Rev. Thomas Clark

Rev. Clark was born in Cambridge, MA to Rev. Jonas and Elizabeth Clark. Rev. Jonas Clark was the Ruling Elder of the Puritan Church in Massachusetts Bay.

Rev. Thomas Clark He graduated from Harvard in 1670 and moved to Chelmsford soon after to assist Reverend John Fiske. During King Philip’s War he served as a chaplain of the local army for seven weeks and was paid 6 Pounds for his services.

In 1677/8 he was asked to become the Minister in Chelmsford. He was ordained in 1679.

During the 1691-1693 witch scare one woman of Chelmsford accused another of witchcraft. Rev. Clark ruled that it was the work of Satan “to render an innocent person suspected.” The woman was found innocent, and no more accusations were make in town.

Rev. Clark married twice, first in 1672 to Mary Bulkeley and second in 1702 to Elizabeth Whiting. He had six children, all with first wife. The eldest, Elizabeth, married Rev. John Hancock, and they were the grandparents of John Hancock of Revolutionary War fame.

Rev. Clark died of a fever on December 7, 1704 and was buried in the Forefathers Burying Ground on December 11.

The gravestone was carved my the Lamson family.