Denver County CO Archives Biographies.....Clark, Elroy Newton 1860 - ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/co/cofiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00001.html#0000031 December 15, 2008, 8:02 pm Author: Wilbur Fiske Stone (1918) ELROY NEWTON CLARK. Elroy Newton Clark, whose high professional standing is indicated in the fact that he is now and for many years has been general attorney for the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad system, has for twenty years been a resident of Denver and brought to the starting point of his professional career in this city valuable experience gained from active practice in Chicago. He was born at North Hero, Vermont, July 22, 1860. His father, Ransom L. Clark, was a native of the Green Mountain state and a representative of an old New England family of English descent, the ancestry being traced back to the early settlement of Connecticut. Ransom L. Clark was a successful farmer of Vermont and was active in the public life of his community, serving as sheriff of Grand Isle county. He died in 1890 at the age of seventy years and was long survived by his wife, who passed away in 1912 at the age of ninety. She, too, was born in Vermont and belonged to an old New England family of English lineage. She continued her residence at the old home in the Green Mountain state to the time of her demise and there she reared her family of eight children, five sons and three daughters. Elroy N. Clark was the seventh in order of birth in that family. His early life was spent upon the home farm to the age of fourteen years, at which time he started out to provide for his own livelihood. He had begun his education in the district schools of his native county, after which he attended a preparatory academy during the winter months, spending four winter seasons at the Barre Academy at Barre, Vermont. He next entered the State University of Vermont in 1880 and was there graduated in 1885 with the Bachelor of Arts degree. He pursued his law course in the University of Georgetown, in the District of Columbia, and won his LL. B. degree upon graduation with the class of 1892. Following his graduation from the Barre Academy he taught school for a time. After his graduation from the University of Vermont he became principal of the public schools at Fort Dodge, Iowa, and while pursuing his law course in Georgetown he was employed in the department of the interior at Washington, D. C. Through his teaching and government service he thus earned the money with which to meet his college and university courses. After qualifying for the bar he opened a law office in Chicago. Illinois, in 1892 and there remained in active practice for six years. He was admitted to the bar in the District of Columbia in the former year and he concentrated his efforts and attention upon general law practice in Chicago until March, 1898, when he came to Denver and entered the office of the Hon. E. O. Wolcott, assisting in the work of general conveyancing and also in general law practice. After eighteen months he was assigned to railroad work, at which time he looked after the litigation of the Burlington and of the Denver & Rio Grande systems. In 1906 he became general attorney of the latter and has since remained in that position. There are few men in the west who are his peers in connection with railway law, for his knowledge is most comprehensive and exact and his ability has given him a place of leadership in this field. His high professional standing is attested by all who know him and he is a valued member of the Denver Bar Association. the Colorado Bar Association and the American Bar Association. In addition to his professional activity he has other business connections, being a director of the Rio Grande Junction Railway Company, also of the Western Realty Company and of the Provident Loan Society. He is likewise chairman of the board of directors of the West Side State Bank. He counts the many friends he has made in his professional career as one of his most valuable assets. When, on January first, 1918, the United States Government took over the control and operation of the railroads. Mr. Clark was retained as the chief of the legal department of the railroad system which he had so long represented and has been called upon by the Federal Railroad Administration to perform important service beyond the scope of his immediate interests and in connection with matters of vital interest to the state. At Glenwood Springs, Colorado, on the 1st of July, 1901, Mr. Clark was united in marriage to Miss Alice Babcock Calkins, a native of New York city and a daughter of Frank Calkins. Mr. and Mrs. Clark have one daughter, Ruth Moulton, who was born in Denver, November 14, 1906. Mr. Clark gives his political support to the republican party, of which he has always been a stanch advocate. He belongs to the University Club of Denver and he is often found in those gatherings where leading men are met in the discussion of vital problems. From the age of fourteen years dependent upon his own exertions, he has worked his way steadily upward through his persistent efforts, utilizing each opportunity that has come to hand and from the first recognizing the fact that industry is just as essential in a professional career as it is in trade circles. He has been a close and discriminating student of law and especially of railroad law and has most carefully safeguarded the legal interests of the corporations which he represents. Additional Comments: Extracted from: HISTORY OF COLORADO ILLUSTRATED VOLUME III CHICAGO THE S. J. CLARKE PUBLISHING COMPANY 1918 File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/co/denver/bios/clark19nbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/cofiles/ File size: 6.0 Kb