Today, May 3, 2021, marks the 200th birthday anniversary of Mary Turck, the eldest child of Peter Turck and Rachael (Gay) Turck, and future spouse of Jonathan M. Clark. Mary and Jonathan were married in old Washington county on March 15, 1840, and began to farm their Mequon land the same year. They went on to build their handsome stone house—now the Jonathan Clark House Museum—in 1848.
UPDATED, April 20, 2021 to include another historic misspelling of “Mequon,” this one from the 1837 first official map of Wisconsin.
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Mequon is the home of the Jonathan M. Clark House. Mequon is a unique name, and its source, pronunciation, spelling—and, occasionally, location—are the source of a fair amount of confusion and error. So I thought I would gather a few pertinent facts about the name that might help readers avoid some of the pitfalls in Mequon research.
As a reminder:
Baldwin, Thomas and J. Thomas, M.D., A New and Complete Gazetteer of the United States […], Philadelphia, 1854, p. 687. Via GoogleBooks.
That’s a pretty accurate, “just the facts,” description of Mequon in 1854. (Although it looks like Gazetteer editors Baldwin and Thomas didn’t get the news that on March 7, 1853, the east part of Washington county—including the Town of Mequon—had split from its parent county to form the new Ozaukee county. And the town vs. township distinction could be more precise, too.)
Continue readingSpring is here and things are happening at the Jonathan Clark House Museum. All the info is in our latest newsletter. Click the image or this link to open (and save) your own copy of the full pdf:
The Jonathan Clark House Museum is searching for a Part-Time Executive Director
The Friends of the Jonathan Clark House are pleased to announce an opening for a (paid!) part-time Executive Director. The Friends, a 501(c)3 non-profit group, were organized in 2012 with a mission “to collect preserve and share the history of the Jonathan Clark House and the early settlers of Mequon-Thiensville.” Now—in addition to our amazing volunteer staff and supporters—we’re adding this part-time executive director position.
Details
Please click here for the handy two-page pdf of the job description and application process, or click on these images for a full-size look at the same info:
Executive Director position description, page 1 of 2. Click to open larger image in new window.
Continue readingIt may still be officially winter, and we’re not done yet with Covid-19, but Spring is coming and Jonathan Clark House activities have been in the news. Both the Mequon Beacon and Ozaukee County News Graphic have published articles on our “Become a Young Historian” project. Here is the Beacon article:
Click to open larger image in new window; article concludes, below.
Continue readingThe 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:
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
Mary Turck Clark. Photograph courtesy Liz Hickman. Click to open larger image in new window.
Continue readingIn 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:
Before we come to the end of 2020, I’d like to share a little seasonal cheer with this pictorial look back at previous holidays at the Jonathan Clark House Museum. Many thanks to Nina Look, the JCH board, the community, and all the Clark House volunteers and young historians who give so much of their time and resources to keep the house alive.
If you’d like to support the Clark House and its mission to collect, preserve and share the history of the house and the early settlers of Mequon and Thiensville, please click here to make a donation. Thanks for reading, thank you for your support, and best wishes for a Happy and Healthy New Year!
Original photo pages by Nina Look. Click each page to open larger image in a new window:
December’s here, and I’m starting to get into the holiday spirit. That means lots of—mostly pleasant—chores and tasks at my home this week. So, no blog essay Wednesday or today.
But how about a holiday view of the Clark House, just to bring a little light to our wintry evenings?
Continue reading
Clark House Historian 