Captain Joseph Clark

Kentuckians vol­un­teered in large num­bers dur­ing the War of 1812 and played a sig­nif­i­cant role in the out­come of America’s “sec­ond Revolution.”  Approximately 25,000 Kentucky men saw some type of mil­i­tary ser­vice.  Our state’s casu­al­ties exceed­ed all the oth­er states, large­ly due to two dis­as­trous bat­tles and their after­math which involved the slaugh­ter of prisoners—the River Raisin Massacre and Dudley’s Defeat.  Clark County cer­tain­ly did its part in the con­flict, rais­ing ten com­pa­nies head­ed by John Martin, Wiley Brassfield, Isaac Cunningham, James Sympson, Samuel R. Combs, Leslie Combs, Thomas Wornall, John V. Bush, Robert Scobee, and Joseph Clark. 

William Joseph Clark (1776−1813) was the son of James Clark, a native of Antrim, Ireland, and Alice Lockhart.  James Clark set­tled in east­ern Clark County, in the area between Schollsville and Hedges Station.  Joseph came out with his father from Virginia in 1792, then stayed with the hors­es and cat­tle while his father went back for the rest of the family. 

Joseph Clark mar­ried Jane Frame, daugh­ter of John and Elizabeth Frame, and set­tled in the area near his father’s plan­ta­tion.  Joseph acquired land­hold­ings in Clark and Montgomery and owned a grist­mill on Lulbegrud Creek.  The ambi­tious young man also read for the law and became a prac­tic­ing attor­ney in Winchester.  He and Jane had four children. 

We would know lit­tle more about Joseph were it not for a remark­able jour­nal he kept on a trip to Missouri as an agent for the wid­ow, Sarah Swinney.  By way of back­ground, her hus­band, James Swinney, was involved in numer­ous busi­ness ven­tures.  He built a grist­mill on Stoner Creek and estab­lished a vil­lage near­by, Swinney’s Town, that lat­er became North Middletown.  He had exten­sive oper­a­tions on Red River at the future site of Clay City.  These includ­ed a grist­mill, sawmill, gun­pow­der mill, a boat­yard, and a ware­house for inspect­ing flour, tobac­co, and hemp.  In March 1804, he sold his mills to Robert Clark Jr. and William Smith, who would go on to erect an iron fur­nace, Kentucky’s sec­ond, at this loca­tion.  Swinney died unex­pect­ed­ly lat­er that year.  His wife Sarah appoint­ed Joseph Clark to col­lect all the debts owed to her deceased husband.

On December 18, 1804, Joseph set out on Sarah Swinney’s behalf to take a depo­si­tion of the famous pio­neer Col. Daniel Boone, then liv­ing in the Louisiana Territory in present-day Missouri.  While on his jour­ney, Joseph kept a record that he called “Memorandum of my trav­els and Expenses.” 

(In quot­ing from the diary, I have kept his orig­i­nal spelling for its charm but added some punc­tu­a­tion to improve readability.)

He arrived in Springfield, Washington County, the day after Christmas and was delayed more than a week by bad weath­er.  Rain turned to sleet fol­lowed by 18 inch­es of snow.  Joseph paid 50 cents for some tow linen “to make a bag to Carry Corn for my horse through the wilder­ness.”  He fol­lowed a south­west­er­ly course with a friend, Edward Cheatham, and arrived at Clarksville, Tennessee.  There, he said,

I Could get no din­ner until after night, then I went and Robd the Cook Shop and we had a hell of a ball, and the dregs of impo­lite­ness were the man­agers, although we had wine and Cherry bounce a plen­ty.  Thus faird por Clark & Cheatham in a Cursd litt town where they Could get noth­ing and had to pay high for that. 

Cherry bounce, a pop­u­lar drink of the time, was a mix­ture of brandy, cher­ries, and sug­ar.  Joseph fol­lowed the Cumberland River to the mouth and crossed the Ohio on a fer­ry.  His first night in the Northwest Territory was spent in poor accommodations. 

The pigs ware under the floor Biting the Childrens toes through the Cracks and the Gees in the oth­er room bit­ing the peo­ples noses and the Sows Sleeping in the poarch.

Joseph trav­eled to St. Louis and then 30 more miles west to the Femme Osage, where Daniel Boone had set­tled with his extend­ed fam­i­ly.  Joseph arrived there on February 5 and “Staid all night at Johnathan Bryants,” Boone’s nephew.  Of his inter­view with the famous explor­er, he left nary a word.

After tak­ing Boone’s depo­si­tion, Joseph went down the Mississippi to Cape Girardeau to attend court.

Staid Untill Evening and Could Get Nothing to Eat for Such a Curs place & Court No man Ever Seen before.  I went home with an Old Mr. Firman who treat­ed me Very Kindly Because I Coarted One of his Daughters and Helpt him and the Old Lady to back­bite their Nieghbors.

On the way back to St. Louis, “my Hors scared at a woman stand­ing in the Road at the Edge of a creek Drying her face with her Shirttail and like to throwd me and no won­der for he had Never Seen Such a Sight before.”  Joseph spent sev­er­al days with Daniel Boone’s sons-in-law Flanders Callaway and William Hays, as well as Hays’ son-in-law James Davis.  Not long after this, Davis shot and killed Hays in self-defense.  Hays, in a drunk­en fury, had come after Davis with a rifle.  On May 15, Joseph attend­ed Davis’ tri­al in St. Louis which saw him acquitted. 

Joseph was in St. Louis on May 20 when Meriwether Lewis’ keel­boat arrived at the end of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. 

Just as we rose from Dinner news Came that Capt. Lewises Barge which had bean Exploring the Mesoori was just Landed.  I went on board and Saw a great many Curiosities Such as mocisons, Buffaloe Robes, Goat Skins, Birds and a prairai Dog and the Chief of the Recarreau Indians who was a Very Large fat man Very much pit­ted with the Small Pox.  I Smoked with him as a Brother.

Joseph seems to have spent much time idling.  He describes attend­ing wed­dings and preach­ings, going fish­ing, deer hunt­ing, and straw­ber­ry pick­ing.  During sev­er­al of his adven­tures, “the Musquetoes All most Eat me up.”  On the return trip home, Joseph stopped at a house to ask for directions. 

There came a bounc­ing young Woman Out to the barrs [fence rails] and began to Direct telling me I must take a right hand Road that would take me Across a Creek at—“Drat the nasty name,” said she, “I hate to say it.”  “O my pret­ty Miss,” said I, “there can be no harm In call­ing any­thing By Its right name.”  She then Slipt it out, “rodgers ford­ing,” and Directed me the rest of the way Very par­tic­u­lar­ly.  But I was so Diverted by a win­dow in her pet­ti­coat that I for­got the Directions and Lost my Self.  I for­tu­nate­ly met anoth­er rud­dy Looking Dame at a short turn in the road waid­ing in Slush with her pet­ti­coats above her Knees and because I told her she had a pret­ty leg She put me in the right way and then and then......I got to Morris Youngs about sunset.

Clark final­ly end­ed his jour­nal on June 23, “I got to My fathers.”  It’s hard to tell why the trip took so long.  He does not explain.  The jour­nal is a fas­ci­nat­ing read and was pub­lished in 1927 in the Register of the Kentucky Historical Society.  You can find a copy at the Clark County Public Library.

At the out­break of the War of 1812, Joseph raised a com­pa­ny of vol­un­teers, was elect­ed cap­tain and assigned to the 3^d Regiment of the Kentucky Mounted Riflemen under future vice pres­i­dent, Col. Richard M. Johnson.  Before leav­ing for Ohio in the spring of 1813, he pre­pared a doc­u­ment that began, “I Joseph Clark of Clark County, being now on my way to join the North Western army of the United States of America under com­mand of Gen’l Harrison, do make this my last will & testament.” 

Joseph’s com­pa­ny of 125 men marched north as part of Gen. Green Clay’s army of 1,200 vol­un­teers.  They were on their way to the relief of Gen. William Henry Harrison, whose 1,000 men at Fort Meigs on the Maumee River were besieged by 2,400 British and Indians.  Nearing the fort by boats on May 5, Clay ordered Col. William Dudley to take a detach­ment of 796 men and land on the oppo­site bank where British can­non were bom­bard­ing the fort.  Dudley was to spike the can­non and imme­di­ate­ly recross the riv­er.  Instead, after over­run­ning the guns, he was lured into an ambush, and 634 Americans were killed or cap­tured.  Joseph Clark was among those killed in action.