Clark family

The Clark family played a prominent role in the colonial and early national history of Newton, Massachusetts. Although there are some discrepancies in the early family history, John Clark (1641-1695) and his wife Elizabeth Norman (b. 1665) appear to have settled in Cambridge Village (now Newton), Massachusetts, in about 1681. When Clark died in 1695, most of his estate passed to his sons John and William (1686-1737), including a profitable sawmill and eight acres of land he had purchased from Indians near their fishing grounds on the Upper Falls of the Charles River.

In 1725, William Clark acquired additional property in Newton that became the site of his family’s farm. Active in the public life of his community, Clark and his wife Hannah (Kee) had seven children, including two sons who lived to their majority, Norman (1710-1787) and William (b. 1716). Norman’s son, Norman Jr. (1751-1826), followed in his father’s and grandfather’s footsteps in representing his community, serving as a town Selectman and, during and after the Revolutionary War, as Collector of Taxes. Although never exceptionally wealthy, by the 1790s the family were counted among the Newton elite as steady and prosperous citizens.

This small collection traces the early history of Newton, Mass., through the lives and activities of four generations of the family of John Clark. While the majority of the collection consists of deeds or related legal documents pertaining to properties in Newton (or in one case, Connecticut), a few items provide glimpses into other Clark family activities. As tax collector for Newton during and after the Revolution, Norman Clark, Jr., left an interesting documentary trail that touches on financial priorities in town, including the collection of taxes for support of the church, Revolutionary War soldiers, and road building.

Among the more notable individual items are a deposition from Joseph Bartlett regarding his memory of the location of the Indian fishing grounds on the Charles River that were purchased by John Clark for his sawmill (1747); a receipt for issuance of bounty pay to Aaron Parker for service in the Massachusetts Line of the Continental Army; a deed for a plot in the Newton Burying Ground (1802); and receipts for the purchase of silverware, tinware, and furniture, including Grecian card tables, a Pembroke table, looking glass (1828). A document from Nicholas Bartlett in 1736 appears to be an early example of speculation in military lands: Bartlett assigns rights to William Clark to land Nathanael Mackey received in Killingly, Connecticut, in recognition of his service during King Philip’s War.

Also noteworthy are two deeds signed by Samuel Sewall (1689 and 1694), one of the judges during the Salem Witch Trials. The earlier of these deeds was docketed by Sewall on September 12, 1692, at the height of Witch Trials.