` John Clark

1766 - 1832  (66 years)

• Name	John Clark
  Title	`
  Prefix	`
  Birth	28 Feb 1766	Edgecombe Co, NC
  Gender	Male
  Death	12 Oct 1832	`St. Andrews Bay, FL
  Person ID	I338	Georgia Revolutionary War Graves
  Last Modified	14 Aug 2022

  
  

• Notes

  John Clark was born on February 28, 1766, in Edgecombe County, North Carolina, so he was only 10 years old when the colonies declared their independence on July 4, 1776. John's early years of hunting and learning to use a gun and traps made him self-reliant by the age of five. His obituary from the Tallahassee Floridian tells us that during the Revolution he usually attended his father, the gallant Colonel Elijah Clarke, and participated in his father's many skirmishes and battles. At 14 he was sent to school in Wake County, North Carolina, but he didn't stay long. He joined a scouting party being raised to go against the British and Tories. When he returned from the scouting party, he found an opportunity to rejoin his father and abandoned formal schooling. Clark joined his father in the ranks of their countrymen and fought at the last siege of Augusta. Another account tells us that at 14, John became a Lieutenant in his father's Cavalry. At age sixteen he was appointed Lieutenant and then Captain of Militia. John Clark continued to fight the Tories with the same determination as his father. As a result he gained the reputation that he "knew no fear." John and his father were continually rewarded with land from the State of Georgia for their military efforts. After the war John Clark rose rapidly through the different grades of military command. In 1793 he was promoted to Brigadier General of the 1st Brigade, 3rd Division of the Georgia Militia. He served in the House of Representatives and as State Senator from Wilkes County. He was a trustee of the University of Georgia for 9 years. He stayed in the Georgia militia and commanded the Georgia coastal troops during the war of 1812. After the war, Clark returned to Georgia politics and was twice honored by election to the office of Governor of the State of Georgia. In 1827 he retreated to the secluded borders of St Andrews Bay in West Florida. There he accepted the appointment of Indian Agent from President Andrew Jackson. John Clark and his wife, the former Nancy Williamson, died in 1832 after contracting yellow fever. John Clark, veteran of both the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812, was a public servant for 42 years. The graves of Clark and his wife fell into neglect in Florida. In 1932, their bodies were brought back to Georgia by the Georgia Daughters of the American Revolution and re-interred in Marietta National Cemetery. He married Nancy Williamson. John Clark and his wife died in 1832 after contracting yellow fever. His obituary from the Tallahassee Floridian tells us that during the Revolution he usually attended his father, the gallant Colonel Elijah Clarke, and participated in his father's many skirmishes and battles. At 14 he was sent to school in Wake County, North Carolina, but he didn't stay long. He joined a scouting party being raised to go against the British and Tories. When he returned from the scouting party, he found an opportunity to rejoin his father and abandoned formal schooling. Clark joined his father in the ranks of their countrymen and fought at the last siege of Augusta. Another account tells us that at 14, John became a Lieutenant in his father's Cavalry. At age sixteen he was appointed Lieutenant and then Captain of Militia. John Clark continued to fight the Tories with the same determination as his father. As a result he gained the reputation that he "knew no fear." John and his father were continually rewarded with land from the State of Georgia for their military efforts. Piedmont, Captain John Collins, Button Gwinnett Chapters GA SAR marked the grave 09 Apr 2022.