John Clark- Mayflower Pilot

John Clark   10th Great Grandfather
1575-1624

John Clark baptized on 26 March 1575 in St. Mary's Thriploe, Cambridgeshire, England.  He first went to Jamestown, Virginia in March 1610 as a ship's pilot.  There, at Point Comfort, he was captured by the Spanish in June 1611.  He was taken captive to Havana, Cuba, where he was interrogated, and then sent to Seville, Spain, and then on to Madrid in 1613.  He was held as a prisoner until he was ransomed by King James I in exchange for a Spanish prisoner held by the English in 1616.  He immediately went back to his occupation as a ship's pilot, and took a shipment of cattle to Jamestown, Virginia in 1619 under some-time pirate Thomas Jones.  In 1620, he was hired to be the master's mate and pilot of the Mayflower, on its intended voyage to Northern Virginia.  While the Pilgrims were exploring Cape Cod and Plymouth Harbor, the shallop was caught in a storm and Clark brought them safely ashore at an Island, which is to this day known as Clark's Island.  After returning, John Clark decided to settle in Virginia himself.  He went to Jamestown in 1623 on the ship Providence, with the intention of settling there, but died not too long after his arrival.

John was a Quaker and he did not sign The Mayflower Compact.


Linage...Sandra Christensen-Phyllis Overstreet-Myrtle Ambrose-Thornton Ambrose-Ann Clark-Henry Clark-William Clark-John Clark-John Clark-Michael Clark-Edward Clark-John Clark