Guide to the Joseph Clark (1751-1813), Revolutionary War Officer Papers 1777-1783 MG 256

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Descriptive Summary
Biographical Note
Scope and Content Note
Restrictions
Access Points
Related Material
Administrative Information
Bibliography

Container List

Journal and Receipts


Guide to the Joseph Clark (1751-1813), Revolutionary War Officer Papers
1777-1783
MG 256

The New Jersey Historical Society
52 Park Place
Newark, New Jersey 07102
Contact: NJHS Library
(973) 596-8500 x249
library@jerseyhistory.org
https://www.jerseyhistory.org
© 2006 All rights reserved.
The New Jersey Historical Society, Publisher
Inventory prepared by James Lewis, June 2001, as part of the “Farm to City” project funded by a grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.

Finding aid encoded by Julia Telonidis. March 2006. Production of the EAD 2002 version of this finding aid was made possible by a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Finding aid written in English.


Descriptive Summary

Creator: Clark, Joseph, 1751-1813.
Title: Joseph Clark (1751-1813), Revolutionary War Officer

Papers

Dates: 1777-1783
Abstract: Kept by a member of the Hunterdon County Militia while attached to the Continental Army. Includes descriptions of the battles of Brandywine, Germantown, and Monmouth. Portions printed in NJHS Proceedings, Ser. 1, 7 (1853-1855): 93-110.
Quantity: .07 linear feet (1 volume)
Collection Number: MG 256

Biographical Note

Joseph Clark was born in Elizabethtown, New Jersey in 1751. He attended the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) before the American Revolution. Clark served in the Hunterdon County Militia of the Second New Jersey Regiment during the Revolution. After he finished serving in the Continental Army he returned to Princeton and obtained his bachelor’s degree in 1781. He then studied theology and after two years gained his license to preach. His first congregation was the Presbyterian Church in Allentown, New Jersey. He was transferred to New Brunswick, New Jersey in 1797 where he remained until his death. He was also a trustee of the College of New Jersey and a director of the Princeton Theological Seminary. Joseph Clark died in 1813.

Background Historical Note: The Second New Jersey Regiment was authorized and assigned to the New York/Middle Department on October 9, 1775. The regiment was organized from October 26 to December 25, 1775 at Burlington and Trenton, New Jersey and consisted of eight companies. The unit fought in the Defense of Canada, Lake Champlain, Northern New Jersey, Defense of Philadelphia, Philadelphia-Monmouth, Iroquois (1779), New Jersey (1780), and Yorktown (1781) campaigns. The Second New Jersey Regiment was disbanded on November 15, 1783.

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Scope and Content Note

This collection consists of a journal dating from 1777 to 1778 and receipts dating from 1779 to 1783. Joseph Clark kept the journal while he was with the Hunterdon County Militia, which was part of the Second New Jersey Regiment, while they were defending Hackensack, Paramus, Pompton, Morristown, Brunswick, Amboy, and Red Bank, New Jersey and Germantown and Chester, Pennsylvania. Clark wrote on a variety of topics including ” Swifts remarks on the Laws of the Liliputians (sic),” “Ancient Philosophers,” a list of officers, and the unit’s encounters with the British across New Jersey. On July 8, 1777, he notes that he was appointed Adjutant Master of General Stephens Division. There is also a list of goods and services purchased which include a pipe, tobacco, silk, bridle, shirts, and a barber.

The receipts date from 1779 to 1783 and include “An account between Mr. (Aaron) Burr and Colonel Ash of North Carolina,” dated April 5, 1783. There are a few receipts to Joseph Clark, Master to General Dela(?) for goods bought from the State of Virginia. There is also a recording of the number of each rank in each regiment in February 1779, and a certificate certifying that Joseph Clark served four months as Adjutant in the Third Battalion of Militia Hunterdon, signed by Colonel David Chambers (1748-1842). Another document entitled “Memorandum of my brothers Robert’s affairs” is in this collection.

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Restrictions

Access Restrictions

There are no access restrictions on this collection.

Photocopying of materials is limited and no materials may be photocopied without permission from library staff.

Use Restrictions

Researchers wishing to publish, reproduce, or reprint materials from this collection must obtain permission.

The New Jersey Historical Society complies with the copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code), which governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions and protects unpublished materials as well as published materials.

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Access Points

The entries below represent persons, organizations, topics, forms, and occupations documented in this collection.
Subject Names:
Burr, Aaron, 1756-1836.
Clark, Joseph, 1751-1813.
Subject Organizations:
College of New Jersey (Princeton, N.J.).
United States. Continental Army. New Jersey Regiment, Second.
Subject Topics:
Soldiers–New Jersey.
Subject Places:
New Jersey–History–Revolution, 1775-1783.
United States–History–Revolution, 1775-1783.
Document Types:
Journals.
Receipts.

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Related Material

Manuscript Group 282, Holmes Family (Middletown, New Jersey) Papers

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Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

This collection should be cited as: Manuscript Group 256, Joseph Clark (1751-1813), Revolutionary War Officer

Papers, The New Jersey Historical Society.

Acquisition Information

The source of this collection is unknown.

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Bibliography

Proceedings of the New Jersey Historical Society, Vol. 7, 93-110 (The New Jersey Historical Society, Newark, New Jersey, 1855).

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Container List

Journal and Receipts

Box Folder Title Date
1 1 Journal 1777-1778
1 2 Receipts/Certificate/Memorandum 1779-1783

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