Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography, genealogical-memorial ...

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of nine to the senator at fifty; and when they
go away, they have something to reflect on in
their minds. He relies on his notes a great
deal; but the clearness, the suitability, the
knowledge of human nature, the earnestness he
displays in his speech, impell you to ignore
everything else. And, above all, that which
appeals to you most is the personality of the
man himself.
In the pulpit he is tall, erect, dignified, in his
clerical "Prince Albert." It is then he reminds
me of what Lincoln must have been, his fea-
tures not homely, but pleasant, and kindly, with
deep lines. His humorous mouth, and honest;
intelligent, spectacled, eyes; his crinky gray
hair, rebelliously crowding over its parting,
seem fairly imbued with an energy, heightened,
not lessened, by his age
"As some tall cliff that lifts its awful form,
Swells from the vale, and midway leaves the
storm,
Though round its breast the rolling clouds are
spread,
—
Eternal sunshine settles on its head."
If you meet him after the service, or on the
street, or at some church gathering, his welcome
is always whole-hearted, unsuperficial;
every man is his neighbor, and he treats as his
neighbor everyone with whom he comes in contact.
The young people love and revere him
as a father, just as their parents think of him
as a friend and adviser. Like Chaucer's Parson
"Wide was his parish, and houses far asunder,
But he omitted not, for either rain or thunder,
In sickness or in trouble, to visit
The furthest in his parish, great and small,"
— ;
and to accomplish this, our parson makes use
of an antiquated bicycle, and he generally manages
not to be on the road at supper time.
Happy indeed is the family at whose house he
stops for a meal; for he is always entertaining
and witty, with a ready supply of anecdotes and
pleasantries, in short, he is "good fun."
As for his spare time, he really hasn't much
he then becomes either a farmer or a writer.
He has an acre or two of land connected with
the parsonage, which he cultivates himself. No
doubt, in combating the hordes of weeds which
besiege his onions and celery, in persuading his
hens to lay, rather than set, he has derived the
lessons of patience, perseverance, and tact, the
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
371
three things most essential to a minister's, or
anyone's success, which he practices in all his
dealings.
All his literary work is imbued with the
wholesome experience he has gained through
his travels, through his knowledge of men, and
through his work as a Yankee parson.
Do you wonder, then, that we are exceedingly
proud of our minister? That his friends, in
church and out, admire and respect him? And
even if they are not to be found in his congre-
gation every Sunday, at least they feel rather
ashamed of themselves for it.
As a good citizen, Mr. Clark is identi-
fied with the Wethersfield Grange, No.
145. He is also a member of the college
fraternity, Delta Kappa Epsilon. His
Alma Mater has conferred upon him the
degree of Master of Arts. Mr. Clark is a
man of many sides and finds pleasant
occupation in wood carving, in which he
has become, highly skilled, and many examples
of his beautiful work are found in
his home.
Mr. Clark married, December 19, 1876,
Emma F. Kimball, of Lowell, Massachu-
setts, daughter of David T. and Harriet
("Webster) Kimball, born 1851, died 1912.
She was the mother of five children. I.
Webster Kimball Clark, M. D., a graduate
of Yale College and Johns Hopkins Medi-
cal School, now in practice at Greenfield,
Massachusetts. He married Margaret B.
Griswold, of Wethersfield, and they have
three sons: Webster Kimball, Frederic
Griswold, and George Larkin. 2. Flor-
ence Elizabeth, wife of John S. Buck, of
Wethersfield. They have four children:
Richard Salstonstall, Eleanor Kimball,
John Webster and Harriet Fanning. 3.
Grace Stevens, died in 1900, at the age of
nineteen years. 4. Eliot Round, a graduate
of Yale College and Johns Hopkins
University, was a professor in the latter
school, and is now a professor of Anatomy
in the University of Missouri at Colum-
bus. He married Eleanor Linton, a