Joseph Clark (1751-1813)

Name

Joseph Clark (1751-1813)

Identifier

NJS-PER-00021

Given Name

Joseph

Family Name

Clark

Birth Date

21 October 1751

Death Date

19 October 1813

Sex

Male

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.

Spouse of

Margaret Imlay Clark (1756-1814)

Parent of

Hannah Clark

John Flavell Flavell Clark (1784-1853)

Peter Imlay Imlay Clark (1790-1863)

William Patterson Clark (1796-1857)

Organization

First Presbyterian Church of New Brunswick

Relation

John Neilson (1745-1833)

Bibliographic Citation

Harrison, Richard A. Princetonians, 1776-1783: A Biographical Dictionary. Princeton: University Press, 1981. Pages 317-323.

Hutchinson, Elmer T., ed. Documents Relating to the Colonial, Revolutionary and Post-Revolutionary History 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.)

Source Resource

https://records.njslavery.org/api/items/1241

Source Site

https://records.njslavery.org/s/doc/page/home

Occupation

Religious

Contributor

Jesse Bayker