Introduction

My aunt, Charlyne Dodge, compiled a bunch Clark family stories back in the 1960's.  That little blue book has since been a treasured possession that has been handed down in the family.  It can be found online here.

Recently, while searching for something else, I came across some information that led me down the Google rabbit hole and on to much more "new" information on the Clark family.  Digitization of documents by the State of Texas General Land Office, newspapers, research journals, etc. make information much easier to find, although it still requires some sleuthing.  I have uncovered enough new information that I thought it would be worthwhile to document it for those of us still around and for future generations.  I think I have found some answers to questions that have been around for awhile.  I am sure there is a lot more to be discovered.

For the purposes of this update I will assume those viewing will have seen or have access to Aunt Charlyne's original book.  

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When did Andrew J. Clark (A.J. Clark) move to Texas?

 One of the big questions has been "When did Andrew J. Clark arrive in Texas?"  I thought the answer would lie in the date of his 320 acre single man headright in Dallas County.  Aunt Charlyne included a small map in her book of his land grant that made it easy to find.  The Library of Congress has a map on file from the Texas General Land Office showing original land surveys in Dallas County.  The one I used is from December 1884.  Texas is different from most other areas in the USA in that township and range are not used to plot land locations.  Each plot retains the name of the person who received the original land grant and did the original survey.  Early land claims and surveys were more like Spanish land grants in that they followed rivers and other natural boundaries.  There are actually two small plots, totaling 320 acres, assigned to A.J. Clark on the Dallas County map from 1884.  

When searching for these surveys on the Texas General Land Office (GLO) database, these two parcels are not found.  There is an 1854 sale of 640 acres from Mary Kennady to A.J. Clark, but no record of the two A.J. Clark surveys or other A.J. Clark data from Dallas County.   After inquiring at the Texas General Land Office, I was told that there might be other information in the Dallas County Clerk's Office.   On their website I found a list of Dallas County survey abstracts listed by name.  There was no A.J. Clark, but there were 3 abstracts under the name A.J. Clarke (with an E).  

Two of those, #285 and #286, correspond with the two tracts on the map above.  I plugged those abstract numbers into the GLO database and found the original land grant documents.  There's no E on Clark on the documents, but it is listed with an E in Dallas County records.  

You can actually download the entire document (multiple pages) as a PDF.  The detailed description of abstract 285 and the little map fits the survey map well, but not perfectly.  Well enough, I think.  The same is true of abstract 286.

Now the interesting thing about this land grant (also abstract 286) is the date.  It is much later than I expected, November 11, 1850.  We know Andrew J. Clark was in Dallas county well before that date so why did he wait until 1850 to apply for his land grant?  Also, he was married to Sarah Myers in April 1849 so why did he apply for a single man's 320 acre headright instead of the full 640 acre headright?  Maybe he made the claim earlier and it wasn't surveyed until 1850?  The document also says he emigrated to the Peters Colony of the Republic of Texas under the second contract.  The second contract for the Peters Colony was issued November 9, 1841 and was replaced by the third contract on July 26, 1842.  

It's exciting to narrow down A.J. Clark's emigration date, but it still does not explain why he waited so long to make his claim.  I may have found the answer.

After seeing the Clark/Clarke confusion in the Dallas County/Texas GLO databases, I tried searching the GLO for both Andrew J. Clark and Clarke (with an E).  That pulled up more interesting data including a land grant application from September 28, 1841 which states Andrew J. Clark entered the Republic of Texas in May 1840.

You will note that this document has "Cancelled July 6'(18)46" across the document.  The document includes a description of 320 acres of land in Lamar County.  There also seems to be a transfer to John Rattan through attorney Benjamin Bourland in July 1846, which might account for the cancellation.   I suspect Andrew moved west shortly after earning this original headright and later sold or transferred it on deciding not to return east.  Whether it was legal for him to take out a new headright in Dallas in 1850 remains a question of interest!

Andrew J. Clark's military service

 Now that we know Andrew J. Clark was in Texas as early as May 1840, let's move to the question of his service in the Republic of Texas militia under General Tarrant.  In a Dallas Morning News interview in 1923 with W.S. Adair, Andrew's son, Henry Clay Clark, told the story of his father's participation in what is known as The Village Creek fight in 1841.  Clark's detailed description of the death of Captain John Denton (for whom both the city and county of Denton are named) fits other accounts very closely.  I recently came across a February 1859 Dallas newspaper article from the Dallas Herald that details the discovery of Captain Denton's remains which were later moved to the grounds of the Denton County courthouse.   The article specifically mentions A.J. Clark as a member of the original scouting party.  

By 1846 A.J. Clark was a member of the "minute men", a volunteer defense group that helped protect the Carrollton area from Indians.  Since he had served in General Tarrant's militia earlier, he would have been a valuable member.  Interesting to note this was around the time he transferred the title of his land in Lamar County.  A roster appears in the Elm Fork Echoes, Vol 31, May 2003.  That publication is the journal of The Peters Colony Historical Society.  A.J. Clark was probably one of the volunteers who pursued an Indian raiding party that attacked Farmers Branch in 1846 in a battle called the Grand Prairie fight.  That was one of the last major Indian raids in Dallas County.  

Andrew J. Clark and the Myers family

 Andrew Clark was married to Sarah Myers in April of 1849 and had their first son, Henry Clay Clark, in 1850.  There is quite a bit of information on the Myers family online.  Sarah's father was David Myers and his father was William Myers, born in Franklin Co. Pennsylvania in 1753.  William and his wife were both Dutch.  They moved to the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia and later moved  to Kentucky where he served in a company with Daniel Boone.  William had 2 daughters and 9 sons.  The youngest son was David Myers, born in 1797.

David Myers was raised in Kentucky and married Leticia (sometime spelled Letitia) Reddish in 1820.  In 1829 they moved to Indiana and on to Illinois in 1831.  Sarah was born in Indiana on April 11, 1829.  David was ordained as a Baptist preacher in 1843.  In the fall of 1845 they joined a wagon train headed to Texas.  The last of David and Leticia's 14 children, Harriet, was born on the Texas side of the Red River on Christmas Day 1845.  David's 640 acre married man's headright was taken out in northern Dallas County near present day Carrollton (survey # 235 abstract # 923). 

For more details on the Myers family, I refer you to Elm Fork Echoes, V 1, #2, November 1973 p. 15-24.  I accessed it online through the University of North Texas digital library collection.  It is interesting reading.

https://digital2.library.unt.edu/search/

search:  Elm Fork Echoes volume 1 number 2

A.J. Clark, Justice of the Peace

 After Andrew married Sarah, I have found some new information online leading up the family's departure for Missouri in 1867.  In a listing of early marriages in Dallas County, I found not only A.J. Clark as a groom in 1849, but in several instances as the officiating officer.  In 1853 A.J. Clark performed 4 marriages between April and December 1853.  He is designated as “J.P.” which I assume means Justice of the Peace.  When he was married by Sarah's father in 1849, David Myers' designation was “M.G.” which I assume is Minister of the Gospel.   

Dallas County historical records show that Andrew J. Clark was indeed Justice of the Peace for District 4, place 1, from 1851-1853.  

I also came across a reference to A.J. Clark from the early Commissioners' Court documents for road precinct 13 where A.J. Clark and others are appointed to do road work under Wm. M. Cochran.  There is a book of early Commisioners Court transcripts that does not appear to be online but is available in several local libraries.  I need to go investigate that further.

A.J. Clark visits Dallas in 1859

In the Dallas Herald of February 23, 1859, p. 3, A.J. Clark is listed as a guest at The Crutchfield House, a hotel in Dallas.  As a farmer in north Dallas County, it might be expected that if he had several days of business in town that he might stay at a hotel.

A.J. Clark family in the 1860 census

 The census of 1860 lists the A.J. Clark family.

1860 census,  Page 329A

precinct 4

Res = Residence; Fam = Family; A/S = Age/Sex; RP = Real Property; PP = Personal Property; BP = Birth Place

438 438 A. J. Clark 43M Farmer 5300 7920 TN

Sarah (Myers) 30F IL

Henry C. 10M TX

Geo E. 8M TX

Willie N. 7M TX

Mary J. 5F TX

John 3M TX

Laura q 1F TX

Why did the Andrew J. Clark family move to Missouri in 1867?

One of the things I have always wondered about is why Andrew J. Clark and family moved to Missouri in 1867 after so many years in Texas?  I found some newspaper documents that might hold a clue.  Maybe.  In the Dallas Herald on November 10, 1866 p. 4 appears a Sheriff's notice to A.J. Clark on an uncollected debt of $38 plus interest.  

In the Dallas Herald of October 26, 1867 p. 3 appears an official notice to the Sheriff of Dallas County to demand the appearance of A.J. Clark on the subject of an unpaid debt of $1,170 with an interest of 10 % annually since August 1860.  That was a lot of money in 1867 in post-Confederate Texas.  Did he leave Texas  due to unpaid debts?  I don't know, but it is never a good thing when the Sheriff is looking for you.

Henry Clark's first cattle drive

 As we all know, young Henry Clark, who was 17, decided to stay in Dallas when his dad, mom, and the rest of the family moved up to Missouri.  In 1869 he made his first cattle drive up to Baxter Springs, Kansas via the Shawnee (Sedalia) Trail.  Henry Clay Clark related his own story of the cattle drives to the Dallas Morning News on June 10, 1923.  I recently came across a second account of his first cattle drive where he was accompanied by his cousin, John S. Myers.  The story was related by John Myers' son to the Dallas Morning News in 1955.  It included some interesting details I had not heard before.   I don't know if Aunt Charlyne had seen this or not, but it was not listed in the bibliography of her little blue book.  The account below was reprinted in Elm Fork Echoes V22 in 1994.

The death of Sarah Myers Clark

Aunt Charlyne covered the death of Sara and 2 of her daughters in her little blue book.  In the stories of the Myers family online there appeared a few more details, including the date of death.

Andrew Clark visits 1879

 I think J.M.M. may be John Myers.

Henry Clay Clark and the Phoenix Moulding and Planing Mill

I haven't found anything new on Henry Clay Clark from the 1870's, but I did find some interesting things from the 1880's.  It seems he partnered with and owned at least one lumber mill, and possibly two, in Dallas.  The Phoenix Moulding and Planing Mill appears in newspaper ads in the 1870s, and Henry Clark appears as partner in 1880.  I am not positive that was "our" Henry Clark (more on that later) but he was involved with that mill at least up through 1885.  It would seem logical that a real estate developer would be involved in the lumber business as it could provide building materials at cost.   It's neat to think he was practicing vertical integration practices back in the 1880's!  Here are several of the ads from newspapers and the Dallas City Directory.

By 1886-87 he had sold his interests to Edwards and Fetzer.

There is a second mill in town in the 1870's and 1880s known as the Rail Road Planing and Moulding Mill.  So far I have only seen one illustration from the Dallas City Directory where it shows they are successors to Clark & Clark.  One of the Clarks was P.T. Clark who died in 1877.  Whether the other one was one of "our" Clarks, I'm not sure.

Henry Clay Clark land transactions, 1880's

Dallas newspapers of the 1880s routinely reported real estate transactions.  A search of Henry Clark or H.C. Clark will find many returns.  Here's two examples.

Simpson-Clark Addition 1887 and Clark Street in Dallas

Aunt Charlyne mentioned the Simpson-Clark addition as one of Henry Clark's property development projects.  She listed it as south of the intersection of Ervay and Forest (now Martin Luther King Blvd) in south Dallas.  No doubt Henry Clay Clark was developing properties all around Dallas.  I recently came across digital evidence of a Simpson-Clark addition on the near north side of Dallas.  This area is just northeast of the State-Thomas landmark district. I found several maps online, including this one filed July 25, 1887 showing all their development plots.

There are numerous land transactions listed in the Dallas papers for this area.  However they sold most of the unsold lots quickly to a group of investors at a 45% profit as documented in the Dallas Daily Herald and the Sherman Daily Register.

What amazed me is there is still a street named Clark in the area.  The City Of  Dallas has recently been examining street names looking for names of former Confederate officers.  They found Clark Street was named after "our" Henry Clark.  Many of the other streets, including Simpson Street, were re-named.  Clark Street is still there.

Clarks in the cemetery

Findagrave.com has amazing photo records from many cemeteries.  Here's some links and photos from there.

Henry Clay Clark

Mary Laceta (Franks) Clark   Henry Clark's second wife

Martha Susan (Lawing) Clark    Henry Clark's first wife.  This headstone appears to have been broken and repaired, with Henry's name missing in the area of the repair.

Andrew Jackson Clarke   His tombstone has Clarke with a E!  The mystery deepens.

Sarah (Myers) Clark  First wife of Andrew J Clark.  Birth and death dates match "our" Sarah Clark.  The two daughters of Andrew and Sarah, Laura and Clara, who died in the fire, are buried nearby.

The Clark Conundrum

Clark is a very common name.  There were lots of Clarks in Dallas, even in the 1800's.  Even more in Texas.  For example, there are two Henry Clay Clarks buried in Dallas, born around the same time and died around the same time.  "Our" Henry Clay Clark was born in 1850 and died in 1924.  The other one was born in 1848 and died in 1924.  There was even another Henry Clark in Dallas on the 1850 census, 36 years of age with a wife and 4 children.  Then add that to the fact that "our" Andrew Clark sometimes was listed as A.J. and sometimes seemed to have an E on the end of his name.  That's where the sleuthing comes in.  Even with all this wonderful new data available online you sometimes have to try to connect the dots to find the right Clark.  For example, on findagrave.com members of our family are linked to the "other" Henry Clay Clark.  Jessie Clark Bronson was definitely a member of our family, but she shows up on the other listing.  Just a caveat for anyone else googling around out there for Clark family information.  Dodge is probably just as complicated. Fortunately, I'm an Ottensman, which is a lot easier to deal with, except when you get over to Germany!  Happy googling!

Not "our" Henry Clay Clark

One of the other Henry Clarks

Aunt Charlyne's map of Clark land holdings in Dallas County included a 640 acre married man's headright patented to Henry Clark in Oak Cliff.  On investigation, I am pretty sure that was a different Henry Clark.  

I tracked down the abstract number in the Dallas County records and found it was number 297.

 

In the Texas General Land Office database I found that tract was assigned to Henry Clark in 1856.  "Our" Henry Clay Clark was only 6 years old in 1856.  Further, the records show this claim was based on the second contract of The Peters Colony and he claimed to have arrived with his family prior to 1848.

As I mentioned in the previous post, there was another Henry Clark, with a family, in the 1850 U.S. census for Dallas County.  A simple search of land plats back in the 1960's would not have the details we can access today through the GLO.  I don't believe "our" Henry Clay Clark ever held a land grant in Dallas County and, instead, used the profits from his cattle drives and land sales in Missouri to purchase properties in Dallas County when he moved back from Missouri.

Simplified Family Tree, Dodge/Clark branch

 Click on the image for a larger view