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Andrew M. Clark

Prominent among the enterprising farmers and representative citizens of Eden township is Andrew M. Clark, a native of Canada and an honored member of an old and respected Scotch family which settled at Woodstock, Ontario, in the year 1857. Andrew Clark, Sr., the subject’s father, was born near Glasgow, Scotland, April 3, 1833, and married in that city, in June, 1857, Jane Orr, following which he sailed for Canada. In August of the same year located at Woodstock, Ontario, near which place he purchased land and engaged in farming, though formerly a seafaring man. After spending twelve years in Ontario, he disposed of his agricultural interests and, in the fall of 1870, in company with the Murray and Lindsay families, migrated to Fayette county, Iowa, and purchased eighty acres of land two and a fourth miles east of Waucoma, which he improved and on which he lived and prospered until his retirement from active life in the fall of 1901. On leaving the farm Mr. Clark took up his residence in Waucoma, where he made his home until his death, on February 8, 1909; his wife, who survived him, is still living in that town. This excellent couple were highly esteemed in their various places of residence and all who knew them spoke in high praise of their many sturdy characteristics and estimable qualities. Prior to coming to Iowa they were Scotch Presbyterians, but after settling in Fayette county they united with the Congregational church at Waucoma, to which Mr. Clark remained loyal to the day of his death, his widow being still a valued member of the organization. Their children, eight in number, are as follows: David A., a miller of Langford, South Dakota; Jennie S., wife of E.A. Smith, of Waterloo, Iowa; Andrew M., whose name introduces this sketch; Thomas J., a farmer living near Tagus, North Dakota; Jessie A., who lives in Waucoma with her mother; John H., a farmer of Eden township, now operating the family homestead; Frank R., a hardware merchant at Farley, Iowa, and Viola B., who married A.H. Bender and lives at Glenville, Minnesota.

Andrew M. Clark was born March 28, 1865, at Woodstock, Ontario, and at the age of five years was brought to Iowa by his parents, from which time to the present his life has been largely identified with the development and prosperity of the part of Fayette county in which he now lives. He remained at home assisting his father on the farm until his eighteenth year and in the meantime acquired a practical education in the district schools which he attended during the fall and winter seasons as long as he continued under the parental roof. At the age indicated he severed home ties and began the struggle of life for himself, first as a farm hand at monthly wages, and later went to Dakota, where during the three ensuing years he was employed by his brother as engineer in the latter’s flouring mill. Returning to Fayette county at the end of that time, he worked one year on the homestead and then rented another farm in the same township, which he continued to cultivate during the seven years following, meeting with gratifying success the meanwhile.

Mr. Clark, in June, 1901, purchased the farm in Eden township, and under his labors and judicious management, it is now one of the best improved and among the most valuable farms in this part of the county. It is known as the old Dunn farm and consists of ninety-four acres of fertile land, three and a half miles northeast of Waucoma on the northern boundary of the county, the locality having long been noted for the productiveness of its soil and the value of its agricultural and livestock interests. On moving to the farm Mr. Clark found it in anything but prosperous condition, the buildings being in poor repair, the fences run down and the soil only indifferently cultivated, but with his characteristic industry and energy he went to work and remedied these defects, with the result that his labors were soon manifest in the series of improvements which were inaugurated and in due time carried to completion. He rebuilt the house and converted it into a comfortable and attractive residence and by successful tillage of the soil brought the land to the high state of cultivation for which the farm has since been noted. In all that enters into the make-up of the enterprising and progressive modern American agriculturist, he is easily the peer of any other farmer of the township, and his beautiful and attractive country home, surrounded with every evidence of prosperity and content, bespeaks the presence of one who believes in the nobility of his vocation and who leaves nothing undone to minister to the comfort and happiness of those dependent upon him.

Mr. Clark’s married life dates from July 14, 1891, at which time he was united in the holy bonds of wedlock with Alice Thompson, daughter of Rufus and Elizabeth Thompson, who were among the early settlers of Eden township, where the mother is still living, the father having died some years ago. Mr. and Mrs. Clark have no children of their own, but they have taken great interest in the young people, among whom they have many warm friends in the neighborhood of their residence.

Politically, Mr. Clark is a stanch adherent of the Republican party, the principles of which he believes to be for the best interests of the people and the great mission of which, he is confident, is by no means at an end. He attends the township and county conventions as a delegate and takes an active part in the deliberations of these bodies, serving on important committees and using his influence in the selection of judicious candidates though never himself a seeker after the honors or emoluments of office. Fraternally, he is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, in which he has passed all the chairs, besides belonging, with his wife, to the Rebekah degree, and he is also connected with the order of Woodmen. Religiously, the Congregational church holds his creed, he and Mrs. Clark being esteemed members of the local congregation.

~transcribed for the Fayette Co IAGenWeb Project by Doris A. Smith