Cyrus Edgar Clark

As printed in 1899

Clark, Cyrus Edgar, merchant and manufacturer, was born February 19, 1853, in the town of Rahway, Union County, New Jersey, son of Daniel and Harriet Williams Clark. His father. who removed from New Jersey to St. Louis in 1858, was the founder of the business which the son has since increased and expanded in keeping pace with the development of the country and the demands of trade. The elder Clark was a man of superior capacity and large enterprise, and during his business career in St. Louis built up the most extensive leather trade controlled by any house west of the Alleghany Mountains. Не was recognized by the leather interests of the country as an authority on all matters pertaining to the trade, and in St. Louis he is remembered as an eminently successful merchant and a citizen noted for his benevolence and philanthropy. Both the parents of Cyrus E. Clark were descendants of Revolutionary ancestors, and his mother was a descendant of Abraham Clark, a signed of the Declaration of Independence and member of the Continental Congress, who was known at Rahway as the “poor man’s counselor,” because of his habit of giving legal advice gratuitously to all the indigent colonists who sought his assistance. Coming to St. Louis in his early childhood, the subject of this sketch grew up in this city, receiving thorough educational training in the public schools At the end of a scientific course of study, which included the higher mathematics, the Latin and German languages and English literature, he was graduated with honor from the High

School in the class with Charles Nagel, John S. Thompson, Dr. Robert Luediking and others, who have since distinguished themselves in various calling. The family homestead during his boyhood was on Olive Strect, its site being a part of that occupied by the exposition building. As a boy he saw the first street cars placed on the streets of St. Louis, and he was witness also of some of the most exciting events of the Civil War period. He saw the Federal troops returning from the capture of Camp Jackson with many prominent citizens in custody, who were being conveyed to the old United States arsenal. He saw General Grant ride through the city at the head of his troops, and at the great Sanitary Fair he was the "boy in waiting" at the booth in which Nellie Grant personated "the old woman who lived in a shoe.” During the later years of his youth he lived at the old home built by his father at 2653 Washington Avenue, which is still the family homestead. Soon after graduating from the High School he entered his father's mercantile establishment, and under the tutorship of that accomplished man of affairs was thoroughly trained to business pursuits. In accordance with the practical views of the elder Clark he began, as апу other bov would have had to begin to learn the business, and worked his way upward from one position to another, as his merits justified promotion. When he had thoroughly mastered all the details of the business he was admitted to a partnership and became an active participant in its conduct and management. Upon the death of his father, in 1895, his uncle and cousin, who had previously been partners in the business, withdrew, and Mr. Clark then organized the James Clark Leather Company, a corporation of which he has since been president, and which has greatly extended the trade of the old house. A business man of. very superior qualifications, he has given to the important commercial enterprise of which he is the head the most careful attention and supervision, but at the same time he has kept in touch with public affairs and contributed his share to the advancement of public interests. Affiliating with the Republican party politically, he has been an active participant in its councils, and was one of the party managers in St. Louis in the presidential campaign of 1896. Since he was fifteen years of age he has been a member of the Presbyterian Church, and at the Present time— 1897 е is nected with the Secand Presb official сол. as trustee, deacon and rane Chia church, and to numerous charitable 9 this anthropic institutions, he has мыш contributor, giving freely, silo. гар been favored by fortune should о who hay poor and needy. He js identified V up the fraternal organizations of the city ber of the Ancient Order ot ean mem. men and the Legion of Honor. He ы in 1876, Miss Mary Cliff Warren dau Vis Samuel D. and Josephine W rd

> warren of St. Le The children born to this union pon m i este

W.. Warren D., Arline and Robert E. Clark

„Clark, George Rogers, the first American fort on the Mississippi River. and by sheer force of his prowess, military genius and stern character, prevented Spain and Great Britain from making a panition between them of the country west of the Alleghanies, “was born near Monticello, Albemarle County, Virginia, November 19, 1752, and died near Louisville, Kentucky, February 13, 1818. He spent his early life in Caroline County, Virginia, and enjoyed some educational advantages from a noted Scotch teacher, Donald Robertson, in King and Queen County, among whose pupils was James Madison. He fitted himself for a surveyor, and at the age of twenty practiced his profession on the upper Ohio, and became a farmer Two years later he served under Governor Dunmore in his campaign against the Shaw nees and their allies, which ended in the treaty of Camp Charlotte, memorable as the осот of the undying speech of Logan, the Ming’

Who planted chief. Early in 1775 Clark went ае and was occupied in surveying, s British

[This passage is too damaged in the scanned book to reproduce. See the original book.]

: cing that I frontier. Tt is said that си 5 main un 1 for powder was likely а not appeal tor р “A country whic heeded, exclaimed:

ан is not worth claiming." The ds of powder thus obtained land to the Monongahela, ter to the Three Islands, a Maysville now is, and d, while Clark and his escort went to Harrodsburg for horses and a guard for its conveyance 10 that station. At length it reached the place of its destination, but not without the loss of some of the party who first attempted its acquisition. Early т 1777 Clark repelled the Indian attacks on Harrodsburg. sent out spies to Illinois, and on their return hastened on foot to Virginia to lay before the Governor and council his plan for the conquest of the Illinois country and the repression of the murderous Indian forays from that quarter. His scheme was approved, and he was made a lieutenant-colonel, authorized to raise the necessary troops and pushed on with his little force to a small island opposite the present city of Louisville, where he erected block-horses, drilled his men and planted corn. Hence, the name of Corn Island. On June 24, 1778, during an eclipse of the sun, he set sail, passed safely over the rapids and soon landed at the old, deserted Fort Massac, and marching thence six days across the country, a portion of the time without food, took Kaskaskia by surprise, July 4th. The other French villages in that quarter followed suit and surrendered at discretion. The Illinois country was thus captured without the firing of a gun or the loss of a man. Clark conciliated the surrounding Indian tribes, changing enemies into friends. All this tended to alarm the British. Governor Hamilton at Detroit marched a large force, mostly Indians, and retook Vincennes early einen of that year. This intelligence ton ihe RUE ‘I must take Hamláser th will take me,” said Clark; and with told he an one hundred and seventy men all Ж еей across the country in mid- Wabash DE the submerged lands of the ме its tributaries, sometimes break- Nn ed 00 thin to bear them, often waded Doch с armpits in water, with scanty at ЫИ e up by patriotic hopes. They iso HW н before the astonished grind Y Я fe Pa their unerring rifles, üp the nd hours Colonel Hamilton yielded tagged i surrendering to Clark and his жейде, аи 24, 1779. The e poverty of Virworth defending five hundred peun was conveyed. by and thence by wa few miles above where there secrete ginia alone prevented his attempting. the capture of Detroit. Early in 1780 Clark established Fort Jefferson, a little below the mouth of the Ohio. Hearing of the approach of a formidable British and Indian force against Cahokia, his upper garrison, and the Spanish settlement of St. Louis, Clark hastened with a party to the relief of Cahokia, reaching there just in time to repel the enemy. Learning from them that another large force was marching to Kentucky, he hastened there on foot with but two companies, leaving his Illinois troops to follow the retreating enemy + to their towns on Rock River, which they found deserted and destroyed. On reaching Kentucky, Clark learned of Bird’s invasion, capturing Martin's and Ruddell's Stations, with three hundred and forty prisoners, when he hastily gathered a thousand men, invaded the Shawnee country, defeated the Indians and laid waste their villages. Once more Clark's attention was turned toward Detroit, the headquarters of the British power and influence in the Northwest, whence savage war parties were constantly set forth to harass and destroy the infant settlements of Kentucky. Going to Virginia, he concerted with Governor Jefferson and council a campaign against Detroit, which met with the approval and assistance of General Washington. Before it could be carried into effect Arnold’s invasion of Virginia in January, 1781, occurred, when Clark temporarily headed two hundred and forty riflemen and ambuscaded a party of the enemy at Hood's, on James River, and then hastened forward, with the commission of brigadiergeneral, for the execution of his scheme against Detroit. But it miscarried, owing to the poverty of Virginia, the difficulty of raising an adequate force with inadequate means, and the powerful opposition of the enemy, headed by Brant, the great Mohawk chief, McKee, Girty and other border leaders, who attacked Clark's detachment and invaded the Beargrass settlements around Louisville. In 1782, айег the British and Indian attack on Bryant’s Station, and the disastrous defeat oí the Kentuckians at the Blue Licks, Clark led forth one thousand men, driving back the savages on Big Miami and destroying. their villages and means of sustenance. This was Clark's last important service, as his expedition up the Wabash in 1786, and his efforts in behalf of France in 1793-4 against the Spaniards of the Mississippi, proved abortive. The freedom of Clark's early life had unfitted him for domestic happiness. and he never married. A tradition is preserved in the family that he was fascinated with the beauty of the daughter of the Spanish Governor of St. Louis when he relieved. this post from an Indian attack. Observing a want of courage in the Governor, he broke off his addresses to the girl, saving to his mends: "I will not be the father of a race of cowards.” His last years were spent alone and in poverty. in а rude dwelling on Corn Island, until his sister took him to her home at Locust Grove, near Louisville. He felt keenly what he considered the ingratitude of the republic in leaving him in poverty and obscurity, and when the State of Virginia sent him a sword he received the compliments of the committee in gloomy silence. Then he exclaimed; “When Virginia needed a sword І gave her опе. She sends me now a toy. I want bread!” We thrust the sword into the ground and broke it with his crutch Clark was tall and commanding, brave and full of resources, possessing the affection and contdence uf his теп. All that rich domain north of the Ohio was secured to the republic. at the peace of 1783. in consequence of his prowess. His grave is in Cave Hill Cemetery at Louisville, marked by a lide headstone bearing the letters G. R. С. [t is said that not half a dozen people in the United States сап point it ош.” Appleton’s Cyclopedia of American Diography.)

As printed in Encyclopedia of the history of St. Louis, a compendium of history and biography for ready reference (v. 1) (1899). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.