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| Birth: | 8 Oct 1609 in Westhorpe, Suffolk, England |
| Death: | 20 Apr 1676 in Newport, Rhode Island |
| Sex: | M |
| Father: | Thomas CLARKE b. 1 Nov 1570 in Westhorpe, Suffolk, England |
| Mother: | Rose KERIDGE (KERRICH) b. 13 Apr 1572 in Saxtead, Suffolk, England |
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| Christening: 8 Oct 1609 Westhorpe, Suffolk, England |
| Burial: Newport, Rhode Island |
| Ancestral File #: 8NR5-83 |
| Occupation: Physician, Doctor & Attorney |
| Occupation: Minister 1st Baptist Church in Newport, RI 3 |
| Occupation: Deputy Governor several times and colony agent in London |
| Education: Graduate Cambridge |
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Individual:
The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition., Columbia University
Press.
Clarke, John: 1609–76, one of the founders of Rhode Island, b. Westhorpe, Suffolk,
England. He emigrated to Boston in 1637 and shortly thereafter joined Anne Hutchinson (with whom he had sided in the antinomian controversy)and William Coddington in founding (1638) Portsmouth on Aquidneck(Rhode Island). The next year, he and Coddington withdrew to foundNewport, where he was both physician and Baptist pastor. Clarkefavored the 1647 union of the Aquidneck settlements with Providenceand Warwick and in 1651 went with Roger Williams to England to defendthe union against Coddington’s attacks. They were successful, andWilliams soon returned. Clarke remained in England and wasinfluential in securing the liberal charter of 1663. On his return toRhode Island he served (1664–69) in the general assembly and wasthrice elected deputy governor. His Ill Newes from New England (1652)was an arraignment of Massachusetts authorities for their hostility toreligious liberty.
John Clarke, "Ill Newes From New England", By Walter B. Shurden
Quick quiz: Who was the most important and influential Baptist in 17th-century America?
Roger Williams! "Wrong!" say Baptist historians A.H. Newman, Edwin Gaustad, W.R. Estep, and many others. They are unquestionablycorrect. The most important Baptist in 17th-century America was amedical doctor by the name of John Clarke (1609-1676). Clarke
did much more than work on sick bodies. He worked on a sick society! The sick society was Colonial New England.
Clarke founded the second Baptist church in America, the First Baptist Church in Newport, R.I., in 1644. One of the most passionateadvocates of liberty of conscience in America's
history, Clarke stands out as one of the mountain peaks of Baptist history in America.
No spiritual isolationist who kept his distance from messy politics, Clarke secured from King Charles II of England a new charterfor Rhode Island Colony. The charter guaranteed full
religious liberty for the little colony. Later elected to the General Assembly of Rhode Island, Clarke also served three terms as deputygovernor of the colony.
We primarily remember Clarke, however, for "Ill Newes From New England," a fiery Baptist tract exposing religious persecution in17th-century New England. Read carefully only a
small part of Clarke's very long title: "Ill Newes from New-England: or A Narrative of New-Englands Persecution. Wherein Is Declared ThatWhile old England is becoming new,
New-England is become Old."
He meant, of course, that at the very time that Old England valiantly struggled to awake to the joyous sunshine of freedom ofconscience, New England sadly wielded the "sword of steel" to repressconscience.
The myth stubbornly persists in American history that the founders of this country came here to establish religious liberty for allpeople. Not so! It is true that many of the earliest settlers camehere to escape religious persecution. They came to America, however,to establish religious liberty for themselves, not for all citizens.
Few people anywhere in the 17th century believed in religious liberty as a principle for all people. Universal religious libertyevolved as a hard-earned freedom in America. Anti-establishmentforces dismantled the last state church in this country in 1833, morethan two centuries after the founding of the earliest colonies.
Baptists, we should be grateful to know, helped lead the parade for universal liberty of conscience. And Clarke was the Baptist drum majorfor freedom in the 17th century! Yet most Baptists have never heard ofhim.
Clarke has been dwarfed by Roger Williams, the towering founder of both the colony of Rhode Island and the first Baptist church inAmerica at Providence, R.I. But Williams, who made enormouscontributions to the American tradition of religious liberty,regretfully stayed with Baptists only a few months. He then became a"Seeker," virtually giving up on all institutional and denominationalexpressions of Christianity.
Clarke, on the other hand, served Baptists in the colonies faithfully for more than three decades. In 1651, Clarke and two of hischurch members, John Crandall and Obadiah Holmes, courageouslytraveled from Newport, R.I., to Lynn, Mass., to conduct a worshipservice in the home of William Witter, a blind and aging Baptist. Thattrip became one of the most famous events in American Baptist history.It also became the occasion for Clarke's "Ill Newes from New England."
Civil authorities brusquely interrupted the Baptist worship service in old man Witter's house that day. Then they arrested Clarke,Crandall and Holmes, eventually taking them to Boston to be tried forbreaking the intolerant laws of Massachusetts.
Friends paid fines for Clarke and Crandall, and they were released. But Obadiah Holmes refused to let his fine be paid. As aresult he was lashed 30 times with a "three-coarded whip" on MarketStreet in downtown Boston. At the end of the humiliating whipping,Holmes looked to the civil magistrates and said, "You have struck meas with roses."
Clarke had asked previously for an opportunity to debate the Puritan clergy on the questions surrounding freedom of worship. He didnot get that debate. But the next year, while visiting in England,Clarke wrote "Ill Newes from New England." Very intentionally he senta copy to the Parliament of England. He fervently hoped that it wouldbecome political leverage for the rulers of England to rid New Englandof its intolerance.
In this classic Clarke narrated the Baptists' imprisonment in 1651. Important for the narrative alone, "Ill Newes" also containedimportant primary documents -- court proceedings
autobiographical statements and a confessional statement -- that made "Ill Newes" all the more persuasive. Clarke obviously intended "IllNewes," consisting of these multiple documents, to serve severaldifferent functions.
First, "Ill Newes," a historical document, detailed the unjust treatment of the three Rhode Islanders. In maybe the most seriousunderstatement in Baptist history, Clarke described the
Lynn incident as a "discourteous treatment." By graphically describing the incivility of the Massachusetts magistrates toward the threeBaptists from Rhode Island, Clarke also exposed the Commonwealth'sharsh laws of religious discrimination.
Second, "Ill Newes" served as a theological document in several ways. It constituted a bombastic theological attack on the religiousprejudices of Puritan New England. Also, it repudiated the wayPuritans ordered their church life with, among other things, thepractice of infant baptism.
Incidentally, if you ever suspected that the appeal for religious freedom came from soft and uncertain religious convictions, you shouldread "Ill Newes" for sternness of conviction alone. Our Baptistancestors were nothing if not sure of themselves. In fact, theysuffered from self-righteousness! Besides exposing Puritan prejudicesand repudiating Puritan
church life, Clarke gladly confessed his Baptist understanding of Christianity. The longest part of "Ill Newes" contained Clarke'svaluable confession of faith, one of the earliest confessionalstatements we have from the pen of Baptists in America.
Third, Clarke cleverly directed "Ill Newes" toward the civil rulers of Old England. With calculating deference, he referred to theEnglish rulers as the "rod and staff" of "the most high." Clarkehoped, of course, that the powers of Old England would exert pressureon New England to grant some elbow room for freedom of conscience inthe colonies.
What did Clarke say in Ill Newes? He said:
-- Conscience was that "sparkling beam from the Father of lights and spirits that ... cannot be lorded over, commanded or forced, either bymen, devils, or angels;"
-- Conscience or the inward person can only be dealt with by way of "convincing, converting, transforming, and as it were a-new creatingof them;"
-- That he wanted the Puritans delivered from their false zeal for God that led to "soul murdering;"
-- That the Puritans who wronged him, Crandall and Holmes had "much more wronged your own souls in transgressing the very law, and lightof nations ...;"
-- That living in New England was no different from living in Rome. Of the Puritans, he said that one must "doe as they doe, and say asthey say, or else say nothing, and so may a man live at Rome also."
-- That it is unbiblical, unchristlike, unnatural, and unspiritual (makes hypocrites of people) to coerce conscience.
What may we learn from this Baptist doctor from Rhode Island? Many things to be sure. Clarke lived when Baptists constituted adistinct minority. You and I live in a time when Baptists have becomethe largest Protestant group in America. Maybe we should pause, takestock of the minorities among us -- people such as Clarke and Holmesand Crandall -- and recommit ourselves to religious freedom for all onthe basis of principle.
For a copy of Clarke's classic, see "Colonial Baptists: Massachusetts and Rhode Island in The Baptist Tradition," Edwin S.Gaustad, advisory editor, (New York: Arno Press, A
New York Times Company, 1980).
-- Shurden is Callaway professor and chairman of the Roberts
Department of Christianity at Mercer University, Macon, Ga.
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- Title: Ancestral File (R)
Author: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Publication: Copyright (c) 1987, June 1998, data as of 5 January 1998
- Title: GEDCOM file imported on 2 May 2001.
- Publication: Baptist Classics
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| SmartMatches | | |
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Individuals from other files that are believed to be the same person:
 John CLARKE | of Aidan's Family |
| John Clarke | of Suddath and Freeman Ancestors Gencircles |
| John Clarke | of chandler1 |
| John Clarke | of WJD |
| John Clarke | of Bowman Connections |
| John CLARKE | of THE ROBERT D. TYLER FAMILY TREE |
| John CLARKE | of Robert / Joanne Tyler associated Family |
| John CLARKE | of Robert / Joanne Tyler associated Family |
| John CLARKE | of Robert / Joanne Tyler associated Family |
| John CLARKE | of Robert / Joanne Tyler associated Family |
| John Clarke Rev | of My MacDonald/Rich Clan |
| John Clarke | of Chesebro' Genealogy@Gen Circles |
| John Clarke | of The Hull Family |
| John CLARKE | of Sharp Family Tree |
| John Clarke | of Ancestors of MIchael Gordon & Shauna Tho |
| John Clarke | of Freeman |
| John Clarke | of SPEARS OF EASTERN KENTUCKY |
| John Clarke | of Ancestors of Bob Cook |
| John Clarke | of Fossey Campbell 2002 |
| John CLARKE | of Ancestors of Virginia Gail DeVries |
| John Clarke | of An Eclectic Clan XIII |
| John Clarke | of Dennis Brown's Family |
| John Clarke | of Earle K Peckham Rhode Island Experience |
| John Clarke | of Davis, Dan Lee/Wendelboe/Heywood |
| John Clarke | of DIANA CUSHMAN ROWE |
| John Clarke | of Arnold, Richter, Peckham ancestors |
| John Clarke | of Kurtz, Howey, Starkweather, Dresser, etc |
| John Clarke | of MORRELLandHURD |
| John Clarke | of my family File |
| John Clarke | of Woodworth/McElhinney families |
| John CLARKE | of Lucier-Nelson Gedcom |
| John Clarke | of The Hull Family |
| John Clarke | of Burkhart-Morrow |
| John CLARKE | of Blades, Blowers and Beyond |
| John Clarke | of 2008 Clark and Wilson Branches-VvNclark |
| John Clarke | of The Double W Connection |
| John Clarke | of mac30 |
| John CLARKE Dr. | of pratt |
| John CLARKE | of My lineage |
| John Clarke | of Schmidt-Sargent Research |
| Dr. John CLARKE | of Martin_DeFeyter Ancestors |
| John Clarke | of Hadfield, York, Kling, Brown, & Taylor |
| John CLARKE | of Ancestors of Denise Grayson |
| John Clarke | of Maddie's Heritage |
| John CLARKE | of Rock |
| John Clarke | of Smith-Kyllo Family |
| John Clarke | of Peter Mick |
| John Clarke Rev. | of Whitneys & Howes |
| John CLARKE | of Massachusetts Families |
| John CLARKE | of New England and West Virginia Families |
| John CLARKE | of MassConnRIFamilies |
| John Clarke | of Wield and Lefley family tree |
| John CLARKE Rev. | of Ancestry of CLBates |
| John Clarke | of Robertson family |
| John Clarke | of Dunavan & associated families |
| John CLARKE | of miller & strong family history |
| John Clarke | of Aaron D Baird |
| John Clarke (Immigrant) | of Charlotte's Web |
| John Clarke | of Steele-Trammell |
| John Clarke | of Barbara Barno's Family |
| John Clarke | of Ancestors of Joe Donnelly |
| John CLARKE REV | of Lance |
| John CLARKE | of Irish, american and french KNIGHT family |
| John Clarke | of All Relatives of Glen Nuttall Jr |
| John Clarke | of William James & Susannah Martin,Newport, |
| John CLARKE | of Martin Family Legacy |
| John CLARKE | of Mark Martin 070707 |
| John Clarke | of The Whitcombe Crane Connection |
| John Clarke | of Keeney-Hull |
| John Clarke | of Ferguson Family |
| John CLARKE Dr. | of Joy MacDonald |
| John Clarke | of York Family Tree |
| John Clarke | of Williamson Chowen family files |
| John Clarke | of Genealogy of Megan Montgomery |
| John Clarke | of April 27 File |
| John Clarke | of Laing family from Scotland to Canada |
| John Clarke Rev | of The Friend Family |
| John Clarke | of Our Growing Family Tree |
| John CLARKE | of JOHNATHAN Brewster |
| John CLARKE | of FAMILY TREE LEGENDS #! |
| John CLARKE REVEREND | of Kelley/Billups Family |
| John CLARKE REVEREND | of stoneward |
| John Clarke | of The Family of Jim & Selma Burrows |
| John Clarke | of KAESS Family Files |
| John Clarke | of Mundy and Ferrell Tree |
| John Clarke | of Our Family |
| John CLARKE REVEREND | of Clayton Lineage |
| John CLARKE REVEREND | of Ancestors of M. Fenimore |
| John CLARKE | of Ancestors of John F. Rice |
| John CLARKE | of GILMOR, Evalyn K. Ancestors |
| John Clarke | of marshalls |
| John Clarke | of Clarke-Hedgpeth |
| John Clarke | of Rootsmagic merge1 |
| John CLARKE | of 2006 |
| John Clarke | of July 2007 |
| John Clarke | of September 2007 |
| John CLARKE | of Ancestors of William Wilkins |
| John Clarke | of Miscellaneous Genealogy |
| John CLARKE REVEREND | of mygenfile |
| John CLARKE REV | of Rueter Lines |
| John Clarke | of Ladd and Hamilton Families |
| John Clarke | of Robert's Tree.ftl |
| John CLARKE | of Allison, Melling, Smith, Macumber |
| John CLARKE | of Allison, Melling, Smith, Macumber |
| John CLARKE | of Allison, Melling, Smith, Macumber |
| John CLARKE | of Allison, Melling, Smith, Macumber |
| John CLARKE | of Allison, Melling, Smith, Macumber |
| John CLARKE | of Allison, Melling, Smith, Macumber |
| John Clarke Rev. | of Allison, Melling, Smith, Macumber |
| John Clarke | of Allison, Melling, Smith, Macumber |
| John CLARKE REV REV | of Allison, Melling, Smith, Macumber |
| John Clarke Rev. | of Allison, Melling, Smith, Macumber |
| John CLARKE | of Allison, Melling, Smith, Macumber |
| John CLARKE | of Allison, Melling, Smith, Macumber |
| John CLARKE | of Allison, Melling, Smith, Macumber |
| John CLARKE | of Allison, Melling, Smith, Macumber |
| John CLARKE | of Allison, Melling, Smith, Macumber |
| John CLARKE | of Allison, Melling, Smith, Macumber |
| John Clarke | of CampFam2007 |
| John Clarke | of Genealogy of Michael A. Gifford |
| John Clarke | of Genealogy of Michael A. Gifford |
Click the icon to see a SmartMatch in side-by-side windows.
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