A record of the descendants of John Clark, of Farmington, Conn ...

62 CLARK GENEALOGY.
in 1842, to Plattcvillc, Wis. From tlie time lie began prac-
tice, Dr. Clark (himself just married) took upon himself the
whole burden of the family, for his father gave up active life
about this time, and the young doctor became the responsible
head of the family, until it was scattered by the marriage of
his younger brother and sisters. He was everywhere the
tireless friend of church and school. The Academy at Platte-
ville (now a State Normal School), owed its existence to him;
he and his brother fairly set glass and quarried stone for the
new building. Under his care the school was made a very
unusual one for the region.
I'he country was new and rough,
and in Dr. Clark's large practice (of twenty or thirty miles),
his life included many adventures— dangers by flood and
field, encounters with violent men, ludicrous incidents among
the rough people of the country, discomforts and difficulties
—that would have been impossible in New England. He
was at this time an active and daring young man, who rather
courted than avoided dangers.
" In the spring of 1850 Dr. Clark left Platteville to cross
the plains to California; he went with a mule team, by way of
St. Jo, and Fort Atchinson. He never traveled on Sunday;
whatever danger of Indians there might be, tlic wagons be-
longing to his party always stopped on Sunday, letting the
rest of the train push on in their eagerness to reach Califor-
nia ; and it always came out that his- teams, refreshed by a
day's rest, overtook the train before the next Sat>bath. His
outfit had been planned with so much foresiglit and care that
he accomplished the journey with far less risk and privation
than was usual. As he approached Marysville, the first point
at which he could expect letters, someone overtook him, who
had passed through Platteville, and told him that there had
been sickness and death in his family. Dr. Clark had