Col. John Clack 1721-1784

Col. John Clack
1721–1784
BIRTH 9 JAN 1721 • Gloucester, Virginia, DEATH 18 AUG 1784 • Brunswick, Virginia,

One Ancestry posting says:

"John was a surveyor, a warden of St. Andrews Parish, and a sheriff. He is said to have become a lieutenant in 1748 and to have been a soldier in the French and Indian War from 1755-1763. He was in the House of Burgesses 1761-65, and was a member of the Brunswick County Court 1765. During the period 1782-1784 he was a Brunswick County taxpayer, with one poll tax payer and 16 slaves."

He was born in Gloucester County, VA, near the coast.  His grandfather (Rev. James Clack 1657-1723) was the minister of Ware Episcopal (Anglican) Church in Gloucester County until his death.  

His father, James Clack Jr. (1698-1757) probably moved to Brunswick County, in southern Virginia, between 1730-31, since he had one child born in 1730 in Gloucester county, and one born in 1731 in Brunswick County.

John Clack married Mary Kennon Clack in 1743 in Gloucester County also, but they later moved to Brunswick County, where St. Andrews Parish was, and some church records were retained.  

Their first son, Spencer Clack, was born in Fairfax (now Loudoun) County, VA.  See quotation below from Wikipedia about Fairfax County VA  But as far as the family moving, Fairfax was to the north and Brunswick was to the south ends of Virginia...not a straight line from Gloucester County on the coast at all!

I mentioned his mother, Mary Kennon Clack as the only daughter of Richard Kennon Jr. and Mary Bolling Kennon, born on Jan. 28, 1728 in Gloucester County, VA when speaking about her parents HERE.

It is likely John fought in the French and Indian War 1755-63, but he would have been over 50 years old when the American Revolution started.  His son Lt. Spencer Clack was definitely a soldier in the revolution.  And Spencer Clack moved to Sevier County Tennessee following the revolution.

Spencer Clack was the only child of John and Mary Clack's 7 children who was born in Fairfax County VA.  The rest were born in Brunswick County, VA.

Fairfax County was formed in 1742 from the northern part of Prince William County. It was named for Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron (1693–1781), proprietor of the Northern Neck.^[8][9] The Fairfax family name is derived from the Old English phrase for "blond hair" – Faeger-feahs.

The oldest settlements in Fairfax County were along the Potomac River. George Washington settled in Fairfax County and built his home, Mount Vernon, facing the river. Gunston Hall, the home of George Mason is nearby. Modern Fort Belvoir is partly on the estate of Belvoir Manor, built along the Potomac by William Fairfax in 1741.

Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron, the only member of the British nobility ever to reside in the colonies, lived at Belvoir before he moved to the Shenandoah Valley. The Belvoir mansion and several of its outbuildings were destroyed by fire immediately after the Revolutionary War in 1783, and George Washington noted the plantation complex deteriorated into ruins.  (Wikipedia)

A typical Virginia home in the 1770s...not our family but a typical one built by the successful colonial families.