and in 1786 he helped negotiate a treaty with the Shawnees. That same year, he led an expedition against the Wabash tribes and seized goods taken to Vincennes by Spanish traders.
In 1790, Clark invented a self-propelled oar boat which he sought to patent. A patent would have guaranteed him the rights to shipping on the river and would have earned him money to pay on the debt; but, someone else patented a boat and they received the rights.
Clark was hounded by creditors for the remainder of his life and finally only held in his own name, the land he retired to in Clarksville, Indiana in 1803 where he had built a two-room cabin on a beautiful point of land overlooking the falls of the Ohio. There he lived with two servants, operating a grist mill in the town.
 |
| Thomas Jefferson |
He corresponded frequently with Thomas Jefferson and over the years sent him many specimens for his private museum from the Indiana - Ohio area. Ever interested in natural history, Clark made archaeological excavations at Clarksville. He became an expert on the wooly mammoth, sending many of their bones to Jefferson. His interest in Native Americans continued. No matter where Clark lived, there was always an encampment of Indians nearby. Tribes would bring their young braves to meet the great Long Knife, as they called him. Clark greatly enjoyed these visits which inevitably became drinking and bragging contests. Buckongahelas, the Delaware war chief, was particularly fond of General Clark as they enjoyed insulting each other.
In 1802, Clark wrote to President Jefferson requesting that Jefferson consider his brother, William, living at Clarksville, for any service to the country for which he might be needed. Jefferson was already planning his expedition to the westward and educating his young secretary, Merriwether Lewis, for this task. Lewis knew William Clark, having served under him at the Battle of Fallen Timbers in 1792 with Gen. “Mad”Anthony Wayne. In the summer of 1803, William Clark received a letter from Lewis, asking him to join what became the Lewis and Clark Expedition. When Captain Lewis arrived at Clarksville in October of 1803, the men Clark had already recruited were sworn into the army and they set off on the greatest exploration in American history.
In 1805, it was revealed that General James Wilkerson, Clark’s old foe, was part of the Aaron Burr Conspiracy. That revelation came too late to help General Clark who was embittered, sick and frail. Clark was now living in a small log house at Clark’s Point on the bluff overlooking the river, alone except for Kitt and Daphne, Old Henry, and Ben and Vensus McGee, his servants. Clark whiled away his time by riding a favorite horse, hunting and fishing, and reading from his library. According to his nieces, the General mourned his lost love when he was drinking, telling them they might have had a very elegant aunt, had his life turned out differently. No name has come down to us, although there are references to her in correspondence from the general’s friends.
One December day in 1809, Clark was by the fireplace when he had a stroke and fell with his right knee near the fire. It was badly burned, became infected, and was amputated without anesthetic on 25 March 1810 at his sister Frances’ home in Louisville. At Clark's request two fifers and two drummers played outside for two hours during the operation. His family determined that Clark would quit Indiana. Locust Grove, eight miles from Louisville, Kentucky, the home of his sister, Lucy Croghan and her husband, Major William Croghan, became his home for the last nine years of his life.
He suffered a third stroke and died at the age of sixty-six on the 13th February 1818. He was buried at Locust Grove until 1869 when he was re-interred in Cave Hill Cemetery in Louisville. In his funeral oration, Judge John Rowan said, "The mighty oak of the forest has fallen, and now the scrub oaks may sprout all around .... The father of the western country is no more."
Clark was indisputably a hero to the people of the West. Many of his accomplishments were unknown in the East. He has been lauded by historians as “the man who won the West,” clearing the way for American diplomats to secure the Mississippi River as the western boundary of the United States in the 1783 Treaty of Paris.
The nation's failure to reward Clark for his remarkable accomplishments in an adequate manner was probably due to many factors:
1. 1. An obsession with events in the East.
2. 2. A failure to recognize the magnitude of his achievement.
3. 3. A f
4. 4. The distance which separated the western country from the seat of power residing
in the East.
5. 5. The slander committed against him by lesser men who plotted against him in
order to gain political power in Kentucky.
 |
| Gravestone Ann Clark Gwathmey |
3. Ann Clark Gwathmey [b. in Virginia d. near Louisville, Kentucky]
- She became the wife of Owen Gwathmey, a soldier in the Revolutionary War. They moved west after the war and settled at,
or near, Louisville, where he became a successful business man. They raised a
large family of children. It is notable that three of their children [John,
Samuel and Ann Gwathmey] married three of their first cousins, the children
[Ann, Mary and William Booth] of Colonel William Aylett Booth and his wife,
Rebecca Hite who was a sister of General Jonathan Clark's wife.
4. 4. John Clark [15 Sep 1757 in Albemarle County, Virginia –
d. 1784 in Caroline County, Virginia] - When his eldest brother, Jonathan Clark,
vacated the position of Deputy Clerk of Dunmore County, in 1776, John Clark was
given this position as he, John Clark had already assisted his brother in the affairs
of this office for some time and was familiar with the duties of this position.
In August 1777, he left the position of Deputy Clerk of Dunmore County with his appointment as a Lieutenant in the Fourth Virginia Regiment. The month following John Clark entered service participating in the Battle of Brandywine. The month following he was in the Battle of Germantown. The division of the army to which he belonged broke the British right wing at Germantown and captured a considerable number of prisoners. They were forced to retreat, being surrounded. A portion was captured, including Lieutenant John Clark, Colonel George Mathews and other Virginians.
At first, Lieutenant John Clark was held as a prisoner in Philadelphia, then in possession of the British, where, for a time he was kept in what was called the "New Jail." In the summer of 1778 he was moved to Long Island, New York and kept there [or in the neighborhood] for several years. Finally John Clark was confined in one of the prison ships, which caused the death of a great number of American prisoners due to inhuman treatment. When he was exchanged in 1782, John Clark returned to his father's home in Caroline County, Virginia with consumption. He was a physical wreck due to the treatment he had received as a prisoner of war. He, like many others, sought relief in the West Indies but the disease had progressed too far for anything to save him. He died at his father's house in 1784, at the age of twenty-seven years. His death caused much sorrow in the community and added to the indignation felt by Virginians towards the British for their cruel treatment of American prisoners.
In August 1777, he left the position of Deputy Clerk of Dunmore County with his appointment as a Lieutenant in the Fourth Virginia Regiment. The month following John Clark entered service participating in the Battle of Brandywine. The month following he was in the Battle of Germantown. The division of the army to which he belonged broke the British right wing at Germantown and captured a considerable number of prisoners. They were forced to retreat, being surrounded. A portion was captured, including Lieutenant John Clark, Colonel George Mathews and other Virginians.
At first, Lieutenant John Clark was held as a prisoner in Philadelphia, then in possession of the British, where, for a time he was kept in what was called the "New Jail." In the summer of 1778 he was moved to Long Island, New York and kept there [or in the neighborhood] for several years. Finally John Clark was confined in one of the prison ships, which caused the death of a great number of American prisoners due to inhuman treatment. When he was exchanged in 1782, John Clark returned to his father's home in Caroline County, Virginia with consumption. He was a physical wreck due to the treatment he had received as a prisoner of war. He, like many others, sought relief in the West Indies but the disease had progressed too far for anything to save him. He died at his father's house in 1784, at the age of twenty-seven years. His death caused much sorrow in the community and added to the indignation felt by Virginians towards the British for their cruel treatment of American prisoners.
5. Richard Clark [b. 1760 in Caroline County, Virginia - d. Mar 1784] - He joined
his brother, George Rogers Clark, at Kaskaskia in March, 1779. He served for a
short time as a volunteer in Captain Robert Todd's Company and was commissioned
as a Lieutenant in June, 1779. He was a member of the party which marched to
the relief of Cahokia in 1780. He was
also in the Campaign against the Indians near Peoria. Richard Clark was
stationed for some time at Fort Jefferson.
He went to the Falls of the Ohio in the summer of 1781. The next year he
was with his brother in the campaign against the Indians. Lieutenant Richard Clark was allotted two
thousand one hundred and fifty-six acres of land [Nos. 15, 18, 191, 274 and
part of 160] in Clark's Grant,
Indiana, for his services in
the Illinois campaign.
He lost his life in March, 1784, most probably in Indiana. Alone, he had begun a long and dangerous journey via horse back from the falls of the Ohio to Vincennes or possibly Kaskaskia. The particulars are still unknown. It was assumed that he had drowned while trying to cross a stream. His horse, saddle-bags and some other items were found on the bank of the White River which is pretty clear evidence that he was not killed by the Indians as they would have taken the horse. The family long entertained the hope that he might not be dead. There was another tradition which named the Little Wabash as the river where his horse was found, but this is not probable as it is unlikely from the reports that he was planning to go further than Vincennes.
He lost his life in March, 1784, most probably in Indiana. Alone, he had begun a long and dangerous journey via horse back from the falls of the Ohio to Vincennes or possibly Kaskaskia. The particulars are still unknown. It was assumed that he had drowned while trying to cross a stream. His horse, saddle-bags and some other items were found on the bank of the White River which is pretty clear evidence that he was not killed by the Indians as they would have taken the horse. The family long entertained the hope that he might not be dead. There was another tradition which named the Little Wabash as the river where his horse was found, but this is not probable as it is unlikely from the reports that he was planning to go further than Vincennes.
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| Gravestone Captain Edmund Clark |
6. Captain Edmund Clark [b. 25 Sep 1762 in
Virginia - d. 11Mar 1815 Jefferson County, Kentucky] - At the time that Virginia
was exerting to raise troops for the relief of Charleston, Edmund Clark, then
under eighteen years of age and at school, was appointed a Lieutenant in the Eighth
Virginia Regiment of the Continental Army which was the celebrated German Regiment
raised by Colonel Muhlenberg. After
Muhlenberg’s promotion to General, this regiment was commanded by Colonel
Abraham Bowman, a brother of Joseph and Isaac Bowman, sons of George Bowman, who
were prominent officers in George Rogers Clark's Illinois campaign. The Eighth
Virginia was distinguished in the war, but the extent of young Edmund Clark's
participation is not clearly known. It
is said that he was held as a prisoner by the British and not exchanged until
the close of 1782. When the war was over he returned to Caroline County, Virginia,
where he engaged in business for several years. In January, 1799, he was given
a Captain’s commission by President Adams who was expecting problems with
France. Soon the troops were disbanded
as this threat was found not to be as
serious as was had been anticipated. Edmund
Clark emigrated to Jefferson County, Kentucky where he remained with his many
relatives who were already living there.
He died on the 11th of March, 1815. Like his brother, George Rogers
Clark, he never married.
The inventory of the personal property of Captain Edmund Clark was filed on the 8th of May1815, in Jefferson County, Kentucky by D. Fitzhugh, administrator of his estate which was appraised at a total of $2,641.25 [Book 2, pp. 136,137]. He is buried by the side of his distinguished brothers, General George Rogers Clark and General Jonathan Clark, in the Cave Hill Cemetery at Louisville, Kentucky.
The inventory of the personal property of Captain Edmund Clark was filed on the 8th of May1815, in Jefferson County, Kentucky by D. Fitzhugh, administrator of his estate which was appraised at a total of $2,641.25 [Book 2, pp. 136,137]. He is buried by the side of his distinguished brothers, General George Rogers Clark and General Jonathan Clark, in the Cave Hill Cemetery at Louisville, Kentucky.
7. . Lucy Clark Croghan [b.15 Sep 1767 in Caroline County, Virginia –
d. April, 1838] - Lucy Clark was the second daughter of John and Ann Rogers Clark.
She was the wife of William Croghan, who
had come to America from Ireland when he was quite young. He was the nephew of
the celebrated George Croghan, who was long in the employ of the British as an Indian
agent under Sir William Johnson. Like
his uncle, William Croghan took sides with the Americans and joined a company
of Washington’s army, in the vicinity of Pittsburgh. He was assigned to Colonel
Weedon's Virginia Regiment, shortly after the Battle of Long Island, and
continued in active service for many years.
Major Croghan witnessed the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown, but took no part, as he was under parole. He was a delegate from Jefferson County to the Kentucky Conventions in 1789 and 1790. He served as one of the commissioners to divide the land in George Rogers Clark's Grant.
For many years, General George Rogers Clark lived at this couple’s home near Louisville, Kentucky. He died there 13 Feb 1818.
The children of William and Lucy Clark Croghan were as follows:
71. John Croghan was a
prominent physician who long resided at the old family home where he was noted
for his gracious hospitality and the care of his family’s historical papers.
72. George Croghan -
George married a Miss ____ Livingston and greatly distinguished himself as a
soldier at the Battle of Tippecanoe in 1811, and in the Mexican War. He was a
Major at the time of his successful defense of Fort Stephenson at Lower
Sandusky in the War of 1812, and won great fame for this even though he was
then barely twenty-one years of age. Congress presented him a medal. General
William Henry Harrison, in his official report of this affair says, "It will not be among the least of
General Proctor's mortifications that he has been baffled by a youth who has
just passed his twenty-first year. He is, however, a hero worthy of his gallant
uncle, General George R. Clark." A
monument was erected on the site of Fort Stephenson at Fremont, Ohio, in honor
of Major Croghan's gallantry in holding this fort. McAfee’s
History of the War of 1812
states, "The brevet rank of
Lieutenant Colonel was immediately conferred on Major Croghan by the President
of the United States for his gallant conduct, and the ladies of Chillicothe
presented him an elegant sword, accompanied by a suitable address."
73. Charles Croghan –twin Nicholas Croghan
74. Nicholas Croghan- twin to Charles Croghan
75. William Croghan
76. Edmund Croghan
77. Ann Croghan married General Thomas Jessup, Adjutant-general
United States of America.
78. Eliza Croghan married George Hancock
 |
| Gravestone Elizabeth Clark Anderson |
8. Elizabeth Clark Anderson [b.11 Feb1768
Caroline County, Virginia – d. ] - She
married, ca.1787, Richard Clough Anderson, a native of Virginia. At the
beginning of the Revolutionary War he entered the military as head of a company. He served in Colonel Parker's Regiment during
the winter campaigns of 1776-1777 in New Jersey. He was at the Battles of Trenton and Princeton.
He participated in the Battles of Brandywine and Germantown in 1777. The next year he was commissioned a Major. He
was also in the Battle of Monmouth. His regiment went south in the summer of
1779 and he was wounded in the assault made on Savannah from which he never entirely
recovered. Colonel Parker of this regiment was killed at the siege of
Charleston. Samuel Hopkins succeeded him as Colonel and Major Anderson was
promoted to be Lieutenant Colonel. This is the same Samuel Hopkins who
subsequently conducted two expeditions against the Indians northwest of the
Ohio River. Colonel Anderson was taken prisoner at Charleston, but finally
succeeded in securing an exchange and served until the close of the war. He was
appointed principal surveyor of the lands granted by the State of Virginia to
the soldiers of the Continental line by the act of December 1783. In July 1784
he opened his headquarters at Louisville, Kentucky. He was a representative from Jefferson County
to the Conventions at Danville in 1784 and 1788.
Colonel Anderson was married twice. His first wife was Elizabeth Clark and his second wife was Sarah Marshall, also of the Clark family. Colonel Anderson died 16 October 1826, at Soldiers' Retreat, Jefferson County, Kentucky.
Known children of Richard and Elizabeth Clark Anderson:
Colonel Anderson was married twice. His first wife was Elizabeth Clark and his second wife was Sarah Marshall, also of the Clark family. Colonel Anderson died 16 October 1826, at Soldiers' Retreat, Jefferson County, Kentucky.
Known children of Richard and Elizabeth Clark Anderson:
81. Richard Clough
Anderson, Junior was born in 1788. He
was a member of Congress from Kentucky from 1817 to 1821. After which he
represented the United States as Minister to Colombia where his wife, Elizabeth
Gwathmey, died. Elizabeth Gwathmey, daughter of Owen and Ann
Clark Gwathmey was his cousin as well as his wife. His sister, Elizabeth
Anderson, married their cousin and his wife's brother, Isaac R. Gwathmey. The
next year, 1825, he died of yellow fever, on his way to Panama, as a Representative
of the United States to a Congress of American Nations. He was noted as a
gentleman of fine ability and unblemished character.
82. Colonel Robert Anderson was the renowned hero of Fort
Sumter in the Civil War.
83. Larz Anderson was a prominent citizen and politician in
Ohio.
84. Charles Anderson was a prominent citizen and politician
in Ohio. In 1864, he was Lieutenant Governor
of Ohio and subsequently became Governor by reason of the death of Governor
Brough. He later removed to Kentucky and
died there at his home.
9. Frances Eleanor Clark [b. 20 Jan 1773 Caroline County, Virginia – d. Jun 1825 in
St. Louis, Missouri] - The youngest sister of General George Rogers Clark who
by all accounts was both beautiful and accomplished. She married three times, and had two children
by each marriage. Her first husband was Doctor James O'Fallon, a finely
educated Irishman, who arrived in the colonies shortly before the Revolutionary
War. Soon he became an active participant
on the side of the colonials. At one
time, during the war, he was in command of a military company, but during most
of his military career he was one of the Directors of the Hospital Department.
The second husband of Frances Eleanor Clark was Charles Mynn Thruston. Upon the
death of Charles Mynn Thruston, his widow, Frances Eleanor Clark, married her
cousin, Dennis Fitzhugh of the Virginia Fitzhughs. Surviving all three of her
husbands, this youngest sister of George Rogers Clark died June 1825 in St. Louis,
Missouri, at the home of her son, Colonel John O'Fallon.
Known children of Doctor James and Frances Eleanor Clark O'Fallon:
91. John O'Fallon, prior to the age of twenty-one years, was in military
service under General William Henry Harrison and was wounded in the Tippecanoe
battle. He served with distinction in the war of 1812. He was known as Colonel John O'Fallon.
92. Benjamin O'Fallon
Known Children of Charles Mynn and Frances Eleanor Clark O’Fallon Thruston:
93. Charles William Thurston
94. Ann Clark Thurston
Known children of Dennis and Frances Eleanor Clark O’Fallon Thruston
Fitzhugh:
95. Clark Fitzhugh
96. Lucy Fitzhugh
 |
| Governor William Clark |
10. Governor William Clark [b. 1 Aug 1770, in Caroline County, Virginia –
d. ] -William Clark, the youngest
brother of George Rogers Clark, came west with his parents in 1784, joining his
relatives at the falls of the Ohio. His home was in this vicinity until his
departure on the celebrated, Lewis and
Clark Exploring Expedition, led by both he and Meriwether Lewis traveling across
the country to the Pacific Ocean in 1804-5, under the auspices of President
Jefferson.
The distinguished military history of his family drew William Clark to military matters from his earliest boyhood. When he was only nineteen years of age, he marched against the Indians northwest of the Ohio River in an expedition led by Colonel John Hardin. In 1790, he was sent on a mission to the Creek and Cherokee Indians. In 1791, he served as an Ensign and acting Lieutenant with the expeditions under Generals Scott and Wilkinson against the Indians on the Wabash. General Washington commissioned him a First Lieutenant under General Wayne in March, 1793.
He entered active service at once, aiding in constructing forts on the line proposed to be followed into the Indian country, and in the latter part of the year he was dispatched on an expedition up the Wabash to Vincennes, which lasted several months, his boat being blocked by ice at one time for a period of twenty days.
He returned to Fort Washington, where Cincinnati, Ohio, is now situated, in the spring of 1794, having had several skirmishes with the Indians. He was next assigned the duty of escorting a large quantity of clothing and provisions to Fort Greenville. It required seven hundred pack-horses to carry the goods, and Lieutenant Clark had eighty men under his command on the journey. While on the way the advance guard of the party was attacked by Indians, five of the whites killed. Lieutenant Clark, who was with the main body of the troops, advanced rapidly upon the Indians, they retreated with some loss. He was thanked for his good conduct by General Wayne.
He distinguished himself at the successful action of August 20, 1794, when in command of a company of riflemen he drove a portion of the enemy on the left several miles, killing a number of Indians and Canadians. In 1795 he was dispatched on a military mission to New Madrid, on the Mississippi River. He resigned his commission in 1796, and for a time retired from the army, because of bad health.
For the next seven or eight years he was found most of the time about the Falls of the Ohio, either with his parents and relatives on the Kentucky side, or with his brother, General George Rogers Clark, at Clarksville, on the Indiana side. It is stated in Dr. Coue's valuable edition of the History of Lewis and Clark's Expedition that a commission was issued to him, 8 January 1790, by Arthur St. Clair, "governor of the territory of the United States northwest of the river Ohio," as "a captain of militia in the town and vicinity of Clarksville." He was evidently residing in Indiana at that time. This commission is in possession of his descendants.
William Clark joined Captain Meriwether Lewis in conducting an expedition through the unexplored wilderness to the Pacific Ocean in 1803, as has already been stated. The fact that President Jefferson had perfect confidence in the heads of this expedition is shown in a remarkable letter of credit which he issued in it he says: "I hereby authorize you to draw on the secretaries of state, of the treasury, of war, and of the navy of the United States, according as you may find your draughts will be most negotiable, for the purpose of obtaining money or necessaries for yourself or your men; and I solemnly pledge the faith of the United States that these draughts shall be paid punctually at the date they are made payable."
Captain Lewis had been the private secretary of President Jefferson, and the expedition was undertaken at Jefferson’s request. The winter of 1803 was spent at the mouth of the Missouri River. Early in the spring of 1804, the party set out on the journey, from that point, , numbering forty-three men. The long journey to the Pacific and back was of great importance to the country, and therefore thrillingly interesting. Sometime after his return in September, 1806, he visited Washington and, no doubt, the place of his former residence in Virginia at the same time. At or near Fincastle, in that state, on the 5th of January, 1808, he married Miss Julia Hancock, who died June 27, 1820; and on the 28th of November, 1821, he married Mrs. Harriet Kennerly Radford, who died December 25, 1831.
Sometime after his return from the Pacific, Captain Clark was appointed to the then important position of Indian agent at St. Louis, Missouri, a place for which he possessed superior qualifications by reason of his acquaintance with the western Indian tribes, and intimate knowledge of the Indian character. He was later also made a Brigadier General of that territory, and in 1813 was made its Governor.
In the War of 1812 he was offered a commission as Brigadier General in the regular army, but did not accept it, believing that he could be of more advantage in his position as Governor and Indian agent in influencing the Indian tribes to neutrality, and there is no doubt but his services in this direction were highly beneficial.
He was appointed superintendent of Indian affairs by President Monroe in 1822, and secured many important treaties with western Indian tribes.
Governor William Clark died in St. Louis, 1 September 1838, in the sixty-ninth year of his age, universally esteemed by all who knew him. The highest respect was paid to his memory. He was buried with distinguished honors at a beautiful place he had himself selected near St. Louis, being the family cemetery on the plantation of his kinsman, General John O'Fallon.
The distinguished military history of his family drew William Clark to military matters from his earliest boyhood. When he was only nineteen years of age, he marched against the Indians northwest of the Ohio River in an expedition led by Colonel John Hardin. In 1790, he was sent on a mission to the Creek and Cherokee Indians. In 1791, he served as an Ensign and acting Lieutenant with the expeditions under Generals Scott and Wilkinson against the Indians on the Wabash. General Washington commissioned him a First Lieutenant under General Wayne in March, 1793.
He entered active service at once, aiding in constructing forts on the line proposed to be followed into the Indian country, and in the latter part of the year he was dispatched on an expedition up the Wabash to Vincennes, which lasted several months, his boat being blocked by ice at one time for a period of twenty days.
He returned to Fort Washington, where Cincinnati, Ohio, is now situated, in the spring of 1794, having had several skirmishes with the Indians. He was next assigned the duty of escorting a large quantity of clothing and provisions to Fort Greenville. It required seven hundred pack-horses to carry the goods, and Lieutenant Clark had eighty men under his command on the journey. While on the way the advance guard of the party was attacked by Indians, five of the whites killed. Lieutenant Clark, who was with the main body of the troops, advanced rapidly upon the Indians, they retreated with some loss. He was thanked for his good conduct by General Wayne.
He distinguished himself at the successful action of August 20, 1794, when in command of a company of riflemen he drove a portion of the enemy on the left several miles, killing a number of Indians and Canadians. In 1795 he was dispatched on a military mission to New Madrid, on the Mississippi River. He resigned his commission in 1796, and for a time retired from the army, because of bad health.
For the next seven or eight years he was found most of the time about the Falls of the Ohio, either with his parents and relatives on the Kentucky side, or with his brother, General George Rogers Clark, at Clarksville, on the Indiana side. It is stated in Dr. Coue's valuable edition of the History of Lewis and Clark's Expedition that a commission was issued to him, 8 January 1790, by Arthur St. Clair, "governor of the territory of the United States northwest of the river Ohio," as "a captain of militia in the town and vicinity of Clarksville." He was evidently residing in Indiana at that time. This commission is in possession of his descendants.
William Clark joined Captain Meriwether Lewis in conducting an expedition through the unexplored wilderness to the Pacific Ocean in 1803, as has already been stated. The fact that President Jefferson had perfect confidence in the heads of this expedition is shown in a remarkable letter of credit which he issued in it he says: "I hereby authorize you to draw on the secretaries of state, of the treasury, of war, and of the navy of the United States, according as you may find your draughts will be most negotiable, for the purpose of obtaining money or necessaries for yourself or your men; and I solemnly pledge the faith of the United States that these draughts shall be paid punctually at the date they are made payable."
Captain Lewis had been the private secretary of President Jefferson, and the expedition was undertaken at Jefferson’s request. The winter of 1803 was spent at the mouth of the Missouri River. Early in the spring of 1804, the party set out on the journey, from that point, , numbering forty-three men. The long journey to the Pacific and back was of great importance to the country, and therefore thrillingly interesting. Sometime after his return in September, 1806, he visited Washington and, no doubt, the place of his former residence in Virginia at the same time. At or near Fincastle, in that state, on the 5th of January, 1808, he married Miss Julia Hancock, who died June 27, 1820; and on the 28th of November, 1821, he married Mrs. Harriet Kennerly Radford, who died December 25, 1831.
Sometime after his return from the Pacific, Captain Clark was appointed to the then important position of Indian agent at St. Louis, Missouri, a place for which he possessed superior qualifications by reason of his acquaintance with the western Indian tribes, and intimate knowledge of the Indian character. He was later also made a Brigadier General of that territory, and in 1813 was made its Governor.
In the War of 1812 he was offered a commission as Brigadier General in the regular army, but did not accept it, believing that he could be of more advantage in his position as Governor and Indian agent in influencing the Indian tribes to neutrality, and there is no doubt but his services in this direction were highly beneficial.
He was appointed superintendent of Indian affairs by President Monroe in 1822, and secured many important treaties with western Indian tribes.
Governor William Clark died in St. Louis, 1 September 1838, in the sixty-ninth year of his age, universally esteemed by all who knew him. The highest respect was paid to his memory. He was buried with distinguished honors at a beautiful place he had himself selected near St. Louis, being the family cemetery on the plantation of his kinsman, General John O'Fallon.
[Note: There were three William Clarks who were connected
with Indiana History in the pioneer period.
This has been the cause of confusion and historical errors.
1. William Clark, brother of George Rogers Clark, long survived
the other two and from that cause, as well as the prominence he subsequently
attained has perhaps caused matters pertaining to the other two being
attributed to him.
2. William Clark, surveyor-in-chief of Clark's Grant.
3. William Clark, Judge of Indiana territory in 1801. "William Clark, Jurist," whom "President
Adams appointed in 1800. Chief Justice
of the Territory of Indiana. He was also
Governor of Missouri Territory. He died
and was buried at Vincennes, 12 November 1802. His death is recorded in the
records of St. Xavier's Church.]
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