|
John Clark was a man of many
adventures and talents. Little of his early life is known. He was born in St. Johns, MO
and the family moved shortly thereafter to Putnam County in northern Missouri. His
father's name was Orange and his mothers name was Margaret. It is interesting to note his
father's name, and the name Ora, that John Clark gave his first child.
Sometime in the 1870s John moved with his father and brother William to
Lincoln County, Kansas. His father Orange homesteaded some land in Lincoln County. Orange
received a Patent (title) for the homestead in August 1882. Homestead law required them to
live on the land for 3 years prior to receiving this Patent.
Ada Baggett and John were married
in 1885. The marriage license lists both of them as residents of Woody, Kansas. Woody does
not exist anymore, but there are ruins in the area. Woody was exactly 1 mile west of the
homestead. The license says they were married at William Clark's11 by J.M. Perks, Justice of Peace. This is assumed to be the place of his older
brother William, but we have not found evidence of his homestead.
One of the earliest stories about John is contained in an article he
wrote for the Wichita Eagle newspaper in the 1930's. This story was about the fabled snow
storm in western Kansas in early 1886. This story placed him in Lincoln County Kansas,
setting out to Garden City to stake a homestead claim. This article has been recreated and
is included with the Clark history. It is noteworthy that the article mentions he started
the trek with two uncles from Lincoln county and he mentioned his brother digging out from
the snow. It is probable that some of the Clarks in Lincoln county are related to our
group.
John did move out to western Kansas, as his first son Ora was born in
Sante Fe, Kansas (Haskell County) in June of 1886. The area experienced a severe
depression, hastened by drought. John then moved shortly to Medina, Kansas, which was
about 20 miles north east of Topeka. On an 1886 map, Medina was listed as "Medina
Station and PO", as it was located on the Union Pacific Railroad line. The only
evidence we have of John Clark being here is the death certificate of Mable Clark which
lists Medina as her birthplace in December 1887.
John moved to Hunnewell14 (spelled Honeywell by Mable in a 1958 letter
to Norma Blue) prior to the 1893 Cherokee Land Rush. Hunnewell is on the border of
Oklahoma on Highway 81. He moved here just to be close to the opening of the Oklahoma
Territory. He participated in the Land Rush (probably with Allen Baggett), but did not
file a claim on any property. Mable Clark told her daughter Lucille that, John staked a
claim on some land, but someone else said they had already claimed it. John did not fight
this and did not claim any other land.
John and Ada owned land in Nardin, OK shortly after this. Nardin is in
Kay County, 10 miles west of Blackwell. It is not know when he arrived here and how he
acquired the land. But he sold a lot in town in 1898. Also, Nardin is where Mabel Clark
thought that Orange Clark died. Extensive search of Kay County records and all of the
cemeteries in the area has not found any evidence of Orange Clark being buried there.
However, there are many graveyards with unmarked graves or the stones are worn smooth.
In 1894, John and his father Orange were evidently in Sumner County, KS.
A record transaction in a Lincoln County deed book, shows Orange Clark of Sumner County
selling a lot in Barnard (Lincoln County) to John Clark of Sumner County on December 3,
1894.9
Further transactions recorded in Lincoln County show John Clark of Woods
County, Oklahoma selling another lot in Barnard to a Daniel Saunders of Lincoln County on
September 28, 1897
In 1906 John and family lived north of Drury, KS. Drury was in Sumner
County, about 20 miles east of Caldwell. Many of the town buildings, quite dilapidated,
still exist. The one room school house that Ora and Mabel attended still exists and is in
very good shape with all the old school ground equipment like a merry-go-round, swings and
teeter-totter. A school souvenir of Mable Clark's list John Clark as one of the school
officers. The Chikaskia River runs through Drury and a large mill was at the south end of
town. The mill is just a pile of stone today, but the dam is in good shape. Ora and Mabel
would skate down the river in the winter to go to school. The mill and dam area was a
popular swimming hole in the summer.
By 1908 John Clark lived in south Wichita at McCarthur and Meridian.
This was actually a town called Oatville. He had an apple orchard and also grew a variety
of vegetables. He devised an underground cellar, large enough that he could drive a team
of horses and wagon down into it, and then load apples and other vegetables in it from
bins above the wagon. This underground storage allowed him to keep apples and vegetables
from freezing during the winter. He had no trouble selling this produce in the winter
then, as fresh produce was certainly rare during the cold months. John also worked as a
carpenter.
Later in life, John was very active in politics and local issues. He was
an avid proponent of the Townsend Plan, an early proposal similar to Social Security,
putting up posters urging support of the issue. When Social Security looked as though it
was going to be the accepted social program, he was sure he was going to come into a large
amount of money. This did not come to be though in his time.
In the 20s he bought a house at 437 University in Wichita. This was a
large 3 story house. It had a fancy parlor, which very few people evidently saw. Ada was a
very proper woman, and everything had to be just right. Neither Cecil or Bob Clark, both
visiting the house many times, had ever seen the parlor.
On September 13, 1935, John and Ada celebrated their 50th Wedding
Anniversary. Besides the honorable and rare celebration of 50 years of marriage, Ada's
father, 90 year old Allen Baggett attended the celebration.
|
