Mary Clark

Notes:

Benjamin Dwight wrote that she was a "Daughter of Joseph CLARK of Windsor, Ct., and Frances---who m. March 22, 1639, for a second husband Thomas DEWEY of Westfield, Mass.---the progenitor of many DEWEY families of this country. (Vol. I, p. 20).

However, according to a post on GenForum, Surnames, Clark Family Genealogy Forum, this appears to be incorrect:

The Mary Clark who married John Strong is not the same person as the one who married Joseph Bird. They have often been confused.

Mary Clark who married Joseph Bird was without question the daughter of Joseph Clark of Windsor, CT. She and her brother Joseph are both named in Joseph's will of 1641. (He died 19 Apr 1641; the mother predeceased the father in 1639.) Joseph, Jr. died 2 May 1659, with his portion of the estate going to his sister Mary, age 21 in 1659. All of this is documented in Manwaring, "Early CT Probate Records," p. 108, vol. II. The original records are available on microfilm at the CT State Library in Hartford. I have seen several of them.

The "other" Mary Clark is more of a mystery, but Clarence Almon Torrey himself cleared up the controversy in July 1928 with an article in the NY Genealogical and Biographical Record," vol. 59, pp. 214-215.

In this short article, he discusses the misidentification by the "Dewey Genealogy," of the Mary Clarke who married John Strong, Jr., as the daughter of Joseph and Frances Clarke of Windsor. He proves the following three points:

(1) That Frances (_____) Clarke, widow, of Windsor, CT, who married Thomas Dewey, was not Joseph Clarke's widow.
(2) That it was Frances Clarke's daughter Mary, who married John Strong, Jr.
(3) That Joseph Clarke had a daughter Mary who became the wife of Joseph Bird of Farmington.

In short, Thomas Dewey and Frances Clarke were married March 22, 1638/9. Joseph Clark's wife died April 3, 1639. Joseph Clarke made his will Dec. 1, 1640. He died April 1641. Therefore Joseph Clarke died more than two years after Thomas Dewey married Francis Clarke and that Joseph's wife also died subsequent to this marriage. In Torrey's words, "Frances Clarke could not have been Joseph's widow."

The first husband of France Clarke is unknown, as is Frances' maiden name, according to Torrey.

The article is a model of quality genealogical deduction, BTW. Definitely worth seeking out a copy!

Steve Bird
http://genforum.genealogy.com/clark/messages/23975.html

Mary married John Strong, Jr. on 26 Nov 1656 in Windsor, Hartford County, Connecticut. John (son of Elder John Strong and Margerie Deane) was born before 22 Jul 1634 in Chard, Somerset, England; died on 20 Feb 1697 in Windsor, Hartford County, Connecticut. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Mary Strong was born on 22 Apr 1658 in Windsor, Hartford County, Connecticut; died about 1722.
2. Hannah Strong was born on 11 Aug 1660 in Windsor, Hartford County, Connecticut; died on 3 May 1730 in Connecticut; was buried in Grand Street Cemetery, Waterbury, New Haven County, Connecticut.