John Clarke was born at Westhorpe in the county of Suffolk, England on October 8, 1609 to Thomas and Rose (Kerrich) Clarke. He was one of eight children, six of whom moved to America and settled in New England. Before arriving in America and immigrating to Massachusetts Bay in 1637, he had studied theology, languages, and medicine.
Clarke, a Baptist, sided with Anne Hutchinson and the other "Antinomians," as they were jeeringly called, over the doctrinal issue of Justification by Faith alone, in the controversy with the Congregationalists. He was one of those who was forced into exile by the authorities and went to Rhode Island.
Clarke, Williams, Coddington, and other settlers purchased the Island from the Narragansett Indians. They left Massachusetts and established Portsmouth in 1638. Clarke was one of the signers of the Portsmouth Compact, a document signed on March 7, 1638 which established the settlement of Portsmouth.
Dr. Clarke's church in Newport is now known as the "United Baptist Church, John Clarke Memorial, of Newport." (the current church meeting house on Spring Street was constructed in 1846). In 1651, John Clarke, John Crandall and Obadiah Holmes were arrested and imprisoned in Lynn, Massachusetts for conducting an illegal worship service. This event (and others like it) served as the basis for Clarke's Ill Newes from New England, or a Narrative of New England's Persecutions (1652). Ill Newes contained Clarke's argument for religious freedom. He wrote that "it is not the will of the Lord than any one should have dominion over another man's conscience....[Conscience] is such a sparkling beam from the Father of lights and spirits that it cannot be lorded over, commanded, or forced, either by men, devils, or angels." One Baptist historian described Clarke as "the Baptist drum major for freedom in seventeenth century America."
The issue as to which was the first Baptist church in America should be clear to any honest historian. Wikipedia says that Roger Williams was baptized by Ezekiel Holliman, a Presbyterian, in "late 1638" and in turn baptized Holliman and several others who became members of his church. However, this church did not last for very long. Besides the fact that Williams did not have a Baptist baptism, the evidence will show that Dr. Clarke's church was founded in March of 1638, according to the testimony of Rev. S. Adlam who later became the pastor of the First Baptist Church of Newport. In fact, he wrote a book entitled The First Baptist Church in America Part I and II. In Part I, he actually gives the account of digging to the foot of Dr. Clarke's tombstone and wiping the mould away and finding the following words, "He, with his associates, came to this island from Mass., in March, 1638,…, and on the 24th of the same month obtained a deed thereof from the Indians. He shortly after gathered the church aforesaid and became its pastor." Even if we concede that Williams was a Baptist, which we certainly do not, Clarke's church would have still started several months prior to when Williams started his.
In November 1651, Clarke traveled to London with Roger Williams to cancel William Coddington's special patent that made Coddington "Governor for Life" over Aquidneck and Conanicut Islands, and to secure a new charter for the colony of Rhode Island. Having succeeded in getting Coddington's charter revoked, Williams returned to Rhode Island in 1654, but Clarke stayed in England as the colony's agent.
When the monarchy was restored in 1660 and Rhode Island's charter of 1644 was voided, Clarke worked against great odds to obtain a new charter. On July 8, 1663 Charles II of England granted a Royal Charter to Rhode Island. Clarke wrote the charter, and it contained an explicit guarantee of religious freedom. Its words are carved on the frieze of the Rhode Island State House: "...to hold forth a lively experiment, that a most flourishing civil state may stand and best be maintained...with a full liberty in religious concernments." That charter remained the foundation of government in Rhode Island until 1842.
Clarke and Williams continued to labor together for the cause of religious liberty. While Williams was a Baptist only for a few months, Clarke remained faithful for nearly forty years. Williams concluded that no visible church was valid until Christ sent a new apostle to restore it; therefore, he never affiliated with any other church. Clarke continued as the pastor of his church in Newport until his death. He practiced medicine as a means of financial support. He also served on the General Assembly from 1664 to 1669, and three terms as deputy governor (1669-1672).
Clarke died in Newport on April 20, 1676 and is buried in the cemetery on Dr. Marcus Wheatland Boulevard across the street from the rear of the Newport Police Station. His will set up a trust to be used "for the relief of the poor or bringing up of children unto learning from time to time forever." This trust is generally considered to be the oldest educational trust fund in the United States.
This article was prepared using material from Wikipedia and The First Baptist Church in America Part I by Rev. S. Adlam, D.D., Pastor of First Baptist Church of Newport, R.I.
