The first member of this Clark family to reach these shores was William Clark, who, according to James Savage, came to Dorchester MA in 1636. In 1659, he moved to Northampton, where he served as a lieutenant in King Phillip's War. His son William moved to Connecticut, becoming one of the original proprietors of Lebanon around 1698. His son, William, appears to have lived his life in that town, but many of his children headed west, first to Windsor, Berkshire County Massachusetts, and then to Naples, Ontario County NY.
Elijah Clark, youngest son of William of Lebanon, moved to Windsor, Berkshire County MA when a young man and served in the Revolutionary War. After the war, he married Lucy Brown and had a family; in 1791 he followed his older brother William Clark to Naples, Ontario County, NY, where he lived until he died.
Elijah's family was frought with tragedy; his namesake was imprisoned in the War of 1812 and died of some strange illness in 1814 which took his family and that of his brother, Calvin. His remaining son, John L. Clark, died in April of 1835, a few months before his father; John's wife, Jane Sophia Sabin Clark, died later in the year, leaving their children orphans. It has been particularly difficult to link John L. Clark with his father, as there is no direct evidence that has been found so far. However, land records indicate that John L. and Calvin E. Clark purchased land from Elijah Clark in 1809; John L. Clark was the administrator of the estate of Elijah Clark Jr. in 1814; his twin daughters bear the names of his mother and his mother in law. It has been equally difficult to find out exactly what happened to all of his children after John L. Clark died. To help with this information, a link will be given to the will of Huram Sabin, their paternal grandfather, as well as links to census records, marriage record information, and extracts from books. Posting this information is a work in progress. I hope the information given is helpful to the researcher on this particular Clark family.
Additional information on the children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren will be added as they are found. For more information on these generations, please go to Ruedger, Foster, and Related Families at WorldConnect.