On the southern shore of China Lake in the small cemetery behind the South China Community Church there is an aging white gravestone which commemorates the life of a young mother who died over 150 years ago—in 1843. Its simple inscription doesn't seem to be unique—it reads:
Marabah D. Clark
wife of Dea. Thomas Clark
Died May 30, 1843
Age 43 yrs
Genealogical records of the Clark and Burrill families show that Marabah Dexter Burrill was the daughter of Samuel Burrill and Esther Dexter Burrill. Her father, Samuel, was the great-grandson of John and Mary Humphrey Burrill of Weymouth, Massachusetts, and John Burrill was the great-grandson of John and Priscilla Alden of Mayflower fame.
Marabah's husband, Thomas, a member of the pioneer Clark family of China, was the son of Ephraim and Olive Braley Clark, born in China on June 23, 1800. He became a member of the Second Baptist Church in South China where he served as deacon.
Marabah and Thomas had at least four children by the time of her death in 1843. One can imagine the Clark family's despair and anguish. Perhaps there was an epidemic because their daughter, also named Marabah, died later that year, on September 13. The younger Marabah was the third daughter to die. (Bethany, at age six months, died just before Christmas in 1832, and Elvira died on August 19, 1836). A child who did survive was a son, Joseph, born in 1823. Life was tough in the 1800s.
Travel now to the community of Center Vassalboro. Behind the small Baptist Church in that village is another old cemetery which dates back into the early 19th century. Located approximately one-third of the way into the yard is the grave of Deacon Thomas Clark. The stone is a tall pillar whose shaft supports a carved vase at the top. On the right, or south, side of the stone is engraved:
Meribah D.
Wife of Dea. Thomas Clark
Died May 30, 1843
At 43 Years
Except for the variation in the spelling of the name "Marabah," this is the same woman who, we believe, is buried in the cemetery in South China! Also engraved on the stone is the information about the deaths of the three Clark daughters. Here lies, if not the body of Marabah, the mystery of Marabah. Why, apparently, two graves? Or at least, why two inscribed stones?
The answer to this mystery may be the loss, by fire, of the Second Baptist Church in 1869. That parish was left without a building for their worship services so the congregation, or at least part of it, including Deacon Thomas Clark, traveled to Center Vassalboro to join the Vassalboro worshippers. There, Thomas continued to serve as a deacon.
In 1884 the members of the Second Baptist Church sold their land at the foot of China Lake to the Friends Society with the condition that a house of worship be built on the site. Josiah Philbrook and the four members of the Jones family signed on behalf of the Friends; and ten others, including three members of the Clark clan, signed on behalf of the Second Baptist Church congregation.
In 1885, Deacon Thomas Clark passed away and was laid to rest in the churchyard of the Center Vassalboro Church. A monument was erected and properly inscribed to honor the life of the Deacon and other members of his family who are probably buried elsewhere. A young daughter by his second wife, Hannah Dow, whom Deacon Clark married six months after Marabah's death, may also be buried here. The whereabouts of Hannah's grave is unknown to the author.
Therein lies the solution to the puzzle: Marabah Dexter Burrill Clark is remembered in Center Vassalboro on the stone that marks the grave of Deacon Thomas Clark and on the stone that marks her grave in the cemetery at the former Second Baptist Church in South China.
An interesting side note is that four Burrill women married four Clark brothers—sons of Ephraim and Olive Braley Clark. Jonathan Clark married Jane Washburn Burrill on August 26, 1819; Thomas Clark married Marabah Dexter Burrill on January 10, 1820; Amos Clark married Esther Dexter Burrill on February 2, 1822; and Scotia Clark, the ninth child of Ephraim's family, married Elvinna Burrill on July 19, 1829. These four marriages make genealogical searching a challenge.
Editor's note: China resident Osborne Ellis is the great-great-grandson of Ester Dexter Burrill Clark, sister to Marabah. His double fourth cousin, Marion Cheever of Payson, Utah, with whom he corresponds, is the great-great-granddaughter of Marabah Dexter Burrill Clark.
Marabah D. Clark
wife of Dea. Thomas Clark
Died May 30, 1843
Age 43 yrs
Genealogical records of the Clark and Burrill families show that Marabah Dexter Burrill was the daughter of Samuel Burrill and Esther Dexter Burrill. Her father, Samuel, was the great-grandson of John and Mary Humphrey Burrill of Weymouth, Massachusetts, and John Burrill was the great-grandson of John and Priscilla Alden of Mayflower fame.
Marabah's husband, Thomas, a member of the pioneer Clark family of China, was the son of Ephraim and Olive Braley Clark, born in China on June 23, 1800. He became a member of the Second Baptist Church in South China where he served as deacon.
Marabah and Thomas had at least four children by the time of her death in 1843. One can imagine the Clark family's despair and anguish. Perhaps there was an epidemic because their daughter, also named Marabah, died later that year, on September 13. The younger Marabah was the third daughter to die. (Bethany, at age six months, died just before Christmas in 1832, and Elvira died on August 19, 1836). A child who did survive was a son, Joseph, born in 1823. Life was tough in the 1800s.
Travel now to the community of Center Vassalboro. Behind the small Baptist Church in that village is another old cemetery which dates back into the early 19th century. Located approximately one-third of the way into the yard is the grave of Deacon Thomas Clark. The stone is a tall pillar whose shaft supports a carved vase at the top. On the right, or south, side of the stone is engraved:
Meribah D.
Wife of Dea. Thomas Clark
Died May 30, 1843
At 43 Years
Except for the variation in the spelling of the name "Marabah," this is the same woman who, we believe, is buried in the cemetery in South China! Also engraved on the stone is the information about the deaths of the three Clark daughters. Here lies, if not the body of Marabah, the mystery of Marabah. Why, apparently, two graves? Or at least, why two inscribed stones?
The answer to this mystery may be the loss, by fire, of the Second Baptist Church in 1869. That parish was left without a building for their worship services so the congregation, or at least part of it, including Deacon Thomas Clark, traveled to Center Vassalboro to join the Vassalboro worshippers. There, Thomas continued to serve as a deacon.
In 1884 the members of the Second Baptist Church sold their land at the foot of China Lake to the Friends Society with the condition that a house of worship be built on the site. Josiah Philbrook and the four members of the Jones family signed on behalf of the Friends; and ten others, including three members of the Clark clan, signed on behalf of the Second Baptist Church congregation.
In 1885, Deacon Thomas Clark passed away and was laid to rest in the churchyard of the Center Vassalboro Church. A monument was erected and properly inscribed to honor the life of the Deacon and other members of his family who are probably buried elsewhere. A young daughter by his second wife, Hannah Dow, whom Deacon Clark married six months after Marabah's death, may also be buried here. The whereabouts of Hannah's grave is unknown to the author.
Therein lies the solution to the puzzle: Marabah Dexter Burrill Clark is remembered in Center Vassalboro on the stone that marks the grave of Deacon Thomas Clark and on the stone that marks her grave in the cemetery at the former Second Baptist Church in South China.
An interesting side note is that four Burrill women married four Clark brothers—sons of Ephraim and Olive Braley Clark. Jonathan Clark married Jane Washburn Burrill on August 26, 1819; Thomas Clark married Marabah Dexter Burrill on January 10, 1820; Amos Clark married Esther Dexter Burrill on February 2, 1822; and Scotia Clark, the ninth child of Ephraim's family, married Elvinna Burrill on July 19, 1829. These four marriages make genealogical searching a challenge.
Editor's note: China resident Osborne Ellis is the great-great-grandson of Ester Dexter Burrill Clark, sister to Marabah. His double fourth cousin, Marion Cheever of Payson, Utah, with whom he corresponds, is the great-great-granddaughter of Marabah Dexter Burrill Clark.
On the southern shore of China Lake in the small cemetery behind the South China Community Church there is an aging white gravestone which commemorates the life of a young mother who died over 150 years ago—in 1843. Its simple inscription doesn't seem to be unique—it reads:
Marabah D. Clark
wife of Dea. Thomas Clark
Died May 30, 1843
Age 43 yrs
Genealogical records of the Clark and Burrill families show that Marabah Dexter Burrill was the daughter of Samuel Burrill and Esther Dexter Burrill. Her father, Samuel, was the great-grandson of John and Mary Humphrey Burrill of Weymouth, Massachusetts, and John Burrill was the great-grandson of John and Priscilla Alden of Mayflower fame.
Marabah's husband, Thomas, a member of the pioneer Clark family of China, was the son of Ephraim and Olive Braley Clark, born in China on June 23, 1800. He became a member of the Second Baptist Church in South China where he served as deacon.
Marabah and Thomas had at least four children by the time of her death in 1843. One can imagine the Clark family's despair and anguish. Perhaps there was an epidemic because their daughter, also named Marabah, died later that year, on September 13. The younger Marabah was the third daughter to die. (Bethany, at age six months, died just before Christmas in 1832, and Elvira died on August 19, 1836). A child who did survive was a son, Joseph, born in 1823. Life was tough in the 1800s.
Travel now to the community of Center Vassalboro. Behind the small Baptist Church in that village is another old cemetery which dates back into the early 19th century. Located approximately one-third of the way into the yard is the grave of Deacon Thomas Clark. The stone is a tall pillar whose shaft supports a carved vase at the top. On the right, or south, side of the stone is engraved:
Meribah D.
Wife of Dea. Thomas Clark
Died May 30, 1843
At 43 Years
Except for the variation in the spelling of the name "Marabah," this is the same woman who, we believe, is buried in the cemetery in South China! Also engraved on the stone is the information about the deaths of the three Clark daughters. Here lies, if not the body of Marabah, the mystery of Marabah. Why, apparently, two graves? Or at least, why two inscribed stones?
The answer to this mystery may be the loss, by fire, of the Second Baptist Church in 1869. That parish was left without a building for their worship services so the congregation, or at least part of it, including Deacon Thomas Clark, traveled to Center Vassalboro to join the Vassalboro worshippers. There, Thomas continued to serve as a deacon.
In 1884 the members of the Second Baptist Church sold their land at the foot of China Lake to the Friends Society with the condition that a house of worship be built on the site. Josiah Philbrook and the four members of the Jones family signed on behalf of the Friends; and ten others, including three members of the Clark clan, signed on behalf of the Second Baptist Church congregation.
In 1885, Deacon Thomas Clark passed away and was laid to rest in the churchyard of the Center Vassalboro Church. A monument was erected and properly inscribed to honor the life of the Deacon and other members of his family who are probably buried elsewhere. A young daughter by his second wife, Hannah Dow, whom Deacon Clark married six months after Marabah's death, may also be buried here. The whereabouts of Hannah's grave is unknown to the author.
Therein lies the solution to the puzzle: Marabah Dexter Burrill Clark is remembered in Center Vassalboro on the stone that marks the grave of Deacon Thomas Clark and on the stone that marks her grave in the cemetery at the former Second Baptist Church in South China.
An interesting side note is that four Burrill women married four Clark brothers—sons of Ephraim and Olive Braley Clark. Jonathan Clark married Jane Washburn Burrill on August 26, 1819; Thomas Clark married Marabah Dexter Burrill on January 10, 1820; Amos Clark married Esther Dexter Burrill on February 2, 1822; and Scotia Clark, the ninth child of Ephraim's family, married Elvinna Burrill on July 19, 1829. These four marriages make genealogical searching a challenge.
Editor's note: China resident Osborne Ellis is the great-great-grandson of Ester Dexter Burrill Clark, sister to Marabah. His double fourth cousin, Marion Cheever of Payson, Utah, with whom he corresponds, is the great-great-granddaughter of Marabah Dexter Burrill Clark.
Marabah D. Clark
wife of Dea. Thomas Clark
Died May 30, 1843
Age 43 yrs
Genealogical records of the Clark and Burrill families show that Marabah Dexter Burrill was the daughter of Samuel Burrill and Esther Dexter Burrill. Her father, Samuel, was the great-grandson of John and Mary Humphrey Burrill of Weymouth, Massachusetts, and John Burrill was the great-grandson of John and Priscilla Alden of Mayflower fame.
Marabah's husband, Thomas, a member of the pioneer Clark family of China, was the son of Ephraim and Olive Braley Clark, born in China on June 23, 1800. He became a member of the Second Baptist Church in South China where he served as deacon.
Marabah and Thomas had at least four children by the time of her death in 1843. One can imagine the Clark family's despair and anguish. Perhaps there was an epidemic because their daughter, also named Marabah, died later that year, on September 13. The younger Marabah was the third daughter to die. (Bethany, at age six months, died just before Christmas in 1832, and Elvira died on August 19, 1836). A child who did survive was a son, Joseph, born in 1823. Life was tough in the 1800s.
Travel now to the community of Center Vassalboro. Behind the small Baptist Church in that village is another old cemetery which dates back into the early 19th century. Located approximately one-third of the way into the yard is the grave of Deacon Thomas Clark. The stone is a tall pillar whose shaft supports a carved vase at the top. On the right, or south, side of the stone is engraved:
Meribah D.
Wife of Dea. Thomas Clark
Died May 30, 1843
At 43 Years
Except for the variation in the spelling of the name "Marabah," this is the same woman who, we believe, is buried in the cemetery in South China! Also engraved on the stone is the information about the deaths of the three Clark daughters. Here lies, if not the body of Marabah, the mystery of Marabah. Why, apparently, two graves? Or at least, why two inscribed stones?
The answer to this mystery may be the loss, by fire, of the Second Baptist Church in 1869. That parish was left without a building for their worship services so the congregation, or at least part of it, including Deacon Thomas Clark, traveled to Center Vassalboro to join the Vassalboro worshippers. There, Thomas continued to serve as a deacon.
In 1884 the members of the Second Baptist Church sold their land at the foot of China Lake to the Friends Society with the condition that a house of worship be built on the site. Josiah Philbrook and the four members of the Jones family signed on behalf of the Friends; and ten others, including three members of the Clark clan, signed on behalf of the Second Baptist Church congregation.
In 1885, Deacon Thomas Clark passed away and was laid to rest in the churchyard of the Center Vassalboro Church. A monument was erected and properly inscribed to honor the life of the Deacon and other members of his family who are probably buried elsewhere. A young daughter by his second wife, Hannah Dow, whom Deacon Clark married six months after Marabah's death, may also be buried here. The whereabouts of Hannah's grave is unknown to the author.
Therein lies the solution to the puzzle: Marabah Dexter Burrill Clark is remembered in Center Vassalboro on the stone that marks the grave of Deacon Thomas Clark and on the stone that marks her grave in the cemetery at the former Second Baptist Church in South China.
An interesting side note is that four Burrill women married four Clark brothers—sons of Ephraim and Olive Braley Clark. Jonathan Clark married Jane Washburn Burrill on August 26, 1819; Thomas Clark married Marabah Dexter Burrill on January 10, 1820; Amos Clark married Esther Dexter Burrill on February 2, 1822; and Scotia Clark, the ninth child of Ephraim's family, married Elvinna Burrill on July 19, 1829. These four marriages make genealogical searching a challenge.
Editor's note: China resident Osborne Ellis is the great-great-grandson of Ester Dexter Burrill Clark, sister to Marabah. His double fourth cousin, Marion Cheever of Payson, Utah, with whom he corresponds, is the great-great-granddaughter of Marabah Dexter Burrill Clark.
Family Members
Children
Advertisement
Records on Ancestry
Advertisement
