John Clark served as Georgia's governor from 1819-1823. He commissioned John Coffee and Thomas Swain to build the Coffee Road for transporting munitions to subdue the Indians in Florida. He had a plantation near the present-day site of Blockhouse Church. Next to the plantation was old Fort Clark, probably named for him and/or his father, Gen. Elijah Clark(e). In 1816 he served as the Foreman of the Grand Jury at the Telfair County Courthouse, then in Jacksonville, Ga. In 1818 he gave the land for a "babtist church" on land lots 352/353, the current site of Blockhouse Baptist Church. He wounded William H. Crawford in the wrist and horsewhipped Judge Tait through the streets of Milledgeville. It is also said he had a weakness for strong drink. After his terms in the Governor's Office he was sent to Florida as an Indian agent under Pres. Andrew Jackson. He and his wife died of yellow fever after visiting Cuba. He was buried in Florida but since moved to the Marietta National Cemetery.