John Clarke, Pilot of the Mayflower

Parish of St. Mary Rotherhithe

John Clarke is most significantly recognized as a master's mate or pilot of the Mayflower. He is also one of Halle's Great Great (etc.) Grandfathers. He was born on March 26th, 1576 and was baptized in the Parish of St. Mary Rotherhithe. Beautiful church!

From Mayflowerhistory.com: John Clark was perhaps the John Clark baptized on 26 March 1575 in Rotherhithe, Surrey, 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 exchanged 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.

That's John Clarke's story in a nutshell. I think it's odd that they didn't mention how he died. But that's for later. His first trip to America was ten years prior to The Mayflower landing. That's a LOT of time spent at sea in one's life. Allow me to expand a little...Point Comfort - they weren't expecting the Spanish Inquisition! (NOBODY expects the Spanish Inquisition!)

He was captured by the Spanish in Jamestown (June 1611) and his testimonies to the Spanish Inquisition about the strategic condition of the North American English Colonial Coast can be read in numerous journals. He was later ransomed by King James I of England in 1616 and commissioned to pilot the Mayflower, although he did not sign the Mayflower Compact.

The Mayflower landed in December of 1620 - can you imagine how extremely cold it must've been to work on the deck of a ship in Plymouth harbor that time of year? Apparently, the Mayflower was running low on supplies, especially beer. Yes, beer. This point is disputed, and Clarke is said to have delivered the ship from a terrible storm. I'm not sure which version I like better, to be quite honest.

John Clarke spotted an accomodating isle and commanded the crew to "row lustily". They rested for a day, dried out their clothes (I imagine), and took in the enormity of suddenly finding themselves in The New World. I'm sure it was unfathomably surreal.

The next day, the Sabbath, the men returned to an immense rock at the center of Clark's Island and "gave God thanks for his mercies in their manifold deliverances." The date was December 20, 1620. The very first Thanksgiving took place on an island named for one of Halle's ancestors. Wow. (according to William Bradford's journal, 2nd signer of the Mayflower Compact and later Governor of the Plymouth Colony)Interesting Clark's Island Factoid! Truman Capote wrote "Breakfast at Tiffany's" on Clark's Island!

According to The First Republic in America: An Account of the Origin of this Nation, by Alexander Brown, Clarke was among the men who fell at the Indian Massacre of 1622 in Jamestown. The massacre was orchestrated by the Powhatan Confederacy as a warning to other settlers. John Smith wrote that the Powhatan "came unarmed into our houses with deer, turkeys, fish, fruits, and other provisions to sell us.” It was absolutely ruthless - all men, women and children were killed and their crops burned to the ground.Did they ever face justice?

Says my friend Wikipedia, "Colonists who survived the attacks raided the tribes and particularly their corn crops in the summer and fall of 1622 so successfully that Chief Opechancanough decided in desperation to negotiate. Through friendly Indian intermediaries, a peace parley finally took place between the two groups. However, some of the Jamestown leaders, led by Captain William Tucker and Dr. John Potts, poisoned the Indians' share of the liquor for the parley's ceremonial toast. The poison killed about two hundred Indians and another fifty were then killed by hand."

That's cold!

Cheif Opechancanough escaped, however. This jerk, whose Algonquin name meant "he whose soul is white" lived into his 90s and may have died of a neuromuscular disease. Geez.

Further Reading: The Mayflower & Her Log