James Clark (sometimes Clarke) is the patriarch of the family. He was born in Ireland in approximately 1807. He married Jane Vance in Ireland before immigrating to Lower Canada, now known as the province of Quebec, Canada.

They had 10 or 11 children (see comments on Mary Clark). The oldest two were born in Ireland, though Oliver was baptised in Quebec in 1840.

In 1840, James was a volunteer in the embodied Militia of Huntingdon, Quebec according to the his son Oliver's baptism record.

For the next twenty years the family lived in Hinchenbrook, Quebec. The 1851/1852 census lists James and Jane with 8 children. James was a farmer in 1852 and a shoe maker in 1861. The 1861 census lists his age as 57, which would give him a birth year of 1804. Seven children were at home still while Hannah, Oliver and Mary Jane were not listed with the family.

In 1871, James and Jane were living in South Pontiac, Quebec with five girls, including Mary Clark who was not listed in the 1861 census, although she is 13 in the 1871 census. Another daughter, Mary Jane also lived in South Pontiac with her husband and family. The rest of the family had migrated to the United States.

I have not found much more about James Clark after this time. Some other researchers say he is buried in Otter Lake Cemetery, Thorne, Pontiac Region, Quebec. The family seems to have left the Pontiac Region in 1871. Some of them settled in Parry Sound. Some of them joined family members in Cheboygan, Michigan. When Jane died in 1899, she was listed as a widow. Her obituary states that James died in Quebec (Lower Canada).