David Clarke/Clark/Clarck

perhaps born circa 1770-1780 (?)

It is difficult to determine which of the three spellings of "Clarke" is most correct.

I do not know who wrote down the following story:

There is a legend passed down in the family about Hannah's father. David Clarck escaped from a ship which had been captured by pirates & swam to the shores of North Carolina.

My brother Loren wrote me about the David Clarck incident but I can remember Dad telling the story. I was quite young at the time & my memory may be in error but it seemed to go like this.

David Clarck was a seaman & a good swimmer. The ship he was on was loaded with horses & sailing before the wind, close to Cape Hatteras, when a pirate vessel overtook them late in the afternoon. Several of the seamen dove overboard and swam for shore, some 3 to 5 miles away. A few of them were killed by the pirates before getting out of range of their abandoned ship & a few of them drowned before reaching shore.

Late that night, five of the exhausted seaman gor to land and collapsed on the beach. As daylight came on, these men looked seaward & observed. their ship in flames but, more alarming, several longboats with men & horses were only half a mile or so offshore, bearing towards them. At a hurried council, the five men agreed to go in different directions to elude their pursuers..

David observed, some few hours later, the murder of three of his companions. Along with one other man, he escaped, which was a bit of luck. Once the longboats landed & horses put ashore to run down the hapless seamen, there seemed little chance of survival.

While running through the trees with mounted horsemen in pursuit, some distance behind, David jumped over a largedowned log & fell. He spied a shallow hollow under the log & squeezed into it, quickly pulling leaves and debris over him. He wasn't spotted, some minutes later, as the pirates jumped their horses over the log. He remained in hiding all that day, like a wily pheasant, outwitting his hunters. Just before sunset, the pirates gave up the chase & returned to their ship. David then made his way to safety."

Dennis Weeks, in June1967 at his parents home, asked me about this story, as he said his grandfather had told it slightly different, inasmuch as David Clarck was a prisoner on the ship that he escaped from, and not a seaman.

David Clarke married Judy Burgess, of North Carolina. Judy was reportedly a full-blooded Cherokee. Judy and David had seven children: Jinny, Kit, Sally, Bets, Nance, Hannah, and a baby who died in infancy. Hannah was born about 1802 and later married John Ballard.

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Last updated: August 2004