Will County IL Archives Biographies.....Clark, Homer R 
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Deb Haines http://www.rootsweb.com/~archreg/vols/00003.html#0000719 February 28, 2008, 11:04 pm

Author: Past and Present of Will County, IL; 1907

Homer R. Clark, engaged in the real-estate business in Joliet, was born in the 
town of Dupage, Will county, December 15, 1845. His father, Barrett B. Clark, 
was a native of Connecticut, born in 1814, and, becoming one of the pioneer 
residents of this county, here followed farming for many years, his death 
occurring in Lockport on the 23d of July, 1886. In early manhood he wedded 
Harriet M. Bartlett, who was born in Massachusetts in 1821 and died in 
Lockport in 1893. William O. Clark, an uncle of our subject, now living in 
Drytown, Amador county, California, crossed the plains with his brother, 
Barrett C. Clark, and others in 1850, since which time he has made his home in 
the Golden state. He was a veteran of the Black Hawk war, which occurred in 
1832, and is the only survivor of that struggle now living. He was born in 
1816 in Madison City, Indiana, became a resident of Illinois in 1821 and, when 
it became necessary that the white settlers on the frontier should form a 
military organization in order to subdue the red men and protect their homes 
and families, he joined the army, from which he was honorably discharged in 
August, 1832. He afterward accompanied his parents on their removal to Fort 
Dearborn, now Chicago, and Clark street in that city was named in honor of his 
illustrious father, grandfather of our subject. It was W. O. Clark who hauled 
the lumber from Walker's mill at Plainfield that was used in the construction 
of the first Methodist church in Chicago. He was also one of the men who 
helped to lay the logs at Old Fort Beggs and was thus prominently and actively 
connected with many of the events which constitute the early history of 
northern Illinois. He has had an eventful career and is a remarkable old man. 
In 1905 a bill was introduced by Senator George O. Perkins for the granting of 
a pension to this veteran of the Black Hawk war and by special act of congress 
this was done. His sister, Mrs. John Cooper, was the mother of the first white 
child born in Chicago. Homer R. Clark of this review has a sister, Mrs. Sophia 
B. Sisson, who is living in Oklahoma and a brother, William O. Clark, who 
resides in Chicago. In early youth Homer R. Clark was a student in the school 
at Barbers Corners in Will county and afterward continued his education at 
Naperville, Illinois, in 1863-4. Later he matriculated in the commercial 
college at Aurora and after leaving that institution he accompanied his 
parents on their removal to Lockport, Illinois, where he worked for Dr. W. 
Hanley as a drug clerk for two years. He was afterward in the employ of Edwin 
Walker, of Lemont, in the sale of stone and lime and in this connection made 
the sale of those commodities used in the construction of the state house at 
Springfield in 1869. In 1870 he began selling stone for Boyer & Corneau of 
Chicago, continuing with that firm for five years, on the expiration of which 
period he became a member of the Chicago board of trade and was engaged in the 
commission business for about ten years. In 1883 he returned to Lockport, 
where he engaged in the livery business. He was assessor of the township of 
Lockport for two years, also held the office of police magistrate for four 
years and from 1894 until 1898 was deputy United States marshal in Chicago. In 
the latter year he came to Joliet, where he has since been engaged in the real-
estate business. He is thoroughly well informed concerning realty values and 
has negotiated many important property transfers. In Lockport, on the 9th of 
January, 1889, Mr. Clark was united in marriage to Mrs. Arabelle R. Faust, and 
they reside in Lockport. He is a member of the Lockport Masonic lodge and has 
a wide acquaintance in this county, in which the greater part of his life has 
been passed. For more than sixty years he has been a witness of its growth and 
development and he represents a family that has figured prominently in the 
early history of the state. 

Additional Comments:
PAST AND PRESENT OF WILL COUNTY, ILLINOIS By W. W. Stevens President of the 
Will County Pioneers Association; Chicago: The S. J. Clarke Publishing 
Company, 1907

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