Ethan S. Clark is the owner of one of the
excellent farms of Highland township and in his
native county has won for himself a secure position
of success and prosperity through his own well
ordered efforts and progressive policies.
Mr. Clark was born at National, this county, on
the 9th of September, 1880, and is a son of James P.
and Mary (Thompson) Clark, both of whom were born in
the state of New York. James P. Clark came to Clayton
county when he was a young man and here he was
actively identified with agricultural industry until
the time of his death. His marriage was solemnized in
this county and his widow now resides in the home of
their son Ethan S., of this review, who was the sixth
in order of birth in a family of seven children.
Annie, the eldest of the children, is the wife of
George Swift, of Washington; Myrtle is the wife of
William Hawley, of Charles City, Iowa ; Frank is now
a resident of Santa Ana, California; Gaylord and
Victor are deceased; Ethan S. was the next child; and
the youngest is Earl, who is now a resident of
Gillespie, Illinois.
Ethan S. Clark gained his early education in the
schools of his native county and of Drake University
at Des Moines, of which he is an alumnus of the
Commercial Department, and also of Fayette
University, Illinois. He began to depend largely upon
his own resources when he was a lad of twelve years.
He found employment at farm work for a term of years,
and in the meantime he developed exceptional ability
as a ball-player, with the result that he was drawn
into the national game in a professional way. In
1901-2 he was a successful player in the Kentucky and
Illinois Baseball League, and after his retirement
from this line of activity he resumed his association
with agricultural pursuits.
He continued to work on the farms of other
agriculturists until 1912, when he purchased his
present farm of one hundred and twenty acres, in
section 35, Highland township, where he has since
continued with marked vigor and progressiveness his
operations as an agriculturist and stockgrower, his
home receiving service on one of the rural mail
routes from the village of Volga.
His political allegiance is given to the
Republican party, and he is now serving effectively
in the office of township trustee, his incumbency of
which fully attests his popularity in the community.
He is affiliated with the Modern Woodmen of America,
and his wife holds membership in the Order of the
Eastern Star and the Royal Neighbors.
Mr. and Mrs. Clark are both members of the
Methodist Episcopal church. On the 7th of October,
1903, Mr. Clark wedded Miss Edith Susie, who was born
and reared in Clayton county and who was a successful
and popular teacher in the public schools during a
period of five years prior to her marriage. She is a
daughter of William and Margaret (Scrader) Susie, who
were born in Germany, and her mother is an honored
pioneer citizen residing at Volga, this county, her
father dying April 19, 1916. William J., their eldest
son, resides at Volga; Mrs. Clark was the next in
order of birth; Jennie is a teacher in the village
schools at Volga; Frederick is engaged in the poultry
and grain business at Volga; and Marian is the wife
of Clarence Voshell, of that village. Mr. and Mrs.
Clark have but one child, Frederick Carroll, who was
born July 16, 1904, who is now attending the public
school at Volga.
source: History of
Clayton County, Iowa; From The Earliest Historical
Times Down to the Present; by Realto E. Price,
Vol. II; 1916; pg. 67-68
-OCR scanned by S. Ferrall
