The Last of the 10 Clark Children

I have only one surviving aunt. Her name is Ima Smith, and she is 93 years old. My Aunt Ima was the tenth and last child born to James Arthur (1870-1943) and Martha Clark. All ten children lived to reach their 60s or older, and several lived into their 80s and 90s. My father, Amos Clark, was the fourth child of James and Martha. He was born in 1900 and passed away in 1990.

The Sabine-Newton County Clarks have a long history in East Texas. I consider William F. Clark the patriarch of the Clark clan because I have not been able to find out who his parents were. He was born in 1790 in South Carolina and died in Sabine County in 1856. He is buried in the Clark-Dickey-Smith Cemetery in Sabine County. A few years ago the state erected a historical marker there. William moved to Amitie County, Mississippi, at an early age and served in the Mississippi Militia in the War of 1812. He moved to East Texas in 1821 just after Mexico won its independence from Spain. He purchased a league of land (in those days a league of land, 4428 acres cost only $100 American) but could never obtain a clear title to it until after Texas became independent from Mexico.

William married his first wife, Elizabeth, while he was still living in Mississippi. According to local legend, she was a full-blood Choctaw. The 1835 census of Sabine County lists the names of their ten children. When the Texas War of Independence started, William, who was in his middle forties, enlisted in Sam Houston's army and fought for our independence from Santa Anna. Elizabeth stayed at their home in Sabine County. Santa Anna's army moved up into this area, and the people fled to avoid his army. They fought a series of skirmishes with the Mexican army which are now called the "Runaway Scrape." She died trying to give birth to her eleventh child. William was not able to return to their home until after her death.

The new Republic of Texas gave William another league of land as a reward for fighting for Texas Independence. He gave his first league to his children and moved with his new wife, Mahalia Graham Clark, onto the new league which was in the Sandy Creek area of Sabine County. In 1845 he and Mahalia had a son they named William Barnett Clark. They had six children in all. William Barnett had a son named James Arthur. James was my grandfather. I was born in 1943 to Amos and Ruby Martin Clark, and as of the date of this blog, am still among the living. I am only a fifth generation Texan because Willam F. sired my great-grandfather when he was 55 years old and my father was 42 years old when I was born.

I never really thought I would be one of the oldest members of the Clark family, but I am about to become numbered among the oldest generation of the Clark family. Oh well, c-est la vie!!