1827 - 1915

Home    Search    Print    Login    Add Bookmark

• Birth	4 Jan 1827  [1]
  Gender	Male
  Died	20 Nov 1915	Northampton,Hampshire County,Massachusetts   [1]
  Person ID	I92869	Brainard (Brainerd) / Foster / Fish
  Last Modified	12 May 2004 00:00:00
  Father	Christopher CLARKE, b. 31 Jul 1793
  Mother	Harriet BUTLER, b. 1796
  Family ID	F40391	Group Sheet

• Notes

  "Representative Families of Northampton" Volume 1, by Charles F. Warner, January 1, 1917. Picturesque Publishing Company, Northampton. The F. A. Bassette Company Printers, Springfield, Mass. Christopher CLARKE Public-Spirited and "All-round Citizen" Pages 41-52. As a most important scion of one of Northampton's oldest families Christopher CLARKE furnishes a notable genealogical sketch. Mr. CLARKE was born in Northampton January 4, 1827, the son of Christopher CLARKE and Harriet BUTLER. His grandfathers were Samuel CLARKE and William BUTLER, the latter the first book publisher in Northampton and also founder of the Northampton Gazette [italics]. His grandmothers were Jerusha PHILLIPS of Boston, and Huldah BROWN BUTLER of Northampton. The first Christopher CLARKE was a merchant, and his sons, Augustus and Christopher2d, succeeded him in the same line. In childhood and youth the subject of this sketch had an intense love for music and an unusually sweet voice for a child. He sang solos in children's concerts, and at an early age was a member of the Unitarian Church choir. Later he was prominent in the town's famous "Choral Union" and other musical organizations, all financially successful. Christopher CLARKE, the boy, began an apprenticeship in the store of his brother Augustus CLARKE at the age of fourteen, with wages for the first year of thirty dollars, and five dollars per year increase until he "graduated" at nineteen. Being fond of books, his public spirit, for which his life has been so distinguished, prompted him to the leading part in raising funds for the construction of what is now known as the CLARKE Library and Memorial Hall building, to honor both the veterans of the Civil War and to properly house the books of the Northampton Free Public Library, which up to that time had been kept in the town hall. The amountof money Mr. CLARKE secured for this purpose was nearly two thousand dollars furnished by his uncle, John CLARKE, to which the uncle later added the sum offive thousand dollars toward the building fund. It is a notable fact that theCLARKE Library Building with its Memorial Hall, was the first large free public library building in a town in this country. It was opened for public use inJune, 1874. Mr. CLARKE has attributed his success in life largely to his constant association with a superior class of men and women in Northampton (which he always called "the leading town in the State"); also to his intense loveof nature in all its phases, and to music, which made him an "all-round" man and public-spirited citizen, interested in and ready to aid all good causes with personal service and money. To one who knew him long it has seemed the Mr.CLARKE'S modesty did not permit him to state other leading causes of his success. These include notably his excellent health and long life, and his unfailing good nature, cheerfulness, and regular habits. It is a fact worth mentioningthat no one ever heard him speak ill of any one - an unusual characteristic.Rallied, at one time, on his abundant cheerfulness, by a friend, he responded,"I make it a point to smile rather than show anger, as I have found that anger makes me ill, and I suffer for hours afterward, if I indulge in it." Could a stronger recommendation be given the doctrine taught by mental healers andpractical metaphysicians, so far as such doctrine relates in the discipline of mind toward making for health? His fellow-citizens have often been stopped and button-holed by him on the street, to listen to his stories, and he has doubtless chased away many a fit of the blues. His principal public service, probably was the promotion and acquisition of several public State reservations,including Mount Tom, Mount Nonotuck, Mount Sugar Loaf, Deer Hill, and last ofall, in the organization of a corporation for the purchase of Mount Holyoke,which seemed likely at one time to fall into the

• Sources

  [S1738] The Clark Genealogy, Some Descendants of Daniel Clark, of Windsor Connecticut,1639-1913, Walton, Emma Lee, (1913, published through Walton Clark, Frank Allaben Genealogical Company, Forty-Second Street Building, New York). [S1739] GEDCOM File : horrocks.ged, Lloyd A Horrocks (horrocks.2@osu.edu), (http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GED&db=horrocks&id=I55860), 16 Aug 2004.