AMOS CLARK

Amos Clark has devoted his life to the work of the farm and is the owner of a tract of land of eighty acres in Farmington township, whereon he has made his home since 1865, the year of his arrival in Cedar county. He is a native of Ohio, his birth having occurred in Meigs county, February 9, 1844. His parents were Caleb and Rebecca (Gorsuch) Clark. The father was born in Maine and the mother was born in Pennsylvania. They were married in Ohio, where Caleb Clark followed the occupation of farming to the time of his death, which occurred February 2, 1853. His widow survived him for some time and died at the home of her son Amos in Cedar county, Iowa.

Amos Clark spent his youthful days in his parents’ home but was not quite nine years of age when his father died. His educational opportunities were those offered by the common schools. At the time of the Civil war, although still in his teens, he joined the Ohio State Militia and saw some lively times during the Morgan raid, for the militia companies were called out and prepared for the defense of the state against the invasion of the Confederate troops. After the close of the war, when a young man of twenty-one years, Mr. Clark came west to Iowa, settling in Cedar county, where he purchased eighty acres of land in Farmington township that has now been his home for forty-five years. Here he has labored industriously and energetically, planting his crops in the early springtime, continuing their cultivation through the summer and gathering his harvests in the autumn.

On the 26th of January, 1867, Mr. Clark was united in marriage to Miss Ann Jane Lambe, a daughter of Thomas and Hannah Lambe, both of whom died in Ohio when Mrs. Clark was but a young girl. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Clark have been born three children who are yet living, and their eldest daughter, Lillie, who became a successful school teacher, is now deceased. The others are: Mary Emma, now the wife of Mack McGillivray, a resident of Muscatine county, Iowa; Luella, the wife of Charles Covell, who is living in Muscatine county; and Lizzie, the wife of Henry Rath, a resident of Tipton, Iowa.

The parents are members of the Presbyterian church at Wilton and are loyal to its teachings and interested in its work. Mr. Clark votes the republican ticket, having supported the party since age conferred upon him the right of franchise but he has never sought nor desired office, preferring to live the quiet life of the farmer. He is one of the oldest residents of Farmington township and is widely and favorably known in the part of the county.