BIOGRAPHIES: James N. CLARK, Town of Rock Creek, Dunn County, WI ==================================================================== 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, or the legal representative of the contributor, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by: James M. Richmond 12 March 2001 ==================================================================== James N. Clark, the owner of Walnut Grove Farm in Section 17, town of Rock Creek, and the oldest continuous resident of this town now living, was born in Catteraugus County, New York, Nov. 3, 1842, son of Chester R. and Jane (Newman) Clark. The parents also were born in that state, the father on July 31, 1814, and the mother on July 26, 1818. In 1843 they came west and settled at Whitewater, alworth County, Wis., where Chester R. Clark worked in a sawmill for two years. Then they moved to Fond du Lac County, where until 1856 they were engaged in farming. Coming to Dunn County in that year, they started pioneer farming on a tract of 230 acres of raw land which Mr. Clark bought in Sections 8 and 19, town of Rock Creek, and on which he built a log house and barns and made further improvements. Later he bought another farm, or tract, of 120 acres, and subseaquently operated the two tracts as a single farm, which in time he brought into good condition, including buildings. Here his wife died, Feb. 10, 1878, and here also he, himself, passed away 21 years later, on July 10, 1899. Besides creating a farm, he and his wife had founded a family which numbered six children, namely: James N., the direct subject of this memoir: Milton C., a farmer in the town of Ludington, Eau Claire County, Wis.: Daniel G, who died in 1920: Alton L., a farmer in the town of Sherman, Dunn County: Bertine P., who resides in Doliver, Iowa: and Harriet, who in 1861 became the wife of John Shepard but died in the same year. James N. Clark as a boy attended rural school in the town of Rock Creek, his education being supplemented by a course in the Wesleyan Seminary at Eau Claire. Until he was 26 years old his home was on his parents' farm, which he helped his father to clear, and for three years during that period he taught rural school. At times also he worked out on other farms. It was in 1868 that he began his own agricultural career as an independent farmer, buying 120 acres of virgin land in Section 17, town of Rock Creek. The tract was one of those "oak openings." the nature of which was made familiar to lovers of fiction many years ago by a novel of Fennimore Cooper published under that title. No clearing had been done and there were no buildings. Mr. Clark started the improvement of his place by building a small frame dwelling and one or two out-buildings, and then proceeded to clear the tract by cutting out the brush, saplings, and occasional young trees that dotted it here and there, nd removing the stumps, which was the inevitable work of the pioneer famer and involved a large amount of labor. By hard and long continued work, and the endurance of more or less privation during the early years he succeeded in time in building up an excellent farm. He also added to its area by the purchase of a tract of 40 acres of timber land in Section 8, of which he has cleared about 25 acres. He has made equal progress with his buildings. In 1902 he erected a fine, full-basement, dairy barn of 40 x 70 feet, installing a water system and individual drinking cups. He has also twin silos, one measuring 12 x 34 feet and the other 10 x 34 feet, both constructed of cement blocks; and in addition he has an adeaquate set of out-buildings and a good supply of up-to-date machinery. His present residence is a two-story frame house of 10 rooms, well planned for domestic convenience, and it may be added, that in the construction of this dwelling Mr. Clark did most of the carpenter work imself. He has a fine herd of high grade Holsten cattle, with pure bred sire, and a good pen of Poland-China hogs. In addition to his ordinary farming and dairying activities, for the last 22 years he has devoted a little time to the cultivation of ginseng, from which he has realized altogether about $1700, though he has but a small patch. During the last few years, however, he has done but little of the hard work on the place, having turned over its management to his son Raymond C. It is frequently the case with men of extraordinary activity and ability in some particular direction, that, to ease the strain of the usual daily routine, they turn their mnds to some form of esthetic enjoyment, thereby inding relief and new vigor in an occasional change of occupation. Many find such relief in an amateur cultivation of one of the fine arts, such as music, poetry;, painting or sculpture, or in the collection of rare objectrs, like old coins, shells, or porcelain. Mr. Clark's esthetic cravings heve turned in another direction, influenced, perhaps, by the beauties of nature by which he has been surrounded from boyhood. For many years, being an expert taxidermist, he has taken pride and pleasure in collecting and mounting various specimens of birds and animals, and has now a fine and extensive collection representing between 500 and 600 different species. Of birds alone he has filled 18 side-wall show cases, and his wonderful collection, taken in connection with the skill with which his spcimens are mounted, in characteristic attitudes or poses, has made his name known to nature lovers, not only in many part of this country, but also abroad. As a good citizen, willing to contribute his share of ersonal endeavor to the welfare of the general community, he has at various times rendered public service in official position. For many years he served as town clerk, and for eight years was town assessor. He also served for several terms as a member of the town board and for a long period was an active member of the school board. To all such public duties he gave his best efforts, which proved beneficial to the community. His life story, as thus briefly outlined, is worthy of a place in the annals of the county, as typifying the qualities which, taken collectively in the mass of its best citizenship, have transformed it from a wilderness, inhabited only by savages and wild animals, and largely covered with the primeal forest, to one of the richest and most civilized parts of the state of Wisconsin. But it still reamins to speak of Mr. Clark's domestic life. He was married, April 17, 1886, to Jennie Norrish of the town of Rock Creek, who was born July 30, 1852, and to her steadfast and aimable qualities as wife and mother he owes much of his success in life. She died Dec. 12, 1916, leaving five children: Raymond C., born Sept. 5, 1889; Harvey E., born July 28, 1892; Mabel G., born Jan. 14, 1894; Bernice E., born Aug. 23, 1896, and Paul N., born Aug. 1, 1907. Raymond C., as already mentioned, is conducting the home farm. Harvey E. is also on the farm. Mabel C., who is housekeeper for her father and brothers, partakes of the former's tastes, being a great lover of birds and making a specialty of raising fine singers for the market, of which she sometimes has as many as 50 on hand at one time, selling them at prices ranging from $4 to $10 apiece. Bernice E. is now the wife of George Hintermeyer, a garage proprietor in the village of Rock Falls, and has one child, Leland. Paul N. is at home on the farm. Source: The 1925 "History of Dunn County", page 894