American Colonial Leader. He received an extensive education including study at the University of Leyden while living in Leyden, Holland, where the Separatists resided after leaving England, and he became qualified as a physician and an ordained clergyman. In 1637 he traveled to North America and was the first Baptist minister in the English colonies. He intended to settle in Boston, but was identified as a supporter of Anne Hutchinson and decided to travel further south because of religious differences with local leaders, where he purchased land from Native Americans, founding what is now the city of Newport, Rhode Island. As more white settlers populated the area, Newport and other towns organized as a colony, and Clarke were responsible for its constitution, the first in the colonies to guarantee religious freedom. In partnership with Roger Williams, in 1663 Clarke traveled to England as the colony's agent and was responsible for obtaining from King Charles II a royal charter, the document which named the colony Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. He served in the Rhode Island Assembly from 1664 to 1669, and as Deputy Governor from 1669 to 1672. Clarke's will created a trust for education and relief of the poor, and the John Clarke Trust, currently administered by Bank of America, is the oldest educational trust fund in the country. Several places in Rhode Island are named for him, including Newport's John Clarke Elementary School and its Baptist house of worship, United Baptist Church, and John Clarke Memorial.
View Cenotaph here
View Cenotaph here
American Colonial Leader. He received an extensive education including study at the University of Leyden while living in Leyden, Holland, where the Separatists resided after leaving England, and he became qualified as a physician and an ordained clergyman. In 1637 he traveled to North America and was the first Baptist minister in the English colonies. He intended to settle in Boston, but was identified as a supporter of Anne Hutchinson and decided to travel further south because of religious differences with local leaders, where he purchased land from Native Americans, founding what is now the city of Newport, Rhode Island. As more white settlers populated the area, Newport and other towns organized as a colony, and Clarke were responsible for its constitution, the first in the colonies to guarantee religious freedom. In partnership with Roger Williams, in 1663 Clarke traveled to England as the colony's agent and was responsible for obtaining from King Charles II a royal charter, the document which named the colony Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. He served in the Rhode Island Assembly from 1664 to 1669, and as Deputy Governor from 1669 to 1672. Clarke's will created a trust for education and relief of the poor, and the John Clarke Trust, currently administered by Bank of America, is the oldest educational trust fund in the country. Several places in Rhode Island are named for him, including Newport's John Clarke Elementary School and its Baptist house of worship, United Baptist Church, and John Clarke Memorial.
View Cenotaph here
View Cenotaph here
Bio by: Bill McKern
Family Members
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