Jonas Clarke

'''Jonas Clarke''' (December 25, 1730 – November 15, 1805), sometimes written '''Jonas Clark''', was an American clergyman and political leader who had a role in the American Revolution and in shaping the 1780 Massachusetts and the United States Constitutions.{{Vague|date=January 2026}}<ref name="clarke1901">Clarke, Jonas (1901). ''[https://archive.org/details/openingofwarofre00clar Opening of the War of Revolution, 19th of April 1775. A brief narrative of the principal transactions of that day.]'' Lexington Historical Society (Mass.)</ref><ref>Massachusetts Constitutional Convention (1832). ''Journal of the Convention for Framing a Constitution of Government for the State of Massachusetts Bay''.</ref> [[File:Hancock-Clarke House, Lexington, Mass (NYPL b12647398-74203).tiff|thumb|Hancock–Clarke House, 36 Hancock St., Lexington, Massachusetts.]]

Clarke graduated from Harvard College in 1752 and became the third pastor of the Church of Christ in Lexington, Massachusetts on May 19, 1755.<ref name="hudson">Hudson, Charles (1913). ''History of the Town of Lexington, Middlesex County, Massachusetts: From Its First Settlement to 1868.'' Houghton Mifflin</ref> He married Lucy Bowes Clarke. His wife's cousin was John Hancock, and Hancock was a guest in his home at the time of the Battles of Lexington and Concord in 1775.<ref name="kollen">Kollen, Richard (2004). ''Lexington: From Liberty's Birthplace to Progressive Suburb.'' Arcadia Publishing, {{ISBN|978-0-7385-2465-8}}</ref>

Clarke is buried in the Old Burying Ground in Lexington, Massachusetts. His home, now known as the Hancock–Clarke House, still stands,<ref>Lexington Historical Society (1905).''Guide book to the Hancock-Clarke house'' Lexington Historical Society (Mass.)</ref> and the Jonas Clarke Middle School in Lexington is named after him.

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== *{{find a Grave|28417769}} * [http://www.lexingtonhistory.org/ Lexington Historical Society], owner of the Hancock–Clarke House

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clarke, Jonas}} Category:1730 births Category:1805 deaths Category:Harvard College alumni Category:Clergy in the American Revolution