Clark

Benjamin Bruce Clark (born November 18, 1791)

Benjamin married Julia Ann Bush in 1815 in Switzerville, Ontario. They raised a family of nine.

Mary Ann born about 1818;
Milton born on February 1, 1821;
Melinda born on November 18, 1822;
Clifton born about 1825;
Rebecca born about 1827;
twins Nelson B. and,
Wilson James born August 31, 1830;
Elizabeth born November 1834; and
William born on December 26, 1834.

Benjamin purchased the "Clark" homestead of 150 acres in 1829 from George Williams. He and Ebenzer Perry were both road commissioners from Bath to Newburgh in the early 1830s. Ebenzer Perry's daughter Eliza would later marry Benjamin's son, Wilson.

Benjamin died on March 5, 1868. His obituary was published in the Ontario Christian Guardian and reads,

CLARK, Benjamin, of Ernestown, near Switzer's Chapel, the second son of Hezekiah Clark, was born in New York state, Nov. 18, 1791. His parents, with other members of the family, came to Canada, settling in Sophiasburg in 1798, leaving Benjamin in charge of an uncle near Rhinebeck. In 1806, he joined his father's family in Sophiasburg. During the war of 1812, he worked as a teamster, conveying government stores or troops from Kingston to York, or furnishing timber for government works at Kingston, and used his wages to buy a farm. In 1815, he married Julia Ann Bush - a marriage which brought him into relationship with the Empys, Nevills, Switzers, and Millars - descendants of the Palatine refugees, who found a home in Ireland in the reign of Queen Anne, parts of whose families afterwards settled in Ashgrove, N.Y., and subsequently in various parts of Canada. On Thurs., 5th inst., after having tea with his daughter, Mrs. Huffman, and his brother, Elias Clark, Benjamin died; predeceased during the past ten years by his wife (who died after nearly 44 years of marriage), by his daughter, Mrs. Perry of Violet, and by his son, Rev. Nelson B. Clark, who had gone to California in search of health. - April 1, 1868, p. 56, O.

Wilson James Clark (born August 31, 1803)

Wilson married Eliza Anne Perry on June 20, 1855 in Ernestown, Ontario. They had four children:

Id E. Immo born on August 4, 1859.
Walter Bruce born on March 1, 1861.
Malinda Jane born on June 27, 1863.
Herbert Wilson born in January 1866.

Wilson went to work in upper New York State and Pennsylvania during the lean years shortly after his youngest child was born. With the reconstruction efforts going on after the ending of the Civil War in the United States, there was plenty of work in the lumber industry for a man willing to work. Wilson and his cousin Cyrus Huffman went off together. It is believed that the two went to stay with their uncle in Oswego Falls, New York. Their cousin Mary S. Clark wrote to Eliza during this period.

Cyrus returned home, leaving Wilson behind to sell the oxen and wagon. The plan then was that he would follow. He didn't.

Wilson's last letter to his wife was dated April 1, 1867 and indicated that it could be several weeks before he got home. Wilson was never heard from again. Eliza go worried and wrote to the only contact she had for Wilson, a H. Siggins in Cobham near the area where Wilson and Cyrus had been working. Mr. Siggins, presumably was a medical doctor, as his response to Eliza indicated that Wilson had come to see him after an accident on the road. It is assumed that Wilson died in the US; perhaps the victim of a mugging or other bad end.

Walter Bruce Clark (born March 1, 1861)

Walter married Annah Amelia Storms on May 11, 1887 in Morven, Ontario. They raised a family of seven children:

Benjamin Bruce born on March 9, 1888.
Mabel Melinda born on December 17, 1889.
Edith Edna born on February 1, 1893.
Blanche Bernice born on June 6, 1895.
Gordon Grant born on February 14, 1899.
Silas Stanley born on April 21, 1900.
Annie Amelia born on November 13, 1902.

Gordon died on September 30, 1942 in Kingston, Ontario.

Gordon Grant Clark (born February 14, 1899)

Gordon married Iva Amelia Johnston on April 13, 1923 in Ernestown, Lennox & Addington, Ontario, Canada. Together they had five children:

Grant Duane born on July 23, 1928; died August 2, 2018.
Kaye Lorraine born on January 27, 1931; died July 30, 1999.
Jean Winnifred born on August 23, 1933; died February 2,1 2019.
Iva Joyce Clark born in 1935; died August 31, 2008.
Garnet Gordon born in 1937; died in December 2011.

Gordon and Iva raised their family on a farm in Ernestown. After the children were grown and gone, Gordon ventured to western Canada. He returned sometime during the mid-1970s and lived with his daughter Kaye. Iva left the farm and moved to live on Catherine St. in Napanee. Gordon died in August 1985 and buried in the family plot at the Morven United Church Cemetery.