Arthur E. Clark Biography


	This biography appears on pages 1779-1780 in "History of South 
	Dakota" by Doane Robinson, Vol. II (1904) and was scanned, 
	OCRed and edited by Maurice Krueger, mkrueger@iw.net.

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	ARTHUR E. CLARK, cashier of the Bank of Hecla, is a native of the 
old Empire state, having been born in Onondaga county, New York, on the 
2d of April, 1863, and being a son of Fayette and Priscilla (Spaulding) 
Clark, both of whom were likewise born and reared in that county, while 
Chester Clark, the paternal grandfather, was a native of Connecticut, 
whence he removed to New York state in an early day. The family is of 
English extraction and was founded in New England in the colonial epoch 
of our history, while it is interesting to note that our subject is in 
the sixth generation of direct descent from Joseph McCoy, who married 
Jerusha Sawyer, the latter being a member of one of the Puritan families 
that came over in the historic Mayflower. In 1875 the parents of Mr. 
Clark removed to Michigan and settled in Ionia county, where the father 
died in 1878, having been a farmer by vocation. His wife passed away in 
1901, and of their three children all are living.

	Arthur E. Clark, the second of the three children, secured his early 
educational discipline in the public schools of his native county, and 
continued his studies in the schools of Michigan, having been twelve 
years of age at the time of the family removal to the Wolverine state. 
In his youth he learned the art of telegraphing, which he followed for 
some time in Michigan, and in 1885 he came to the present state of South 
Dakota, first locating in Roscoe, Edmunds county, and being thereafter 
engaged in farming for a short interval. In October, 1885, he became a 
telegraph operator in the office of the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad 
at Aberdeen, working at several points as relief agent and operator, 
until September of the following year, when he located in Hecla, as 
station agent and operator on the same line of railroad. From an 
interesting brochure issued by the bank of which he is cashier, we make 
the following excerpts, as apropos in connection: "In September, 1886, 
our present cashier, Mr. A. E. Clark, came to this town and opened the 
station, taking charge as agent and operator. He participated in some of 
the luxuries of pioneering, to the extent, at least, of sleeping in a 
pile of straw with a few boards laid on to make it feel like bedding. On 
December 9, 1887, he opened the books of the State Bank of Dakota, but 
waited until January 21, 1888, for its first depositor, who was John 
Quickborner, the agent for Stokes Brothers. In the fall of 1888, when 
the First National Bank of Columbia, Dakota territory, surrendered its 
charter, Mr. Charles A. Baker, a man of wealth, induced us to associate 
our interests and organize the Bank of Hecla, which was chartered De-
cember 7, 1888, with an authorized capital of thirty-five thousand 
dollars. With Charles A. Baker as president and A. E. Clark as cashier, 
the Bank of Hecla opened its doors in its new building, in which it is 
still located, on the 28th of May, 1889, with a paid-up capital of 
fourteen thousand dollars. The Russian thistle and hot winds of the 
season caused Mr. Baker to long for a more congenial atmosphere and 
society, and on December 27th of the same year he sold his interests in 
the bank to James Holborn, who was elected president. At this time the 
paid-in capital was reduced to ten thousand dollars, and January 1, 
1891, a further reduction was effected, to the amount of five thousand 
dollars. On the 21st of October, 1892, Mr. Holborn resigned the 
presidency of the bank and P. C. Wright was elected his successor.

	"Then followed the 'times that tried men's souls,' the whole country 
suffering from short crops and the effect of the panic of 1893, until we 
struck our low point on the 8th of June, 1895. Acknowledgment should be 
made of the true worth and work of B. S. Clark, who was elected vice-
president on the 31st of August, 1893, and who has contributed no small 
share toward keeping and making the Bank of Hecla an institution of 
which to be proud."

	The management of the bank has at all times been conservative and 
discriminating, and it is known as a solid and well conducted concern. 
From its statement rendered on March 2, 1904, we find that its capital 
is retained at five thousand dollars, while its individual deposits are 
in excess of seventeen thousand dollars; above thirteen thousand dollars 
are represented in certificates of deposits, while the undivided profits 
show an aggregate of nine hundred and three dollars and twenty-three 
cents. The banking office is a modern and attractive one, with the best 
of appointments and facilities, and the funds are protected by a Hall 
fire and burglar-proof safe.

	Mr. Clark continued to be more or less identified with the management 
of the local railway station until 1893, since which time he has given 
his undivided attention to his banking and other interests. He has been 
for a number of years prominently concerned in the real-estate business, 
and has owned much valuable farming and grazing land, having at the 
present time three quarter sections under effective cultivation and 
supplied with fine artesian wells, while he also owns a large tract of 
grazing land. In politics he allies himself with the Socialistic party 
and is one of its wheelhorses in the state, while his name has appeared 
on its ticket in connection with nomination for important offices. He is 
the party candidate for the office of state treasurer at the time of 
this writing, the election to be held in November, 1904. He is in all 
senses a most eligible candidate, and his personal popularity is such 
that he will certainly receive a good endorsement at the polls. He is 
affiliated with the Masonic fraternity and the Ancient Order of United 
Workmen, as well as with the auxiliary branch of the latter, the Degree 
of Honor.

	On the 22d of January, 1888, Mr. Clark was united in marriage to Miss 
Bertha Wilmsen, who was born in Wisconsin. They have no children.