John Clarke (October 1609 – 20 April 1676) was a physician,
Baptist
Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compe ...
minister, co-founder of the
Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, author of its influential charter, and a leading advocate of religious freedom in America.
Clarke was born in
Westhorpe, Suffolk
Westhorpe is a linear village and civil parish in the Mid Suffolk district of Suffolk, England. The village is from the town of Bury St. Edmunds, from Stowmarket, and from the villages of Wyverstone and Finningham.
Westhorpe Hall was a form ...
, England. He received an extensive education, including a master's degree in England followed by medical training in
Leiden
Leiden (; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 119,713, but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration wi ...
, Holland. He arrived at the
Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1637 during the
Antinomian Controversy
The Antinomian Controversy, also known as the Free Grace Controversy, was a religious and political conflict in the Massachusetts Bay Colony from 1636 to 1638. It pitted most of the colony's ministers and magistrates against some adherents of ...
and decided to go to
Aquidneck Island with many exiles from the conflict. He became a co-founder of
Portsmouth
Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council.
Portsmouth is the most dens ...
and
Newport, Rhode Island
Newport is an American seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, and northeast of New Yor ...
, and he established America's second Baptist church in Newport. Baptists were considered heretics and were banned from Massachusetts, but Clarke wanted to make inroads there and spent time in the Boston jail after making a mission trip to the town of
Lynn, Massachusetts
Lynn is the eighth-largest municipality in Massachusetts and the largest city in Essex County. Situated on the Atlantic Ocean, north of the Boston city line at Suffolk Downs, Lynn is part of Greater Boston's urban inner core. Settled by E ...
. Following his poor treatment in prison, he went to England where he published a book on the persecutions of the Baptists in Massachusetts and on his theological beliefs. The fledgling Rhode Island colony needed an agent in England, so he remained there for more than a decade handling the colony's interests.
The other New England colonies were hostile to Rhode Island, and both Massachusetts Bay and
Connecticut Colony had made incursions into Rhode Island territory. After the restoration of the monarchy in England in 1660, it was imperative that Rhode Island receive a royal charter to protect its territorial integrity. It was Clarke's role to obtain such a document, and he saw this as an opportunity to include religious freedoms never seen before in any constitutional charter. He wrote ten petitions and letters to
King Charles II and negotiated for months with Connecticut over territorial boundaries. Finally, he drafted the
Rhode Island Royal Charter
The Rhode Island Royal Charter provided royal recognition to the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, approved by England's King Charles II in July 1663. It outlined many freedoms for the inhabitants of Rhode Island and was the ...
and presented it to the king, and it was approved with the king's seal on 8 July 1663. This charter granted unprecedented freedom and religious liberty to Rhode Islanders and remained in effect for 180 years, making it the longest-lasting constitutional charter in history.
Clarke returned to Rhode Island following his success at procuring the charter; he became very active in civil affairs there, and continued to pastor his church in Newport until his death in 1676. He left an extensive will, setting up the first educational trust in America. He was an avid proponent of the notion of
soul-liberty that was included in the Rhode Island charter—and later in the United States Constitution.
Early life
John Clarke was born at
Westhorpe in the county of
Suffolk, England, and was baptized there on 8 October 1609. He was one of seven children of Thomas Clarke and Rose Kerrich (or Kerridge), six of whom left England and settled in New England. No definitive record has been found concerning his life in England other than the parish records of his baptism and those of his siblings.
Clarke was apparently highly educated, judging from the fact that he arrived in New England at the age of 28 qualified as both a physician and a Baptist minister. His many years of study become evident through a book that he wrote and published in 1652, and through his masterful authorship of the
Rhode Island Royal Charter
The Rhode Island Royal Charter provided royal recognition to the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, approved by England's King Charles II in July 1663. It outlined many freedoms for the inhabitants of Rhode Island and was the ...
of 1663; further, his will mentions his Hebrew and Greek books, as well as a concordance and lexicon that he wrote himself.
The difficulty with tracing Clarke's life in England stems largely from his very common name. Rhode Island historian
George Andrews Moriarty, Jr wrote that this was probably the same John Clarke who attended
St Catharine's College, Cambridge, but he may also have received a bachelor's degree from
Brasenose College, Oxford in 1628 and a master's degree there in 1632. Another clue to his education comes from a catalog of students from
Leiden University in Holland, one of Europe's primary medical schools at the time. The school's ledger of graduates includes, in Latin, "Johannes Clarcq, Anglus, 17 July 1635-273" (translated as John Clark, England). It is apparent that Clarke earned a master's degree from the concordance that he wrote, where the authorship is given as "John Clarke, Master of Arts".
Rhode Island
Clarke arrived in
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
in the
Massachusetts Bay Colony in November 1637 when the colony was in the midst of the major theological and political crisis known as the
Antinomian Controversy
The Antinomian Controversy, also known as the Free Grace Controversy, was a religious and political conflict in the Massachusetts Bay Colony from 1636 to 1638. It pitted most of the colony's ministers and magistrates against some adherents of ...
. A major division had occurred within the Boston church between proponents of so-called
"covenant of grace" theology, led by
John Cotton, and proponents of so-called
"covenant of works", led by
John Wilson and others.
The controversy ultimately resulted in many people leaving Massachusetts Bay Colony, either voluntarily or by banishment. Some went north in November 1637 to found the town of
Exeter, New Hampshire
Exeter is a town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 16,049 at the 2020 census, up from 14,306 at the 2010 census. Exeter was the county seat until 1997, when county offices were moved to neighboring Brentwood. ...
, while a larger group were uncertain where to go. They contacted
Roger Williams, who suggested that they purchase land from the
Narragansett people
The Narragansett people are an Algonquian American Indian tribe from Rhode Island. Today, Narragansett people are enrolled in the federally recognized Narragansett Indian Tribe. They gained federal recognition in 1983.
The tribe was nearly la ...
along the
Narragansett Bay
Narragansett Bay is a bay and estuary on the north side of Rhode Island Sound covering , of which is in Rhode Island. The bay forms New England's largest estuary, which functions as an expansive natural harbor and includes a small archipelago. Sm ...
, near his settlement of
Providence Plantations
Providence Plantations was the first permanent European American settlement in the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. It was established by a group of colonists led by Roger Williams and Dr. John Clarke who left Massachusetts Bay ...
. John Clarke apparently went with both groups, based on what he wrote in his book: "By reason of the suffocating heat of the summer before
637 I went to the North to be somewhat cooler, but the winter following
637–38proved so cold, that we were forced in the spring to make towards the South."
![Portsmouth Compact document](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/12/Portsmouth_Compact_document.jpg)
Clarke joined a group of men at the Boston home of
William Coddington
William Coddington (c. 1601 – 1 November 1678) was an early magistrate of the Massachusetts Bay Colony and later of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. He served as the judge of Portsmouth and Newport, governor of Portsmouth ...
on 7 March 1638, and they drafted the
Portsmouth Compact
The Portsmouth Compact was a document signed on March 7, 1638 that established the settlement of Portsmouth, which is now a town in the state of Rhode Island. It was the first document in American history that severed both political and religious ...
. Some historians suggest that Clarke wrote the document, based on its religious sentiment.
23 men signed the document which was intended to form a "Bodie Politick" based on Christian principles, and Coddington was chosen as the leader of the group.
Roger Williams suggested two places where the exiles could settle on the
Narraganset Bay: Sowams (which became
Barrington and
Warren, Rhode Island) and
Aquidneck Island (which was called Rhode Island at the time). Williams was uncertain about English claims to these lands, so Clarke led a delegation of three men to
Plymouth Colony
Plymouth Colony (sometimes Plimouth) was, from 1620 to 1691, the first permanent English colony in New England and the second permanent English colony in North America, after the Jamestown Colony. It was first settled by the passengers on the ...
where he was informed that Sowams was under their jurisdiction but Aquidneck Island was not. This suited Clarke, whose desire for the exiles was to "get clear of all, and be ourselves". Aquidneck was in the territory of the
Narragansett people
The Narragansett people are an Algonquian American Indian tribe from Rhode Island. Today, Narragansett people are enrolled in the federally recognized Narragansett Indian Tribe. They gained federal recognition in 1983.
The tribe was nearly la ...
, and Williams suggested that the Colonists pay them for the land with tools, coats, and
wampum
Wampum is a traditional shell bead of the Eastern Woodlands tribes of Native Americans. It includes white shell beads hand-fashioned from the North Atlantic channeled whelk shell and white and purple beads made from the quahog or Western Nor ...
. On 24 March 1638, Williams drew up the deed granting Aquidneck Island to the settlers, which was signed "at Narragansett" (likely Providence) by
sachem
Sachems and sagamores are paramount chiefs among the Algonquians or other Native American tribes of northeastern North America, including the Iroquois. The two words are anglicizations of cognate terms (c. 1622) from different Eastern Al ...
s
Canonicus
Canonicus (c. 1565 – June 4, 1647) was a chief of the Narragansett Indigenous Peoples. He was wary of the colonial settlers, but he ultimately befriended Roger Williams and other settlers.
Biography
Canonicus was born around 1565,Benjami ...
and
Miantonomi
Miantonomoh (1600? – August 1643), also spelled Miantonomo, Miantonomah or Miantonomi, was a chief of the Narragansett people of New England Indians.
Biography
He was a nephew of the Narragansett grand sachem, Canonicus (died 1647), with whom h ...
, with Williams and
Randall Holden as witnesses. The names of many of the settlers were included on the deed; Coddington's name appeared first because he was responsible for the gratuity.
Clarke joined
William
William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...
and
Anne Hutchinson
Anne Hutchinson (née Marbury; July 1591 – August 1643) was a Puritan spiritual advisor, religious reformer, and an important participant in the Antinomian Controversy which shook the infant Massachusetts Bay Colony from 1636 to 1638. Her ...
and many others in building the new settlement of Pocasset on Aquidneck Island. Within a year, however, there was dissension among the leaders, and Clarke joined Coddington and
others in moving to the south end of the island, establishing the town of
Newport. On 2 January 1639, Clarke and three others were appointed to survey the new lands around Newport, and they were appointed to proportion it among the inhabitants on 5 June.
In 1640, the towns of Portsmouth and Newport united and Coddington was elected its governor. Roger Williams wanted royal recognition for these settlements and protection against encroachments from their neighbors of Massachusetts, Plymouth, and Connecticut. In 1643, he went to England to obtain a patent bringing all four towns (Newport, Portsmouth, Providence, and
Warwick
Warwick ( ) is a market town, civil parish and the county town of Warwickshire in the Warwick District in England, adjacent to the River Avon. It is south of Coventry, and south-east of Birmingham. It is adjoined with Leamington Spa and Whi ...
) under one government. Coddington was opposed to the patent because the two island towns had grown and prospered much more than the mainland towns of Providence and Warwick. He managed to keep the island towns separate until 1647 when the four towns finally adopted the patent and became the
Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations.
Clarke had some legal training, and historian Albert Henry Newman argued that he was the principal author of the first complete code of laws that was enacted by the fledgling colony in 1647. Rhode Island historian and Lieutenant Governor
Samuel G. Arnold
Samuel Greene Arnold Jr. (April 12, 1821February 14, 1880) was an attorney and politician from Rhode Island. A Republican, he was most notable for his service as lieutenant governor and as a United States senator.
Early life
Born in Providence ...
extolled the virtues of this code, calling it a model of legislation which has not been surpassed.
Founding of the Newport church
In 1638,
Roger Williams established a church in
Providence which is now known as the
First Baptist Church in America. The next Baptist congregation was established by John Clarke on
Rhode Island
Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area and the seventh-least populous, with slightly fewer than 1.1 million residents as of 2020, but it ...
and likely had its beginnings when he arrived on the island in 1638. Massachusetts Governor
John Winthrop
John Winthrop (January 12, 1587/88 – March 26, 1649) was an English Puritan lawyer and one of the leading figures in founding the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the second major settlement in New England following Plymouth Colony. Winthrop led t ...
wrote that there were "professed
Anabaptists" on the island from 1640 to 1641. Boston lawyer Thomas Lechford wrote that there was a church on the island in 1640 of which Clarke was the elder or pastor, but he understood that it had been dissolved. Nevertheless, Clarke conducted public worship in
Newport from the time of his arrival until 1644, when a church at Newport was founded. The church remains active as a
Reformed Baptist Church and carries the name of
United Baptist Church, John Clarke Memorial in honor of its founder.
Baptist activism
In 1649, Clarke went to
Seekonk (then in Plymouth Colony but later in
Rehoboth, Massachusetts) to help organize a Baptist church. Roger Williams confirmed this in a letter to Governor Winthrop: "At Seekonk, a great many have lately concurred with Mr. John Clarke, and our Providence men, about the point of a new baptism and the manner by dipping; and Mr. John Clarke hath been there lately, and Mr. Lucar, and hath dipped them. I believe their practice comes nearer to the first practice of our great Founder, Christ Jesus, than other practices of religion do." Several members of the Seekonk church had quarreled with their minister Samuel Newman and had broken off from the main church, largely over the issue of infant baptism. Hearing of this division, Clarke and Lucar went to welcome the dissidents and baptize them by immersion. One of the Seekonk men was
Obadiah Holmes
Obadiah Holmes (1610 – 15 October 1682) was an early Rhode Island settler, and a Baptist minister who was whipped in the Massachusetts Bay Colony for his religious beliefs and activism. He became the pastor of the Baptist Church in Newport, ...
who is considered a "pugnacious man
nda hot-tempered fault-finder" by Clarke biographer Sydney James.
The Massachusetts clergymen and magistrates were angered when they learned of the Seekonk baptisms. In their eyes, they invalidated the earlier baptisms which the parishioners had undergone as children, and also invalidated the ministers who performed them. The magistrates wrote to their counterparts in Plymouth accusing them of doing nothing about the practices. The Seekonk church then excommunicated Holmes and he was compelled to move to Newport in 1650 or 1651 with a few other dissidents, following court action against him. He subsequently became an elder of the Newport church.
Imprisonment
![JohnEndecottPortrait](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7e/JohnEndecottPortrait.jpg)
William Witter was an elderly blind man with Baptist sentiments who was living in
Lynn, Massachusetts
Lynn is the eighth-largest municipality in Massachusetts and the largest city in Essex County. Situated on the Atlantic Ocean, north of the Boston city line at Suffolk Downs, Lynn is part of Greater Boston's urban inner core. Settled by E ...
in July 1651. He wanted to connect with his Baptist faith, but he was too infirm to travel to Newport, so Clarke,
Obadiah Holmes
Obadiah Holmes (1610 – 15 October 1682) was an early Rhode Island settler, and a Baptist minister who was whipped in the Massachusetts Bay Colony for his religious beliefs and activism. He became the pastor of the Baptist Church in Newport, ...
, and
John Crandall visited him at his home. The party arrived on Saturday 19 July and held a religious service the next day. Those present included family and visitors and "four or five strangers that came in unexpected". During the service, two constables appeared with a warrant signed by local magistrate Robert Bridge calling for the arrest of Clarke and his two associates. No baptisms had been performed, but the wording of the warrant suggested that this was the reason for the men's arrest. The men were forced to attend a Puritan religious service against their will, and they refused to remove their hats in church. Clarke stood at the end of the service and explained to the congregation why they refused to remove their hats. The men were detained that evening, then brought before the local magistrates the following day. They were free to return to Witter's after being arraigned and before being taken to Boston. Clarke conducted a service and Holmes baptized three people.
The prisoners were taken to Boston on 22 July and held until their trial on 31 July. They were brought before Governor
John Endicott for questioning and were accused of being
Anabaptists. Clarke replied that he was neither an Anabaptist, nor a
Pedobaptist (one favoring infant baptism), nor a Catabaptist (one opposing infant baptism). The governor said that the three men "deserved death, and he would not have such trash brought into his jurisdiction."
During the trial, the court was represented by Governor Endicott, Deputy Governor
Thomas Dudley
Thomas Dudley (12 October 157631 July 1653) was a New England colonial magistrate who served several terms as governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Dudley was the chief founder of Newtowne, later Cambridge, Massachusetts, and built the tow ...
, and magistrates
Richard Bellingham
Richard Bellingham (c. 1592 – 7 December 1672) was a colonial magistrate, lawyer, and several-time governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and the last surviving signatory of the colonial charter at his death. A wealthy lawyer in Lincolnsh ...
, William Hibbins, and
Increase Nowell. The Reverend
John Cotton weighed in with denunciation for the prisoners, and the Reverend
John Wilson struck Holmes while he was in the protection of the court. The men were charged with: (1) holding an unauthorized religious meeting; (2) disrupting an authorized meeting (wearing their hats); (3) administering sacraments illegally; (4) maintaining that the Massachusetts churches were not true churches; and (5) maintaining that infant baptism was false baptism. The men were sentenced without any accuser or witness speaking out against them.
The outcome of the trial was that Holmes was fined £30, Clarke £20, and Crandall £5. Holmes had been given the heaviest fine because of his excommunication in Seekonk and for administering the baptisms in Lynn. Clarke protested their heavy fines, and Governor Endicott replied that Clarke "was worthy to be hanged." In court, Endicott told Clarke that his beliefs would not stand up to those of the Puritan ministers. Clarke responded to this by writing a letter to the court from prison the following day, accepting the implied challenge to have a debate with the Puritan ministers on religious beliefs and practices. The challenge was initially accepted, but Clarke's fine was paid by some friends without his knowledge and he was released from jail. He left the area, and was then accused by the Puritan elders of defaulting on the challenge. He made two more attempts to debate the Puritan clergy, but the case was dropped by the court and the debate never took place. Clarke had drafted four points of discussion which detailed his beliefs and position.
![Holmes](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b4/Holmes.Obadiah.whipping.jpg)
Friends raised the money to pay the fines for Clarke and Crandall, but without their consent and contrary to their wishes. As soon as Holmes discovered what was happening, he was able to forbid the payment of his fine as a matter of conscience, though friends attempted to pay for him as well. As a result, Holmes was taken to the town's whipping post on 5 September 1651 and given 30 lashes with a three-corded whip. He told the magistrates, "You have struck me as with roses", and he claimed to have felt no pain during the incident; however, he could only sleep by resting on his knees and elbows for many days afterwards. Much later, Rhode Island Governor
Joseph Jenckes wrote, "Those who have seen the scars on Mr. Holmes' back (which the old man was wont to call the marks of the Lord Jesus), have expressed a wonder that he should live."
Aftermath
Following the men's arrest and ill treatment, Sir
Richard Saltonstall
Sir Richard Saltonstall (baptised Halifax, England 4 April 1586 – October 1661) led a group of English settlers up the Charles River to settle in what is now Watertown, Massachusetts in 1630.
He was a nephew of the Lord Mayor of London R ...
wrote from England to Reverends Cotton and Wilson of the Boston church: "These rigid wayes have lay'd you very lowe in the hearts of the saynts." Shortly after the incident,
Roger Williams wrote a letter to Governor Endicott, making an earnest plea for toleration in matters of conscience and religion, but the request was unheeded. However, Williams did not let the matter rest, and used Clarke and Holmes as the subjects of his book ''The Bloody Tenent Yet More Bloody'' (1652). Williams gave a copy of this book to Clarke and wrote in the front: "For his honoured and beloved Mr. John Clarke, an eminent witnes of Christ Jesus ag'st ye bloodie Doctrine of persecution, &c."
One positive outcome of the ordeal endured by these men was the conversion and baptism of some of the witnesses. One such witness was
Henry Dunster
Henry Dunster (November 26, 1609 (baptized) – February 27, 1658/59) was an Anglo-American Puritan clergyman and the first president of Harvard College. Brackney says Dunster was "an important precursor" of the Baptist denomination in America, ...
, the first president of
Harvard College
Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...
. Dunster's conversion in faith resulted in his removal as president in 1654, but helped inspire the creation of the
First Baptist Church of Boston
The First Baptist Church (or "Brattle Square Church") is an historic American Baptist Churches USA congregation, established in 1665. It is one of the oldest Baptist churches in the United States. It first met secretly in members homes, and ...
. Some scholars have argued that Clarke's mission trip was planned to provoke the Massachusetts officials in order to support the cause of Rhode Island in England. Shortly after Clarke arrived in England, he published ''Ill Newes from New-England, documenting the ordeal at the hands of the Massachusetts authorities''. The book was an appeal to the king outlining the case for religious tolerance, and it was instrumental in shaping public opinion and generating support for a charter for the Rhode Island colony.
Time in England
William Coddington
William Coddington (c. 1601 – 1 November 1678) was an early magistrate of the Massachusetts Bay Colony and later of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. He served as the judge of Portsmouth and Newport, governor of Portsmouth ...
was unhappy with the colonial patent that Roger Williams had obtained in 1643, and he was resistant to consolidating the four settlements into the unified
Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, which ultimately came about in 1647 as a result of the patent. He wanted colonial independence for the two island towns of Newport and Portsmouth, and decided to go to England to present his case to the Colonial Commissioners in London. On 3 April 1651, the Council of State of England gave Coddington the commission of a separate government for the island of
Aquidneck
Aquidneck Island, also known as Rhode Island, is an island in Narragansett Bay in the state of Rhode Island. The total land area is , which makes it the largest island in the bay. The 2020 United States Census reported its population as 60,109. T ...
and for the smaller neighboring island of
Conanicut
Conanicut Island is the second-largest island in Narragansett Bay in the American state of Rhode Island. It is connected on the east to Newport on Aquidneck Island via the Claiborne Pell Bridge, commonly known as the Newport Bridge, and on t ...
(later
Jamestown, Rhode Island
Jamestown is a town in Newport County, Rhode Island in the United States. The population was 5,559 at the 2020 census. Jamestown is situated almost entirely on Conanicut Island, the second largest island in Narragansett Bay. It also includes the u ...
), with him as governor for life.
Repeal of Coddington Commission
Criticism arose as soon as Coddington returned to Rhode Island with his commission. In September 1651,
William Arnold summed up the feelings of many of the Providence settlers when he wrote, "Whereas Mr. Coddington have gotten a charter of Road Iland and Conimacuke Iland to himself, he have thereby broken the force of their charter that went under the name of Providence, because he have gotten away the greater part of that colonie." Clarke voiced his opposition to Coddington's rule of the island, and he was commissioned as the island's agent to England on 15 October 1651. The following month, he and
William Dyer were sent to England to get the Coddington commission revoked. Simultaneously, the mainland towns of Providence and Warwick sent Roger Williams on a similar errand, and the three men sailed for England in November 1651, just a few months after Clarke had been released from prison. The men did not meet with the Council of State on New England until April 1652 because of recent hostilities between the English and the Dutch.
Coddington's commission for the island government was revoked in October 1652, with the help of
Henry Vane. William Dyer returned to Rhode Island the following February, bringing the news of the return of the colony to the Williams Patent of 1643, but Clarke remained in England with his wife.
''Ill Newes from New England''
Very soon after arriving in England, Clarke published ''Ill Newes from New England: or a Narrative of New England's Persecution'' (1652). The book begins with a letter to the English Parliament and Council of State, conveying an earnest plea for liberty of conscience and religious toleration. This is followed by another letter addressed to the Puritan leaders in Massachusetts. The largest part of the book is devoted to Clarke's beliefs on conducting a church and why he thought that the Massachusetts churches were proceeding in the wrong direction. Less than half of the book concerns the persecution that Clarke and his companions experienced at the hands of the Massachusetts authorities. He wrote, "it is not the will of the Lord that any one should have dominion over another man's conscience. ...
onscienceis such a sparkling beam from the Father of lights and spirits that it cannot be lorded over, commanded, or forced, either by men, devils, or angels."
The book ultimately had the desired effect. The Massachusetts authorities became so alarmed over the contents of ''Ill Newes'' that Thomas Cobbet, the minister of the Lynn church, wrote a rebuttal entitled ''The Civil Magistrates Power in Matters of Religion Modestly Debated'' (1653). This book defended the use of force to maintain the "correct" church in the Massachusetts colony. This response was well written, but it did more to confirm the persecutions of Clarke's party than to defend the Massachusetts position. Ultimately, the book helped Rhode Island secure significant religious liberties, prompting one Baptist historian to describe Clarke as "the Baptist drum major for freedom in seventeenth century America."
Rhode Island agent
Clarke was Rhode Island's official agent in England, although he received little compensation for his work. However, he remained active in his religious commitment and joined a
Particular Baptist
Reformed Baptists (sometimes known as Particular Baptists or Calvinistic Baptists) are Baptists that hold to a Calvinist soteriology (salvation). The first Calvinist Baptist church was formed in the 1630s. The 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith w ...
church under the pastorship of William Kiffin. One of his means of support was preaching at this church, which he called his "cheefe place for proffitt and preference", possibly because this arrangement offered him room and board. He also offered legal services and practiced medicine in London.
Most of Clarke's time in England was during the
Interregnum, when rule of the country was under
Parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...
and
Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three K ...
as the
Lord Protector. Clarke's primary purpose there was to secure a strengthened charter for the
Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations ensuring the religious liberties on which the colony had been founded, and Cromwell confirmed the validity of Rhode Island's 1643 patent. Clarke also assisted the colony in 1656 by sending home four barrels of powder and eight barrels of shot and bullets, and in 1657 he handled a letter from the colony requesting assistance with legal proceedings against
William Harris William or Will or Willie Harris may refer to:
Politicians and political activists
*William Harris (born 1504) (1504–?), MP for Newport, Cornwall
*William Harris (died 1556), MP for Maldon (UK Parliament constituency), Maldon
*William Harris (MP ...
.
An important acquaintance of Clarke's in London was Richard Baily, who provided him with legal expertise, helped him draft petitions to the king, and may have even helped him write Rhode Island's charter. When Clarke eventually returned to Newport, Baily sailed with him, later providing additional legal counsel and writing Clarke's extensive will.
Negotiating a charter
![King Charles II by John Michael Wright or studio](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/51/King_Charles_II_by_John_Michael_Wright_or_studio.jpg)
In 1660,
Charles II ascended the throne of England, and within two years the
Act of Uniformity was passed requiring unified religious observances centered on the Anglican Church. The new king harbored prejudices against the Presbyterians, Independents, and Baptists, increasing Clarke's difficulty in crafting a charter that included religious freedoms. Clarke's commission as the agent for Rhode Island was renewed on 18 October 1660, and he filed at least ten petitions and letters to the king between 1661 and 1662. He offered the king the complete loyalty of the Rhode Island colony, and then requested the king's sympathy and support to guarantee freedom of conscience in the pursuit of religious worship.
Clarke wrote a particularly eloquent proposal in a petition received by the crown on 5 February 1661, with certain words emboldened within the document. His earnest request was "TO HOLD FORTH A LIVELY EXPERIMENT THAT A MOST FLOURISHING CIVILL STATE MAY STAND ... AND BEST BE MAINTAYNED ... WITH A FULL LIBERTIE IN RELIGIOUS CONCERNMENTS". These words became emblematic of Rhode Island's struggle for religious freedom and were soon included in the charter itself—and much later were chiseled on the frieze of the Rhode Island State House. One of the later petitions dealt heavily with the boundary issues between the Rhode Island and Connecticut colonies. Clarke had to wait nearly a year for any action on the various petitions.
An unforeseen emergency occurred in the spring of 1662 when
Connecticut Colony Governor
John Winthrop, Jr. was given an audience with the king ahead of Clarke, and he obtained a new charter for his colony. Winthrop was on good terms with many Rhode Islanders, but he also had a stake in the Atherton Company, which undermined the sovereignty of Rhode Island by buying large tracts of land from the
Narragansett people
The Narragansett people are an Algonquian American Indian tribe from Rhode Island. Today, Narragansett people are enrolled in the federally recognized Narragansett Indian Tribe. They gained federal recognition in 1983.
The tribe was nearly la ...
west of the
Narraganset Bay, where Rhode Island claimed the territory. Clarke regarded Winthrop's conduct as treacherous, and Winthrop avoided Clarke while in England; he was able to get his charter approved in May 1662.
![Clark](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9b/Clark.John.quote.RI_state_house.JPG)
The
Earl of Clarendon
Earl of Clarendon is a title that has been created twice in British history, in 1661 and 1776.
The family seat is Holywell House, near Swanmore, Hampshire.
First creation of the title
The title was created for the first time in the Peera ...
recognized the conflict between Connecticut and Rhode Island. He summoned Winthrop and Clarke in July 1662, representing the king in hopes of settling the boundary dispute between the two colonies. Both colonies claimed the territory between the Pawcatuck River and the Narragansett Bay. The boundary line between the two colonies was ultimately set at the Pawcatuck River, after months of negotiations involving lawyers and arbitrators on both sides. Those who had settled on Atherton Company lands were allowed to choose whether to be governed by Connecticut or Rhode Island. Once the agreement was reached, Winthrop returned to New England while Clarke made his final push for Rhode Island's charter.
Following all the furore over the land boundaries, none of the other provisions of the proposed charter aroused any debate. Many of the provisions of Rhode Island's charter were like those in Connecticut's, except that Connecticut wanted a government similar to that of Massachusetts, while Rhode Island wanted the same self-government of the freemen that had been granted earlier in the 1643 patent. However, the Rhode Island charter went much further in its guarantees of religious freedom.
Rhode Island's Royal Charter
![Rhode Island Royal Charter 1663](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d8/Rhode_Island_Royal_Charter_1663.jpg)
Once the boundary issue between Rhode Island and Connecticut was resolved, the long-awaited charter, drafted by Clarke, was given the king's seal on 8 July 1663. The document was remarkable in that it not only offered corporate powers beyond what most English bureaucrats thought prudent, but offered a degree of religious freedom without precedent. The provisions of this charter were so far-reaching that not only would Rhode Island proceed as an autonomous entity, but the document would remain in effect for 180 years.
In this charter, colonial boundaries were outlined, provisions for a military and for prosecuting war were effected, fishing privileges were secured, and a means of appeal to England was detailed. The charter guaranteed the rights of Rhode Island residents to travel freely within the other colonies, which rights had been curtailed due to religious reasons in the past. The new charter also forbade the other New England colonies from making war against the Indians within Rhode Island, without its permission, and also directed that disputes with other colonies would be appealed to the crown. It also outlined provisions for colonial representation, specifying a colonial governor, deputy governor, and ten assistants (called magistrates because of their judicial role). In addition, the number of deputies allotted to each town was specified.
Of paramount importance to Clarke was the charter's explicit guarantee of religious freedom. It excused Rhode Islanders from conformity with the Anglican Church "because some of the people ... cannot, in their private Opinions, conform to the publique exercise of religion ..." It also took some of the language from the
Declaration of Breda:
that no person within the said colony, at any time hereafter shall be any wise molested arassed punished, disquieted, or called in question, for any differences in opinion in matters of religion, and do not actually disturb the civil peace of our said colony; but that all and every person and persons may, from time to time, and at all times hereafter, freely and fully have and enjoy his and their own judgments and consciences, in matters of religious concernments, throughout the tract of land hereafter mentioned, they behaving themselves peaceable and quietly ...
Once he had the cherished document in hand, it was imperative for Clarke to get it sent to Rhode Island. However, he had received very little remuneration for his diplomatic efforts and did not have the funds to immediately sail back to New England. He therefore entrusted the charter to Captain George Baxter, who carried it to Rhode Island. On 24 November 1663 Rhode Island's General Court of Commissioners convened at Newport for the last time under the parliamentary patent of 1643. The inhabitants and legislators had gathered to receive the result of Clarke's decade-long labors. The magnitude and solemnity of the occasion was captured in the colonial records:
At a very great meeting and assembly of the freemen of the colony of Providence Plantation, at Newport, in Rhode Island, in New England, November the 24th, 1663. The abovesayed Assembly being legally called and orderly mett for the sollome reception of his Majestyes gratious letter pattent unto them sent, and having in order thereto chosen the President, Benedict Arnold, Moderator of the Assembly, t wasVoted: That the box in which the King's gratious letters were enclosed be opened, and the letters with the broad seale thereto affixed be taken forth and read by Captayne George Baxter in the audience and view of all the people; which was accordingly done, and the sayd letters with his Majesty's Royall Stampe, and the broad seal, with much becoming gravity held up on hygh, and presented to the perfect view of the people, and then returned into the box and locked up by the Governor, in order to the safe keeping of it.
The following day it was voted that words of humble thanks be delivered to the King and also to the Earl of Clarendon, and that a £100 gratuity be given to Clarke. The charter stood the test of time, and it wasn't until 1843, 180 years after its creation, that the charter was finally replaced by the
Constitution of Rhode Island
The Constitution of the State of Rhode Island is a document describing the structure and function of the government of the U.S. State of Rhode Island.
1842 Constitution Constitutional Convention
Prior to 1842, Rhode Island was still governed by ...
, and only for the one reason that the apportionment of representatives for the several towns "could no longer be rendered as just in operation and could only be remedied by alteration of the organic law." When the document was ultimately retired, it was the longest surviving constitutional charter in the world. It was so far-reaching that even the
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
did not change its position, since both the revolution and the charter rested on the same foundation—the inherent right of self-government.
Later life
With the royal charter ready to travel to New England, Clarke had to begin gathering funds to get himself back as well. Only a week after the king put his seal on the charter, Clarke made an indenture with Richard Deane of London, mortgaging his Newport properties to raise money. Even this didn't ensure his immediate departure from England, and it wasn't until the following spring that he was able to make the voyage back to Rhode Island. He and his wife sailed aboard ''The Sisters'' of London, carrying their belongings and a shipment of armaments for the colony.
Despite the magnanimous provisions of Rhode Island's charter, it did not definitively settle the land disputes with Connecticut, which would continue for more than half a century. Nor did it settle the issue with the Atherton Company, occupying two large tracts of land within Rhode Island's "Narragansett country". Fortuitous for the Rhode Island colony, however, was the arrival in 1664 of a group of royal commissioners.
Samuel Gorton
Samuel Gorton (1593–1677) was an early settler and civic leader of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations and President of the towns of Providence and Warwick. He had strong religious beliefs which differed from Puritan the ...
had told the crown that in 1644 the
Narragansett people
The Narragansett people are an Algonquian American Indian tribe from Rhode Island. Today, Narragansett people are enrolled in the federally recognized Narragansett Indian Tribe. They gained federal recognition in 1983.
The tribe was nearly la ...
had submitted themselves to England's king. Once the newly arrived commissioners verified this, they declared all of the Narragansett territory (what is now
Washington County and a part of
Kent County, Rhode Island
Kent County is a county located in the U.S. state of Rhode Island. As of the 2020 census, the population was 170,363, making it the second-most populous county in Rhode Island. The county was formed in 1750 from the southern third of Providen ...
, including the Atherton tracts), to be Kings Province. One of the commissioners was
Samuel Maverick
Samuel Augustus Maverick (July 23, 1803 – September 2, 1870) was a Texas lawyer, politician, land baron and signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence. His name is the source of the term "maverick," first cited in 1867, which means "indepe ...
, a good friend of Rhode Island's recent governor
William Brenton
William Brenton (c. 1610–1674) was a colonial President, Deputy Governor, and Governor of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, and an early settler of Portsmouth and Newport in the Rhode Island colony. Austin and other hist ...
, who abhorred the Atherton Company. Clarke was one of three men allowed to present Rhode Island's views on the land disputes, and the commissioners ultimately took a strong stance in favor of Rhode Island. Eventually, the Atherton Company lost its Narragansett property, and the Kings Province became a part of the Rhode Island colony.
Civil roles
Following his great usefulness in England, Clarke became further involved in the affairs of the Rhode Island colony upon his return. He served for six years, from 1664 to 1671, as a Deputy from Newport in the General Assembly, and then served as the Deputy Governor under Governor
Benedict Arnold for two of the three years between 1669 and 1672. With his legal background, he was appointed in October 1666 to make a digest of Rhode Island laws. In June 1670 and again in March 1672 he was chosen as an agent to go back to England on behalf of the colony. His selection in 1672 was to make an appeal to the king because of incursions that the
Connecticut Colony was making into the territory of Rhode Island, but the plan to send him was abandoned.
From 1675 to 1676, Rhode Island became embroiled in
King Philip's War
King Philip's War (sometimes called the First Indian War, Metacom's War, Metacomet's War, Pometacomet's Rebellion, or Metacom's Rebellion) was an armed conflict in 1675–1676 between indigenous inhabitants of New England and New England coloni ...
, considered "the most disastrous conflict to ever devastate New England," and leaving the mainland towns of the colony in ruins. This confrontation between many indigenous people and the English settlers was named for
Metacomet
Metacomet (1638 – August 12, 1676), also known as Pometacom, Metacom, and by his adopted English name King Philip,[sachem
Sachems and sagamores are paramount chiefs among the Algonquians or other Native American tribes of northeastern North America, including the Iroquois. The two words are anglicizations of cognate terms (c. 1622) from different Eastern Al ...]
of the
Wampanoag
The Wampanoag , also rendered Wôpanâak, are an Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands based in southeastern Massachusetts and historically parts of eastern Rhode Island,Salwen, "Indians of Southern New England and Long Island," p. 1 ...
s, who had been given the English name of King Philip. Though Rhode Island was much more at peace with the Indians than the other colonies, because of geography, it took the brunt of damage from the conflict, and the settlements of Warwick and Pawtuxet were totally destroyed, with much of Providence ruined as well. Because of the very high esteem Clarke held within the colony, he was
one of 16 colonial leaders whose counsel was sought in a 4 April 1676 General Assembly resolution. Two weeks later, while the war was still raging, Clarke was dead.
Church divisions
While Clarke became very active in the affairs of the colony upon his return from England, he also resumed his leadership role in the Newport church. One major schism occurred in the church while he was in England, and another several years after his return. The first of these concerned the "laying on of hands". This practice was considered to be one of Christ's six principles as advocated in the biblical verse
Hebrews
The terms ''Hebrews'' (Hebrew: / , Modern: ' / ', Tiberian: ' / '; ISO 259-3: ' / ') and ''Hebrew people'' are mostly considered synonymous with the Semitic-speaking Israelites, especially in the pre-monarchic period when they were still ...
6:2, and the ritual was welcomed in the Newport Baptist Church. However, some members of the church wanted the practice to be mandatory, while others did not want additional restrictions placed on the parishioners. This disagreement prompted William Vaughan to break away from the church in 1656 and form his own "Six Principle" Baptist Church in Newport, sometimes called the Second Baptist Church of Newport.
The second major division in the church occurred over the day of worship, when
Sabbatarians within the congregation wanted to worship on Saturday. The practice was largely tolerated, with some parishioners attending one service, some attending another, and some attending both. The elder
Obadiah Holmes
Obadiah Holmes (1610 – 15 October 1682) was an early Rhode Island settler, and a Baptist minister who was whipped in the Massachusetts Bay Colony for his religious beliefs and activism. He became the pastor of the Baptist Church in Newport, ...
, however, was hostile to the practice, and was rebuked by Clarke in 1667 over his harshness towards the Sabbatarians. Holmes subsequently withdrew from preaching at the Newport church, but resumed his pastoral duties there in 1671. When he continued to be critical of the Sabbatarians, they finally left to form their own church in December 1671. Additional dissension occurred in the church, centered on the family of Giles Slocum. When Slocum's wife, Joan, denied that Christ was alive, she was excommunicated in 1673. Following this, her husband, their children, and their children's spouses all left the church, and became
Quakers.
Death and legacy
![Dr](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2e/Dr._John_Clarke_grave.jpg)
With the help of Richard Baily, Clarke drafted his will on 20 April 1676, then died in Newport the same day. He was buried in his family plot in Newport, as directed in his will, beside his two wives, Elizabeth and Jane, who predeceased him.
In his will he set up a
trust
Trust often refers to:
* Trust (social science), confidence in or dependence on a person or quality
It may also refer to:
Business and law
* Trust law, a body of law under which one person holds property for the benefit of another
* Trust (bus ...
to be used "for the relief of the poor or bringing up of children unto learning from time to time forever." Still in use, this trust is generally considered to be the oldest educational trust fund in the United States. Ironically, the trust undermined some of the principles that Clarke cherished, particularly the
separation between church and state
The separation of church and state is a philosophical and jurisprudential concept for defining political distance in the relationship between religious organizations and the state. Conceptually, the term refers to the creation of a secular stat ...
. While the trust was used to support ministries of the church, it enmeshed the town counsel and the church in many legal entanglements. Eventually the trust was used to pay, at least in part, the salary of a paid minister—something that Clarke thought to be highly inappropriate.
Clarke believed that secular government should peacefully coexist with religion, and he became a seminal figure in applying the separation of church and state. Historian Thomas Bicknell, one of Clarke's most ardent supporters, wrote that at the time of the Puritan settlement of New England that "nowhere on the face of the earth and among civilized men, did civil and soul-liberty exist. Its first clear, full, deliberate, organized and permanent establishment in the world can now be distinctly traced to the Colony of Rhode Island, on the island of Aquidneck, in the Narragansett Bay, under the leadership and inspiration of Dr. John Clarke, the true Founder". Historian Louis Asher wrote, "It hardly seems arguable that Dr. Clarke was the first one to bring democracy to the New World by means of Rhode Island." Bicknell also asserted that Clarke was the "recognized founder and father of the Aquidneck Plantations, the author of the Compact of Portsmouth and leading spirit in the organization and administration of the island towns. Historian Edward Peterson wrote that Clarke was a man "whose moral character has never been surpassed, and his piety never been questioned." Asher made this final assessment of Clarke: "As a man, Clarke lived for others. Like many men of the past, he was selfless and uncomplaining. Despite his sectarian religious views, he gave more for his fellow man than he received."
The First Baptist Church of Newport, a grammar school, and a merchant Liberty ship, the List of Liberty ships (Je–L), SS John Clarke, are named for Clarke. The Physical Sciences building at Rhode Island College was dedicated in his honor in 1963. A plaque on the wall of the Newport Historical Society reads:
Ancestry and family
John Clarke was the fifth of seven known children born to Thomas and Rose Clarke, all born or baptized at
Westhorpe, Suffolk
Westhorpe is a linear village and civil parish in the Mid Suffolk district of Suffolk, England. The village is from the town of Bury St. Edmunds, from Stowmarket, and from the villages of Wyverstone and Finningham.
Westhorpe Hall was a form ...
, England. Margaret was the oldest child, born about 1601, and next was Carew, baptized 17 February 1602/3, followed by Thomas, baptized 31 March 1605. Mary was next, baptized 26 July 1607, then the subject John was baptized 8 October 1609, next was William baptized 11 February 1611
[Peckham genealogy: the English ancestors and American descendants of John Peckham of Newport, Rhode Island, 1630, New York: National Historical Col, 1922, 622 pgs.] who married Katherine Bunce, and the youngest, Joseph, was baptized on 16 December 1618. Margaret married Nicholas Wyeth and lived in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Mary married John Peckham, and came to Newport, Rhode Island with her husband and four brothers, Carew, Thomas, John, and Joseph.
John Clarke was married three times, his first wife being Elizabeth Harris, the daughter of John Harris who was lord of the manor of Westlingworth in Bedfordshire. This was the wife who was with him while he was an agent in England, and she died in Newport a few years before Clarke. Following her death, he was married on 1 February 1671 to Jane, the widow of Nicholas Fletcher, but she died the following year on 19 April 1672. Clarke had a daughter with Jane, born 14 February 1672 and dying on 18 May 1673.
Clarke's third wife was Sarah, the widow of Nicholas Davis, with whom Clarke had had a long association. Davis, like Clarke, had been an early settler of Aquidneck Island in 1639, but became a merchant and moved to Hyannis, Massachusetts, Hyannis in the
Plymouth Colony
Plymouth Colony (sometimes Plimouth) was, from 1620 to 1691, the first permanent English colony in New England and the second permanent English colony in North America, after the Jamestown Colony. It was first settled by the passengers on the ...
. Davis had many business dealings in Massachusetts, but when he became a
Quaker, he was imprisoned and banished from there in 1659, and later lived in Newport. He transported Quaker founder George Fox from Long Island to Newport in 1672, during Fox's visit to the American colonies. Soon thereafter Davis drowned, and within a year and a half his widow married Clarke. Sarah survived Clarke, and died sometime about 1692. She had children who were remembered in Clarke's will.
See also
* List of early settlers of Rhode Island
* List of lieutenant governors of Rhode Island
*
Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations
Notes
a. The complete title of Clarke's book is ''Ill Newes from New-England: Or a Narrative of New-Englands Persecution. Wherin is Declared that While Old England is Becoming New, New-England is Become Old. Also Four Proposals to the Honoured Parliament and Councel of State, Touching the Way to Propagate the Gospel of Christ (with Small Charge and Great Safety) Both in Old England and New. Also Christ out of His Last Will and Testament, Confirmed and Justified'' (London: Henry Hills, 1652)
b. The title of Dr. has been given to John Clarke by many authors, because he was a physician. However, he was not a doctor of medicine in the modern sense, even though he had medical training and education. The title has not been used in this article, other than in quotations.
References
Bibliography
''Books''
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* . Text online in ''Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society'' Series 4, vol. II (Crosby, Nichols & Co., Boston 1854)
pp. 1–113(Internet Archive)
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''Articles''
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''Online sources''
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External links
The forgotten patriot: One man's actions forever married religious freedom with democracy from ''Boston Globe'', 28 April 2011
Thomas Lechford's notebookStaple's history: Callender's Century SermonTranscript of charter from RI Secretary of StateArticle on charter
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clarke, John
1609 births
1676 deaths
17th-century Baptist ministers from the United States
English emigrants
American philanthropists
American Christian theologians
Burials in Rhode Island
New England Puritanism
People from Westhorpe, Suffolk
People of colonial Rhode Island
Rhode Island politicians
17th-century philanthropists