WEDDING WEDNESDAY: Marriage Bond of William Thomas "Billy" Clark and Lucinda "Polly" Osborne

Copyright 2014, The Hopelessly Hooked Genealogist (B. Harrison)

Above is a copy of the Marriage Bond of my ancestors William Thomas "Billy" Clark (1808- 1868) and Lucinda "Polly" Osborne (1813- 1893) . The Bond is dated 17 July 1828, in Maury County, Tennessee. They were my maternal 3x-great-grandparents.  Their son was William Calvin Clark, my 2x-great-grandfather (he married Harriet Gray). 

Billy Clark and Polly Osborne Clark moved from Tennessee to Kentucky about 1840, where they raised their family of at least 13 children. Billy's brother James Wardlow Clark married Harriet Gore (descendant of Revolutionary War Patriot Notley Gore). 

William Thomas "Billy" Clark died in 1868 in Kentucky, and is buried at Harmony United Methodist Church Cemetery in Hickman County, Kentucky.  His widow Lucinda "Polly" Osborne Clark outlived him by more than 2 decades.   It is assumed that Polly is buried Farmington, Graves County, Kentucky where she was living in her son William Calvin Clark's household when she died in 1893. 

I am their direct descendant through my mother's Crider-Allen-Clark-Osborne lineage. 

TOMBSTONE TUESDAY: William Calvin Clark and Nancy Jane Hale Clark, Graves County, Kentucky

Copyright 2014, The Hopelessly Hooked Genealogist (B. Harrison)

Tombstone of William Calvin Clark (1833- 1900) and his 2nd wife, Nancy Jane Hale Clark (1844- 1947). They are buried at Farmington Cemetery in Farmington, Graves County, Kentucky.  Photo Credit:  The above image was added to the Find A Grave website by Craig Thweatt on 7/3/2010. (The surname "CLARK" is carved on the very top of the tombstone, but is not very visible in this photo).


William Calvin Clark was a 2nd Lieutenant in the Confederate Army, Kentucky Cavalry, Civil War. He also served for a time with the 28th Consolidated Tennessee Infantry, Company G.  His widow's Confederate Widow's Pension file is available through the Tennessee State Library Archives.  His first wife was Harriet Angeline Gray (these were my maternal 2x-great-grandparents). His first marriage to Harriet was said  to have "parted gracefully" after the birth of 4 children together:  Lucy Frances "Fanny" Clark (my great-grandmother), Calvin Beauregard "Bud" Clark, Aisilee Clark, and Joe Cephus Clark.  He went on to have at least 8 children with his next wife Nancy, whom he apparently met during the Civil War in Lawrence County, Tennessee.  (A separate blog post will explore the known details of his military exploits during the Civil War). 

Tombstone Tuesday: Lucy "Fannie" Clark Allen 1860-1939

My maternal great-grandmother was Lucy Frances "Fannie" Clark Allen, who was born 24 June 1860 in Fulton County, Kentucky and died 24 Feb 1939. She is buried in Fairview Cemetery, Fulton County, KY; and has a memorial page that I posted for her on the Find A Grave website at memorial # 58405248. Rest in Peace, Fannie.

Fannie passed away several years before I was born. Her Kentucky Death Certificate is # 03730. She was married in 1877 to Thomas Calvin Allen, a Confederate Veteran of the Civil War. Their marriage took place in Troy, Obion County, Tennessee (which was the groom's home state) according to Lucy's deposition in her Widow's Pension application in 1912; but it was recorded in Fulton County, Kentucky (which was the bride's home state). It was the groom's 2nd marriage, but the bride's 1st marriage. Fannie was the daughter of William Calvin Clark (also a Confederate Civil War Veteran) and Harriet Angeline Gray.

Alexander Clarke- Immigrant Ancestor: Highlanders in North Carolina

Copyright 2010, The Hopelessly Hooked Genealogist (B. Harrison)

The following article is about the early Clarke families of North Carolina, and my maternal 5th-great-grandfather Alexander Clarke.

Source: Excerpts from "The Settlement of the Scotch on The River Cape Fear; Sketches of North Carolina, Historical and Biographical Illustrative of a Portion of Her Early Settlers", Foote, William Henry, originally published 1846, New York, R. Carter. Information Source: Ancestry.com.

"The time of the settlement of the first Scotch families upon the River Cape Fear is not known with exactness. There were some at the time of the separation of the provence into North and South Carolina, in the year 1729. In consequence of disabilities in their native land (Scotland), the enterprising Scotch followed the example of their relations in Ireland, and sough refuge and abundance in America. From records in the possession of descendants of Alexander Clarke, it appears that he came over and took his residence upon the River Cape Fear in 1736, and that a ship load of emigrants came with him. It also appears that he found a good many Scotch settled in Cumberland at the time of his arrival. "

" Alexander Clark(e) came from Jura (Scotland), one of the Hebrides. His ancestors, particulary his grandfather, had suffered much in the wars that had desolated Scotland, and fell heaviest on the Presbyterians. Being constrained to flee for his life, his grandfather took two of his sons and went to Ireland, and saw many trials and suffering, which were brought to a close by the Battle of Boyne, that decided the fate of the British Dominions. Returning to Scotland after the peace, he sought his family; leaving the vessel, he ascended a hill that overlooked his residence, and gazed in sadness over the desolation that met his eye; to use his own words, "but three smokes in all of Jura could be seen". Not a member of his family could be found to tell the fate of the rest. They had all perished in the persecutions. He returned to Ireland to find his cup of bitterness , overflowing as it was, made still bitter by the death of one of his two sons. After some time he returned, and spent the remainder of his days in Jura, having for his second wife one whose sufferings had been equal to his own. Her infant had been taken from her arms, its' head severed from its' body in her presence, and used by a ruffian twisting his hand in its' hair, to beat the mother on the breast till she was left for dead. Gilbert, the only surviving child of his first wife, returned with his father to Jura, and there lived and reared a family. One of his (Gilbert's) sons, Alexander, married Flora McLean, and reared four sons and four daughters. When his eldest son was sixteen years of age, he (Alexander) removed to America, and settled in Cumberland County, (North Carolina), on the Cape Fear. Some of the descendants of Kenneth Clarke, half brother to Gilbert (also) came to America. From this stock arose numerous families in the south and west".

"When Alexander Clarke emigrated to America, he paid the passage of many poor emigrants, and gave them employment until till the price was repaid. Many companies of Scotsmen came to America in a similar way, some person of property paying their passage, and giving them employ upon their lands until they were able to set up for themselves. "

"North Carolina was long a favorite field for Highlander emigration, most of them exiles from Scotland consequant on the troubles that that followed the downfall of the Stuarts, some of them MacDonalds who had been fugitives from the massacre of Glencoe. The persecution to which the Highlanders were subjected after the scattering of the clans made them eager to escape from Scotland. They were followed by many of their kilth and kin to the plantations of America, till the vast plains and forest lands in the heart of North CArolina were sprinkled with a Gaelic speaking population. "

Alexander Clarke appears to have arrived on Cape Fear, Chatham County, North Carolina circa 1736-1739 according to various published sources; his name is listed on Passenger & Immigration lists for arrival in 1739. He appears in North Carolina census records as early as 1755, and in the Register of Deeds of Chatham County 1780-1783. His will appears in North Carolina Abstract of Wills for Cumberland County in 1794.