Georgia: Wilkes County: Governor John Clark’s Reinternment 31 May 1923 ==================================================================== USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, data may be used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or for presentation by other persons or organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for purposes other than stated above must obtain the written consent of the file contributor. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store this file permanently for free access. This file was contributed by: Barbara Walker Winge Barbarawinge@yahoo.com ==================================================================== PANAMA CITY PILOT Panama City, Florida May 31, 1923 GOV. CLARK'S REINTERMENT We have received from a Georgia friend, a copy of the Atlanta Journal of April 8th, containing an article descriptive of the removal of the remains and monument of Governor Clark and wife, and their two grandchildren, from their resting place in Old Town since their deaths over ninety years ago, to the National Cemetery at Marietta, Ga., with the exercises attending the interment, which we are pleased to copy that our St. Andrews people may know what was done in this removal of what has been a very interesting landmark here ever since 1834. T he Journal had a very good picture of the monument in the new setting, together with the party there at the exercises, showing Mrs. Ella A. Thomas, of Atlanta, placing a wreath of flowers on the grave. The article is dated Marietta, Ga., April 7th, and is as follows: "A wide spreading oak on a knoll in the national cemetery here stands today as a sentinel over the grave which marks the resting place of General Clark, hero of the Revolutionary war and twice governor of Georgia during the post-war period, which were interred Friday afternoon at an impressive ceremony conducted by a special committee from the state D.A.R. "Together with those of his wife and two small grandchildren, the remains of Governor Clark were removed to Georgia soil after sleeping for nearly one hundred years on a slope overlooking the St. Andrews Bay, on the west coast of Glorida, where Governor Clark and his wife were buried in 1832, following their deaths from yellow fever. "Mrs. Frances Elizabeth Duke, of Bainbridge, a grand niece of the famous Revolutionary war period here, accompanied by her son, O. C. Duke, came here to attend the ceremony arranged by Mrs. Eli A. Thomas of Atlanta, chairman of the committee on arrangements. "In introducing Mrs. Thomas, Mrs. Charles Akerman, of Macon, state regent of the D. A. R., expressed appreciation for the work of the committee which arranged for the transfer of the remains to Georgia soil. Mrs. Thomas gave a history of General Clark and his family. "The principal address was made by Colonel John T. Boifeuilett, distinguished Georgia historian and orator, who delivered a masterful eulogy on the life of General Clark, both as a war hero, who won a lieutenancy at the age of sixteen, and later as a governor, who dominated the state's political field. "At the conclusion of Colonel Boilfeuillet's address, a bugler from Fort McPherson stepped to the foot of the open grave and sounded "Taps." As the last note of his bugle floated over the hillside, the strain was taken up by another bugler stationed across the valley and "Taps" came echoing back at the assemblage. "Benediction was pronounced by the Rev. Eli A. Thomas, following a prayer by Dr. J. H. Patton, pastor of the First Presbyterian church of Marietta. Dr. J. Sprole Lyons, pastor of the First Presbyterian church of Atlanta, delivered the invocation and said the burial ceremony. "The movement to transfer the remains of General Clark from his remote and almost forgotten grave on what was formerly his estate in Florida was launched at the state D. A. R. conference in 1921 by Mrs. W. B. Smith and Mrs. Thomas, state chairman of historic sites and monuments, who was named chairman of the movement. Associated with her on the committee were Mrs. Max E. Land, of Cordele, and Mrs. W. B. Smith, of Fort Valley. "The remains were brought to Georgia last Tuesday and placed in a local undertaking parlor until the ceremony Friday afternoon. Mrs. Smith made a special trip to St. Andrews Bay to superintend the disinterment and removal of the remains to Georgia soil. "The monument which stood over the grave of General Clark and his wife in Florida also was brought to Marietta and placed over the new grave, as was the slab marking the resting place of the two children. "The monument over the grave of General Clark was erected in 1836 by two children, Wiley P. Clark and Mrs. Ann W. Campbell. To the inscriptions were added the following notice: "Here repose the remains of John Clark, late governor of Georgia, and Nancy Clark, his wife. Removed from St. Andrews Bay, Florida, by the Georgia Daughters of the American Revolution, April 1923." - St. Andrews Bay News. (Submitted by Barbara Walker Winge, barbarawinge@yahoo.com)