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.