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An American Family History

Abigail Lothrop Clark
The children of John Lothrop
and Hannah Howse
  • Thomas Lothrop
  • Jane Lothrop Fuller
  • Anne Lothrop
  • John Lothrop
  • Barbara Lothrop Emerson
  • Samuel Lothrop
  • Thomas Lothrop
  • Captain Joseph Lothrop
  • Benjamin Lothrop
    • and Ann Hammond
  • the Honorable Barnabas Lothrop
  • Abigail Lothrop Clark
  • Bathsheba Lothrop Marsh
  • Captain John Lothrop
    		•

    Abigail Lothrop Clark was baptized in Barnstable on November 2, 1639. Her parents were John Lothrop and Ann Hammond. 

    She married James Clark on October 7, 1657. James was born in about 1638 in Plymouth. His parents were Thomas Clark and Susanna Ring. Abigail's brother, Barnabas Lothrop married James' sister Susanna Clark.

    Abigail and James' children were Thomas Clark (1660), Susanna Clark (1662), Abigail Clark (1664), Joanna Clark (1678), James Clark (1680) and Bathsheba Clark (1682).

    James died March 10, 1702/03 in Plymouth and Abigail followed on January 8, 1722/23.
    Lady Day Before 1752 the year began on March 25th. Dates between January 1st and March 24th were at the end of the year, not the beginning.

    Plymouth (Plimouth or Plimoth) is in Plymouth County, Massachusetts and was the site of the colony founded in 1620 by the Mayflower passengers.

    Plymouth
     

    Genealogical and personal memoirs relating to the families of the ..., Volume 1 edited by William Richard Cutter, William Frederick Adams

    		  
     

    Josiah Clark, son of Thomas Clark, was born and lived in Plymouth, and was called "Silver-headed Thomas," because, having been scalped by the Indians when a boy, he wore a silver plate; married Elizabeth Crow.

    Thomas Clark was son of James Clark, born in Plymouth, in 1536; married, 1557, Abigail Lothrop, who was born 1659, daughter of Rev. John Lothrop, who came over in the "Griffin," in 1635. and was the first minister in Barnstable, where his house still stands and is used as a public library.

    James Clark was a son of Thomas Clark, the Pilgrim, who came to Plymouth in the "Ann," in 1623. He lived in Plymouth, where he married Susannah Ring, and his gravestone still stands on Burial Hill, Plymouth.

    		  

    Any man entering a colony or becoming a a member the church, was not free. He was not forced to work, but his movements were carefully observed to see if they followed the Puritanical ideal. After this probationary period, he became a "freeman." Men then took the Oath of a Freeman where they vowed to defend the Commonwealth and not to overthrow the government.

    from Volume 4

    Thomas Clark, immigrant ancestor, was born in England, 1599, and first appeared in this country as a settler in July, 1623, when he arrived at Plymouth in the "Anne," in a company of forty-two adult passengers, besides children. He brought with him considerable property, especially cattle, and had land allotted to him near Eel River, now Chiltonville.

    There is a general tradition among the descendants of the Pilgrims, and particularly among the descendants of Thomas Clark, that he was the Thomas Clark who was one of the mates of the "Mayflower," and gave his name to Clark's island, of which he took possession, December 8, 1620. This tradition, however, has never been verified. In 1627 he was the only person of that name in Plymouth Colony.

    In documents of the period he is called variously a carpenter, yeoman, merchant or gentleman. In 1633 he took the freeman's oath, and in 1637 headed the list of volunteers to act against the Pequot Indians, being then mentioned as of Eel River. In 1640 he is included in the list of fifty-eight "purchasers or old comers" in Plymouth. In 1641-43-4445-46-47 he was constable and surveyor of highways. In 1643 he was in the list of the men of the colony able to bear arms. In 1651 and 1655 he was representative to the general court, and was at one time employed to audit the accounts of the colony. Between 1655 and 1660 he removed to Boston, where he lived in the vicinity of Scotto's Lane.

    His son Andrew married Mehitable, daughter of Thomas Scotto, and Thomas Clark gave him a house in that region. When the son Andrew removed to Harwich Thomas Clark appears to have followed him, and the two were among the earliest proprietors of that town. In his latter days he lived with his daughter, Susanna Lothrop, at Barnstable.

    From 1654 to 1697 he was a deacon of the Plymouth church. He married (first), about 1634, Susan or Susanna, daughter of widow Mary Ring, of Plymouth. All his children were probably of this marriage. He married (second) Mrs. Alice Nichols, daughter of Richard Hallett, in Boston, 1664. He died in Plymouth, March 24, 1697, and was buried on the summit of Burying Hill, where his gravestone is still to be seen.

    Children (dates of birth conjectural):
    Andrew, 1635;
    James, 1637:
    William, 1639;
    Susanna, 1641;
    Nathaniel, 1643;
    John, 1645 or 1651.

    A yeoman was a man who owned and cultivated a small farm. He belonged to the class below the gentry or land owners. A husbandman was a free tenant farmer. The social status of a husbandman was below that of a yeoman.

    A constable was an elected official who was responsible for keeping the peace. His duties were more limited than the sheriff's. He apprehended and punished offenders, helped settle estates, and collected taxes.

     

         

    ©Roberta Tuller 2012
    tuller.roberta@gmail.com