The Clark Families of Butler County, Ohio

ALBERT W. CLARK.

Albert V. Clark, the popular jailer at the Butler county bastile, is a native of Venice, Ohio, and a great-grandson of Dr. Benjamin F. Clark, who laid out the village of “Venus” in 1816. Dr. Clark was a native of New York and came to this county in 1814. He selected as a home the present town site of Venice, and there established a hamlet in the wilderness which, because of the natural beauty of the spot, he named “Venus.” He was a man of rare professional skill and well educated. He is described as a tall, sparely-built man, of much physical and mental force. His mission to humanity on the western frontier was well performed, and during the twelve years of his life he was a tireless worker among the sick and distressed. Dr. Clark was a man of broad views and liberal in his consideration of others' rights. He donated one acre of land to the town of “Venus” for burial purposes and was otherwise public spirited and active in the interest of the town and community. He continued in active practice until his death, June 22, 1826, at the age of fifty-seven years. His wife, Elizabeth Clark, died February 15, 1861, at the age of seventy-seven years, and both are interred in the cemetery which the Doctor founded. A son of this early pioneer was also named Benjamin F. and he was the paternal grandfather of Albert W. Clark, of this sketch. Grandfather Clark was twice married, his first wife, who was Rhoda Fuller, being the mother of the subject’s father, Benjamin Allen Clark. There were four children in this family, Benjamin A. and Lavonia, now Mrs. Burch, being the only survivors. The others were named Permilla and Melvina. Benjamin Allen Clark was born at Venice, October 13, 1834. married Miss Elizabeth R. McFeeley, and both are living. Their home has been for many years at the village of Shandon, formerly known as Paddy's Run, near which place they own a valuable farm. They were the parents of nine children, eight of whom are living. The eldest was David Ozro, who died in childhood, in 1860. Frank followed farming until recently, when he removed to Hamilton and engaged in other pursuits., Mrs. Rhoda E. Henry lives on a farm at St. Charles, in this county. Albert W., of this sketch, was the next in order of birth. Mrs. Lillian Bauer resides on a farm near Venice. Ralph W. has exiled himself from home and friends since 1890, and his whereabouts is unknown to his family, an unhappy marriage being the cause of this estrangement. Ernest is operating the home farm. He married Miss Carrie Vogt, and they have one child. Frances E. became the wife of William Robinson, a retired farmer, now operating a hotel at Shandon. Emmazetta G. is the wife of Roger Evans, a brother of Mrs. Albert Clark. Mr. Evans is a mechanic at Shandon.

The subject of this article received a good practical education in the public school at Shandon, and began his business career as a farmer. Fie followed the plow during most of his life and owned and operated a threshing outfit for seventeen seasons. He has been a hard-working, industrious man, seeing but little of the comforts of life except as he took pleasure and comfort in his endless work. He was born on the 2(1 of August, 1862, and, though yet a young man, he is broken down from the effects of a lifetime of persistent toil, from early dawn until late at night. Fortunately, a change came in 1900, when he was selected from numerous applicants as the jailer at the Butler county prison. He served in this capacity during the four-years term of Peter Bisdorf, as sheriff, and was re-appointed in 1904 by Sheriff Luke Brannon. Mr. Clark has official charge of the jail, and inmates and appurtenances, under direction of the sheriff. In his official capacity Mr. Clark has witnessed some touching scenes and has had charge of some of the most hardened criminals. Among these are murderers, thieves, burglars and others, guilty of minor crimes. The notorious stranger, Alfred Knapp, now awaiting electrocution for wife-murder, was one of his most “distinguished” guests for many months. The Butler county jail is a massive stone structure, erected in 1848, with due consideration for the character of its occupants. It is fitted with twenty-four steel cells, which, with the impenetrable stone walls and the watchful vigilance of the jailer, render escape impossible.

Mr. Clark was married on the 31st of January, 1884, when he those for his companion in life’s journey Miss Alice Evans, who was born at Shandon, Butler county, and is a representative of a numerous and prominent old family in the county. Her parents were Robert N. and Margaret (Davis) Evans, both descendants of Welsh ancestors. John Evans, the paternal grandfather, a native of Wales, established a home on Paddy’s Run in 1818. He reached Cincinnati with the modest sum of twenty-nine cents as the nucleus, to which he in later years added a large fortune. He was reputed to be very wealthy and made liberal provisions for all of his children. But as he neared the end of life’s journey, a trusted friend who handled a large part of his fortune proved unfaithful and the doing old man was defrauded in the sum of several thousand dollars. He died possessed of about a hundred thousand dollars, mostly in real estate and stock.

The happy union of Mr. and Mrs. Clark has been blessed with eleven children, nine of whom are now living. The eldest of these was Wayne Ozra, a promising youth who met a tragic death at the dawn of bright young manhood. On the 15th of July, 1904, while bathing in the reservoir near Hamilton, hd was drowned. This calamity was a severe blow to the family and elicited the sympathy of the entire city, where the young man was well and favorably known. At the time of his death Wayne was a trusted employe of the T. V. Howell & Son Dry Goods Company, where he was held in high esteem by his employers and associates.* He was a most exemplary young man, whose correct habits of life and conduct never gave his loving parents a moment’s trouble. The body was buried in the family lot at Venice, where four generations of the name are represented. Wayne was but two months past his twentieth year. The other children,- with the exception of Albert A., who died in early infancy in August, 1900, are still under the parental roof. They are Arline, Keith, Bryce, Ruth, Virginia. Rowland, Miriam, Rowena and

Robert Chetwyn. Albert was next to the youngest. Mr. Clark is prominently identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He-is a past grand of Ros. Lodge, No. 482, and a member of Butler Encampment, No. 7. He also holds a membership in Butler Court, Tribe of Ben Hur.

In political affiliations Mr. Clark has been a lifelong Democrat, and has always taken an active interest in the success of his party. He never aspired to public office other than his present position. The family is well known and highly esteemed in the county with which both the Clark and Evans families have been identified for nearly a century..

As printed in the source¹. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.

Hiram Clark, a dealer in horses, of Middletown, is a native of Butler county, Ohio, born in the township of Madison on the 20th da\ of December, 1858. His parents, Martin and Elizabeth Clark, were natives of New Jei sey and Ohio respectively, the mother belonging to one of the old and well-known families of Madison township. The father came in Butler county in his boyhood, was reared to agricultural pursuits and when a young man married Miss Elizabeth Deem, by whom he had ten children, the subject of this review being the second of the family, from a moderate beginning Martin Clark gradually became one of the leading bu mers and stock raisers of this county and also achieved enviable repute as a fruit grower, his orchards being among the largest and most valuable in the southern part of the state. He was an enthusiast in the latter industry, as well as an expert, and to him belongs the credit of developing several new varieties of fruits which have since been handled quite extensively by the leading nurseries throughout the Union. In his business affairs Mr. Clark was uniformly successful and at one time he owned a beautiful farm of two hundred and forty acres of as fine land as the township of Madison could ii produce, besides other valuable property, and for a number of years he was accounted one of the representative agriculturists of Butler county, also one of its wealthy men and public-spirited citizens. In politics he wielded a strong influence for the Republican party and in all that made for material advancement and honorable citizenship of the community he was a leader, having been a liberal supporter of churches and generous in his benefactions to benevolent and charitable enterprises. His life was characterized by good works and noble deeds, his influence was ever on the side of right and all who knew him were profuse in lauding his upright conduct and many estimable qualities. The death of this excellent citizen occurred in Madison township in 1863 and was much regretted by the large circle of friends and admirers who held him in such high esteem.

Hiram Clark was reared under the beneficial influence of farm life and received a good education in the public schools. He early became a valuable helper on the home place and assisted in its cultivation until his twenty-fourth year, when he was united in marriage with Miss Ella Weikel, an accomplished young lady of Lemon township and a member of one of the prominent families of that part of the county, the union resulting in the birth of two daughters, Edna and Elsie. From his marriage until the year 1885 Mr. Clark carried on farming in Madison township, but at the latter date disposed of his agricultural interests and engaged in the livery business at Middletown, which vocation he followed until November, 1903, when he disposed of his business. He is essentially a business man, possessing first-class qualifications, enjoys in a marked degree the confidence of the people with whom he comes in contact and as a citizen keeps in touch with all public measures and enterprises calculated to promote or in any way enhance the welfare of the city of his residence. Mr. Clark is not a politician, although a zealous supporter of the Republican party, and it has never occurred to him to ask for office, or to seek public honors at the hands of his fellow citizens. He holds membership with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and, with his wife, belongs to the Methodist Episcopal church of Middletown, both being earnest workers in the congregation and greatly respected for their activity and efficiency in the various departments of religious endeavor under the auspices of the same.

Mr. Clark’s daughters are intelligent, well educated young women of high social standing, both being graduates of the Middletown high school. Edna is the wife of Frank Gillman, a well-known and popular citizen of this city, while Elsie is unmarried and still a member of the home circle.

As printed in the source¹. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.

J. MARTIN CLARK. M. D.

Successfully established in the practice of his profession in the city of Hamilton, Dr. Clark is one of the representative physicians and surgeons of this section and is also a schon of honored pioneer families of Butler county. The Doctor was born in the village of Seven Mile, St. Clair township. on the 2d of November, 1869, being a son of Wilson S. and Hannah (Pottinger) Clark, both of whom were likewise natives of Butler county and both of whom are now deceased, the father having been a merchant, broker and commercial traveler at different periods. He died in 1895, as the result of an accident, being in his fifty-fifth year at the time. The mother of Dr. Clark passed away when he was an infant, and his father later consummated a second marriage, of which two children were born. One is living. Bert, who is an expert bond man, located in Chicago, Illinois, as the western representative of the National City Bank of New York. He was educated in Chicago and his initial business experience was in connection with insurance lines, in which he was very successful.

When Dr. Clark was a lad his parents removed to the West. In the year 1890 he began the study of medicine and later was matriculated in Hahnemann Medical College of Chicago, where he was graduated as a member of the class of 1894. Thereafter he served for a time as house physician and surgeon in the Hahnemann Hospital, with which the college is connected, and he continued to be a member of the hospital staff until 1899, when he came to Hamilton and established himself in the active practice of his profession, while he has gained precedence and success in his chosen work and is recognized as one of the able and discriminating practitioners of the county. The Doctor defrayed the expenses of his collegiate education through his own efforts. He taught school in the west for a number of years before taking up the study of medicine. He is held in high regard in professional, business and social circles and is still a bachelor.

Reverting to the genealogy of the subject, we may say that the Clark family has been identified with the annals of American history from the colonial epoch, and the paternal grandparents of the Doctor came to Ohio and settled in Wayne township, this county, in the early part of the last century, being numbered among the sterling pioneers of this section, which was then practically a forest wild. Representatives of the family were participants in the war of the Revolution, and the grandfather of our subject took part in the war of 1812. The maternal grandparents came to this county from Kentucky, about the same time as did the Clarks. Samuel Pottinger, great-grandfather of the Doctor, died here in 1820, at the patriarchal age of one hundred and two years. Both families were numbered among the first settlers in the county and their descendants are numerous in southern Ohio, while many members of later generations have been identified with various professions. The Pottinger family traces its lineage back to stanch English origin, and the first representatives in America settled in Maryland, probably at the time when Lord Baltimore was at the head of its government.

As printed in the source¹. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.