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BENJAMIN FRANKLIN CLARK
Benjamin Franklin Clark,
of Conway, ex-member of the New Hampshire Legislature, was born in
Townsend, Mass., June 25, 1843, son of Benjamin and Maria
(Choate) Clark. His grandfather, Ebenezer Clark, son of
Ebenezer, born in New Ipswich, NH, November 8, 1774, was
engaged in farming during the active period of his life. He married
Mary Sampson, who was born December 22, 1784; and the reared
a large family.
Benjamin Clark was born in Lexington, Mass., in 1811; and he
died in Lunenburg, same State, October 2, 1859. In early manhood he
was employed in teaming. Later he turned his attention to
agricultural pursuits. On November 4, 1839, he married Maria
Choate, a native of Lawsville, Pa., and whose death occurred in
Boston, March 6, 1883. She was a daughter of Constantine and
Abigail (Choate) Choate, of Enfield, NH. Benjamin and Maria
Clark were the parents of three children: Ellen Maria,
who was born December 2, 1840; Benjamin F., whose name
appears at the beginning of this sketch; and Clara Jane, who
was born in Townsend, Mass., February 13, 1846. Ellen Maria
married her first husband Joseph H. Pierson, who was killed
at the battle of Antietam during the Civil War. Of that union there
is one son, Henry Pierson. For her second husband she married
George S. Pitts, of Conway, by whom she had two
sons and one daughter. The sons are: George Franklin Pitts,
now of Helena, Mont., who married Mollie Oliver; and Carl
Pitts, whose wife’s first name is Agnes, and who resides
in Boston. Clara Jane Clark married Judge Henry N. Blake,
who was appointed Chief Justice of Montana under the territorial
government, and was elected to that office when that Territory
became a State.
Having acquired a common-school education in Lowell and Lunenburg,
Benjamin Franklin Clark entered upon an apprenticeship
at the machinist’s trade in Fitchburg, Mass. The breaking out of the
Civil War in 1861 found him ready to take arms in defense of the
Union; and in June of that year he enlisted as a private in
Company B, Fifteenth Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteer
Infantry, under Captain Simonds and Colonel Devons.
The Fifteenth was sent to the Upper Potomac. It subsequently
participated in the battle of Ball’s Bluff, and in the
spring of 1862 joined in McClellan’s Peninsular Campaign,
taking part in all of the important operations, including the
battle of Fair Oaks the Seven Days’ Fight, and second battle
of Bull Run. It was later attached to the Army of the
Potomac, with which it was present at South Mountain and
Antietam. At Antietam Mr. Clark received a severe gunshot
wound, which destroyed the sight of one eye, and necessarily caused
his discharge from the army. Shortly after his return home, he
resumed his trade in the shops wherein he had begun his
apprenticeship. Entering the employ of the United States government
as a machinist at the Charlestown navy yard in 1865, he was
subsequently made foreman of the machine shop, remaining there some
eight years. About the year 1873-74 he became an employee of the B.
F. Sturtevant Company, of Boston, which for many years have carried
on extensive manufacturing establishments at Jamaica Plain, Mass.,
and at Conway, NH. For a number of years he has held the responsible
position of superintendent of the Conway factory.
Mr. Clark is quite prominently identified with local
financial matters, and is president of the Conway Savings
Bank. He is also a well-known figure in public affairs, holding
at the present time the office of County Commissioner, to
which he has several times been re-elected. As a member of the
New Hampshire House of Representatives (1891-93) he served upon
a number of important committees. Politically, he is a Republican.
He is a member of Mount Washington Lodge, Free and
Accepted Masons, of North Conway; of St. Jerard Commandery,
Knights Templar, of Littleton, N.H.; and a comrade of
Custer Post, No. 47, Grand Army of the Republic, of
Conway. The family attends the Methodist Episcopal Church.
On July 19, 1866, Mr. Clark married Annie M. Morton,
daughter of Captain Robert W. and Abigail Morton, of
Greenland, N. H. She died November 6, 1891, leaving three children,
namely; Mabel Maria, born in Boston, October 4, 1869, who
married Dr. F. D. Lawson, of New York City;
Charlotte Abigail, born in Conway, March 21, 1876, residing at
home; and Benjamin Franklin, Jr., born in Conway, July 29,
1879, now a student at Columbia University. Mr. Clark was
again married September 18, 1894, to Sarah E. Russell,
of Malden Mass.
from:
American Series of Popular Biographies
New Hampshire Edition
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