Hi Joe, We've corresponded before, but it might have been a while ago. I have a James CLARK/E on my family tree - by way of the Adoptive family of my grandmother. James is my most "solidly built, concrete-block walls." A quick summary is that he shows up in Little Compton, RI, around 1825-1827. He married in nearby Westport, MA, in 1829. He fathers a child in Westport in 1836. During the 1840's, he "disappears" and is not in the 1850 Census with his wife. He "might" be the James CLARK/E who got on a ship as a "greenhand" in New Bedford, MA, in 1845 due out for a 4-year voyage to the Indian Ocean. This James "deserted" in NSW, Australia. No one has laid claim to him in regards to New England and New York families. And, I have no other information on him. There is always the possibility he arrived from Canada or Europe in the 1820's; I just don't know. Thank you for your time. Betty (near Lowell, MA) FYI: In 1829, James CLARK/E married Rhoda (MANCHESTER) LAVARE of Westport, MA. Her first husband was Epaphroditus LAVARE, a Mariner, originally from VA. She had three LAVARE children, and then a daughter, Mary Ann CLARK. Rhoda's parents were reportedly a MANCHESTER / TOMPKINS couple from Westport, MA. The daughter, Mary "Molly" CLARK, b1836 Westport, grew up and married John DEXTER from Killingly, CT, and that is where they lived their married life. As a couple in their mid-50's, they strangely left their home and moved to Boston. In 1892, they adopted a baby girl, Age 3. By then, they were in their late 50's. Both my "distant cousin" and I believe that the little girl, Mary Anna Clark DEXTER, was either the daughter or granddaughter of Mrs. "Molly" DEXTER (without benefit of either husband). So, my grandmother, reportedly a "foundling" on the streets of Boston in the winter of 1889 - just possibly might be a descendant of Gilbert MANCHESTER of Westport, MA, via "a possible scandal" in Killingly, CT, in the "summer of 1888." .