The Clark[e] Family Cemetery is located on the former homestead of the founder of Clarksburg, John G. Clarke.

The grave markers were removed and stored in the Little Bennett Park office with plans to have them placed in the town park. The dedication of the Clark Family Memorial Cemetery took place on June 24, 2017.

Buried in the original Clark Family Cemetery 1803 to 1817 were:
• John G Clark, town founder
• Ann A Clark, his wife
• Gustarvus Willson
• John Clark Willson, their grandsons
• William Harris, nephew & adopted son of a traveling minister. From 1896 to 1898, the Clarksburg United Methodist Church had a pastor named William Harris, perhaps his descendant?
• "S __ell", relationship unknown
• "s of Divine", relationship unknown

When John and Ann Clark were in their twenties, our country was still a colony of England and Montgomery County did not exist. The Sons of Liberty were active and met at Dowden's Ordinary, the Clarks among the group. It is likely that John fought in the Revolutionary War, but no specific documents prove that. A Major John Clark, Jr., who spied for General Washington during the war, was discovered. Research showed that this Major was born in Lancaster, PA where these Clarks were from. Is it our John G. Clark? Toward the end of the Revolutionary War, John and Ann married and in the same year they built a home across from John's family's trading post. There were other peoples' homes scattered about this area, but this one couple decided to put down roots and start a community. In 1804, Clarksburg boasted 30 structures. By 1879, Clarksburg was the 3rd largest town in Montgomery County with 250 residents. The places where John Clark and his relatives lived, worked and worshiped can still be seen in the Clarksburg historic district.

In 1810, John and Ann's daughter, Sarah, made a wish for her Mom and Dad. Her words are written on Ann Clark's gravestone and say;
Sacred forever may this place be made,
My father and my mother's humble shaid,
Unmov'd and undisturb'd til time shall end,
The turf that's round them may God defend.




Sometime during the 1960's, though, the fence and gravestones were removed by a farmer and leaned against a nearby oak tree. They were there for close to 30 years.

In 1989, one Clarksburg resident, Charles Ellis, who knew the location of the gravestones contacted Norman Mease, Clarksburg Civic Association President, who took it upon himself to ask lifelong Clarksburg resident, Margaret Foreman Williams, to show him the location of the cemetery. He made a map and took pictures to preserve this information. He cataloged the gravestones and found a public agency who could safely store them. Over a decade later, Joann Woodson and Eloise & Tuck Woodfield volunteered to establish the . In 2002, the Clarksburg Historical Society proposed making the Clark Family Memorial Cemetery a historical society project. In June 2012, the gravestones were on display for the public. This memorial cemetery is an example of a beautiful, seamless partnership between a large development company and a local historical society.

~Provided by Jean Hulse-Hayman