Clark, Charles Franklin

The following data is extracted from Biography and Genealogy of Western Massachusetts, 1639-1925.

CHARLES FRANKLIN CLARK-Of those industries that we are properly accustomed to denominate as of country-wide celebrity, the chair-manufacturing of Western Massachusetts, and, allied therewith, the industry of producing the stock therefor, are preeminent. Charles Franklin Clark, now of Greenfield, proved a life-long and indispensable ally to the chair-makers, when his mill at Halifax, Vermont, was at its best, and was one of the most prolific in turning out the product. Reliable and always resourceful in his specialty, Mr. Clark for close onto forty years was a continuous purchaser of lumber from districts where suitable material grew, for the purchase, and in turn, dispensed his product to the chair-making concerns, while he also manufactured tennis rackets in large quantities. He is a respected and industrious townsman of Greenfield, where he again resumed former activities, but this time in the purchase of lumber in behalf of his son Harry, who is in business in Vermont. Mr. Clark's is an old and interesting family, whose paternal line through four generations may thus follow:

(I) Julius E. Clark was born in Halifax, Vermont, in 1789, and he witnessed the growth and progress of Halifax, Vermont, township, even through Civil War days. He died there December 25, 1866, aged seventy-seven years. He married Rebecca Lamb, born in Halifax, Vermont, 1795, and she died December 5, 1879, aged eighty-four years. Their children: Lemuel; Mary, who married Joseph Rice; Aaron L., of whom further.

(II) Aaron Lamb Clark was born at Whitingham, Vermont, in 1830, and died in Colerain, Massachusetts, in 1914. He was a farmer, and went to Halifax, Vermont, from Whitingham when a young man, and his life was practically spent at Halifax. After the death of his second wife, he went to Colerain to live with his son, Edward W., and he died there, but he was buried at Halifax. He kept a herd of thirty or forty cows, and was a successful farmer. He was an attendant of the Universalist Church. Mr. Clark married (first) Mary Gleason, of Halifax, Vermont, who died in 1873; a daughter of Newton and Antis (Mixer) Gleason; (second) Arethusa Fosberg Brown. Children of the first marriage: t. Emma, who married Charles Smith. 2. William, who died in infancy. 3. Antis, deceased, who married Frank Jeffords. 4. Charles Franklin, of whom further. 5. William E., a farmer in Buckland. 6. Joseph, deceased. 7. Edward, a farmer in Colerain. 8. Nellie, who married Arthur Peterson. 9. Walter, who is a deputy sheriff at Charlemont.

(III) Charles Franklin Clark, son of Aaron Lamb and Mary (Gleason) Clark, was born in Halifax, Windham County, Vermont, May it, 1859, and he received his education in the schools of his birthplace. Afterwards he was employed in a mill for the manufacture of chair-stock, at Halifax, so continuing until he was twenty-two years of age, and a few years later his father-in-law took him in his business and then for thirty-eight years operated the plant in his own name, for the manufacture of chair-stock, lumber, and tennis rackets. For awhile the plant was carried on under the title Stone and Clark, when Mr. Clark's father-in-law, Elias Stone, shared in the business; afterwards, when Mr. Clark took his son into the firm with him, the concern was conducted under the title C. F. Clark and Son. While in business Mr. Clark handled hundreds of thousands of feet of lumber annually, including both hard and soft wood, the hard wood being used in the manufacture of chair-stock, which was sold to chair-manufacturing plants in Gardner, Wakefield, and Baldswinville; while tennis rackets were sold in Chicopee, Massachusetts, and Pawtucket, Rhode Island. On account of ill-health, Mr. Clark sold his business in 1916, in which year he went to Greenfield to reside, and where he is now engaged in the purchase of lumber for his son, who is in business in Brattleboro, Vermont During the years of his greatest activity as a manufacturer, Mr. Clark bought many farms and lumber lots from which he cut the lumber, operating steam mills in the process. During his residence in Halifax, Vermont, he served as a member of the board of selectmen. His fraternal affiliations are those of Unity Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, of Jacksonville, Vermont. He is an attendant of the Baptist Church, and a member of the Men's Club.

Mr. Clark married, January 21, 1881, Mary T. Stone, of Halifax, Vermont, a daughter of Elias and Jennie (Rice) Stone, who is a descendant of Simon Stone, through three generations of the Christian name Elias. Their children: 1. Bertha, married, June 7, 1906, Hoyt Barber, of Brattleboro, Vermont, and whose children are Blanche L. and Cherolyn M. 2. Harry E., of whom further. 3. Della May, who married Ray Tarbox, hotel proprietor, of Marlboro, New Hampshire, and whose children are: Marjorie M. and Charles Frank 4. Blanche J. Mr. Clark's four children were born in Halifax, Vermont.

(IV) Harry E. Clark, son of Charles F. and Mary T. (Stone) Clark, received his education at Halifax, Vermont, at the Shelburne, Massachusetts, High School, and at Bliss Business College, North Adams. He was in company with his father in the chair-stock and lumbering business for seven years, under the name C. F. Clark and Son, and operated portable mills for his father, in the manufacture of tennis rackets. He later took over the manufacture of rackets, and established plants at Manchester and Ludlow, Vermont. In July, 1923, he set up a plant at Brattleboro, Vermont, for the manufacture of tennis rackets, to which he has since devoted all his time, and in which he is very successful, employing about a dozen men. His fraternal affiliations are those of Unity Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, of Jacksonville, Vermont ; of the Council, Royal Arch Masons; of the Commandery, Knights Templar; and of Ancient Arabic Order, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, of Rutland, Vermont.

He married Cora King, of North Truro, Massachusetts, and they are the parents of Corrinne, born in November, 1919.

Source: Biography and Genealogy of Western Massachusetts, 1639-1925

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