Joseph Clark (1751-1813)

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This white person has 5 related events in the database, listed at the bottom of this page.

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Identifier
NJS-PER-00021
Given Name
Joseph
Family Name
Clark
Birth Date
October 21, 1751
Death Date
October 19, 1813
Sex
Male
Occupation
Religious
Biographical Description
Rev. Joseph Clark D.D. was born near Elizabethtown (now Elizabeth), New Jersey, in 1751. He graduated from the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University), class of 1781, and became a Presbyterian minister. He briefly taught at the Latin school at Freehold in Monmouth County and then went to pastor a church in Allentown, New Jersey.

He served as the pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of New Brunswick, NJ, from 1797 to 1813. In this role, he performed numerous marriage rites for enslaved and free people of African descent in New Brunswick. The records of these marriages have been preserved by the Presbyterian Historical Society in Philadelphia and can be found in the following collection: Records of the First and Second Presbyterian Churches, New Brunswick, New Jersey (Call number: 07 0525); Volume 14: Church register, 1790–1867, including baptisms and marriages, 1797–1869; Subsection: Record of Marriages and Baptisms kept by Rev. Joseph Clark D.D. Pastor from January 1, 1797 to October 18, 1813 (pp. 218–226).

Middlesex County records show that Rev. Clark was an enslaver and held people in bondage while he lived in New Brunswick. After his death, executors John Neilson and John Pool sold two Black women on behalf of Clark's estate.
Keywords
white person
enslaver
Princeton University history
government official
clergy
Places
Elizabeth (formerly Elizabethtown)
New Brunswick
Princeton
Organization
First Presbyterian Church of New Brunswick
Princeton University
Relationship to Princeton
Alumnus
Enslaver of
Dine (b. ca. 1797)
George (b. 1806) {son of Grace}
Grace (b. ca. 1790)
Parent of
Hannah Clark
John Flavell Clark (1784-1853)
Peter Imlay Clark (1790-1863)
William Patterson Clark (1796-1857)
Spouse of
Margaret Imlay Clark (1756-1814)
Related Person
John Neilson (1745-1833)
References

Harrison, Richard A. Princetonians, 1776-1783: A Biographical Dictionary. Princeton Legacy Library 

v.559. Princeton: University Press, 1981. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt7ztwm7

Hutchinson, Elmer T., ed. Documents Relating to the Colonial, Revolutionary and Post-Revolutionary History of the State of New Jersey. Archives of the State of New Jersey, 1st series. Vol. 42. Calendar of Wills, Vol. 13, 1814-1817. Trenton, NJ: MacCrellish and Quigley, 1949. See abstract of the will of Joseph Clark on p. 84.https://archive.org/details/calendarofnewjer00unse_7
Record Contributor
Jesse Bayker
Linked Sources

Author:

  • Marriage record for Ambo and Mark Harris (Marriage record for Ambo and Mark Harris, September 8, 1811. Archival location: Presbyterian Historical Society, Philadelphia. Records of the First and Second Presbyterian Churches, New Brunswick, New Jersey (Call number: 07 0525). Volume 14: Church register, 1790–1867, including baptisms and marriages, 1797–1869. Subsection: Record of Marriages and Baptisms kept by Rev. Joseph Clark D.D. Pastor from January 1, 1797 to October 18, 1813 (pp. 218–226). Page 225.)

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