Clark & Weatherbee
Family History
Compiled in 2005 by Janet Clark from various documents
The Clark family history goes far beyond the compilation of these findings. As time goes on more will be discovered and added to the story of our beginnings and journey to who and where we are today. The earliest account of the Clarks we are related to is the late 1700's when Hosea W Clark was born somewhere in North Carolina. Grandpa Luther Clark's Mother was Mary Ann Herndon. Her family is traced all the way back to 1144 in Kent County, England. They migrated to New Kent County, Virginia where William Herndon patented land in 1673. His wife was Catherine Digges, a daughter of Edward Digges who was Governor of the Colony of Virginia in 1655. (Refer to copy of excerpt to The Descendants of William and Sarah (Poe) Herndon by Ruth Herndon Shields, 1956). Mary Ann's father was Greene Smith Herndon. He was born in Georgia and died in Savoy, Texas.
The Weatherbee lineage can only be traced to her father Woodward Weatherbee who was born in Georgia in 1855. There were more accounts of the name being spelled Weatherbee than Weatherby. The legal spelling is not known. Our Grandma Genie Weatherbee's Mother was Almeda E Jane Shaw. Almeda's father William Shaw who goes back to England in the late 1600's. Almeda's mother was Rhoda Hardin whose history goes back to the mid 1600's in Holland or France. (Info was conflicting) Rhoda's Mother was a Hearne who goes back to 1550's in Chearsley, England.
The Hardin family information was gathered largely from the daughters of the American Revolution and the Huguenot society. Mark Hardin left Rouen, France when King Louis XIV issued the Edict of Restoration on October 20, 1685 requiring all Protestants to convert to Catholicism or leave the country. Mark being a Huguenot, immediately fled France for England or Wales. He married Mary Hogue. Since the Queen of England required all citizens to be Catholic as well they moved onto Canada with his family. But because of the rigid winters the Hardins decided to come to America so they settled in Virginia about 1706 in Prince William County. He would then live out the rest of his life there. The later generations of Hardins moved from Virginia to North Carolina to Georgia. Henry Hardin was a 2ND Lieutenant in the Revolutionary War. He and his wife are buried in Monroe, Georgia. His son Benjamin married Elizabeth Hearne (parents of Rhoda Ann Hardin, grandmother of Genie Weatherbee-our Grandma). Rhoda was born in Walker County, Georgia. She married William Shaw who died in Franklin County, Alabama in 1886. Rhoda and William had 4 daughters and 12 sons. Almeda was born in 1854 in Walker County, Georgia. It is thought that 14 of the children migrated to Texas, Arkansas and Oklahoma. It was in Franklin County, Alabama that Grandma Genie was born in 1883. Grandma moved with her parents to Fannin County, Texas between 1883-1894 as her Grandma Rhoda was with them in Texas when she died in 1894.
Hosea W Clark, Sr married Sarah Bond sometime around 1800 in North Carolina. They had four children. Hosea W Jr, Brinson B, John J and James Webster who was born April 10, 1806. He died in 1808. After Hosea Clark, Sr died, Sarah Bond went on to marry Jonathon Williams who is the father of Robert Lee Williams born December 20, 1868 in Brundidge, Pike County, Alabama. He would later migrate and become Governor of Oklahoma in 1919. He would never marry nor have children. Jonathon Williams was a Revolutionary War veteran. He was certainly one of the first settlers in Pike County, Alabama; having settled in Pike only 2-3 years after the county was created in 1821. There is a large marble monument at the site of the original log church established by the Williams family. This site is in a pasture about 3 miles southeast of Brundidge, Alabama. It says:
Here lies Jonathon Williams, born in the colony of Connecticut on April 17, 1764 died in Dixon's Precinct, Pike County, Alabama on March 11, 1836. He married Miss Frances Cowart in Craven County, North Carolina where Frances died on February 10, 1812. He then married Sarah Bond, buried to his left side on April 2, 1815. In 1824, he settled on Bear Creek in Pike County, Alabama. He enlisted in Beardsley's Colonial Regiment in 1778 in Danbury, Connecticut. He served until the war closed.
James Webster Clark came from Edgecombe County, North Carolina to Overton County, Tennessee with his wife Harriett Lovey Kelley and their children James, William, Henry and Wyatt Lindsey Clark.
Wyatt Lindsey is the father of John Wesley and grandfather of Luther Green. He was born in 1813 in Edgecombe County, North Carolina and died in 1896 near Little Rock, Arkansas. Wyatt married Chloe Ann Lee probably in the 1840's but I couldn't find any records documenting this. Luther's Dad, John Wesley Clark was born November 22, 1848 near Sparta in White County, Tennessee. He grew up in this area but at the age of 21 his mother Chloe died in 1869 in White County, Tennessee. She lived 49 years. Our Clark beginnings in Texas began soon after Chloe's death when JW moved with his father to Fannin County, Texas. Wyatt Lindsey Clark went on to marry Louisa Smith-Dixon in Texas, had 9 more children (James 1844, Andrew Jackson 1845, Rachel 1847, John Wesley 1848, Mollie 1850, Nancy 1851, William Penn 1853, Sarah Jane 1854, Tom C 1857, Waymon Johnson 1858) John Wesley died July 29, 1931 and his brother Waymon died August of 1931when he was told that John Wesley died. Wyatt Lindsey then moved to Little Rock to live out the rest of his years. He was a Baptist. All his children were Baptists except Aunt Minnie and Mattie. They were members of the Church of Christ. Two of Wyatt's brothers were said to have gone to Missouri shortly before the Civil War and were never heard from again by Wyatt.
John Wesley being an adult, more than likely stayed in Fannin County, Texas when his Dad moved to Little Rock. John Wesley and Mary Ann Herndon were married more than likely in the 1870's but we have no record of a marriage date. Aunt Cora and Grandpa were born in Earth, Texas. Mary Ann had Aunt Cora and Luther. When Grandpa was 4 years old his Mother died at the age of 27. Mary Ann's father, Greene Herndon asked his niece Mesena Herndon to come to Texas to care for her two orphan children, Cora and Luther. She went and a year later John Wesley married Mary Ann's cousin Mesena Elmira Herndon. Mesena and John Wesley would not only raise Cora and Luther but would also have children of their own. They were Minnie, Ollie, Mattie, John Floyd, Claude, Annie and Laura who were born in Trenton and Leonard, Texas. Grandpa was 21 when Laura, his last sibling was born. Seven years later he and Grandma moved to Oklahoma. John Wesley and Mesena both died in Brinkman, Oklahoma, he at the age of 83, on July 23, 1931 and she May 25, 1923 at the age of 68.
Granddad John Wesley Clark owned land near Willow, Oklahoma, just south of the town and land ½ south, 2 west and ½ south of Brinkman and also ½ south, 1 west and 1 ½ south of Brinkman. He also owned land in New Mexico near Mountain Air. They lived on 320 acres ½ south, 2 west and ½ south. His people came from North Carolina, to While County, Tennessee. Then on to Overton and Putnam counties and then to Grayson and Fannin County, Texas.
Luther and Mary E M Weatherbee were married in 1903. Their firstborn, Aunt Bern came along 10 months later when grandma was 21 years old and grandpa was 26. Two years later baby Elton was born Oct 27th. That same month in 1906, the family of four moved to Greer County, Oklahoma. The remaining 7 children were all born on the farm in Brinkman, Oklahoma between 1908 and 1922.
There were several protestant preachers, two Governors, many farmers, some had retail establishments and many served our country in the armed forces.
