Samuel C. Clark

Narrative:

     Samuel C. Clark was born between 1765 and 1775.^3,4
     Samuel married Persly [surname unknown].⁵ Nothing is known of Samuel's ancestry. He would seem to have been a relative of Modena Chittenden Clark because of his close association with her husband in Eddyville, and the fact that he lived with them the remainder of his life after his wife died. But research of her family as failed to identify any connection. Her siblings are believed to be known, and he is not among them. But it appears that she may have had first cousins who are not known.
     He came to Eddyville, Kentucky, as part of the group from Vermont led by Matthew Lyon. He was apparently part of the first party, which arrived in the spring of 1800, as he was well established by the time the second party arrived 15 Jun 1801.^7,8,9 (For details, please see The Trek from Vermont to the Kentucky Wilderness.)
     Samuel seems to have taken an active part in his adopted community. On 7 Jul 1801 he was appointed one of the appraisers for an estate. On 2 Nov appointed surveyor of the road from Eddyville to Eddy Creek, and on 7 Jun 1803 for the road from Eddyville to Lick Creek.¹⁰ At the Nov 1809 term of the Caldwell Co. Court he along with Gideon Dyer Cobb, Elijah George Galusha Jr. and John Bradley posted a bond to build a brick court house in Eddyville for the new county of Caldwell.^11,12 (For more examples, see the extracted County Court Orders.)
     On 7 Jul 1801 Samuel's application for a grant of 400 acres in Livingston Co., Kentucky, was approved by the county court. But he did not make the required payments, so the request lapsed. While no deed has been found, he seems to have already purchased 200 acres on Eddy Creek. On the same day the County Court issued a writ of ad quod damnum for a water saw mill he wanted to build on this land, with the sheriff to summon twelve fit persons to examine the premises. The following month the jury reported that the mill dam would not harm any neighbors and he was authorized to build the mill.^13,14,15
     He was appointed jailor for Livingston Co. on 2 Apr 1805. On 1 Dec 1806 he and two others were appointed inspectors for the Eddyville ware house. He had also been appointed constable by this time.¹⁶
     On 27 Aug 1805, Samuel in partnership with Gideon Dyer Cobb, purchased lots 12 and 32, on Water, Franklin, and 2nd Steets in Eddyville, adjacent to Gideon's home and tavern.^17,18 Samuel must have moved in with Gideon and his family by 1807.¹⁹ On 7 Feb 1809 the two of them obtained a license to operate a tavern in their home, and apparently they operated it jointly. The tavern seems to have been a more welcoming in cold weather than the half-finished courthouse, as the county court for newly formed Caldwell Co. adjourned to there on at least six occasions in the winter months from 1810 through 1815.^20,21 He was probably one of the two males age 26 to 45 listed in the household of Gideon Dyer Cobb, in the 1810 Federal Census of Eddyville, Caldwell Co., Kentucky.^22,23
     He was appointed constable for the new county on 7 May 1810. On 23 May 1814 he was appointed jailor, and required to execute a $1,000 bond. Two months later he was appointed keeper of the stray pen.²⁴
     On 12 May 1814 Gideon's brother Joshua, of Greene Co., Pennsylvania, gave their younger brother John a power of attorney to recover debts owed to him by Cobb & Clark. There is no record of what those debts were.²⁵ On 25 Dec 1815 Samuel sold his interest in all four lots to Gideon for $500.²⁶
     He was replaced as jailor in Dec 1816, "dismissed from office for cruel and inhumane treatment toward a prisoner now Jail in this County," and ordered to deliver the keys to the jail, courthouse and stray pen to his successor. That did not however end his law enforcement career, as on 25 Aug 1817 he was re-appointed as constable, and again in 1818 and 1820, posting another $1,000 bond each time. He resigned that postion in 1821. He was commissioner of taxes for one constable's district in 1820, for which he was paid $35 for 35 days work.²⁷
     Samuel is probably one of the two males over age 45 listed in the household of Gideon Dyer Cobb in the 1820 Federal Census of Eddyville, Caldwell Co., Kentucky.²⁸
     Samuel sold a parcel of land and lot no. 67 in Eddyville to Caleb Clark Cobb on 27 Jun 1824, for $300.²⁹
     He was reported by Congressman Chittenden Lyon in 1828 as "poor" and having "lost one leg, amputated close up to the body." After he died later that year Gideon Cobb was paid $27 for his burial and other expenses.^30,31
     Samuel died before Nov 1828.⁶