Education

Caroline M. (Clark) Woodward: a closer look at that 1893 biography

/ Clark House Historian Reed Perkins. / 8 Comments

Today, as we continue to explore the life of Jonathan M. and Mary (Turck) Clark’s eldest child, Caroline Mary Clark—later usually known as Mrs. C. M. Woodward—we’ll take a fact-by-fact look at the biographical sketch of Caroline that was published in 1893, re-printed unchanged in 1897, then abridged and reprinted in 1912. For a full discussion of these three publications, see last Monday’s Caroline M. (Clark) Woodward: first steps toward a biography.

Willard, Frances E., and Mary A. Livermore. 1893. A woman of the century ; fourteen hundred-seventy biographical sketches accompanied by portraits of leading American women in all walks of life ; ed. by Frances E. Willard and Mary A. Livermore, assisted by a corps of able contributors, title page and page 779.

Today’s post will be less of a fully-formed essay, and more of a running analysis, commentary, and proof-reading of this 1893 biographical sketch. We’ll take one portion at at time, starting at the beginning. The source text will be presented as a shaded quotation, followed by my commentary and corrections in simple black text on white background, with highlighted links to additional sources and explanations and, of course, a few footnotes, too. Here we go…

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Caroline M. (Clark) Woodward: first steps toward a biography

/ Clark House Historian Reed Perkins. / 3 Comments

In our most recent blog post, Another family portrait! Caroline (Clark) Woodward, c. 1890s, we located and discussed the history of a previously unknown photo of Jonathan M. and Mary (Turck) Clark’s eldest child, Caroline Mary Clark, later usually known as Mrs. C. M. Woodward:

Townsend Elite Studio, [Portrait, Caroline M. (Clark) Woodward], inscribed “Mrs. C. M. Woodward, Supt. Work among Railroad Employes, N.W.C.T.U.”, photograph, circa 1889-1900. Photo courtesy Frances Willard House Museum & WCTU Archives, Evanston, Illinois. Click to open larger image in new window.

Caroline’s life was the most public—and perhaps best documented—of all the members of Jonathan M. Clark family, and is overdue for a closer examination. So today we begin a multi-part look at Caroline’s story, starting with three biographical sketches that were published during her lifetime.

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A Dental Divertimento…

/ Clark House Historian Reed Perkins. / 2 Comments

UPDATED, September 17, 2021, to add a few details about the Morrison children, Jennie’s dental practice in the 1880s and ’90s, and the date of her divorce from second husband A. G. Widger.

Due to unforeseen circumstances, I won’t be blogging much this week. (Let’s just say that the cause of my hiatus has inspired today’s post, featuring a brief introduction to the life of the Clarks’ youngest child, Dr. Jennie M. Clark, D.D.S.)

Unknown photographer, [Dentist], daguerreotype with applied color, circa 1855. Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase from the Charles Isaacs Collection made possible in part by the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment. CC0. si.edu. Click to open larger image in a new window.

Clark House dentists

I’m not sure who Mequon’s first dentist was, or when he set up shop. It’s entirely likely that the Jonathan Clark family did not visit a dentist until they moved to Milwaukee (and they still may not have seen a dentist once there). But Mequon’s Jonathan Clark House plays an important part in the lives of two Mequon/Milwaukee area dentists.

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Clark House News

/ Clark House Historian Reed Perkins. / 2 Comments

The Friends of the Jonathan Clark House February newsletter is here! Many thanks to all the volunteers, donors, and Clark House board members for their continuing work “to collect, preserve and share the history of the Jonathan Clark House and the early settlers of Mequon Thiensville.”

Once again, Clark House executive director Nina Look has done a wonderful job leading the work of the museum, coordinating the volunteers, and putting together an informative and generously-illustrated newsletter. Just click on this image of the first page to open your own downloadable pdf in a new window:

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Mary Turck Clark—updated

/ Clark House Historian Reed Perkins. / 10 Comments

The original version of this post was the second-ever post on Clark House Historian. It represented what we knew at the time about Mary Turck, the daughter of Peter Turck and Rachael Gay, wife of Jonathan M. Clark, and mother of the eight Clark family children. The original April, 2016, post was pretty accurate, but we have learned a lot more about Mary and her Turck and Clark families in the meantime. So here is a revised version of that post with errors corrected and ambiguities clarified—where possible.

Please note that there are many more facts about Mary and her Clark and Turck families that I’ve written about in the past almost-5 years that are not linked to in this post. If you are looking for more information about Mary, I highly recommend using the blog’s SEARCH function and our new INDEX. And if you still can’t find the info you want, please ask me! Just use the Leave a Reply box, below, or the CONTACT link, above.

Mary Turck Clark: Mequon Pioneer

CLARK, Mary TURCK portrait

Mary Turck Clark. Photograph courtesy Liz Hickman. Click to open larger image in new window.

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JCH Annual Report, 2020

/ Clark House Historian Reed Perkins. / 1 Comment

In spite of the stresses and disruptions the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has brought to all of our lives, 2020 was a busy and productive year for the Jonathan Clark House Museum, and the many Clark House friends and volunteers that support its mission to collect, preserve and share the history of the Jonathan Clark House and the early settlers of Mequon-Thiensville.

As is her custom, Clark House Museum executive director Nina Look has put together an excellent—and generously illustrated—document summarizing our 2020 activities. To catch up with all that’s gone on in the past year with the museum and the Friends, and to enjoy all 12 pages of the report, either click this link, or click the photo of the report’s first page (below). Either should open the complete 2020 Annual Report in a new window for reading or downloading:

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Clark House Museum Update

/ Clark House Historian Reed Perkins. / 2 Comments

It’s been “one of those weeks” here at the Clark House Historian’s actual house. Nothing unfortunate, but assorted “real life” tasks have kept me from finishing several more substantial posts. (Yes, there will be another photo analysis post or two featuring Cyrus Clark. And tintypes, too.)

News from Clark House Museum director Nina Look

Fortunately, Jonathan Clark House museum director Nina Look has just written and distributed the September, 2020, newsletter for the Friends of the Jonathan Clark House, and I can share it with you today. It’s filled with news and photos about the Clark House and some of our current and future projects.

If you’d like to open and/or download the complete, five-page PDF, click here. Or, if you want to catch up with your Jonathan Clark House news here on the blog, click “Continue reading” (below) and enjoy.

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Back to School, 1839!

/ Clark House Historian Reed Perkins. / 5 Comments

Daniel Strickland hires “the first teacher“

There are a number of conflicting claims to the title of “first teacher” in Mequon. One of the first was Mary Turck Clark. She led classes for her siblings and four neighbor children in the loft of her father’s cabin in the summer of 1839.

The History of Washington and Ozaukee Counties, relates a number of other “firsts” for area schools and teachers. Among them is the story of how the school committee1 hired its first teacher, led by Daniel Strickland (father of Sarah A. Strickland Clark).

In the sprit of our previous Back To School salute to education, here is that tale:

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