02/08/07 Trustees of 331 Year Old Trust Award Agency $5,000 for Emergency Assistance   Portrait of a Clergyman (possibly Dr. John Clarke), 1659 by Guilliam de Ville Courtesy of the Redwood Library and Athenaeum, Newport, Rhode Island The trustees of the John Clarke Trust have awarded a $5,000 grant to Family Service of Rhode Island. The grant is to provide emergency assistance, such as heat and food, to clients in crisis. The John Clarke Trust was created in 1676 on the date of the death of Dr. John Clarke, a clergyman, physician and one of the most important leaders in early colonial Newport. According to a document provided by the Trust, John Clarke was one of the founders of the Newport colony and was the author of the 1663 Royal Charter that maintained Rhode Island as a colony.  That Charter, as discussed in the Redwood Library's Newport Notables web page, was so democratic that there were doubts in England whether King Charles II had the power to sign it.   (end)