Settler of township lots: Lot 31, Conc. 5, Stanhope

Location: Map point is the approximate location within this 90 acre lot which includes the Stanhope Airport. The lot straddles the river between Maple and Green Lakes.

Land acquisition:

• 1861 & 1872 Lands Liable to Taxation: Township of Stanhope Patent Register - 90 acres to Benjamin Clarke.
• 1861 Patent from The Crown. Ontario Land Parcel Register - Stanhope (Image 376).

Dates of residency:

• 1866 Death of Wife: Stanhope
• 1871 Census of Canada: Stanhope: Widowed.
• 1881 Census of Canada, Stanhope: Benj. Clark, farmer, no location
• 1883 Stanhope Voters List: Benjamin Clark, owner, Lot 31, Conc. 4
• 1900 Death: Stanhope

Other residents:

• 1881 Census of Canada: Son George Nelson Clarke (b. 1853) was enumerated at this lot but Benjamin Clark (d. 1900) and his offspring were not.
• 1893 Stanhope Directory: G N Clarke, Maple Lake

Interesting facts: 

Benjamin Clark and James A. Ferguson built one of the first sawmills in Stanhope. Source:  Echoes of the Past, compiled and written by Ed H. Devitt & Nila Reynolds p. 27

Benjamin Clarke was a United Empire Loyalist who came from the Trenton area to take up land which included an Indian cemetery. He claimed that without the help of friendly Indians, his family would not have survived the first winter. That the cemetery was once more extensive than it seemed in the 1870's is indicated by the fact that the Clarkes often ploughed up human bones. Source: In Quest of Yesterday by Nila Reynolds. Published by The Provisional County of Haliburton, Minden, Ontario 1973 p. 14

In 1861m J. J. Melville's brother-in-law Benjamin Clarke, filed on adjoining land. The Clarkes, who were United Empire Loyalists, left the Trenton district on Lake Ontario in the month of August but did not arrive on their claim until October and without the help of friendly Indians camping nearby they would not have been able to build their log home before the winter. Source: In Quest of Yesterday by Nila Reynolds. Published by The Provisional County of Haliburton, Minden, Ontario 1973 p. 303

In January 1868, Richard Bailey was appointed poundkeeper for Maple Lake as Benjamin Clarke had left the township (By-Law XXX)

Preceding landowner: The Crown

Succeeding landowner:

• 1878 George Nelson Clark (Benjamin Clark's son) 1893 Stanhope Directory
• 1907 Benjamin Clark (George Nelson Clark's son)
• 1917 Adam Henry Sawyer (part)

Link to Settlers of Algonquin Highlands family tree

• Benjamin Clark, b. 06 Oct 1810, Ernestown, Ontario, d. 29 May 1900, Stanhope, (Age 89 years). Buried: Maple Lake Cemetery
  Parents:
  • William Clark, b. 16 Jul 1780,  New York, d. 1852, Addington, Ontario,  (Age 71 years)
  • Rebecca Babcock, b. 06 Mar 1791, Ernestown, Lennox & Addington, Ontario, d. 29 Jun 1856, Ernestown, Lennox & Addington, Ontario, (Age 65 years)
• Clarinda Henderson, b. 18 Feb 1811, Peterborough, d. 26 Jan 1866, Stanhope, Age 54 years). Buried: possibly is the most beautiful headstone in the Maple Lake Cemetery
  Parents: Caleb Henderson; Clarinda (Henderson)
• Children:
  1. Amy Ezelda Clark, b. 1832, Ontario,  d. 09 Mar 1903, Stanhope, (Age 71 years) 
  2. Phoebe Ann Clark, b. 21 Oct 1836, Ontario, d. 02 Oct 1928, Toronto, (Age 91 years)  [natural]
  3. Jeremiah Clark, b. Abt 1841, Ontario
  4. Hiram W Clark  b. Abt 1844, Ontario
  5. Adelina Clark, b. Abt 1849, Ontario
  6. George Nelson Clark, b. 17 Jun 1851, Ontario, d. 01 Jan 1940, Haliburton, (Age 88 years)

Photo: Rebecca Babcock b 1791 (Benjamin's mother). Source: Ancestry.ca teddybear19741 originally shared this on 21 Nov 2012