This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Author: franciskeenan Surnames: Classification: queries Message Board URL: http://boards.rootsweb.com/surnames.burch/2334.4.1/mb.ashx Message Board Post: The surname ... CLARK ... is a common one. Clarks were in Prince George's County, Maryland, in the era of Thomas Burch, born there in 1751. Clarks were in Muskingum County, Ohio, in 1820. Clarks are everywhere. The notion that Thomas Burch's first wife was a woman named Clark has never been proven. The source of the claim and its contributor was mentioned in another response to the original message on this board. The source was a book, a secondary source. The secondary source stated that the War Department was its source for the claim that Thomas Burch's first wife (Clark) was an Indian. This has never been proven. The records at NARA have been reviewed without finding anything to suggest that the Clark to whom Thomas Burch was allegedly married was an Indian. In fact, no one knows when and where if at all, Thomas Burch married Clark. The contributor of the information about this Clark having been an Indian was a woman named Lydia Melinda Earl, a family historian in Attica, Indiana. It was claimed as a possibility that Miss Earl likely knew members of the Burch family of Fountain County, Indiana, who must have told Earl that Clark was an Indian. This was a stretch and, even if true, would amount to hearsay evidence and, as such, would not be reliable as fact or evidence or documentation. Was Clark and Indian? No one living knows. Was it possible that Clark was an Indian? Yes. Should research be aimed at discovering the truth of the matter about whether Clark was an Indian? Yes until it is proven or disproven. But, to trust the conclusions of any such research into the matter, the research must be based upon solid foundations. The message to which this one responded claimed: "The 1820 Federal Census reports that Thomas Burch's son William Burch (1759-1857) was living in Jefferson Township, Muskingum County, OH." That census made no such report about William Burch's father. It had no apparatus for discovering parental information. Only the following data was included in the 1820 Federal Census: name of head of household; number of free white males and females in age categories; number of other free persons except Indians not taxed; number of slaves; town and district and county of residence; number of persons to be naturalized; number of persons engaged in ag! riculture, commercial or manufacture; number of "colored" persons; and number of other persons except Indians. Therefore, it was not possible to conclude, based upon informaton from the 1820 census, that any William Burch living in the State of Ohio was the son of anyone. That kind of information was not solicited in the 1820 census. Nevertheless,William Burch, son of Thomas Burch, was in Ohio and was also listed in the 1830, 1840 and 1850 censuses. His brother, Jesse, was also living close by to William in the 1850 census for Muskingum County, Ohio. William Burch was in Muskingum County, Ohio, in 1842 as also proven by the settlement of the intestate estate of his deceased father, Thomas Burch. [See:Deed Book 17, p. 278, Fountain County, Indiana, 9 Sep 1842.]But, William Burch's mere presence some twenty miles from the Indian Reservation in Upper Sandusky, Ohio, does not support a claim or prove that his mother was an Indian or that, if she was an Indian, that she or any of her Indian kin were in the reservation at Upper Sandusky, Ohio. No such evidence was presented. People can believe what they wish. But, good family history comes from hypotheses which are supported by the facts and the facts are connected by primary source documentation which supports the conclusions drawn. Proving any form of Indian ancestry has been extremely difficult. Why has there been nothing found in the records at NARA (National Archives and Records Administration)in Washington, D.C., to support the claim that Thomas Burch's first wife was an Indian? One must wonder on what basis that claim which appeared in an unreliable secondary source in the literature was made? Important Note: The author of this message may not be subscribed to this list. If you would like to reply to them, please click on the Message Board URL link above and respond on the board.