Biography of Capt. Jacob Knight Clark

Capt. Jacob Knight Clark was a farmer of Hopkinton. He was born here, April 4, 1812, son of Jacob and Betsey (Huse) Clark. His grandfather, also named Jacob, came here from Newbury, Mass. The other children of his parents were: Thomas, Prudence K., Sally F., Cyrene H., and James M. Thomas, born June 6, 1810, married Judith Lull, of East Weare, and died at the age of thirty years. Prudence K., who was born August 9, 1814, died in early childhood. Sally F., born December 30, 1816, married Thomas Edwards Paige, of Weare, and died in Hopkinton, August 11, 1882. Cyrene H., born March 17, 1819, married William Plummer, resided in Henniker, and died at the age of sixtyseven years. James M., who was born May 24, 1822, went to California and died there in 1864 or 1865.

Captain Clark was a well-to-do farmer and man of affairs in his town. In 1830 he was Ensign of the Hopkinton Rifles, and he was successively promoted to the ranks of Lieutenant and Captain in 1831 and 1834. In 1848-50 he was Selectman, in 1851 he was elected State Representative, and he was Town Assessor in 1854. When he and Moses Hoyt introduced machine threshing, it was popularly thought that the machine would spoil the grain or cause a fire. Captain Clark was married July 19, 1835, to Mary, daughter of Samuel and Betsey (Burbank) Straw, of Weare, and was the father of three children-Helen M., Warren, and Ellen T. Warren Clark was born in Hopkinton, March 29, 1837, and was educated at Hopkinton Academy and at Norwich (Vt.) University. At the latter place he was Lieutenant of the Norwich Cadets. After graduating from the university in 1857, he taught military science and mathematics in Mount Pleasant Academy, Sing Sing, N.Y., and also in Randall’s School for Boys in Bloomfield, N.J. He then studied law with George & Foster, of Concord, and was admitted to the bar in 1862. He lived in Hopkinton until 1863, in Henniker up to 1870, and after that time in Concord, serving in some public capacity in each place. In 1874 he was appointed Judge of Probate for Merrimack County. In Concord he was connected with the School Board for the most of his life after 1875, and he was Postmaster there after 1888. He married Fannie S., daughter of Alfred and Sophia (Worthington) Otis, of Colchester, Conn. Judge Clark died November 21, 1891.

The owner of the old Clark homestead since the death of Captain Clark, which occurred July 19, 1893, is Thomas Warren Paige, son of Thomas Edwards and Sally Felch (Clark) Paige. He was born December 13, 1853, in Lowell, Mass. There were two other sons-Orra, of Magnolia, Mass., and French, of Lowell. In 1858 the family moved to Stoneham, Mass., where in 1861 the father died. His widow died while on a visit in Hopkinton, August 11, 1882. Thomas W. Paige was married November 1, 1885, to Minnie, daughter of Gilman and Wealthy (Hoyt) Straw, of Contoocook, N.H.


Surnames:
Clark,

Topics:
Biography,

Collection:
Biographical Review Publishing Company. Biographical Review; containing life sketches of leading citizens of Merrimack and Sullivan counties, N. H. Boston. Biographical Review Publishing Company. 1897.

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