Louisa E Clark (1834 - 1913)

Born 1834 in CT

Descendants

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Jennifer Wilson-Pines [send private message]

Biography

In the next generation, Samuel Clark (1826-1897) married his cousin Louisa E. Clark (1834-1913) and they raised 8 children. Louisa was the daughter of William F. Clark (1805-1890) and Louisa Bacon (1809-1866) who were mill owners in Norwich, CT. Samuel served as General Treasurer of Rhode Island for three separate terms 1872-1887, 1888-1890, 1891-1897.

Samuel and Louisa's oldest daughter Minnie (1855-1954) graduated from the Rhode Island Normal School and taught for two years before she married Dr. Gilbert Leighton Church (1849-1924). Dr. Church was educated at the Long Island College Hospital and at the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College. He opened a private practice in Warren, RI on the first floor of a tenement building on Miller Street. In 1887, the family bought a house at 87 North Water (corner of North Water and Miller streets) where they stayed until the death of Dr. Church in 1924. The house was near the mill and Dr. Church's office was often busy with mill workers needing medical attention.

Gilbert "Bertie" L. Church, Jr. (1879-1949) briefly contemplated a military or naval career. He was sworn into service as First Lieutenant and Paymaster for the Warren Artillery in 1901. He settled instead upon banking and accounting. Bertie worked at the National Warren Bank and the Rhode Island Hospital Trust Company before settling in as assistant treasurer for the Brown & Sharpe Company in Providence, RI. He began working for Brown & Sharpe in 1912 and continued until his death in 1949. His hobby was running the Samuel Clark farm in Albion and he was a founder of the Rhode Island Ayrshire Breeders Association. Bertie married his cousin Louisa Clark Randall, the daughter of Catharine Clark and David C. Randall.

Louisa (Randall) Church (1891-1960) was born in Rhode Island but the family moved to Temple, TX when she was a child. Her father, David C. Randall, worked as a cotton buyer. When Louisa was 15 she had her first job in the publishing world as the society editor of the local Temple newspaper. She moved back to Rhode Island at the age of 19 to teach, first at schools in Albion and then in Pawtucket. She married Bertie Church on April 21, 1915. They raised seven children. Louisa also devoted energy to her literary career by writing articles for national magazines such as Yankee, The Atlantic Monthly, American Home, and Old Time New England.

Sources

• Clark/Church Family Papers

Family of Smithfield, Lincoln, Warren and Providence, RI

Family papers, 1790-1977; bulk, 1806-1945

Size: 1 ft.

Catalog number: MSS 1127

Processed by: Karen Eberhart, October 2003

http://www.rihs.org/mssinv/MSS1127.htm