Jonas W. Clark

This advertisement describes Jonas Clark's clothing shop called "Excelsior Clothes."

Weekly American Workman, December 16, 1871

Quick Facts

Significance:

Abolitionist and Activist

Place of Birth:

Hubbardston, Massachusetts

Date of Birth:

June 17, 1799

Place of Death:

Boston, Massachusetts

Date of Death:

1780s

As an active member of the Black Beacon Hill community, Jonas W. Clark assisted freedom seekers and advocated for equal education.

Born free on June 17, 1799, Clark grew up in Hubbardston, Massachusetts with his parents, Peter and Mitty Clark, and several brothers.¹ In the 1820s or 30s, Jonas Clark and his brother Anthony moved to Beacon Hill in Boston. Between 1833-1855, Clark lived at 86 May Street while also renting out 12 Belknap Street.² Later, Clark moved to 20 Grove Street in 1855/56, where abolitionist William Cooper Nell boarded with him in 1857.³ As a long-time member of the community, Clark held a position as an officer for the Prince Hall Lodge of Masons.⁴ Clark appears to have had a close relationship with Primus Hall, Prince Hall's son, as the Boston Courier identified him as the executor of Hall's will in 1842.⁵

While living in Beacon Hill, Clark owned a popular clothing shop on 18 Brattle Street. An 1871 ad suggests Clark founded his shop "Excelsior Clothes Cleaning and Tailoring Establishment" in 1826. His son, Jonas W. V. Clark, may have continued to run the shop after his death in the early 1870s.⁶

Clark supported a variety of causes throughout his life. In the 1840s, he joined other members of the Black community in calling for the end of separate schooling for Black children. At community meetings about this issue, Clark frequently served as an officer.⁷ In the summer of 1849, he submitted a petition to the city's School Committee in support of closing the Abiel Smith School, the segregated school for Black children.⁸ Clark, along with the 275 other signers, believed maintaining the school provided unequal education for Black children.

As a fervent abolitionist, Clark helped freedom seekers who had fled to Boston. Clark helped abolitionists Coffin Pitts and John Coburn pay the bail of James Scott, who aided the freedom seeker Shadrach Minkins with his escape in February 1851.⁹ Boston Vigilance Committee Records list Jonas Clark as aiding freedom seekers "Lorenzo from S. Carolina" in January, 1857, and Joe Hovey in April, 1857.¹⁰

Jonas Clark died in the early 1870s after spending a lifetime devoted to seeking equality and justice for his community.

Footnotes

1. Kathryn Grover and Janine V. Da Silva, "Historic Resource Study: Boston African American National Historic Site," Boston African American National Historic Site, (2002), 42.
2. Grover and Da Silva, "Historic Resource Study: Boston African American National Historic Site," 42.
3. Grover and Da Silva, "Historic Resource Study: Boston African American National Historic Site," 138, 59.
4. “Prince Hall Lodge of Masons,” Boston Evening Transcript, June 26, 1855.
5. Boston Courier, Sept 18, 1842
6. "Excelsior Clothes" Ad, Weekly American Workman, December 16, 1871; 1870 Census record suggests he died January 1870, however, his name appears in Boston City Directories. His son, Jonas W. V. Clark, shares his same name, so these mentions in the City Directories could be the younger Jonas Clark, instead.
7. “Meeting of Colored Citizens,” Boston Courier, July 1, 1844
8. “Grammar School Committee,” Boston Evening Transcript, August 2, 1849.
9. Grover and Da Silva, "Historic Resource Study: Boston African American National Historic Site," 42.
10. Account Book of Francis Jackson, Treasurer The Vigilance Committee of Boston, Dr. Irving H. Bartlett collection, 1830-1880, W. B. Nickerson Cape Cod History Archives, 50, 52, https://archive.org/details/drirvinghbartlet19bart/page/50/mode/2up; Grover and Da Silva, "Historic Resource Study: Boston African American National Historic Site," 42.