The Scottish Clarks of Granville Township
There were at least three distinct Clark families in Granville Township in the early 19th century. The earlier families descend from William Clark, a native of Yorkshire, England, who arrived in Granville as a widower with a young family in 1774, and Thomas Clark, a native of Connecticut, who was living in the township in the 1780s with his wife Olive and family.
This sketch describes the family of the unrelated John Clark, a native of Kinghorn, Fife, Scotland, who was living in Lower Granville by the early 1820s.
Page 277 of the old Granville Township Book contains the following entry:
I hereby certify that John Clark did on the 20 Day of March 1838 produce to me a certificate of his Birth from the Clerk of Sessions of the Parish of New Machar and
is as follows, viz.-
“October the twenty third day, Seventeen hundred and Ninety six years- John Clark in Kinghorn had a son by his wife Isobel Wyniss baptized and named John.
Witnesses: William Rae and Alexander Diack
Extracted from the Register of Baptisms of the Parish of New Machar this 2nd day of March 1823- William Beecham, Sess. Clerk
That the above is a true extract from the Register of Baptisms of this Parish is attested this 2 Day of March 1823 by Alex. Simpson, Minister of New Machar”
A true copy from the original- BK Dodge (Granville) Town Clerk
The entry following this in the Township Book records the marriage of John Clark to Wilhelmina Sidler (Seidler) in 1823, and the birth of six children to the couple. Wilhelmina was a daughter of Dr. Andrew Seidler, an early physician in the township.
(Born Andreas Seidler in Ottenhausen, Thuringen, in modern-day Germany, he served with the Hessian regiment raised to fight with the British during the American Revolution. He was mustered out as an assistant medical officer at New York in 1783at the age of 30, and settled lot #29 of the Hessian Line in Clements Township. Seidler sold the land in 1787 but continued to practice medicine in Annapolis County until at least 1807.)
Following the death of his first wife, John Clark married Margaret Mussells, granddaughter of a Loyalist from New York. The couple had one daughter together.
John Clark’s eldest son and namesake settled in Australia in 1853.
John Clark, s/o John and Isobel (Wyniss) Clark
b. 23 Oct. 1796 Kinghorn, Fife, Scotland
d.
m. (1) 12 March 1823 Granville, Nova Scotia
Wilhelmina Seidler, d/o Dr. Andrew Seidler
b.
d.
m. (2) 17 Oct. 1855 Granville, Nova Scotia
Margaret Mussells, d/o Thomas and Mary (Webber) Mussells
b. 17 Feb. 1815 Granville, Nova Scotia
d.
Children:
(by 1st wife, Wilhelmina Seidler)
i. John Clark, b. 18 Feb. 1824, d. 26 Nov. 1904 Melbourne, Australia, m. (1) 23 Nov. 1854 Booroondara, Australia, Sarah Ann Farrell, b. Sept. 1836 Burr Ridge, Co. Kings, Ireland, d. 31 May 1884 Melbourne, Australia, m. (2) 2 Oct. 1886 Fitzroy, Australia, Catherine Maher, b. 1859 Co. Tipperary, Ireland, d. 18 March 1944 Pietermaritzberg, Natal, South Africa.
ii. Alexander Clark, b. 25 Nov. 1826, d. 26 Feb. 1906, m. Lower Granville NS 12 Jan. 1853 Caroline (Augusta) Sproul, b. 13 March 1828, d. 16 June 1897, d/o Thomas jr. and Eleanor (McKenzie) Sproul.
Children:
a. Ellen Clark, b. c. 1855
b. Eliza Alice Clark, b. c. 1857, d. 2 March 1932, m. Lower Granville NS 24 March 1881 Albert L. Bath, s/o John and Elizabeth ( ) Bath.
c. Isaline Clark, b. 20 Sept. 1858, m. Lower Granville NS 25 June 1902 Capt. Jacob. V. Robblee, widower, s/o Harris and Eunice (Eaton) Robblee.
d. James E. Clark, b. 1859, d. 1937
e. Wilhelmina Clark, b. c. 1862
f. Thomas Clark, b. 24 Aug. 1864, d. 1907
g. Ernest Clark, b. 1867, d. 1936
iii. Andrew Seidler Clark, b. 25 Aug. 1828, m. Lower Granville NS 6 Jan. 1853 Sarah Ann Litch, b. 24 June 1831 d/o James and Hannah (McKenzie) Litch.
Children:
a. Laura Clark, b. c. 1854, m. Lynn MA 17 Dec. 1877 Napoleon Demars, b. Napierville PQ (The family was living in Redwood City CA in 1930)
b. Mary E. Clark, b. c. 1856, d. Lynn MA May 1933, m. Lynn MA 29 Nov. 1882 William J. Maynard, b. Berlin MA.
c. Sarah Clark, b. c. 1859
d. William Clark, b. c. 1861
e. Hannah Alice Clark, b. 23 Dec. 1862, m. Hillsburn NS 19 Sept. 1883 Willard H. Anderson, s/o Stephen and Elizabeth Jane (Dillon) Anderson.
f. Selina Clark, b. c. 1865, m. Hillsburn NS 25 Dec. 1884 William H. Brown, s/o James and E. Brown of Victory, King’s Co. NS
g. Lucy Clark, b. c. 1867, m. Lynn MA 8 Nov. 1887 James V. Dickson, b. NS s/o Thomas and Elizabeth (The family was living in Lynn MA in 1930).
h. Abby Clark. b. c. 1870, m. Lynn MA 2 July 1892 Levi D. Grant, b. Gloucester MA (The family was living in Lynn MA in 1930)
i. John Andrew Clark, b. 20 May 1872, m. (1) Marblehead MA 20 Dec. 1893 Maud A. Gillian, b. 2 Feb. 1877 Prince Edward Island d/o George and Margaret; m. (2) Granville NS 5 Nov. 1933 Mary Helen Nichols, widow, d/o Peter and Catherine (LeBlanc) Thibodeau.
iv. Isabell Wyniss Clark, b. 11 Sept. 1830, d. Lynn MA 25 May 1908, m. Lower Granville NS 6 Jan. 1853 James Litch, b. 10 Jan. 1832, d. Lynn MA 1910 s/o John and Bethiah (McKenzie) Litch.
Children:
a. Wilhelmina Litch, b. Lower Granville c. 1854, m. Woodbury. Wilhelmina Woodbury d. Lynn MA 18 Aug. 1883
b. Emma B. Litch, b. Lower Granville c. 1857, d. unm Lynn MA 19 Nov. 1896.
c. Henrietta Litch, b. Lower Granville c. 1859, m. Bisby/Bisbee, divorced. Henrietta Litch Bisby d. Danvers MA 18 July 1911.
d. Serena Litch, b. Lower Granville Dec. 1861, m. Lynn MA 20 Oct. 1880 Frederic Augustus Winship, b. Sharon MA 24 July 1850, s/o Charles and Adeliza A. (Johnson) Winship.
e. Adelia Litch, b. Lower Granville c. 1863
f. James (Hasley) Litch, b. Lower Granville 21 June 1869, m. Saugus MA 25 Nov. 1897 Ruth A. Carr, b. Maine d/o Thomas and Mary (Curtis) Carr.
v. Ebenezer Clark, b. 20 Feb. 1833, m. Lower Granville NS 2 Jan. 1856 Sarah Eliza Fash, b. 6 Apr. 1836 d/o William and Mary (Healy) Fash. Sarah (Fash) Clark m. (2) Salem MA 10 Oct, 1870 William F. Shafner, b. Lower Granville 22 Dec. 1822 s/o Ferdinand and Dorothy (Whitman) Armstrong; m. (3) Lower Granville NS 7 Dec. 1892 John H. Shafner, widower, s/o James and Esther (Croscup) Shafner.
Children:
a. John Clark, b. c. 1857, emigrated to US.
b. Mary Edith Clark, b. Lower Granville c. 1859, d. Lynn MA 9 Dec. 1905, m. Robert K. Schafner of Malden MA, b. Lower Granville s/o Edward and Mary Eliza (Bent) Schafner.
c. Ida Grace Clark, b. Lower Granville Nov. 1862, m. Lynn MA 27 Nov. 1882 Charles A. Maddox, b. Dayton ME.
vi. Mary Ann Clark, b. 10 Oct. 1836.
(by 2nd wife, Margaret Mussels)
vii. Edna Ann Clark, b. 30 Aug. 1856, d. 22 Dec. 1940, m. Litchfield NS 28 Dec. 1877 Edward James Wilson. b. 6 Aug. 1854 s/o William and Charlotte Ann (Longmire) Wilson.
Children:
a. Lillie May Wilson, b. 17 Feb. 1879, m. Litchfield NS 13 Sept. 1900 Clarence L. Everett, b. 20 March 1879 s/o Anthony and Sarah Jane (Everett) Ellis
b. Margaret Josephine Wilson, b. 17 Apr. 1884, d. 5 May 1913, m. 6 Nov. 1907 Roy R. Harmon (Providence RI).
c. Charlotte Augusta Wilson, b. 3 Apr. 1887, m. Litchfield NS 11 Aug. 1909 Daniel Robinson jr., b. 26 Dec. 1885, d. 17 Aug. 1966, s/o Daniel and Jane (Wade) Robinson.
d. Etta Myrtle Wilson, b. 30 Aug. 1889, d. 26 May 1992, m. Litchfield NS 1 Feb. 1911 Harry Gough Longmire, b. 19 Dec. 1889, d. 1945 s/o George William and Sophronia Jane (Longmire) Longmire.
e. Elizabeth Dale Wilson, b. 24 Apr. 1892
By Ian Lawrence
