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Jonas Clarke
American pastor (1730–1805) / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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.[1][2]
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Clarke graduated from Harvard College in 1752 and became the third pastor of the Church of Christ in Lexington, Massachusetts on May 19, 1755.[3] 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.[4]
Clarke is buried in the Old Burying Ground in Lexington, Massachusetts. His home, now known as the Hancock-Clarke house, still stands,[5] and the Jonas Clarke Middle School in Lexington is named after him.