Joel and Betsey (Hill) Clark, natives respectively of New
York and New Hampshire. Mr. and Mrs.
Clark were married in New York and remained there until 1842, he meantime
farming, also working in the timber and rafting lumber down the rivers. During
1842 they settled in Bureau county, Illinois, where they remained eleven or
more years, in the meantime cultivating their farm. Coming still further west
they settled in Webster township, Webster county, Iowa, in 1854, and here the
mother died in June, 1859. Removing to Homer, Iowa, in 1865, Mr. Clark remained
there for a time and then established his home in Burnside, Webster county,
where he died in March, 1888. Two years after the death of his first wife he
married Lovina Meade.
When the Civil war began the sympathies of Joel Clark were
at once aroused in behalf of the Union. He was opposed to slavery and to the
establishment of the Confederacy. On January 25, 1862, he enlisted in Company
D, Sixteenth Iowa Infantry, and soon went to the front, but on account of
illness was honorably discharged and returned home in 1863. Throughout all his
active life he voted with the Republicans. About 1859 he served as deputy
sheriff of Webster county and at different times he held all of the township
offices. For years before his death he was a member of the Methodist Episcopal
church, and in its faith he passed from earth in March, 1888. Since then his
widow has removed to Nebraska.
To the marriage of Joel Clark and Betsey Hill seven children
were born, namely: Mary Jane, Mrs. John Crumby, of Grundy county; Sarah, Mrs.
Daniels; Euretta, wife of Harvey Brooks, of Boone county, Iowa; Eugenia, (twin
sister of Euretta), who married T. McNealy and lives in Duncombe, Iowa; Hannah,
Mrs. William Gardner, of Fayette county, this state; Trypossie, Mrs. Samuel
Scoville, of Border Plains; and Eltha, wife of Emory Ford, a resident of
Duncombe. By his marriage to Lovina Meade, Joel Clark had five children,
namely: Willis, who died in Boone county, Iowa; Carrie, who died unmarried at
Burnside, Iowa; Boyd, of Ames, this state; Effie, who died in childhood; and
Cora, who married John Nuby and lives in Arkansas. The founder of the Clark
family in America came from England, while through his maternal ancestors Joel
Clark traced his lineage to Germany and also to Scotch-Irish stock. His father
was a soldier in the Revolutionary war.
SOURCE: S. J. Clark Publishing Company, The
Biographical Record Of Webster County, Iowa, p. 551, abstracted from the
biographical sketch of his son-in-law, David M. Daniels.
